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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of O. T., by Hans Christian Andersen
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: O. T.
+       A Danish Romance
+
+Author: Hans Christian Andersen
+
+Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7513]
+Posting Date: August 3, 2009
+Last Updated: October 31, 2016
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK O. T. ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nicole Apostola
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+O. T.
+
+A Danish Romance
+
+by Hans Christian Andersen
+
+Author of the “Improvisatore” and the “Two Baronesses”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+     “Quod felix faustumque sit!”
+
+There is a happiness which no poet has yet properly sung, which no
+lady-reader, let her be ever so amiable, has experienced or ever will
+experience in this world. This is a condition of happiness which alone
+belongs to the male sex, and even then alone to the elect. It is a
+moment of life which seizes upon our feelings, our minds, our whole
+being. Tears have been shed by the innocent, sleepless nights been
+passed, during which the pious mother, the loving sister, have put up
+prayers to God for this critical moment in the life of the son or the
+brother.
+
+Happy moment, which no woman, let her be ever so good, so beautiful,
+or intellectual, can experience--that of becoming a student, or, to
+describe it by a more usual term, the passing of the first examination!
+
+The cadet who becomes an officer, the scholar who becomes an academical
+burgher, the apprentice who becomes a journeyman, all know, in a greater
+or less degree, this loosening of the wings, this bounding over the
+limits of maturity into the lists of philosophy. We all strive after
+a wider field, and rush thither like the stream which at length loses
+itself in the ocean.
+
+Then for the first time does the youthful soul rightly feel her freedom,
+and, therefore, feels it doubly; the soul struggles for activity, she
+comprehends her individuality; it has been proved and not found too
+light; she is still in possession of the dreams of childhood, which have
+not yet proved delusive. Not even the joy of love, not the enthusiasm
+for art and science, so thrills through all the nerves as the words,
+“Now am I a student!”
+
+This spring-day of life, on which the ice-covering of the school is
+broken, when the tree of Hope puts forth its buds and the sun of Freedom
+shines, falls with us, as is well known, in the month of October, just
+when Nature loses her foliage, when the evenings begin to grow darker,
+and when heavy winter-clouds draw together, as though they would say
+to youth,--“Your spring, the birth of the examination, is only a dream!
+even now does your life become earnest!” But our happy youths think not
+of these things, neither will we be joyous with the gay, and pay a visit
+to their circle. In such a one our story takes its commencement.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+     “At last we separate:
+     To Jutland one, to Fünen others go;
+     And still the quick thought comes,
+     --A day so bright, so full of fun,
+     Never again on us shall rise.”--CARL BAGGER.
+
+It was in October of the year 1829. Examen artium had been passed
+through. Several young students were assembled in the evening at the
+abode of one of their comrades, a young Copenhagener of eighteen, whose
+parents were giving him and his new friends a banquet in honor of the
+examination. The mother and sister had arranged everything in the nicest
+manner, the father had given excellent wine out of the cellar, and the
+student himself, here the rex convivii, had provided tobacco, genuine
+Oronoko-canaster. With regard to Latin, the invitation--which was, of
+course, composed in Latin--informed the guests that each should bring
+his own.
+
+The company, consisting of one and twenty persons--and these were only
+the most intimate friends--was already assembled. About one third of the
+friends were from the provinces, the remainder out of Copenhagen.
+
+“Old Father Homer shall stand in the middle of the table!” said one of
+the liveliest guests, whilst he took down from the stove a plaster bust
+and placed it upon the covered table.
+
+“Yes, certainly, he will have drunk as much as the other poets!” said
+an older one. “Give me one of thy exercise-books, Ludwig! I will cut him
+out a wreath of vine-leaves, since we have no roses and since I cannot
+cut out any.”
+
+“I have no libation!” cried a third,--“Favete linguis.” And he sprinkled
+a small quantity of salt, from the point of a knife, upon the bust, at
+the same time raising his glass to moisten it with a few drops of wine.
+
+“Do not use my Homer as you would an ox!” cried the host. “Homer shall
+have the place of honor, between the bowl and the garland-cake! He is
+especially my poet! It was he who in Greek assisted me to laudabilis
+et quidem egregie. Now we will mutually drink healths! Jörgen shall be
+magister bibendi, and then we will sing ‘Gaudeamus igitur,’ and ‘Integer
+vitae.’”
+
+“The Sexton with the cardinal’s hat shall be the precentor!” cried
+one of the youths from the provinces, pointing toward a rosy-cheeked
+companion.
+
+“O, now I am no longer sexton!” returned the other laughing. “If thou
+bringest old histories up again, thou wilt receive thy old school-name,
+‘the Smoke-squirter.’”
+
+“But that is a very nice little history!” said the other. “We called him
+‘Sexton,’ from the office his father held; but that, after all, is not
+particularly witty. It was better with the hat, for it did, indeed,
+resemble a cardinal’s hat. I, in the mean time, got my name in a more
+amusing manner.”
+
+“He lived near the school,” pursued the other; “he could always slip
+home when we had out free quarters of an hour: and then one day he
+had filled his mouth with tobacco smoke, intending to blow it into
+our faces; but when he entered the passage with his filled cheeks the
+quarter of an hour was over, and we were again in class: the rector was
+still standing in the doorway; he could not, therefore, blow the smoke
+out of his mouth, and so wished to slip in as he was. ‘What have you
+there in your mouth?’ asked the rector; but Philip could answer nothing,
+without at the same time losing the smoke. ‘Now, cannot you speak?’
+cried the rector, and gave him a box on the ear, so that the smoke burst
+through nose and mouth. This looked quite exquisite; the affair caused
+the rector such pleasure, that he presented the poor sinner with the
+nota bene.”
+
+“Integer vitae!” broke in the Precentor, and harmoniously followed the
+other voices. After this, a young Copenhagener exhibited his dramatic
+talent by mimicking most illusively the professors of the Academy, and
+giving their peculiarities, yet in such a good-natured manner that it
+must have amused even the offended parties themselves. Now followed the
+healths--“Vivant omnes hi et hae!”
+
+“A health to the prettiest girl!” boldly cried one of the merriest
+brothers. “The prettiest girl!” repeated a pair of the younger ones, and
+pushed their glasses toward each other, whilst the blood rushed to their
+cheeks at this their boldness, for they had never thought of a beloved
+being, which, nevertheless, belonged to their new life. The roundelay
+now commenced, in which each one must give the Christian name of his
+lady-love, and assuredly every second youth caught a name out of the
+air; some, however, repeated a name with a certain palpitation of the
+heart. The discourse became more animated; the approaching military
+exercises, the handsome uniform, the reception in the students’ club,
+and its pleasures, were all matters of the highest interest. But there
+was the future philologicum and philosophicum--yes, that also was
+discussed; there they must exhibit their knowledge of Latin.
+
+“What do you think,” said one of the party, “if once a week we
+alternately met at each other’s rooms, and held disputations? No Danish
+word must be spoken. This might be an excellent scheme.”
+
+“I agree to that!” cried several.
+
+“Regular laws must be drawn up.”
+
+“Yes, and we must have our best Latin scholar, the Jutlander, Otto
+Thostrup, with us! He wrote his themes in hexameters.”
+
+“He is not invited here this evening,” remarked the neighbor, the young
+Baron Wilhelm of Funen, the only nobleman in the company.
+
+“Otto Thostrup!” answered the host. “Yes, truly he’s a clever fellow,
+but he seems to me so haughty. There is something about him that does
+not please me at all. We are still no dunces, although he did receive
+nine prae caeteris!”
+
+“Yet it was very provoking,” cried another, “that he received the only
+Non in mathematics. Otherwise he would have been called in. Now he will
+only have to vex himself about his many brilliant characters.”
+
+“Yes, and he is well versed in mathematics!” added Wilhelm “There was
+something incorrect in the writing; the inspector was to blame for
+that, but how I know not. Thostrup is terribly vehement, and can set
+all respect at defiance; he became angry, and went out. There was only
+a piece of unwritten paper presented from him, and this brought him a
+cipher, which the verbal examination could not bring higher than non.
+Thostrup is certainly a glorious fellow. We have made a tour together
+in the steamboat from Helsingöer to Copenhagen, and in the written
+examination we sat beside each other until the day when we had
+mathematics, and then I sat below him. I like him very much, his pride
+excepted; and of that we must break him.”
+
+“Herr Baron,” said his neighbor, “I am of your opinion. Shall not we
+drink the Thou-brotherhood?”
+
+“To-night we will all of us drink the Thou!” said the host; “it is
+nothing if comrades and good friends call each other _you_.”
+
+“Evoe Bacchus!” they joyously shouted. The glasses were filled, one arm
+was thrown round that of the neighbor, and the glasses were emptied,
+whilst several commenced singing “dulce cum sodalibus!”
+
+“Tell me what thou art called?” demanded one of the younger guests of
+his new Thou-brother.
+
+“What am I called?” replied he. “With the exception of one letter, the
+same as the Baron.”
+
+“The Baron!” cried a third; “yes, where is he?”
+
+“There he stands talking at the door; take your glasses! now have all of
+us drank the Thou-brotherhood?”
+
+The glasses were again raised; the young Baron laughed, clinked his
+glass, and shouted in the circle, “Thou, Thou!” But in his whole bearing
+there lay something constrained, which, however, none of the young
+men remarked, far less allowed themselves to imagine that his sudden
+retreat, during the first drinking, perhaps occurred from the
+sole object of avoiding it. But soon was he again one of the most
+extravagant; promised each youth who would study theology a living on
+his estate when he should once get it into his own hands; and proposed
+that the Latin disputations should commence with him, and on the
+following Friday. Otto Thostrup, however, should be of the party--if he
+chose, of course being understood; for he was a capital student, and his
+friend they had made a journey together and had been neighbors at the
+green table.
+
+Among those who were the earliest to make their valete amici was the
+Baron. Several were not yet inclined to quit this joyous circle. The
+deepest silence reigned in the streets; it was the most beautiful
+moonlight. In most houses all had retired to rest--only here and there
+was a light still seen, most persons slept, even those whose sense
+of duty should leave banished the god of sleep: thus sat a poor
+hackney-coachman, aloft upon his coach-box, before the house where he
+awaited his party, and enjoyed, the reins wound about his hand, the
+much-desired rest. Wilhelm (henceforth we will only call the young Baron
+by his Christian name) walked alone through the street. The wine had
+heated his northern blood--besides which it never flowed slowly; his
+youthful spirits, his jovial mood, and the gayety occasioned by the
+merry company he had just quitted did not permit him quietly to pass
+by this sleeping Endymion. Suddenly it occurred to him to open the
+coach-door and leap in; which having done, he let the glass fall and
+called out with a loud voice, “Drive on!” The coachman started up out
+of his blessed sleep and asked, quite confused, “Where to?” Without
+reflecting about the matter, Wilhelm cried, “To the Ship in West
+Street.” The coachman drove on; about half-way, Wilhelm again opened the
+coach-door, a bold spring helped him out, and the coach rolled on.
+It stopped at the public-house of the Ship. The coachman got down
+and opened the door; there was no one within; he thrust his head
+in thoroughly to convince himself; but no, the carriage was empty!
+“Extraordinary!” said the fellow; “can I have dreamed it? But still
+I heard, quite distinctly, how I was told to drive to the Ship! Lord
+preserve us! now they are waiting for me!” He leaped upon the box and
+drove rapidly back again.
+
+In the mean time Wilhelm had reached his abode in Vineyard Street; he
+opened a window to enjoy the beautiful night, and gazed out upon the
+desolate church-yard which is shut in by shops. He had no inclination
+for sleep, although everything in the street, even the watchmen not
+excepted, appeared to rejoice the gift of God. Wilhelm thought upon the
+merry evening party, upon his adventure with the poor hackney-coachman,
+then took down his violin from the wall and began to play certain
+variations.
+
+The last remaining guests from the honorable carousal, merrier than when
+Wilhelm left them, now came wandering up the street. One of them jodeled
+sweetly, and no watchman showed himself as a disturbing principle. They
+heard Wilhelm violin and recognized the musician.
+
+“Play us a Française, thou up there!” cried they.
+
+“But the watchman?” whispered one of the less courageous.
+
+“Zounds, there he sits!” cried a third, and pointed toward a sleeping
+object which leaned its head upon a large wooden chest before a closed
+booth.
+
+“He is happy!” said the first speaker. “If we had only the strong
+Icelander here, he would soon hang him up by his bandelier upon one of
+the iron hooks. He has done that before now; he has the strength of a
+bear. He seized such a lazy fellow as this right daintily by his girdle
+on one of the hooks at the weighing-booth. There hung the watchman
+and whistled to the others; the first who hastened to the spot was
+immediately hung up beside him, and away ran the Icelander whilst the
+two blew a duet.”
+
+“Here, take hold!” cried one of the merry brothers, quickly opening the
+chest, the lid of which was fastened by a peg. “Let us put the watchman
+into the chest; he sleeps indeed like a horse!” In a moment, the four
+had seized the sleeper, who certainly awoke during the operation, but
+he already lay in the chest. The lid flew down, and two or three of the
+friends sprang upon it whilst the peg was stuck in again. The watchman
+immediately seized his whistle and drew the most heart-rending tones
+from it. Quickly the tormenting spirits withdrew themselves; yet not so
+far but that they could still hear the whistle and observe what would
+take place.
+
+The watchmen now came up.
+
+“The deuce! where art thou?” cried they, and then discovered the place.
+
+“Ah, God help me!” cried the prisoner. “Let me out, let me out! I must
+call!”
+
+“Thou hast drunk more than thy thirst required, comrade!” said the
+others. “If thou hast fallen into the chest, remain lying there, thou
+swine!” And laughing they left him.
+
+“O, the rascals!” sighed he, and worked in vain at opening the lid.
+Through all his powerful exertions the box fell over. The young men now
+stepped forth, and, as though they were highly astonished at the whole
+history which he related to them, they let themselves be prevailed upon
+to open the box, but only upon condition that he should keep street
+free from the interference of the other watchmen whilst they danced a
+Française to Wilhelm’s violin.
+
+The poor man was delivered from his captivity, and must obligingly play
+the sentinel whilst they arranged them for the dance. Wilhelm was called
+upon to play, and the dance commenced; a partner, however, was wanting.
+Just then a quiet citizen passed by. The gentleman who had no partner
+approached the citizen with comic respect, and besought him to take part
+in the amusement.
+
+“I never dance!” said the man, laughing, and wished to pursue his way.
+
+“Yes,” replied the cavalier, “yet you must still do me this pleasure,
+or else I shall have no dance.” Saying this he took hold of him by the
+waist and the dance commenced, whether the good man would or no.
+
+“The watchman should receive a present from every one!” said they, when
+the Française was at an end. “He is an excellent man who thus keeps
+order in the street, so that one can enjoy a little dance.”
+
+“These are honest people’s children!” said the watchman to himself,
+whilst he with much pleasure thrust the money into his leathern purse.
+
+All was again quiet in the street; the violin was also silent.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+     “Who looks into the shadowy realm of my heart?”
+                                     A. V. CHAMISSO.
+
+In the former chapter we heard mention made of a young student, Otto
+Thostrup, a clever fellow, with nine prae caeteris, as his comrades
+said, but also of a proud spirit, of which he must be broken. Not at
+the disputations, which have been already mentioned, will we make his
+acquaintance, although there we must be filled with respect for the good
+Latin scholar; not in large companies, where his handsome exterior and
+his speaking, melancholy glance must make him interesting; as little in
+the pit of the Opera although his few yet striking observations there
+would show him to be a very intellectual young man; but we will seek
+him out for the first time at the house of his friend, the young Baron
+Wilhelm. It is the beginning of November: we find them both with their
+pipes in their mouths; upon the table lie Tibullus and Anacreon, which
+they are reading together for the approaching philologicum.
+
+In the room stands a piano-forte, with a number of music-books; upon the
+walls hang the portraits of Weyse and Beethoven, for our young Baron is
+musical, nay a composer himself.
+
+“See, here we have again this lovely, clinging mist!” said Wilhelm. “Out
+of doors one can fairly taste it; at home it would be a real plague to
+me, here it only Londonizes the city.”
+
+“I like it!” said Otto. “To me it is like an old acquaintance from
+Vestervovov. It is as though the mist brought me greetings from the sea
+and sand-hills.”
+
+“I should like to see the North Sea, but the devil might live there!
+What town lies nearest to your grandfather’s estate?”
+
+“Lernvig,” answered Otto. “If any one wish to see the North Sea
+properly, they ought to go up as far as Thisted and Hjörring. I have
+travelled there, have visited the family in Börglum-Kloster; and,
+besides this, have made other small journeys. Never shall I forget one
+evening; yes, it was a storm of which people in the interior of the
+country can form no conception. I rode--I was then a mere boy, and a
+very wild lad--with one of our men. When the storm commenced we found
+ourselves among the sand-hills. Ah! that you should have seen! The sand
+forms along the strand high banks, which serve as dikes against the sea;
+these are overgrown with sea-grass, but, if the storm bursts a single
+hole, the whole is carried away. This spectacle we chanced to witness.
+It is a true Arabian sand-storm, and the North Sea bellowed so that
+it might be heard at the distance of many miles. The salt foam flew
+together with the sand into our faces.”
+
+“That must have been splendid!” exclaimed Wilhelm, and his eyes
+sparkled. “Jutland is certainly the most romantic part of Denmark.
+Since I read Steen-Blicher’s novels I have felt a real interest for that
+country. It seems to me that it must greatly resemble the Lowlands of
+Scotland. And gypsies are also found there, are they not?”
+
+“Vagabonds, we call them,” said Otto, with an involuntary motion of the
+mouth. “They correspond to the name!”
+
+“The fishermen, also, on the coast are not much better! Do they
+still from the pulpit pray for wrecks? Do they still slay shipwrecked
+mariners?”
+
+“I have heard our preacher, who is an old man, relate how, in the first
+years after he had obtained his office and dignity, he was obliged to
+pray in the church that, if ships stranded, they might strand in his
+district; but this I have never heard myself. But with regard to what
+is related of murdering, why, the fishermen--sea-geese, as they are
+called--are by no means a tender-hearted people; but it is not as bad
+as that in our days. A peasant died in the neighborhood, of whom it was
+certainly related that in bad weather he had bound a lantern under
+his horse’s belly and let it wander up and down the beach, so that the
+strange mariner who was sailing in those seas might imagine it some
+cruising ship, and thus fancy himself still a considerable way from
+land. By this means many a ship is said to have been destroyed. But
+observe, these are stories out of the district of Thisted, and of an
+elder age, before my power of observation had developed itself; this was
+that golden age when in tumble-down fishers’ huts, after one of these
+good shipwrecks, valuable shawls, but little damaged by the sea, might
+be found employed as bed-hangings. Boots and shoes were smeared with the
+finest pomatum. If such things now reach their hands, they know better
+how to turn them into money. The Strand-commissioners are now on the
+watch; now it is said to be a real age of copper.”
+
+“Have you seen a vessel stranded?” inquired Wilhelm, with increasing
+interest.
+
+“Our estate lies only half a mile from the sea. Every year about this
+time, when the mist spreads itself out as it does to-day and the storms
+begin to rage, then was it most animated. In my wild spirits, when I
+was a boy, and especially in the midst of our monotonous life, I truly
+yearned after it. Once, upon a journey to Börglum-Kloster, I experienced
+a storm. In the early morning; it was quite calm, but gray, and we
+witnessed a kind of Fata Morgana. A ship, which had not yet risen above
+the horizon, showed itself in the distance, but the rigging was turned
+upside down; the masts were below, the hull above. This is called the
+ship of death, and when it is seen people are sure of bad weather and
+shipwreck. Later, about midday, it began to blow, and in an hour’s time
+we had a regular tempest. The sea growled quite charmingly; we travelled
+on between sand-hills--they resemble hills and dales in winter time, but
+here it is not snow which melts away; here never grows a single green
+blade; a black stake stands up here and there, and these are rudders
+from wrecks, the histories of which are unknown. In the afternoon arose
+a storm such as I had experienced when riding with the man between
+the sand-hills. We could not proceed farther, and were obliged on this
+account to seek shelter in one of the huts which the fishermen hail
+erected among the white sand-hills. There we remained, and I saw the
+stranding of a vessel: I shall never forget it! An American ship lay not
+a musket-shot from land. They cut the mast; six or seven men clung fast
+to it in the waters. O, how they rocked backward and forward in the
+dashing spray! The mast took a direction toward the shore; at length
+only three men were left clinging to the mast; it was dashed upon land,
+but the returning waves again bore it away; it had crushed the arms and
+legs of the clinging wretches--ground them like worms! I dreamed of this
+for many nights. The waves flung the hull of the vessel up high on the
+shore, and drove it into the sand, where it was afterward found. Later,
+as we retraced our steps, were the stem and sternpost gone: you saw two
+strong wooden walls, between which the road took its course. You even
+still travel through the wreck!”
+
+“Up in your country every poetical mind must become a Byron,” said
+Wilhelm. “On my parents’ estate we have only idyls; the whole of Funen
+is a garden. We mutually visit each other upon our different estates,
+where we lead most merry lives, dance with the peasant-girls at the
+brewing-feast, hunt in the woods, and fish in the lakes. The only
+melancholy object which presents itself with us is a funeral, and the
+only romantic characters we possess are a little hump-backed musician,
+a wise woman, and an honest schoolmaster, who still firmly believes, as
+Jeronimus did, that the earth is flat, and that, were it to turn round,
+we should fall, the devil knows where!”
+
+“I love nature in Jutland!” exclaimed Otto. “The open sea, the
+brown heath, and the bushy moorland. You should see the wild moor in
+Vendsyssel--that is an extent! Almost always wet mists float over its
+unapproachable interior, which is known to no one. It is not yet fifty
+years since it served as an abode for wolves. Often it bursts into
+flames, for it is impregnated with sulphuric gas,--one can see the fire
+for miles.”
+
+“My sister Sophie ought to hear all this!” said Wilhelm. “You would make
+your fortune with her! The dear girl! she has the best head at home, but
+she loves effect. Hoffman and Victor Hugo are her favorites. Byron rests
+every night under her pillow. If you related such things of the west
+coast of Jutland, and of heaths and moors, you might persuade her to
+make a journey thither. One really would not believe that we possessed
+in our own country such romantic situations!”
+
+“Is she your only sister?” inquired Otto.
+
+“No,” returned Wilhelm, “I have two--the other is named Louise; she
+is of quite an opposite character: I do not know of which one ought to
+think most. Have you no brothers or sisters?” he asked of Otto.
+
+“No!” returned the latter, with his former involuntary, half-melancholy
+expression. “I am an only child. In my house it is solitary and silent.
+My grandfather alone is left alive. He is an active, strong man,
+but very grave. He instructed me in mathematics, which he thoroughly
+understands. The preacher taught me Latin, Greek, and history: two
+persons, however, occupied themselves with my religious education--the
+preacher and my old Rosalie. She is a good soul. How often have I teased
+her, been petulant, and almost angry with her! She thought so much of
+me, she was both mother and sister to me, and instructed me in religion
+as well as the preacher, although she is a Catholic. Since my father’s
+childhood she has been a sort of governante in the house. You should
+have seen her melancholy smile when she heard my geography lesson, and
+we read of her dear Switzerland, where she was born, and of the south
+of France, where she had travelled as a child. The west coast of Jutland
+may also appear very barren in comparison with these countries!”
+
+“She might have made you a Catholic! But surely nothing of this still
+clings to you?”
+
+“Rosalie was a prudent old creature; Luther himself need not have been
+ashamed of her doctrine. Whatever is holy to the heart of man, remains
+also holy in every religion!”
+
+“But then, to erect altars to the Madonna!” exclaimed Wilhelm; “to pray
+to a being; whom the Bible does not make a saint!--that is rather too
+much. And their tricks with burning of incense and ringing of bells!
+Yes, indeed, it would give me no little pleasure to cut off the heads of
+the Pope and of the whole clerical body! To purchase indulgence!--Those
+must, indeed, be curious people who can place thorough faith in such
+things! I will never once take off my hat before the Madonna!”
+
+“But that will I do, and in my heart bow myself before her!” answered
+Otto, gravely.
+
+“Did I not think so? she has made you a Catholic!”
+
+“No such thing! I am as good a Protestant as you yourself: but
+wherefore should we not respect the mother of Christ? With regard to the
+ceremonials of Catholicism, indulgence, and all these additions of the
+priesthood, I agree with you in wishing to strike off the heads of all
+who, in such a manner, degrade God and the human understanding. But in
+many respects we are unjust: we so easily forget the first and greatest
+commandment, ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself!’ We are not tolerant.
+Among our festivals we have still one for the Three Kings--it is yet
+celebrated by the common people; but what have these three kings done?
+They knelt before the manger in which Christ lay, and on this account we
+honor them. On the contrary, the mother of God has no festival-day; nay,
+the multitude even smile at her name! If you will only quietly listen to
+my simple argument, we shall soon agree. You will take off your hat and
+bow before the Madonna. Only two things are to be considered--either
+Christ was entirely human, or He was, as the Bible teaches us, a divine
+being. I will now admit the latter. He is God Himself, who in some
+inexplicable manner, is born to us of the Virgin Mary. She must
+therefore be the purest, the most perfect feminine being, since God
+found her worthy to bring into the world the Son, the only one; through
+this she becomes as holy as any human being can, and low we must bow
+ourselves before the pure, the exalted one. Take it for granted that
+Christ was human, like ourselves, otherwise He cannot, according to my
+belief, call upon us to imitate Him; neither would it be great, as God,
+to meet a corporeal death, from which He could remove each pain. Were He
+only a man, born of Mary, we must doubly admire Him; we must bow in the
+dust before His mighty spirit, His enlightening and consoling doctrine.
+But can we then forget how much the mother has must have influenced the
+child, how sublime and profound the soul must have been which spoke to
+His heart? We must reverence and honor her! Everywhere in the Scriptures
+where she appears we see an example of care and love; with her whole
+soul she adheres to her Son. Think how uneasy she became, and sought for
+Him in the temple--think of her gentle reproaches! The words of the Son
+always sounded harsh in my ears. ‘Those are the powerful expressions of
+the East!’ said my old preacher. The Saviour was severe, severe as
+He must be! Already there seemed to me severity in His words! She
+was completely the mother; she was it then, even as when she wept at
+Golgotha. Honor and reverence she deserves from us!”
+
+“These she also receives!” returned Wilhelm; and striking him upon
+the shoulder he added, with a smile, “you are, according to the Roman
+Catholic manner, near exalting the mother above the Son! Old Rosalie has
+made a proselyte; after all, you are half a Catholic!”
+
+“That am I not!” answered Otto, “and that will I not be!”
+
+          “See! the thunder-cloud advances!”
+
+resounded below in the court: the sweet Neapolitan song reached the
+ears of the friends. They stepped into the adjoining room and opened the
+window. Three poor boys stood below in the wind and rain, and commenced
+the song. The tallest was, perhaps, fourteen or fifteen years old, his
+deep, rough voice seemed to have attained its strength and depth more
+through rain and bad weather than through age. The dirty wet clothes
+hung in rags about his body; the shoes upon the wet feet, and the hat
+held together with white threads, were articles of luxury. The other two
+boys had neither hat nor shoes, but their clothes were whole and clean.
+The youngest appeared six or seven years old; his silvery white hair
+formed a contrast with his brown face, his dark eyes and long brown
+eyelashes. His voice sounded like the voice of a little girl, as fine
+and soft, beside the voices of the others, as the breeze of an autumnal
+evening beside that of rude November weather.
+
+“That is a handsome boy!” exclaimed the two friends at the same time.
+
+“And a lovely melody!” added Otto.
+
+“Yes, but they sing falsely!” answered Wilhelm: “one sings half a tone
+too low, the other half a tone too high!”
+
+“Now, thank God that I cannot hear that!” said Otto. “It sounds sweetly,
+and the little one might become a singer. Poor child!” added he gravely:
+“bare feet, wet to the very skin; and then the elder one will certainly
+lead him to brandy drinking! Within a month, perhaps, the voice will
+be gone! Then is the nightingale dead!” He quickly threw down some
+skillings, wrapped in paper.
+
+“Come up!” cried Wilhelm, and beckoned. The eldest of the boys flew up
+like an arrow; Wilhelm, however, said it was the youngest who was meant.
+The others remained standing before the door; the youngest stepped in.
+
+“Whose son art thou?” asked Wilhelm. The boy was silent, and cast down
+his eyes in an embarrassed manner. “Now, don’t be bashful! Thou art of
+a good family--that one can see from thy appearance! Art not thou thy
+mother’s son? I will give thee stockings and--the deuce! here is a pair
+of boots which are too small for me; if thou dost not get drowned in
+them they shall be thy property: but now thou must sing.” And he seated
+himself at the piano-forte and struck the keys. “Now, where art thou?”
+ he cried, rather displeased. The little one gazed upon the ground.
+
+“How! dost thou weep; or is it the rain which hangs in thy black
+eyelashes?” said Otto, and raised his head: “we only wish to do thee a
+kindness. There--thou hast another skilling from me.”
+
+The little one still remained somewhat laconic. All that they learned
+was that he was named Jonas, and that his grandmother thought so much of
+him.
+
+“Here thou hast the stockings!” said Wilhelm; “and see here! a coat with
+a velvet collar, a much-to-be-prized keepsake! The boots! Thou canst
+certainly stick both legs into one boot! See! that is as good as having
+two pairs to change about with! Let us see!”
+
+The boy’s eyes sparkled with joy; the boots he drew on, the stockings
+went into his pocket, and the bundle he took under his arm.
+
+“But thou must sing us a little song!” said Wilhelm, and the little one
+commenced the old song out of the “Woman-hater,” “Cupid never can be
+trusted!”
+
+The lively expression in the dark eyes, the boy himself in his wet,
+wretched clothes and big boots, with the bundle under his arm; nay, the
+whole had something so characteristic in it, that had it been painted,
+and had the painter called the picture “Cupid on his Wanderings,” every
+one would have found the little god strikingly excellent, although he
+were not blind.
+
+“Something might be made of the boy and of his voice!” said Wilhelm,
+when little Jonas, in a joyous mood, had left the house with the other
+lads.
+
+“The poor child!” sighed Otto. “I have fairly lost my good spirits
+through all this. It seizes upon me so strangely when I see misery and
+genius mated. Once there came to our estate in Jutland a man who played
+the Pandean-pipes, and at the same time beat the drum and cymbals: near
+him stood a little girl, and struck the triangle. I was forced to weep
+over this spectacle; without understanding how it was, I felt the misery
+of the poor child. I was myself yet a mere boy.”
+
+“He looked so comic in the big boots that I became quite merry, and not
+grave,” said Wilhelm. “Nevertheless what a pity it is that such gentle
+blood, which at the first glance one perceives he is, that such a pretty
+child should become a rude fellow, and his beautiful voice change into
+a howl, like that with which the other tall Laban saluted us. Who knows
+whether little Jonas might not become the first singer on the Danish
+stage? Yes, if he received education of mind and voice, who knows? I
+could really have, pleasure in attempting it, and help every one on in
+the world, before I myself am rightly in the way!”
+
+“If he is born to a beggar’s estate,” said Otto, “let him as beggar live
+and die, and learn nothing higher. That is better, that is more to be
+desired!”
+
+Wilhelm seated himself at the piano-forte, and played some of his own
+compositions. “That is difficult,” said he; “every one cannot play
+that.”
+
+“The simpler the sweeter!” replied Otto.
+
+“You must not speak about music!” returned the friend “upon that you
+know not how to pass judgment. Light Italian operas are not difficult to
+write.”
+
+In the evening the friends separated. Whilst Otto took his hat, there
+was a low knock at the door. Wilhelm opened it. Without stood a poor old
+woman, with pale sharp features; by the hand she led a little boy--it
+was Jonas: thus then it was a visit from him and his grandmother.
+
+The other boys had sold the boots and shoes which had been given him.
+They ought to have a share, they maintained. This atrocious injustice
+had induced the old grandmother to go immediately with little Jonas to
+the two good gentlemen, and relate how little the poor lad had received
+of flint which they had assigned to him alone.
+
+Wilhelm spoke of the boy’s sweet voice, and thought that by might make
+his fortune at the theatre; but then he ought not now to be left running
+about with bare feet in the wind and rain.
+
+“But by this means he brings a skilling home,” said the old woman.
+“That’s what his father and mother look to, and the skilling they can
+always employ. Nevertheless she had herself already thought of bringing
+him out at the theatre,--but that was to have been in dancing, for they
+got shoes and stockings to dance in, and with these they might also run
+home; and that would be an advantage.”
+
+“I will teach the boy music!” said Wilhelm; “he can come to me
+sometimes.”
+
+“And then he will, perhaps, get a little cast-off clothing, good sir,”
+ said the grandmother; “a shirt, or a waistcoat, just as it happens?”
+
+“Become a tailor, or shoemaker,” said Otto, gravely, and laid his hand
+upon the boy’s head.
+
+“He shall be a genius!” said Wilhelm.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+                         “Christmas-tide,
+     When in the wood the snow shines bright.”
+                              OEHLENSCHLÄGER’S Helge
+
+We again let several weeks pass by; it was Christmas Eve, which brings
+us the beautiful Christmas festival. We find the two friends taking a
+walk.
+
+Describe to an inhabitant of the south a country where the earth appears
+covered with the purest Carrara marble, where the tree twigs resemble
+white branches of coral sprinkled with diamonds, and above a sky as blue
+as that belonging to the south, and he will say that is a fairy land.
+Couldst thou suddenly remove him from his dark cypresses and olive-trees
+to the north, where the fresh snow lies upon the earth, where the white
+hoar-frost has powdered the trees over, and the sun shines down from the
+blue heaven, then would he recognize the description and call the north
+a fairy land.
+
+This was the splendor which the friends admired. The large trees upon
+the fortification-walls appeared crystallized when seen against the blue
+sky. The Sound was not yet frozen over; vessels, illuminated by the red
+evening sun, glided past with spread sails. The Swedish coast seemed to
+have approached nearer; one might see individual houses in Landskrona.
+It was lovely, and on this account there were many promenaders upon the
+walls and the Langelinie.
+
+“Sweden seems so near that one might swim over to it!” said Wilhelm.
+
+“The distance would be too far,” answered Otto; “but I should love to
+plunge among the deep blue waters yonder.”
+
+“How refreshing it is,” said Wilhelm, “when the water plays about one’s
+cheeks! Whilst I was at home, I always swam in the Great Belt. Yes, you
+are certainly half a fish when you come into the water.”
+
+“I!” repeated Otto, and was silent; but immediately added, with a kind
+of embarrassment which was at other times quite foreign to him, and from
+which one might infer how unpleasant confessing any imperfection was to
+him, “I do not swim.”
+
+“That must be learned in summer!” said Wilhelm.
+
+“There is so much to learn,” answered Otto; “swimming will certainly be
+the last thing.” He now suddenly turned toward the fortress, and
+stood still. “Only see how melancholy and quiet!” said he, and led the
+conversation again to the surrounding scenery. “The sentinel before the
+prison paces so quietly up and down, the sun shines upon his bayonet!
+How this reminds me of a sweet little poem of Heine’s; it is just as
+though he described this fortress and this soldier, but in the warmth
+of summer: one sees the picture livingly before one, as here; the weapon
+glances in the sun, and the part ends so touchingly,--‘Ich wollt’, er
+schösse mich todt!’ It is here so romantically beautiful! on the right
+the animated promenade, and the view over the Sund; on the left, the
+desolate square, where the military criminals are shot, and close upon
+it the prison with its beam-fence. The sun scarcely shines through those
+windows. Yet, without doubt, the prisoner can see us walking here upon
+the wall.”
+
+“And envy our golden freedom!” said Wilhelm.
+
+“Perhaps he derides it,” answered Otto. “He is confined to his chamber
+and the small courts behind the beam-lattice; we are confined to the
+coast; we cannot fly forth with the ships into the mighty, glorious
+world. We are also fastened with a chain, only ours is somewhat longer
+than that of the prisoner. But we will not think of this; let us go down
+to where the beautiful ladies are walking.”
+
+“To see and to be seen,” cried Wilhelm. “‘Spectatum veniunt; veniunt
+spectentur ut ipsae,’ as Ovid says.”
+
+The friends quitted the wall.
+
+“There comes my scholar, little Jonas!” cried Wilhelm. “The boy was
+better dressed than at his last appearance; quickly he pulled his little
+cap off and stood still: a young girl in a wretched garb held him by the
+hand.
+
+“Good day, my clever lad!” said Wilhelm, and his glance rested on the
+girl: she was of a singularly elegant form; had she only carried herself
+better she would have been a perfect beauty. It was Psyche herself who
+stood beside Cupid. She smiled in a friendly manner; the little lad had
+certainly told her who the gentlemen were; but she became crimson, and
+cast down her eyes when Wilhelm looked back after her: he beckoned to
+Jonas, who immediately came to him. The girl was his sister, he said,
+and was called Eva. Wilhelm nodded to her, and the friends went on.
+
+“That was a beautiful girl!” said Wilhelm, and looked back once more. “A
+rosebud that one could kiss until it became a full blown rose!”
+
+“During the experiment the rosebud might easily be broken!” answered
+Otto; “at least such is the case with the real flower. But do not look
+back again, that is a sin!”
+
+“Sin?” repeated Wilhelm; “no, then it is a very innocent sin! Believe
+me, it flatters the little creature that we should admire her beauty.
+I can well imagine how enchanting a loving look from a rich young
+gentleman may be for a weak, feminine mind. The sweet words which one
+can say are as poison which enters the blood. I have still a clear
+conscience. Not ONE innocent soul have I poisoned!”
+
+“And yet you are rich and young enough to do so,” returned Otto, not
+without bitterness. “Our friends precede us with a good example: here
+come some of our own age; they are acquainted with the roses!”
+
+“Good evening, thou good fellow!” was the greeting Wilhelm received from
+three or four of the young men.
+
+“Are you on Thou-terms with all these?” inquired Otto.
+
+“Yes,” answered Wilhelm; “we became so at a carouse. There all drank the
+Thou-brotherhood. I could not draw myself back. At other times I do
+not willingly give my ‘thou’ to any but my nearest friends. _Thou_ has
+something to my mind affectionate and holy. Many people fling it to the
+first person with whom they drink a glass. At the carouse I could not
+say no.”
+
+“And wherefore not?” returned Otto; “that would never have troubled me.”
+
+The friends now wandered on, arm-in-arm. Later in the evening we again
+meet with them together, and that at the house of a noble family, whose
+name and rank are to be found in the “Danish Court Calendar;” on which
+account it would be wanting in delicacy to mention the same, even in a
+story the events of which lie so near our hearts.
+
+Large companies are most wearisome. In these there are two kinds of
+rank. Either you are riveted to a card-table, or placed against the
+wall where you must stand with your hat in your hand, or, later in the
+evening, with it at your feet, nay, even must stand during supper. But
+this house was one of the most intellectual. Thou who dost recognize the
+house wilt also recognize that it is not to be reckoned with those,--
+
+               “Where each day’s gossiping stale fish
+                Is served up daily for thy dish.”
+
+This evening we do not become acquainted with the family, but only with
+their beautiful Christmas festival.
+
+The company was assembled in a large apartment; the shaded lamp burned
+dimly, but this was with the intention of increasing the effect when
+the drawing-room doors should open and the children joyfully press in
+together.
+
+Wilhelm now stepped to the piano-forte; a few chords produced stillness
+and attention. To the sounds of low music there stepped forth from
+the side-doors three maidens arrayed in white; each wore a long veil
+depending from the back of her head,--one blue, the other red, and the
+third white. Each carried in her arms an urn, and thus they represented
+fortune-tellers from the East. They brought good or ill luck, which each
+related in a little verse. People were to draw a number, and according
+to this would he receive his gift from the Christmas-tree. One of the
+maidens brought blanks--but which of them? now it was proved whether you
+were a child of fortune. All, even the children, drew their uncertain
+numbers: exception was only made with the family physician and a few
+elderly ladies of the family; these had a particular number stuck into
+their hands--their presents had been settled beforehand.
+
+“Who brings me good luck?” inquired Otto, as the three pretty young
+girls approached him. The one with a white veil was Wilhelm’s eldest
+sister, Miss Sophie, who was this winter paying a visit to the family.
+She resembled her brother. The white drapery about her head increased
+the expression of her countenance. She rested her gaze firmly upon Otto,
+and, perhaps, because he was the friend of her brother, she raised her
+finger. Did she wish to warn or to challenge him? Otto regarded it as
+a challenge, thrust his hand into the urn, and drew out number 33. All
+were now provided. The girls disappeared, and the folding-doors of the
+drawing-room were opened.
+
+A dazzling light streamed toward the guests. A splendid fir-tree,
+covered with burning tapers, and hung over with tinsel-gold, gilt eggs
+and apples, almonds and grapes, dazzled the eye. On either side of the
+tree were grottoes of fir-trees and moss, hung with red and blue paper
+lamps. In each grotto was an altar; upon one stood John of Bologna’s
+floating Mercury; upon the other, a reduced cast in plaster of
+Thorwaldsen’s Shepherd-boy. The steps were covered with presents, to
+which were attached the different numbers.
+
+“Superbe! lovely!” resounded from all sides; and the happy children
+shouted for joy. People arranged themselves in a half-circle, one row
+behind the other. One of the cousins of the family now stepped forth,
+a young poet, who, if we mistake not, has since then appeared among the
+Anonymouses in “The New Year’s Gift of Danish Poets.” He was appareled
+this evening as one of the Magi, and recited a little poem which
+declared that, as each one had himself drawn out of the urn of Fate,
+no one could be angry, let him have procured for himself honor or
+derision--Fate, and not Merit, being here the ruler. Two little boys,
+with huge butterfly wings and in flowing garments, bore the presents to
+the guests. A number, which had been purposely given to one of the elder
+ladies, was now called out, and the boys brought forward a large, heavy,
+brown earthen jug. To the same hung a direction the length of two sheets
+of paper, upon which was written, “A remedy against frost.” The jug was
+opened, and a very nice boa taken out and presented to the lady.
+
+“What number have you?” inquired Otto of Wilhelm’s sister, who, freed
+from her long veil, now entered the room and took her place near him.
+
+“Number 34,” she answered. “I was to keep the number which remained over
+when the others had drawn.”
+
+“We are, then, neighbors in the chain of Fate,” returned Otto; “I have
+number 33.”
+
+“Then one of us will receive something very bad!” said Sophie. “For, as
+much as I know, only every other number is good.” At this moment their
+numbers were called out. The accompanying poem declared that only a
+poetical, noble mind deserved this gift. It consisted of an illuminated
+French print, the subject a simple but touching idea. You saw a frozen
+lake, nothing but one expanse of ice as far as the horizon. The ice was
+broken, and near to the opening lay a hat with a red lining, and beside
+it sat a dog with grave eyes, still and expectant. Around the broken
+opening in the ice were seen traces of the dog having scratched into the
+hard crust of ice. “Il attend toujours” was the simple motto.
+
+“That is glorious!” exclaimed Otto. “An affecting thought! His master
+has sunk in the depth, and the faithful log yet awaits him. Had that
+picture only fallen to my lot!”
+
+“It is lovely!” said Sophie, and a melancholy glance made the young girl
+still more beautiful.
+
+Soon after Wilhelm’s turn came.
+
+           “Open the packet, thou shalt see
+            The very fairest gaze on thee!”
+
+ran the verse. He opened the packet, and found within a small mirror.
+“Yes, that was intended for a lady,” said he; “in that case it would
+have spoken the truth! in my hands it makes a fool of me.
+
+“For me nothing certainly remains but my number!” said Otto to his
+neighbor, as all the gifts appeared to be distributed.
+
+“The last is number 33,” said the cousin, and drew forth a roll of
+paper, which had been hidden among the moss. It was unrolled. It was an
+old pedigree of an extinct race. Quite at the bottom lay the knight with
+shield and armor, and out of his breast grew the many-branched tree with
+its shields and names. Probably it had been bought, with other rubbish,
+at some auction, and now at Christmas, when every hole and corner was
+rummaged for whatever could be converted into fun or earnest, it had
+been brought out for the Christmas tree. The cousin read the following
+verse:--
+
+         “Art thou not noble?--then it in far better;
+          This tree unto thy father is not debtor;
+          Thyself alone is thy ancestral crown.
+          From thee shall spring forth branches of renown,
+          And if thou come where blood gives honor’s place,
+          This tree shall prove thee first of all thy race!
+          From this hour forth thy soul high rank hath won her,
+          Not will forget thy knighthood and thy honor.”
+
+“I congratulate you,” said Wilhelm, laughing. “Now you will have to pay
+the nobility-tax!”
+
+Several of the ladies who stood near him, smiling, also offered a
+kind of congratulation. Sophie alone remained silent, and examined
+the present of another lady--a pretty pincushion in the form of a gay
+butterfly.
+
+The first row now rose to examine more nearly how beautifully the
+Christmas tree was adorned. Sophie drew one of the ladies away with her.
+
+“Let us look at the beautiful statues,” said she; “the Shepherd-boy and
+the Mercury.”
+
+“That is not proper,” whispered the lady; “but look there at the
+splendid large raisins on the tree!”
+
+Sophie stepped before Thorwaldsen’s Shepherd-boy. The lady whispered to
+a friend, “It looks so odd that she should examine the figures!”
+
+“Ah!” replied the other, “she is a lover of the fine arts, as you well
+know. Only think! at the last exhibition she went with her brother
+into the great hall where all the plaster-casts stand, and looked at
+them!--the Hercules, as well as the other indecent figures! they were
+excellent, she said. That is being so natural; otherwise she is a nice
+girl.”
+
+“It is a pity she is a little awry.”
+
+Sophie approached them; both ladies made room for her, and invited
+her most lovingly to sit clown beside them. “Thou sweet girl!” they
+flatteringly exclaimed.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+     “Hark to trumpets and beaten gongs,
+     Squeaking fiddles, shouts and songs.
+          Hurra! hurra!
+          The Doctor is here;
+     And here the hills where fun belongs.”
+                              J. L. HEIBERG.
+
+We will not follow the principal characters of our story step for step,
+but merely present the prominent moments of their lives to our readers,
+be these great or small; we seize on them, if they in any way contribute
+to make the whole picture more worthy of contemplation.
+
+The winter was over, the birds of passage had long since returned; the
+woods and fields shone in the freshest green, and, what to the friends
+was equally interesting, they had happily passed through their examen
+philologicum. Wilhelm, who, immediately after its termination, had
+accompanied his sister home, was again returned, sang with little Jonas,
+reflected upon the philosophicum, and also how he would thoroughly
+enjoy the summer,--the summer which in the north is so beautiful, but
+so short. It was St. John’s Day. Families had removed from Copenhagen to
+their pretty country-seats on the coast, where people on horseback
+and in carriages rushed past, and where the highway was crowded with
+foot-passengers. The whole road presented a picture of life upon the
+Paris Boulevard. The sun was burning, the dust flew up high into the
+air; on which account many persons preferred the pleasanter excursion
+with the steamboat along the coast, from whence could be seen the
+traffic on the high-road without enduring the annoyance of dust and
+heat. Boats skimmed past; brisk sailors, by the help of vigorous strokes
+of the oar, strove to compete with the steam-packet, the dark smoke from
+which, like some demon, partly rested upon the vessel, partly floated
+away in the air.
+
+Various young students, among whom were also Wilhelm and Otto, landed
+at Charlottenlund, the most frequented place of resort near Copenhagen.
+Otto was here for the first time; for the first time he should see the
+park.
+
+A summer’s afternoon in Linken’s Bad, near Dresden, bears a certain
+resemblance to Charlottenlund, only that the Danish wood is larger; that
+instead of the Elbe we have the Sound, which is here three miles broad,
+and where often more than a hundred vessels, bearing flags of all the
+European nations, glide past. A band of musicians played airs out of
+“Preciosa;” the white tents glanced like snow or swans through the green
+beech-trees. Here and there was a fire-place raised of turf, over which
+people boiled and cooked, so that the smoke rose up among the trees.
+Outside the wood, waiting in long rows, were the peasants’ vehicles,
+called “coffee-mills,” completely answering ho the couricolo of the
+Neapolitan and the coucou of the Parisian, equally cheap, and overladen
+in the same manner with passengers, therefore forming highly picturesque
+groups. This scene has been humorously treated in a picture by
+Marstrand. Between fields and meadows, the road leads pleasantly toward
+the park; the friends pursued the foot-path.
+
+“Shall I brush the gentlemen?” cried five or six boys, at the same time
+pressing upon the friends as they approached the entrance to the park.
+Without waiting for an answer, the boys commenced at once brushing the
+dust from their clothes and boots.
+
+“These are Kirsten Piil’s pages,” said Wilhelm, laughing; “they take
+care that people show themselves tolerably smart. But now we are brushed
+enough!” A six-skilling-piece rejoiced these little Savoyards.
+
+The Champs Elysées of the Parisians on a great festival day, when
+the theatres are opened, the swings are flying, trumpets and drums
+overpowering the softer music, and when the whole mass of people, like
+one body, moves itself between the booths and tents, present a companion
+piece to the spectacle which the so-called Park-hill affords. It
+is Naples’ “Largo dei Castello,” with its dancing apes, shrieking
+Bajazzoes, the whole deafening jubilee which has been transported to a
+northern wood. Here also, in the wooden booths, large, tawdry pictures
+show what delicious plays you may enjoy within. The beautiful female
+horse-rider stands upon the wooden balcony and cracks with her whip,
+whilst Harlequin blows the trumpet. Fastened to a perch, large, gay
+parrots nod over the heads of the multitude. Here stands a miner in his
+black costume, and exhibits the interior of a mine. He turns his
+box, and during the music dolls ascend and descend. Another shows the
+splendid fortress of Frederiksteen: “The whole cavalry and infantry who
+have endured an unspeakable deal; here a man without a weapon, there a
+weapon without a man; here a fellow without a bayonet, here a bayonet
+without a fellow; and yet they are merry and contented, for they have
+conquered the victory.” [Note: Literal translation of the real words of
+a showman.] Dutch wafer-cake booths, where the handsome Dutch women,
+in their national costume, wait on the customers, entice old and young.
+Here a telescope, there a rare Danish ox, and so forth. High up, between
+the fresh tree boughs, the swings fly. Are those two lovers floating up
+there? A current of air seizes the girl’s dress and shawl, the young
+man flings his arm round her waist; it is for safety: there is then less
+danger. At the foot of the hill there is cooking and roasting going on;
+it seems a complete gypsy-camp. Under the tree sits the old Jew--this is
+precisely his fiftieth jubilee; through a whole half-century has he sung
+here his comical Doctor’s song. Now that we are reading this he is dead;
+that characteristic countenance is dust, those speaking eyes are closed,
+his song forgotten tones. Oehlenschläger, in his “St. John’s Eve,” has
+preserved his portrait for us, and it will continue to live, as Master
+Jakel (Punch), our Danish Thespis, will continue to live. The play and
+the puppets were transferred from father to son, and every quarter of an
+hour in the day the piece is repeated. Free nature is the place for the
+spectators, and after every representation the director himself goes
+round with the plate.
+
+This was the first spectacle which exhibited itself to the friends.
+Not far off stood a juggler in peasant’s clothes, somewhat advanced in
+years, with a common ugly countenance. His short sleeves were rolled
+up, and exhibited a pair of hairy, muscular arms. The crowd, withdrawing
+from Master Jakel when the plate commenced its wanderings, pushed Otto
+and Wilhelm forward toward the low fence before the juggler’s table.
+
+“Step nearer, my gracious gentlemen, my noble masters!” said the
+juggler, with an accentuation which betrayed his German birth. He opened
+the fence; both friends were fairly pushed in and took their places upon
+the bench, where they, at all events, found themselves out of the crowd.
+
+“Will the noble gentleman hold this goblet?” said the juggler, and
+handed Otto one from his apparatus. Otto glanced at the man: he was
+occupied with his art; but Otto’s cheek and forehead were colored with a
+sudden crimson, which was immediately afterward supplanted by a deathly
+paleness: his hand trembled, but this lasted only a moment; he gathered
+all his strength of mind together and appeared the same as before.
+
+“That was a very good trick!” said Wilhelm.
+
+“Yes, certainly!” answered Otto; but he had seen nothing whatsoever. His
+soul was strangely affected. The man exhibited several other tricks, and
+then approached with the plate. Otto laid down a mark, and then rose to
+depart. The juggler remarked the piece of money: a smile played about
+his mouth; he glanced at Otto, and a strange malicious expression lay in
+the spiteful look which accompanied his loudly spoken thanks: “Mr. Otto
+Thostrup is always so gracious and good!”
+
+“Does he know you?” asked Wilhelm.
+
+“He has the honor!” grinned the juggler, and proceeded.
+
+“He has exhibited his tricks in the Jutland villages, and upon my
+father’s estate,” whispered Otto.
+
+“Therefore an acquaintance of your childhood?” said Wilhelm.
+
+“Of my childhood,” repeated Otto, and they made themselves a way through
+the tumult.
+
+They met with several young noblemen, relatives of Wilhelm, with the
+cousin who had written the verses for the Christmas tree; also several
+friends from the carouse, and the company increased. They intended, like
+many others, to pass the night in the wood, and at midnight drink out of
+Kirsten Piil’s well. “Only with the increasing darkness will it become
+thoroughly merry here,” thought they: but Otto had appointed to be in
+the city again toward evening. “Nothing will come out of that!” said the
+poet; “if you wish to escape, we shall bind you fast to one of us.”
+
+“Then I carry him away with me on my back,” replied Otto; “and still run
+toward the city. What shall I do here at night in the wood?”
+
+“Be merry!” answered Wilhelm. “Come, give us no follies, or I shall grow
+restive.”
+
+Hand-organs, drums, and trumpets, roared against each other; Bajazzo
+growled; a couple of hoarse girls sang and twanged upon the guitar:
+it was comic or affecting, just as one was disposed. The evening
+approached, and now the crowd became greater, the joy more noisy.
+
+“But where is Otto?” inquired Wilhelm. Otto had vanished in the crowd.
+Search after him would help nothing, chance must bring them together
+again. Had he designedly withdrawn himself? no one knew wherefore, no
+one could dream what had passed within his soul. It became evening.
+The highway and the foot-path before the park resembled two moving gay
+ribbons.
+
+In the park itself the crowd perceptibly diminished. It was now the
+high-road which was become the Park-hill. The carriages dashed by each
+other as at a race; the people shouted and sung, if not as melodiously
+as the barcarole of the fisher men below Lido, still with the thorough
+carnival joy of the south. The steamboat moved along the coasts. From
+the gardens surrounding the pretty country-houses arose rockets into the
+blue sky, the Moccoli of the north above the Carnival of the Park.
+
+Wilhelm remained with his young friends in the wood, and there they
+intended, with the stroke of twelve, to drink out of Kirsten’s well.
+Men and women, girls and boys of the lower class, and jovial young men,
+meet, after this manner, to enjoy St. John’s Eve. Still sounded the
+music, the swings were in motion, lamps hung out, whilst the new moon
+shone through the thick tree boughs. Toward midnight the noise died
+away; only a blind peasant still scratched upon the three strings which
+were left on his violin; some servant-girls wandered, arm-in-arm, with
+their sweethearts, and sang. At twelve o’clock all assembled about
+the well, and drank the clear, ice-cold water. From no great distance
+resounded, through the still night, a chorus of four manly voices. It
+was as if the wood gods sang in praise of the nymph of the well.
+
+Upon the hill all was now deserted and quiet. Bajazzo and il Padrone
+slept behind the thin linen partition, under a coverlid. The moon set,
+but the night was clear; no clear, frosty winter night has a snore
+beautiful starry heaven to exhibit. Wilhelm’s party was merry, quickly
+flew the hours away; singing in chorus, the party wandered through the
+wood, and down toward the strand. The day already dawned; a red streak
+along the horizon announced its approach.
+
+Nature sang to them the mythos of the creation of the world, even as she
+had sung it to Moses, who wrote down this voice from God, interpreted
+by Nature. Light banished the darkness, heaven and earth were parted; at
+first birds showed themselves in the clear air; later rose the beasts of
+the field; and, last of all, appeared man.
+
+“The morning is fairly sultry,” said Wilhelm; “the sea resembles a
+mirror: shall we not bathe?”
+
+The proposal was accepted.
+
+“There we have the Naiades already!” said one of the party, as a
+swarm of fishermen’s wives and daughters, with naked feet, their green
+petticoats tucked up, and baskets upon their backs, in which they
+carried fish to Copenhagen, came along the road. The gay young fellows
+cast toward the prettiest glances as warm and glowing as that cast by
+the sun himself, who, at this moment, came forth and shone over the
+Sound, where a splendid three-masted vessel had spread all her sails to
+catch each breeze. The company reached the strand.
+
+“There is some one already swimming out yonder,” said Wilhelm. “He
+stands it bravely. That is an excellent swimmer!”
+
+“Here lie his clothes,” remarked another.
+
+“How!” exclaimed Wilhelm: “this is Otto Thostrup’s coat! But Otto cannot
+swim; I have never been able to persuade him to bathe. Now, we will out
+and make a nearer acquaintance.”
+
+“Yes, certainly it is he,” said another; “he is now showing his skill.”
+
+“Then he must have been all night in the wood,” exclaimed Wilhelm. “Yes,
+indeed, he’s a fine bird. Does he fly us? He shall pay for this. Good
+night in the water, or in any other improper place? To quit friends
+without saying a word does not appertain to the customs of civilized
+people. Since you, therefore, show yourself such a man of nature, we
+will carry away your garments; it cannot annoy you in puris naturalibus
+to seek us out in the wood.”
+
+Otto raised his head, but was silent.
+
+“Now, will you not come forth?” cried Wilhelm. “Only kneeling before
+each of us can you receive the separate articles of your dress, so
+that you may again appear as a civilized European.” And saying this he
+divided the clothes among the others; each one held an article in his
+hand.
+
+“Leave such jokes!” cried Otto with singular earnestness. “Lay down the
+clothes, and retire!”
+
+“Aye, that we will, presently,” returned Wilhelm. “You are a fine
+fellow! You cannot swim, you say. Now, if you should not kneel”--
+
+“Retire!” cried Otto, “or I will swim out into the stream, and not
+return again!”
+
+“That might be original enough,” answered Wilhelm. “Swim forth, or come
+and kneel here!”
+
+“Wilhelm!” cried Otto, with an affecting sigh, and in a moment swam
+forth with quick strokes.
+
+“There he shoots away,” said one of the party. “How he cuts the waves!
+He is a splendid swimmer!”
+
+Smiling they gazed over the expanse; Otto swam even farther out.
+
+“But where will he swim to?” exclaimed, somewhat gravely, one of the
+spectators. “He will certainly lose his strength before he returns the
+same distance.”
+
+They unmoored the boat. Otto swam far out at sea; with quick strokes of
+the oars they rowed after him.
+
+“Where is he now?” cried Wilhelm shortly afterwards; “I see him no
+longer.”
+
+“Yes, there he comes up again,” said another; “but his strength is
+leaving him.”
+
+“On! on!” cried Wilhelm; “he will be drowned if we do not come to his
+help. Only see--he sinks!”
+
+Otto had lost all power; his head disappeared beneath the water. The
+friends had nearly reached him; Wilhelm and several of the best swimmers
+flung from themselves boots and coats, sprang into the sea, and dived
+under the water. A short and noiseless moment passed. One of the
+swimmers appeared above water. “He is dead!” were the first words heard.
+Wilhelm and the three others now appeared with Otto; the boat was near
+oversetting as they brought him into it. Deathly pale lay he there,
+a beautifully formed marble statue, the picture of a young gladiator
+fallen in the arena.
+
+The friends busied themselves about him, rubbing his breast and hands,
+whilst two others rowel toward the land.
+
+“He breathes!” said Wilhelm.
+
+Otto opened his eyes; his lips moved; his gaze became firmer; a deep
+crimson spread itself over his breast and countenance; he raised himself
+and Wilhelm supported him. Suddenly a deep sigh burst from his breast;
+he thrust Wilhelm from him, and, like a madman, seized an article of
+dress to cover himself with; then, with a convulsive trembling of the
+lips, he said to Wilhelm, who held his hand, “I HATE YOU!”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+     --“Art thou Prometheus, pierced with wounds?
+     The Vulture thou that tugs at his heart?”
+                    J. CHR. V. ZEDLITZ’S Todtenkränze.
+
+Not half an hour after this adventure a carriage rolled toward the
+city--a large carriage, containing three seats, but, beside the
+coachman, there was only one person within. This was Otto; his lips were
+pale; death, it is true, had touched them. Alone he dashed forward; his
+last words to Wilhelm had been his only ones.
+
+“He has lost his wits,” said one of the friends.
+
+“It is a fit of madness,” answered another, “such as he was seized with
+at the examination, when he only sent in a scrap of white paper for
+the mathematical examination, because he felt himself offended by the
+inspector.”
+
+“I could quite vex myself about my stupid joke,” said Wilhelm. “I ought
+to have known him better; he is of a strange, unhappy character. Give me
+your hands! We will mention to no one what has occurred; it would only
+give occasion to a deal of gossip, and wound him deeply, and he is an
+excellent, glorious fellow.”
+
+They gave their hands upon it, and drove toward the city.
+
+The same day, toward evening, we again seek Otto. We find him in his
+chamber. Silent, with crossed arms, he stands before a print, a copy of
+Horace Vernet’s representation of Mazeppa, who, naked and bound upon a
+wild horse, rushes through the forest. Wolves thrust forth their heads
+and exhibit their sharp teeth.
+
+“My own life!” sighed Otto. “I also am bound to this careering wild
+horse. And no friend, not a single one! Wilhelm, I could kill thee! I
+could see you all lying in your blood! O, Almighty God!” He pressed his
+hands before his face and threw himself into a seat; his eyes, however,
+again directed themselves toward the picture; it exhibited a moment
+similar to the condition of his own mind.
+
+The door now opened, and Wilhelm stood before him.
+
+“How do you find yourself, Thostrup?” he inquired. “We are still friends
+as before?” and he wished to give his hand. Otto drew back his. “I have
+done nothing which could so much offend you,” said Wilhelm; “the whole
+was merely a joke! Give me your hand, and we will speak no more of the
+affair!”
+
+“To the man whom I hate, I never reach my hand,” replied Otto and his
+lips were white like his cheeks.
+
+“A second time to-day you speak these words to me,” said Wilhelm, and
+the blood rushed to his face. “We were friends, wherefore cannot we be
+so still? Have people slandered me to you? Have they told lies about me?
+Only tell me faithfully, and I shall be able to defend myself.”
+
+“You must fight with me!” said Otto; and his glance became more gloomy.
+Wilhelm was silent; there reigned a momentary stillness. Otto suppressed
+a deep sigh. At length Wilhelm broke silence, and said, with a grave
+and agitated voice,--“I am so thoughtless, I joke so often, and regard
+everything from the ridiculous side. But for all that I have both heart
+and feeling. You must have known how much dearer you were to me than
+most other people. You are so still, although you offend me. At this
+moment your blood is in a fever; not now, but after a few days, you
+yourself will best see which of us is the offended party. You demand
+that I fight with you; I will if your honor requires this satisfaction:
+but you must lay before me an acceptable reason. I will know wherefore
+we risk our lives. Let some days pass by; weigh all with your
+understanding and your heart! It will still depend upon yourself whether
+we remain friends as before. Farewell!” And Wilhelm went.
+
+Each of his words had penetrated to Otto’s heart. A moment he stood
+silent and undecided, then his limbs trembled involuntarily, tears
+streamed from his eyes--it was a convulsive fit of weeping; he pressed
+his head back. “God, how unfortunate I am!” were his only words.
+
+So passed some minutes; he had ceased to weep, and was calm; suddenly he
+sprang up, shot the bolt in the door, drew down the blinds, lighted his
+candle, and once more looked searchingly around: the key-hole was also
+stopped up. He then flung his coat away from him and uncovered the upper
+part of his body.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+     “The towers pass by, even before we perceive them.”
+                     OEHLENSCHLÄER’S Journey to Fünen.
+
+Early the following morning, whilst Wilhelm still slept and dreamed of
+his beloved sisters, well-known footsteps sounded on the stairs, the
+door opened, and Otto stepped into the sleeping-room. Wilhelm opened his
+eyes. Otto was pale; a sleepless night and sorrow of heart had breathed
+upon his brow and eyes.
+
+“Thostrup!” cried Wilhelm, with joyous surprise, and stretched forth
+his hand toward him, but it again sank; Otto seized it, and pressed it
+firmly in his own, adding at the same time, with gravity,--“You have
+humbled me! Is that sufficient satisfaction for you?”
+
+“We are then friends!” said Wilhelm. “Friends must be very indulgent
+toward each other. Yesterday you were a little strange, to-morrow I may
+be so; that is the way in which one retaliates.”
+
+Otto pressed his hand. “We will never speak again of the occurrence of
+yesterday!”
+
+“Never!” repeated Wilhelm, affected by the strange gravity of his
+friend.
+
+“You are a noble, a good creature!” said Otto, and bent over him; his
+lips touched Wilhelm’s forehead.
+
+Wilhelm seized his hand, and gazed frankly into his eye. “You are not
+happy!” exclaimed he. “If I cannot assist you, I can, at least, dear
+Otto, honestly share the grief of a friend!”
+
+“Even on that very point we may never speak!” replied Otto. “Farewell!
+I have determined on travelling home; we have only vacation for a few
+weeks, and I have not been in Jutland since I became a student. Even a
+month’s sojourn there cannot throw me back; I am well prepared for the
+philosophicum.”
+
+“And when will you set out?” asked Wilhelm.
+
+“To-morrow, with the steamboat. It is hot and sultry here in the city:
+my blood becomes heated: it will, also, soon be a year since I saw my
+family.”
+
+“Thostrup!” exclaimed Wilhelm, through whom a thought suddenly flashed,
+“I should also like to see my family; they have written to me to come.
+Listen: make your journey through Funen, and only remain three or four
+days with us. My mother’s carriage shall convey you then to Middelfart.
+Say ‘Yes,’ and we will set out this evening.”
+
+“That cannot be done!” replied Otto; but half an hour later, as both
+sat together over the tea-table, and Wilhelm repeated his wish, Otto
+consented, but certainly more through a feeling of obligation than
+through any pleasure of his own. Toward evening, therefore, they set out
+in the beautiful summer night to travel through Zealand.
+
+Smartly dressed families wandered pleasantly through the city gate
+toward the summer theatre and Fredericksberg. The evening sun shone
+upon the column of Liberty; the beautiful obelisk, around which stand
+Wiedewelt’s statues, one of which still weeps,
+
+             “In white marble clothing,
+                Hand upon the breast,
+                Ever grief-oppressed,
+              Looking down upon the gloomy sea,”
+
+where were closed the eyes of the artist. Was it the remembrance which
+here clouded Otto’s glance, as his eye rested upon the statues as they
+drove past, or did his own soul, perhaps, mirror itself in his eyes?
+
+“Here it is gay and animated!” said Wilhelm, wishing to commence a
+conversation. “Vesterbro is certainly your most brilliant suburb. It
+forms a city by itself,--a little state! There upon the hill lies the
+King’s Castle, and there on the left, between the willows, the poet’s
+dwelling, where old Rahbek lived with his Kamma!”
+
+“Castle and poet’s dwelling!” repeated Otto; “the time will be when they
+will inspire equal interest!”
+
+“That old place will soon be pulled down!” said Wilhelm; “in such a
+beautiful situation, so near the city, a splendid villa will be raised,
+and nothing more remind one of Philemon and Baucis!”
+
+“The old trees in the park will be spared!” said Otto; “in the garden
+the flowers will scent the air, and remind one of Kamma’s flowers.
+Rahbek was no great poet, but he possessed a true poet’s soul, labored
+faithfully in the great vineyard, and loved flowers as Kamma loved
+them.”
+
+The friends hail left Fredericksberg behind them. The white walls of the
+castle glanced through the green boughs; behind Söndermark, the large,
+wealthy village stretched itself out. The sun had set before they
+reached the Dam-house, where the wild swans, coming from the ocean,
+build in the fresh water fake. This is the last point of beauty; nothing
+but lonely fields, with here and there a cairn, extend to the horizon.
+
+The clear summer’s night attracted their gaze upward; the postilion blew
+his horn, and the carriage rolled toward the town of Roeskilde, the St.
+Denis of Denmark, where kings turn to dust; where Hroar’s spring still
+flows, and its waters mingle with those of Issefjords.
+
+They drove to a public-house to change horses. A young girl conducted
+the friends into the public room; she lighted the way for them. Her
+slender figure and her floating gait drew Wilhelm’s attention toward
+her; his hand touched her shoulder, she sprang aside and fixed her
+beautiful grave eyes upon him; but their expression became milder, she
+smiled and colored at the same time.
+
+“You are the sister of little Jonas!” cried Wilhelm, recognizing the
+young girl he had seen with him at Christmas.
+
+“I must also thank you,” said she, “for your kindness toward the poor
+boy!” She quickly placed the lights on the table, and left the room with
+a gentle glance.
+
+“She is beautiful, very beautiful!” exclaimed Wilhelm. “That was really
+quite a pleasant meeting.”
+
+“Is it then you, Herr Baron, who honor me thus?” cried the host,
+stepping in--an elderly man with a jovial countenance. “Yes, the Baron
+will doubtless visit his dear relations in hunch? It is now some little
+time since you were there.”
+
+“This is our host!” said Wilhelm to Otto. “He and his wife were born
+upon my parent’s estate.”
+
+“Yes,” said the host, “in my youth I have shot many a snipe and wild
+duck with the Herr Baron’s father. But Eva should spread the table; the
+gentlemen will certainly take supper, and a glass of good punch the Herr
+Baron will certainly not despise, if he is like his blessed father.”
+
+The young girl spread the cloth in an adjoining room.
+
+“She is pretty!” Wilhelm whispered to the old man.
+
+“And just as pious and innocent as she is pretty!” returned he; “and
+that is saying much, as she is a poor girl, and from Copenhagen. She is
+of good service to us, and my wife says Eva shall not leave us until she
+is well married.”
+
+Wilhelm invited the host to join them at a glass. The old man became
+more animated, and now confided to him, half mysteriously, what made Eva
+so honorable in the eyes of his wife, and what was, indeed, really very
+nice of her. “My old woman,” said he, “was in Copenhagen, in search of a
+waiting-girl. Yes, there are enough to be had, and they are fine girls;
+but mother has her own thoughts and opinions: she has good eyes--that
+she has! Now, there came many, and among others Eva; but, good Lord! she
+was very poorly clad, and she looked feeble and weak, and what service
+could one get out of her! But she had a good countenance, and the poor
+girl wept and besought mother to take her, for she was not comfortable
+at home, and would not remain at Copenhagen. Now, mother knows how
+to make use of her words: it is unfortunate that she is not at home
+to-night; how pleased she would have been to see the Herr Baron! Yes,
+what I would say is, she so twisted her words about, that Eva confessed
+to her why she wished to leave home. You see the girl is petty; and the
+young gallant gentlemen of Copenhagen had remarked her smooth face,--and
+not alone the young, but the old ones also! So an old gentleman--I could
+easily name him, but that has nothing to do with the affair--a very
+distinguished man in the city, who has, besides, a wife and children,
+had said all sorts of things to her parents; and, as eight hundred
+dollars is a deal of money to poor people, one can excuse them: but
+Eva wept, and said she would rather spring into the castle-ditch. They
+represented all sorts of things to the poor girl; she heard of the
+service out here with us. She wept, kissed my old woman’s hand, and thus
+came to us; and since then we have had a deal of service from Eva, and
+joy also!”
+
+Some minutes after Eva stepped in, Otto’s eye rested with a melancholy
+expression upon the beautiful form: never had he before so gazed upon a
+woman. Her countenance was extraordinarily fine, her nose and forehead
+nobly formed, the eyebrows dark, and in the dark-blue eyes lay something
+pensive, yet happy: one might employ the Homeric expression, “smiling
+through tears,” to describe this look. She announced that the carriage
+was ready.
+
+A keen observer would soon have remarked what a change the host’s
+relation had worked in the two friends. Wilhelm was no longer so free
+toward poor Eva. Otto, on the contrary, approached her more,--and at
+their leave-taking they offered her a greater present than they would
+otherwise have given.
+
+She stood with Otto at the door, and assisted him on with his travelling
+cloak.
+
+“Preserve your heart pure!” said he, gravely; “that is more than
+beauty!”
+
+The young girl blushed, and gazed at him with astonishment; in such a
+manner had no one of his age ever before spoken to her.
+
+“The poor girl!” said Otto; “but I think she is come to good people.”
+
+“She has a strange glance!” said Wilhelm. “Do you know that there
+is really a certain affinity between you and her? It was to me quite
+striking.”
+
+“That is a compliment which I cannot accept,” returned Otto, smiling.
+“Yet, perhaps, I might resemble her.”
+
+It was not yet three o’clock when the friends reached Ringsted.
+
+“I have never before been so far in Zealand,” said Otto.
+
+“Shall I be your guide?” returned Wilhelm. “Ringsted has a street and an
+inn, and one is very badly served there, as you will soon both see and
+experience yourself. Meanwhile, one can think of Hagbarth and Signe;
+not far from here, at Sigersted, he hung his mantle on the oak, and
+Signelil’s abode stood in flames. Now only remain fields and meadows, a
+cairn, and the old popular song. Then we rush past the friendly Soroe,
+that mirrors itself with the wood in the lake, which forms itself
+into so many bays; but we do not see much of it. We have here another
+romantic spot, an old castle converted into a church, high up on the
+hill near the lake, and close to it the dismal place of execution.
+We then reach Slagelse, an animated little town; with the Antvorskov
+convent, the poet Frankenau’s grave, and a Latin school, celebrated on
+account of its poets. It was there Baggesen and Ingemann learned their
+Latin. When I once questioned the hostess regarding the lions of the
+town, she would only acknowledge two,--Bastholm’s library, and the
+English fire-engine. The curtain in the theatre represents an alley
+with a fountain, the jets of which are painted as if spouting out of
+the prompter’s box; or is this, perhaps, the English fire-engine? I
+know not. The scene-decoration for towns represents the market-place of
+Slagelse itself, so that the pieces thus acquire a home-feeling. This is
+the modern history of the little town; and, with regard to its older
+and romantic history, learn that the holy Anders was preacher here! Yes,
+indeed, that was a man! He has been also sung of by our first poets. We
+end with Korsöer, where Baggesen was born and Birckner lies buried. In
+the more modern history of this town, King Solomon and Jörgen the hatter
+play a considerable rôle. Besides this, I know that the town is said
+once to have possessed a private theatre; but this soon was done for,
+and the decorations were sold; a miller bought them, and patched his
+windmill sails with them. Upon one sail was a piece of a wood, upon
+another a shred of a room, or a street; and so they rushed round one
+after the other. Perhaps this is mere slander, for I have my information
+from Slagelse; and neighboring towns never speak well of each other.”
+
+In this manner Wilhelm gossiped on, and the friends travelled over the
+way he had described. Slagelse, and the peasant village of Landsgrav,
+they had already behind them, when Wilhelm ordered the coachman to
+diverge from the high-road toward the right.
+
+“Where will you take us to?” asked Otto.
+
+“I will give you a pleasure!” returned Wilhelm. “We shall reach the
+weariful Korsöer early enough: the steamboat leaves at ten, and it is
+not yet seven. You shall be surprised--I know well that you are half a
+Catholic; I will conduct you where you may believe yourself carried back
+several centuries, and may imagine yourself in a Catholic country. That
+is right pleasant, is it not?”
+
+Otto smiled. The friends alighted from the coach and walked over a
+corn-field. They found themselves upon a hill, the whole landscape
+spread itself out before them--they saw the Belt, with Sprogöe and
+Funen. The surrounding country was certainly flat, but the variety of
+greens, the near meadow, the dark stretch of wood in the neighborhood
+of Korsöer, the bay itself, and all this seen in a warm morning light,
+produced effect. The friends diverged to the right; and before them,
+upon a hill, stood a large wooden cross, with the figure of the
+Crucified One. Above the cross was built a small roof to carry off the
+rain,--such as one may yet find in Bavaria. The figure of the Redeemer
+was of wood, painted with strong, tawdry colors; a withered garland of
+corn-flowers still hung around his bowed head.
+
+“It is extraordinary,” said Otto, “to find in our time, in the year
+1830, such a Catholic symbol in Lutheran Denmark! And yet--yes, you will
+laugh at me, but I find it lovely: it affects me, moves me to worship.”
+
+“That tawdry, tasteless figure!” cried Wilhelm. “Only see how coarse!
+the hair is covered with tar to keep off the rain! The peasants here
+have their peculiar superstition. If they allow the cross to fall they
+have no luck with their lands. It was upon this hill that the holy
+Anders, the celebrated preacher of Slagelse, awoke. He visited the
+sepulchre of Christ, but through praying there too long the ship sailed
+without him, and he was forced to stay behind. Then came a man and took
+him upon his horse, and they would ride to Joppa: the holy Anders fell
+asleep; but when he awoke he lay here, and heard the bells ringing in
+Slagelse. Upon a foal, only one night old, he rode round the extensive
+city lands, whilst King Waldemar lay in his bath. He could hang his
+glove upon the beams of the sun. This hill, where he awoke, was called
+Rest-hill; and the cross, with the figure of the Redeemer erected
+upon it, which still stands here, reminds us of the legend of the holy
+Anders.”
+
+A little peasant girl at this moment mounted the hill, but paused when
+she perceived the strangers.
+
+“Don’t be afraid, my child!” said Wilhelm. “What hast thou there? a
+garland! shall it hang here upon the cross? Only come, we will help
+thee.”
+
+“It should hang over our Lord,” said the little one, holding, in an
+embarrassed manner, the garland of pretty blue cornflowers in her hand.
+Otto took the garland, and hung it up in place of the faded one.
+
+“That was our morning adventure!” said Wilhelm, and soon they were
+rolling in the deep sand toward Korsöer, toward the hill where the poet
+watched the sun and moon sink into the sea, and wished that he had wings
+that he might catch them.
+
+Melancholy and silent lies the town on the flat coast, the old castle
+turned into a farm-house--high grass grows upon the walls. In a storm,
+when the wind blows against the city, the surf beats against the
+outermost houses. High upon the church stands a telegraph; the black
+wooden plates resemble mourning-flags hung above the sinking town. Here
+is nothing for the stranger to see, nothing except a grave--that of the
+thinker Birckner. The friends drove to the public-house on the
+strand. No human being met them in the street except a boy, who rung a
+hand-bell.
+
+“That calls to church,” said Wilhelm. “Because there are no bells in the
+tower, they have here such a wandering bell-ringer as this. Holla! there
+lies the inn!”
+
+“Baron Wilhelm!” cried a strong voice, and a man in a green jacket with
+pockets in the breast, the mighty riding-boots splashed above the tops,
+and with whip in hand, approached them, pulled his horse-hair cap, and
+extended his hand to Wilhelm.
+
+“The Kammerjunker from Funen!” said Wilhelm; “my mother’s neighbor, one
+of the most industrious and rich noblemen in all Funen.”
+
+“You will come one of the first days to me!” said the Kammerjunker; “you
+shall try my Russian steam-bath: I have erected one upon my estate. All
+who visit me, ladies and gentlemen without any exception, must try it!”
+
+“And do the cherry-trees bear well this year?” asked Wilhelm.
+
+“No, no,” answered the Kammerjunker, “they are good for nothing; but
+the apples are good! All the old trees in the hill-garden stand in full
+splendor: I’ve brought them into condition! Two years ago there was not,
+on all the trees together, a bushel of fruit. But I had all the horses
+which had to be bled led under the trees, and had the warm blood
+sprinkled upon the roots; this happened several times, and it has been a
+real inoculation for life.”
+
+“The wind is certainly favorable,” said Otto, whom this conversation
+began to weary.
+
+“No, just the contrary!” said the Kammerjunker. “The vane upon the
+little house yonder lies; it points always to Nyborg, always shows a
+good wind for us when we want to leave. In Nyborg is also a vane, which
+stands even as firmly as this, and prates to the folk there of good
+wind. I regard both vanes as a kind of guide-post, which merely says,
+There goes the way! No, if we had had a wind I should have gone with the
+boat, and not with the little splashing thing, as the seamen call the
+steamboat. The carriage is doubtless awaiting the young gentleman in
+Nyborg?” pursued he. “I will join company with you--my brown horse
+waits for me at Schalburg. You should see him! He has sinews like steel
+springs, and legs like a dancing-master! He is my own brown.”
+
+“No one knows that we are coming,” answered Wilhelm. “We shall,
+therefore, take a carriage from Nyborg.”
+
+“We will join company,” said the Kammerjunker, “and then you will pay me
+a visit with the young gentleman. You shall sleep in the black chamber!
+Yes, you will give me the pleasure?” said he to Otto. “If you are a
+lover of the antique, my estate will afford you pleasure; you find there
+moats, towers, guard-rooms, ghosts, and hobgoblins, such as belong to an
+old estate. The black chamber! after all, it is not quite secure there;
+is it, Herr Baron?”
+
+“No, the deuce remain a night with you!” said Wilhelm; “one gets to bed
+late, and even then it is not permitted one to close one’s eyes. You,
+your sister, and the Mamsell,--yes, you are a pretty clover-leaf!
+Yes, Thostrup, you cannot believe what pranks are hatched upon the
+Kammerjunker’s estate! One must be prepared for it! It is said to be
+haunted, but if the dead will not take that trouble the living do. The
+Kammerjunker is in the plot with his women-folk. They sewed me lately
+live cockchafers into my pillow, and they crawled and scrambled about
+till I did not know what the deuce it could be! A live cock they had
+also placed under my bed, and just in the morning, when I would go to
+sleep, the creature began to crow!”
+
+“The women-folk had done that,” said the Kammerjunker. “Did they not
+the very same night fasten a door-bell to the head of my bed? I never
+thought of it; fat Laender slept in the same room, and had fastened
+along the wall a string to the bell. I awoke with the ringing. ‘What the
+devil is that bell?’ said I, and glanced about the room, for I could not
+conceive what it was. ‘Bell?’ asked Laender--‘there is no bell here!’
+The ringing also ceased. I thought I must have dreamed, or that our
+merry evening must have left some buzzing in my ears. Again it began to
+ring. Laender looked so innocent all the time, I could not comprehend
+myself; I thought it must be my imagination. I became quite
+fainthearted, I denied my own hearing, and said, ‘No, I have only
+dreamed!’ and commenced reckoning and counting to employ my mind; but
+that did no good, and it nearly drove me mad! I sprang out of bed, and
+then I found out the trick: but how Laender grinned! he was swollen and
+red in the face with his mirth.”
+
+“Do you play such jokes on your estate?” inquired Otto, addressing
+himself to Wilhelm.
+
+“No, not such refined ones!” returned the Kammerjunker; “perhaps a piece
+of wood, or a silly mask, is laid in your bed. Miss Sophie gives us
+other clever things for amusement--tableaux and the magic-lantern. I was
+once of the party. Yes, what was it I represented? Ah, I played, Heaven
+help me! King Cyrus: had a paper crown on my head, and Miss Sophie’s
+cloak about me, the wrong side turned outward, for it is lined with
+sable. I looked like Satan!”
+
+The steamboat passengers were summoned on board, the company went down
+to the vessel, and soon it was cutting through the waves of the Belt.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+     “See now, Fünen signifieth _fine_,
+       And much in that word lies;
+     For Fünen is the garden fine,
+       Where Denmark glads its eyes.”
+
+The nakedness which the last aspect of Zealand presents occasions one
+to be doubly struck by the affluent abundance and luxuriance with which
+Funen steps forth. Green woods, rich corn-fields, and, wherever the eye
+rests, noblemen’s seats and churches. Nyborg itself appears a lively
+capital in comparison with the still melancholy Korsöer. One now
+perceives people upon the great bridge of boats, on the ramparts, and
+in the broad streets with their high houses; one sees soldiers, hears
+music, and, what is especially animating upon a journey, one comes to
+an excellent inn. The drive out through the arched gateway is an
+astonishment; it is the same length and breadth as one of the gates of
+Copenhagen. Villages and peasants’ houses here assume a more well-to-do
+aspect than in Zealand, where one often on the way-side imagines one
+sees a manure-heap heaped upon four poles, which upon nearer examination
+one finds is the abode of a family. On the highroads in Funen one
+perceives only clean houses; the window-frames are painted; before the
+doors are little flower-gardens, and wherever flowers are grown,
+as Bulwer strikingly remarks, the peasant is in a higher state of
+civilization; he thinks of the beautiful. In the ditches along the
+highway one sees lilac with their white and lilac flowers. Nature
+herself has here adorned the country with a multitude of wild poppies,
+which for splendor of color might vie with the most admired and
+beautiful in a botanic garden. Especially in the neighborhood of Nyborg
+do they grow in exceeding abundance.
+
+“What a dazzling color!” exclaimed Otto, as the friends rolled past
+these beautiful red flowers.
+
+“That is a proud color!” said the Kammerjunker, who rode near them upon
+his brown steed, “a proud color! but they are manured with the blood
+of Andalusian horses. It was just here where the battle between these
+beasts took place. You know that sit the year 1808 the Spaniards lay
+in Funen; the English ships were cruising about in the Belt, and Romana
+fled with his whole army on board, but they could net take their horses
+with them. These were the most splendid Andalusian creatures that eyes
+ever saw. The Spaniards took off their bridles, and left them here to
+scamper about the fields like wild horses. The horses of Nyborg chanced
+also to graze here, and as soon as the Andalusian steeds became aware of
+ours they arranged themselves in a row, and fell upon the Danish horses:
+that was a combat! At length they fell upon each other, and fought until
+they fell bleeding to earth. Whilst still a boy I saw little skull of
+one of these beasts. This is the last adventure left us from the visit
+of the Spaniards to Denmark. In the village through which we shall
+now pass are some outer remembrances. Remark the young lads and
+lasses,--they are of a darker complexion than the inhabitants of other
+Funen valleys; that is Spanish blood, it is said. It was in this village
+that the story took its rise of the preacher’s servant-girl, who wept
+and was so inconsolable at the departure of the Spaniards. But not on
+account of her bridegroom did she weep,--not over her own condition. The
+preacher consoled her, and then she said she only wept to think that
+if the innocent child resembled its father it certainly would speak
+Spanish, and then not a soul would understand it! Yes, such histories as
+this have we in Funen!” said he laughingly to Otto.
+
+With similar relations, and some agricultural observations, according as
+they were called forth by surrounding objects, did our excellent landed
+proprietor amuse our young gentlemen. They were already distant several
+miles from Nyborg, when he suddenly broke off in the midst of a very
+interesting discourse upon a characteristic of a true inhabitant of
+Funen, which is, that whenever he passes a field of buckwheat he moves
+his mouth as if chewing, and made Wilhelm observe a Viennese carriage,
+which approached them by a neighboring road. To judge from the coachman
+and the horses, it must be the family from the hall.
+
+This was the case--they returned from paying a visit. Where the roads
+crossed they met each other. Otto immediately recognized Miss Sophie,
+and near to her sat an elderly lady, with a gentle, good-humored
+countenance; this was the mother. Now there was surprise and joy. Sophie
+blushed--this blush could not have reference to the brother; was it
+then the Kammerjunker? No: that appeared impossible! therefore, it must
+concern Otto. The mother extended her hand to him with a welcome, whilst
+at the same time she invited the Kammerjunker to spend the afternoon
+with them. There lay, in the manner with which she proposed this, so
+much attention and consideration, that Otto felt the man was here held
+in greater esteem, and was otherwise regarded than he, during their
+short acquaintance, had imagined possible.
+
+Sophie added, smiling, “You must stay!” To which the Kammerjunker
+replied with an apology for his travelling-dress.
+
+“We are not strangers!” said the mother; “it is only a family meal!
+You see the usual circle. You, Mr. Thostrup,” added she, with a most
+obliging manner, “I know so well from Wilhelm’s letters, that we are no
+strangers. The gentlemen are acquainted with each other!”
+
+“I accept the invitation,” said the Kammerjunker, “and I will now
+show you into what a gallop I can put my steed! It is Carl Rise,
+[Translator’s Note: Name of one of the heroes in Waldemar the Conqueror,
+a romance by Ingemann.] as you see, young lady--you called him so
+yourself!”
+
+“Yes, ride forward,” said Sophie, smiling. “By that means you will
+oblige my sister. She might otherwise be quite frightened, did she
+see such a mighty caravan approach the house, did she had not properly
+prepared the dinner-table.”
+
+“As my gracious young lady commands!” said the rider, and sprang
+forward.
+
+The country became more woody; the road passed various small lakes,
+almost overgrown with water-lilies and shaded by old trees; the
+old-fashioned, indented gable-ends of the hall now peeped forth. They
+drove through an avenue of wild chestnut-trees; the stone pavement here
+threatened to smash the carriage axles. On the right lay the forge,
+through the open door of which flew the sparks. A little girl, with bare
+feet, opened a gate, and they now found themselves in a large open space
+before the red-painted out-buildings. The ground was covered with straw,
+and all the cows of the farm were collected here for milking. Here they
+were obliged to drive, step by step, until by the gateway they reached
+the larger courtyard, which was inclosed by the barns and the principal
+building itself. This was surrounded by broad ditches, almost grown over
+with reeds. Over a solid bridge, resting upon pillars of masonry, and
+through a principal wing which bore the armorial bearings and initials
+of the old possessor, they arrived in the innermost court, which was
+shut in by three wings, the antique one already mentioned, and two
+others: the fourth side was inclosed by a low trellis-work which
+adjoined the garden, where the canals lost themselves in a small lake.
+
+“That is an interesting old court!” exclaimed Otto.
+
+“O, that is not to be compared with the Kammerjunker’s!” returned
+Wilhelm: “you should first see his!”
+
+“Yes, you must come over some of these days,” said the Kammerjunker.
+“Silence, Fingal! Silence, Valdine!” cried he to the barking dogs. A
+couple of turkey-cocks spread their feathers out, and gobbled with all
+their might. Men and women servants stood at the door: that was their
+reception!
+
+“Thostrup will have the red room, will he not?” said Wilhelm, and the
+friends ascended the stairs together.
+
+A pale young girl, not free from freckles, but with eyes full of soul,
+hastened toward them; this was Wilhelm’s youngest sister. She pressed
+her brother to her breast, and took Otto’s hand with kindness. She is
+not beautiful! was the first impression she made upon him. His chamber
+was vaulted, and the walls painted in the style of Gobelin tapestry;
+they represented the whole of Olympus. On the left was an old
+fire-place, with decorations and a gilt inscription; on the right
+stood an antiquated canopy-bed, with red damask hangings. The view was
+confined to the moat and the interior court. But a few minutes and Otto
+and Wilhelm were summoned to table. A long gallery through two wings of
+the hall, on one side windows, on the other entrances to the rooms,
+led to the dining-room. The whole long passage was a picture-gallery.
+Portraits the size of life, representing noble knights and ladies
+shining forth in red powdered periwigs, children adorned like their
+elders, with tulips in their hands, and great hounds by their sides,
+together with some historical pieces, decorated the walls.
+
+“Have we no garland on the table?” asked Sophie, as she entered the
+dining-room with the others.
+
+“Only a weak attempt to imitate my sister!” said Louise, smiling.
+
+“But there is not a single flower in the garland! What economy! And yet
+it is sweet!”
+
+“How tasteful!” exclaimed Otto, examining the garland which Louise had
+laid.
+
+All kinds of green leaves, with their innumerable shades, a few yellow
+linden-leaves, and some from the copper-beech, formed, through their
+varied forms and colors, a tasteful garland upon the white table-cloth.
+
+“You receive a thistle and a withered leaf!” whispered Wilhelm, as Otto
+seated himself.
+
+“But yet the most beautiful!” answered he. “The copper beech contrasts
+so sweetly with the whitish-green thistle and the yellow leaf.”
+
+“My sister Sophie,” said Louise, “lays us each day a different
+garland;--it is such a pretty decoration! If she is not here we get
+none; that would have been the case to-day, but when I learned that
+Wilhelm was coming, and that we,” she added, with a friendly glance,
+“should have two other guests, I in great haste, made an attempt, and”--
+
+“And wished to show how nicely it could be made without robbing your
+flowers!” interrupted Sophie, laughing. “In reality, I am very cruel! I
+cut all the heads of her favorites off. To-morrow, as a parody upon her
+garland of to-day, will I make one of green cabbage and pea-shells!”
+
+“Madeira or port wine?” asked the Kammerjunker, and led the conversation
+from flowers to articles of food and drink.
+
+“One feels one’s self comfortable here at the hall! Miss Louise cares
+for the body, and Miss Sophie for the soul!”
+
+“And mamma bestows a good cup of coffee,” said the mother; “you must
+also praise me a little!”
+
+“I give music after dinner!” cried Wilhelm; “and thus the whole family
+will have shown their activity!”
+
+“But no voluntaries!” said the Kammerjunker; “no voluntaries, dear
+friend! No, a brisk song, so that one can hear what it is! but none
+of your artificial things!” A right proper blow on the shoulders was
+intended to soften his expression.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+     “She sees if the cloth is clean and white
+     --If the bed has pillows and sheets;
+     If the candle fits in the candlestick....
+
+     “Modest she is, although you know
+       She makes the whole of the place;
+     And in she slips in the evening glow,
+       To light the room with her merry face “--OEHLENSCHLÄGER
+
+A quiet, busy house-fairy was Louise; the beautiful, fragrant flowers
+were her favorites. Good-humoredly she smiled at the raillery of her
+sister, quietly listened to each thoughtless jest; but if any one, in
+joke, touched upon what was holy to her soul, she was aroused from her
+calmness and attained a certain eloquence.
+
+We will now become more nearly acquainted with the sisters, and on this
+account pass over to one of the following days.
+
+An abode together of a week, at a country-seat, will often bring about
+a greater intimacy than if, throughout a whole winter, people had met
+in large companies in cities. Otto soon felt himself at home; he was
+treated as a near relative. Wilhelm related all he knew of the beautiful
+Eva, and Sophie discovered that she was a romantic character. Mamma
+pitied the poor child, and Louise wished she had her on the estate: an
+inn was, after all, no proper place for a respectable girl. They then
+spoke of the winter enjoyments in Copenhagen, of art, and the theatre.
+Louise could not speak much with them upon these subjects, although
+she had seen one play, “Dyveke:” the amiable nature of the actress had
+spoken deeply to her heart.
+
+Several days had passed; the sky was gray; the young people assembled
+round the table; they were at no loss for a subject of conversation. All
+those who have brothers or sons who study well, have remarked how much
+they are especially fascinated by the lectures on natural philosophy and
+astronomy; the world, as it were, expands itself before the intellectual
+eye. We know that the friends, during the past summer, had participated
+in these lectures, and, like the greater number, were full of
+these subjects, from the contemplation of a drop of water, with its
+innumerable animalculae, to the distance and magnitude of stars and
+planets.
+
+To most of us these are well-known doctrines; to the ladies, also, this
+was nothing entirely new: nevertheless, it interested them; perhaps
+partly owing to Otto’s beautiful eloquence. The gray, rainy weather led
+the conversation to the physical explanation of the origin of our globe,
+as the friends, from Orsted’s lectures, conceived it to have been.
+
+“The Northern and Grecian myths agree also with it!” sail Otto. “We must
+imagine, that in infinite space there floated an eternal, unending mist,
+in which lay a power of attraction. The mist condensed itself now to
+one drop--our globe was one enormous egg-shaped drop; light and warmth
+operated upon this huge world egg, and hatched, not alone ONE creature,
+but millions. These must die and give way to new ones, but their corpses
+fell as dust to the centre: this grew; the water itself condensed, and
+soon arose a point above the expanse of ocean. The warmth of the sun
+developed moss and plants; fresh islands presented themselves;
+for centuries did a more powerful development and improvement show
+themselves, until the perfection was attained which we now perceive!”
+
+“But the Bible does not teach us thus!” said Louise.
+
+“Moses invented his account of the creation,” answered Otto; “we keep to
+Nature, who has greater revelations than man.”
+
+“But the Bible is to you a holy book?” asked Louise, and colored.
+
+“A venerable book!” returned Otto. “It contains the profoundest
+doctrines, the most interesting histories, but also much which belongs
+not at all to a holy book.”
+
+“How can you say such things?” exclaimed Louise.
+
+“Do not touch upon religion in her presence,” said Sophie; “she is a
+pious soul, and believes, without desiring to know wherefore.”
+
+“Yes,” said Wilhelm, “this winter she became quite angry, and, as I
+believe, for the first time angry with me, because I maintained that
+Christ was a man.”
+
+“Wilhelm!” interrupted the young girl, “do not speak of that; I feel
+myself unhappy at this thought; I can and will not see the Holy brought
+down to my level, and to that of every-day life. It lies in my nature
+that I commit a sin if I think otherwise than I have learned and than my
+heart allows me. It is profane, and if you speak longer of religion in
+this strain I shall leave the room.”
+
+At this moment the mother entered. “The festival has commenced,” said
+she; “I have been forced to give my brightest silver skilling. Does Mr.
+Thostrup know the old custom which is observed here in the country, when
+beer is brewed for the mowing-feast?”
+
+A piercing cry, as from a horde of savages, at this moment reached the
+ears of the party.
+
+The friends descended.
+
+In the middle of the brew-house stood a tub, around which danced all the
+female servants of the estate, from the dairymaids down to the girl
+who tended the swine; their iron-bound wooden shoes dashed against the
+uneven flag-stones. The greater number of the dancers were without their
+jackets, but with their long chemise-sleeves and narrow bodices. Some
+screamed, others laughed, the whole was blended together in a howl,
+whilst they danced hand in hand around the tub in which the beer should
+be brewed. The brewing-maid now flung into it the silver skilling, upon
+which the girls, like wild Maenades, tore off each other’s caps, and
+with bacchanalian wildness whirled round the tub. By this means
+should the beer become stronger, and work more intoxicatingly at the
+approaching mowing-feast.
+
+Among the girls, one especially distinguished herself by her Strong
+frame of body, and her long black hair, which, now that her cap was torn
+off, hung in disorder over her red face. The dark eyebrows were grown
+together. All seemed to rage most violently within her, and in truth she
+assumed something wild, nay almost brutal. Both arms she raised high in
+the air, and with outstretched fingers she whirled around.
+
+“That is disgusting!” whispered Otto: “they all look like crazy people.”
+
+Wilhelm laughed at it. The wild merriment was lost in a joyous burst of
+laughter. The girl with the grown-together eyebrows let fall her arms;
+but still there lay in her glance that wild expression, which the loose
+hair and uncovered shoulders made still more striking. Either one of the
+others had had the misfortune to scratch her lip, or else she herself
+had bitten it in bacchanalian wildness until it bled: she accidentally
+glanced toward the open door where stood the friends. Otto’s countenance
+became clouded, as was ever the case when anything unpleasant affected
+him. She seemed to guess his thoughts, and laughed aloud. Otto stepped
+aside; it was as though he in anticipation felt the shadow which this
+form would one day cast across his life.
+
+When he and Wilhelm immediately afterward returned to Sophie and Louise,
+he related the unpleasant impression which the girl had made upon him.
+
+“O, that is my Meg Merrilies!” exclaimed Sophie. “Yes, spite of her
+youth, do you not find that she has something of Sir Walter Scott’s
+witch about her? When she grows older, she will be excellent. She has
+the appearance of being thirty, whereas she is said not to be more than
+twenty years old: she is a true giantess.”
+
+“The poor thing!” said Louise; “every one judges from the exterior. All
+who are around her hate her, I believe, because her eyebrows are grown
+together, and that is said to be a sign that she is a nightmare:
+
+     [Note: This superstition of the people is mentioned in
+     Thieles’s Danish traditions: “When a girl at midnight
+     stretches between four sticks the membrane in which the foal
+     lies when it is born, and then creeps naked through it, she
+     will bear her child without pains; but all the boys she
+     conceives will become were-wolves, and all the girls
+     nightmares. You will know them in the daytime by their
+     eyebrows grown together over the nose. In the night she
+     creeps in through the key-hole, and places herself upon the
+     sleeper’s bosom. The same superstition is also found in
+     German Grimm speaks thus about it: If you say to the
+     nightmare,--
+
+         Old hag, come to-morrow,
+         And I from you will borrow,
+
+     it retreats directly, and comes the next morning in the
+     shape of a man to borrow something.”]
+
+they are angry with her, and how could one expect, from the class to
+which she belongs, that she should return scorn with kindness? She is
+become savage, that she may not feel their neglect. In a few days, when
+we have the mowing-feast, you yourself will see how every girl gets a
+partner; but poor Sidsel may adorn herself as much as she likes, she
+still stands alone. It is truly hard to be born such a being!”
+
+“The unfortunate girl!” sighed Otto.
+
+“O, she does not feel it!” said Wilhelm: “she cannot feel it; for that
+she is too rude, too much of an animal.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+     “Were the pease not tender, and the vegetables fresh and
+     sweet as sugar What was the matter with the hams, the smoked
+     goose-breasts, and the herrings? What with the roasted lamb,
+     and the refreshing red-sprinkled head-lettuce? Was not the
+     vinegar sharp, and the nut-oil balmy? Was not the butter as
+     sweet as a nut, the red radishes tender? What?”--VOSS’S
+     Louise.
+
+“Mr. Thostrup shall see the Kammerjunker’s old country-seat; to-morrow
+we must go over.”
+
+Louise could not go with them, a hundred small duties chained her to the
+house. The most important of them all was ironing.
+
+“But that the house-maid can do,” said Sophie. “Do come with us.”
+
+“When thou seest thy linen nice and neat in thy drawers,” returned
+Louise, “thou wilt certainly pardon me for remaining at home.”
+
+“Yes, thou art a glorious girl!” said Sophie; “thou dost deserve to have
+been known by Jean Paul, and made immortal in one of his books. Thou
+dost deserve the good fortune of being sung of by such a poet.”
+
+“Dost thou call it good fortune,” answered the sister, “when the whole
+world directs its attention to one person?--that must be painful!
+unhappy! No, it is much better not to be remarked at all. Take my
+greetings with you, and ask for my Claudius back; they have had it now a
+whole half year.”
+
+“There, they have kept half my sister’s library,” said Sophie, smiling
+to Otto. “You must know she has only two books: Mynster’s Sermons, and
+the ‘Wandsbecker Boten.’”
+
+The carriage rolled away through the chestnut avenue. “There upon the
+hill, close by the wood, did I act the elf-maiden,” said Sophie. “I was
+not yet confirmed; there were strangers staying with us at the hall,
+and we wandered in the beautiful moonlight through the wood. Two of my
+friends and I hastened toward the hill, took hold of each other’s hands
+and danced in a ring. The day after, two persons of the congregation
+told the preacher about three elfin-maidens, clad in white, who had
+danced upon the hill in the moonlight. The elfin-maidens were we; but
+that our backs were hollow as baking-troughs, and that the hill glanced
+like silver, was their own invention.”
+
+“And in this oak,” exclaimed Wilhelm, “when a boy, I killed the first
+bird which fell from my shot. It was a crow, and was very honorably
+interred.”
+
+“Yes, beneath my sister’s weeping-willow,” said Sophie. “We buried it
+in an old chapeaubras, adorned with white bows; the grave was decorated
+with peony-leaves and yellow lilies. Wilhelm, who was then a big boy,
+made an oration, and Louise strewed flowers.”
+
+“You were little fools!” said the mother. “But see, who comes here?”
+
+“O, my little Dickie, my dwarf of Kenilworth!” exclaimed Sophie, as a
+little hump-backed man, with thin legs and an old face, approached. He
+was dressed as a peasant, and bore upon his back a little knapsack of
+red calfskin, the hairy side turned outward: in this he carried his
+violin.
+
+“Is he called Dickie?” asked Otto.
+
+“No, that is only a joke of Sophie’s,” pursued Wilhelm; “she must always
+make suitable people romantic. He is called commonly ‘Musikanti.’ The
+inhabitant of Funen Italianizes most names; otherwise he is called Peter
+Cripple.”
+
+“You will hear his tones,” said Sophie. “The day after to-morrow, when
+we have the mowing-feast, he will he number one. He understands
+music with which you are scarcely acquainted; he will play you the
+‘Shoemaker’s Dance’ as well as ‘Cherry-soup:’ such dances as these have
+people here in the country.”
+
+“We are now beyond my lands, and upon our neighbor’s,” said the old
+lady. “You will see a thorough old mansion.”
+
+“Now, I should like to know how the inhabitants will please Mr.
+Thostrup,” said Sophie. “The Kammerjunker you know; he is an excellent
+country gentleman. His sister, on the contrary, is a little peculiar:
+she belongs to that class of people who always, even wily the best
+intentions, say unpleasant things. She has for this quite a rare
+talent--you will soon experience this; but she does not intend anything
+so bad. She can also joke! Thank God that you will not remain there
+over night, otherwise you would experience what she and the Mamsell can
+invent!”
+
+“Yes, the Mamsell is my friend!” said Wilhelm. “You will see her
+work-box with all the curiosities. That little box plays a great part:
+it is always taken out with her when she pays a visit--for the sake of
+conversation it is brought out; all is then looked through, and every
+article goes the round of the company. Yes, there are beautiful things
+to be seen: a little wheelbarrow with a pincushion, a silver fish, and
+the little yard-measure of silk ribbon.”
+
+“Yes, and the amber heart!” said Sophie; “the little Napoleon of cast
+iron, and the officer who is pasted fast to the bottom of the box: that
+is a good friend in Odense, she lately told to me in confidence.”
+
+“See what beautiful stone fences the Kammerjunker has made!” said the
+mother. “And how beautifully the cherry-trees grow! He is an industrious
+man!”
+
+They approached the garden. It was laid out in the old French style,
+with straight walks, pyramids of box, and white painted stone figures:
+satyrs and goddesses peeped through the green foliage. You now caught
+sight of a high tower with a spire; and soon the whole of the old
+mansion presented itself to view. The water was conveyed away from the
+broad moats, where the weeping willows with bowed heads and uncovered
+roots stood in the warm sunshine. A number of work-people were busily
+employed in clearing the moats of mud, which was wheeled in barrows on
+both sides.
+
+They soon reached the principal court-yard. The barns and the
+out-buildings lay on the opposite side. A crowd of dogs rushed forth
+barking toward the carriage--all possible races, from the large Danish
+hound, which is known to the Parisian, down to the steward’s little
+pug-dog, which had mixed with this company. Here stood the greyhound,
+with his long legs, beside the turnspit. You saw all varieties, and each
+had its peculiar and melodious bark. A couple of peacocks, with bright
+outspread tails, raised at the same time a cry, which must have made an
+impression. The whole court-yard had a striking air of cleanliness. The
+grass was weeded from between the stones; all was swept and arranged
+in its appointed order. Before the principal flight of steps grew four
+large lime-trees; their tops, from youth bent together and then clipped
+short, formed in spring and summer two large green triumphal arches. On
+the right stood upon an upright beam, which was carved and formed into
+a pillar, a prettily painted dove-cot; and its gay inhabitants fluttered
+and cooed around. The peacock-pigeon emulated the peacock in spreading
+its tail; and the cropper-pigeon elevated itself upon its long legs, and
+drew itself up, as though it would welcome the strangers with the air of
+a grand gentleman. The reddish-brown tiles and the bright window-panes
+were the only things which had a modern air. The building itself, from
+the stone window-seats to the old-fashioned tower through which you
+entered, proclaimed its antiquity. In the vaulted entrance-hall stood
+two immense presses: the quantity of wood which formed them, and the
+artistical carving, testified to their great age. Above the door were
+fastened a couple of antlers.
+
+The Kammerjunker’s sister, Miss Jakoba, a young lady of about thirty,
+neither stout nor thin, but with a strange mixture of joviality and
+indolence, approached them. She appeared to rejoice very much in the
+visit.
+
+“Well, you are come over, then!” said she to Wilhelm. “I thought you had
+enough to do with your examination.”
+
+Wilhelm smiled, and assured her that after so much study people required
+relaxation.
+
+“Yes, you doubtless study in handsome boots!” said the young lady, and
+in a friendly manner turned toward Sophie. “Good heavens, miss!” she
+exclaimed, “how the sun has burnt your nose! That looks horrible! Don’t
+you ever wear a veil? you, who otherwise look so well!”
+
+Otto was a stranger to her. He escaped such unpleasant remarks. “They
+should spend the whole day there,” insisted Miss Jakoba; but mamma spoke
+of being at home by noon.
+
+“Nothing will come of that!” said Jakoba. “I have expected you; and we
+have cooked a dinner, and made preparations, and I will not have had
+all this trouble in vain. There are some especial dishes for you, and of
+these you shall eat.” This was all said in such a good-humored tone that
+even a stranger could not have felt himself offended. The Kammerjunker
+was in the fields looking after his flax; he would soon be back. Squire
+Wilhelm could in the mean time conduct Mr. Thostrup about the premises:
+“he would otherwise have nothing to do,” said she.
+
+No one must remain in the sitting-room; it was so gloomy there! The
+walls were still, as in by-gone days, covered with black leather, upon
+which were impressed gold flowers. No, they should go to the hall--that
+had been modernized since the Baroness was last there. The old
+chimney-piece with carved ornaments was removed, and a pretty porcelain
+stove had taken its place. The walls were covered with new paper from
+Paris. You could there contemplate all the public buildings of that
+city,--Notre Dame, Saint Sulpice, and the Tuileries. Long red curtains,
+thrown over gilt rods, hung above the high windows. All this splendor
+was admired.
+
+“I prefer the antique sitting-room, after all,” said Sophie; “the old
+chimney-piece and the leather hangings. One fairly lives again in the
+days of chivalry!”
+
+“Yes, you have always been a little foolish!” said Jakoba, but softened
+her words by a smile and a pressure of the hand. “No, the hall is more
+lively. Ah!” she suddenly exclaimed; “Tine has placed her work-box in
+the window! That is disorder!”
+
+“O, is that the celebrated work-box, with its many fool’s tricks?”
+ inquired Wilhelm, as he laughingly took it up.
+
+“There are neither fools nor tricks in the box,” said Jakoba. “But only
+look in the mirror in the lid, and then you will perhaps see one of the
+two.”
+
+“No rude speeches, my young lady!” said Wilhelm; “I am an academical
+burgher!”
+
+The Kammerjunker now entered, attired in the same riding dress in which
+we made his acquaintance. He had visited his hay and oats, had seen
+after the people who were working at the fences, and had been also in
+the plantation. It had been a warm forenoon.
+
+“Now, Miss Sophie,” said he, “do you see how I am clearing out the
+court? It costs me above five hundred dollars; and still they are
+the peasants of the estate who clear away the mud. But I shall get a
+delicate manure-heap, so fit and rich that it’s quite a pleasure. But,
+Jakoba, where is the coffee?”
+
+“Only let it come in through the door,” said Jakoba, somewhat angrily.
+“You certainly ate something before you went from home. Let me attend to
+the affairs of the ladies, and do thou attend to the gentlemen, so that
+they may not stand and get weary.”
+
+The Kammerjunker conducted the friends up the winding stone stairs into
+the old tower.
+
+“All solid and good!” said he. “We no longer build in this manner. The
+loop-holes here, close under the roof, were walled up already in my
+father’s time. But only notice this timber!”
+
+The whole loft appeared a gigantic skeleton composed of beams, one
+crossing the other. On either side of the loft was a small vaulted
+chamber, with a brick fire-place. Probably these chambers had been used
+as guard-rooms; a kind of warder’s walk led from these, between the
+beam-palisade and the broad wall.
+
+“Yes, here,” said the Kammerjunker, “they could have had a good lookout
+toward the enemy. Look through my telescope. You have here the whole
+country from Vissenberg to Munkebobanke, the Belt, and the heights
+of Svendborg. Only see! The air is clear. We see both Langeland and
+Zealand. Here one could, in 1807, have well observed the English fleet.”
+
+The three climbed up the narrow ladder and came past the great clock,
+the leaden weights of which, had they fallen, would have dashed through
+the stone steps, and soon the gentlemen sat on the highest point. The
+Kammerjunker requested the telescope, placed it and exclaimed:--
+
+“Did I not think so? If one has not them always under one’s eyes they
+begin playing pranks! Yes, I see it very well! There, now, the fellows
+who are working at the fences have begun to romp with the girls! they do
+nothing! Yes, they don’t believe that I am sitting here in the tower and
+looking at them!”
+
+“Then a telescope is, after all, a dangerous weapon!” exclaimed Wilhelm.
+“You can look at people when they least expect it. Fortunately, our seat
+lies hidden behind the wood: we are, at all events, safe.”
+
+“Yes, that it is, my friend,” returned the other; “the outer sides of
+the garden are still bare. Did I not, last autumn, see Miss Sophie quite
+distinctly, when she was gathering service-berries in her little basket?
+And then, what tricks did she not play? She certainly did not think that
+I sat here and watched tier pretty gambols!”
+
+They quitted the tower, and passed through the so-called Knight’s Hall,
+where immense beams, laid one on the other, supported the roof. At
+either end of the hall was a huge fireplace, with armorial bearings
+painted above: the hall was now used as a granary; they were obliged to
+step over a heap of corn before reaching the family pew in the little
+chapel, which was no longer used for divine service.
+
+“This might become a pretty little room,” said the Kammerjunker, “but we
+have enough, and therefore we let this, for curiosity’s sake, remain in
+its old state. The moon is worth its money!” and he pointed toward the
+vaulted ceiling, where the moon was represented as a white disk, in
+which the painter, with much naïveté, had introduced a man bearing a
+load of coals upon his back; in faithful representation of the popular
+belief regarding the black spot in the moon, which supposes this to be
+a man whom the Lord has sent up there because he stole his neighbor’s
+coal. “That great picture on the right, there,” pursued he, “is Mrs.
+Ellen Marsviin; I purchased it at an auction. One of the peasants put
+up for it; I asked him what he would do with this big piece of
+furniture--he could never get it in through his door. But do you know
+what a speculation he had? It was not such a bad one, after all. See!
+the rain runs so beautifully off the painted canvas, he would have a
+pair of breeches made out of it, to wear in rainy weather behind the
+plough; they would keep the rain off! I thought, however, I ought to
+prevent the portrait of the highly honorable Mrs. Ellen Marsviin being
+so profaned. I bought it: now she hangs there, and looks tolerably
+well pleased. The peasant got a knight instead--perhaps one of my own
+ancestors, who was now cut up into breeches. See, that is what one gets
+by being painted!”
+
+“But the cupboard in the pillar there?” inquired Otto.
+
+“There, certainly, were Bibles and Prayer-books kept. Now I have in it
+what I call sweetmeats for the Chancery-counselor Thomsen: old knives of
+sacrifice, coins and rings, which I have found in the horse-pond and up
+yonder in the cairns: not a quarter of a yard below the turf we found
+one pot upon another; round each a little inclosure of stones--a flat
+stone as covering, and underneath stood the pot, with burnt giants’
+bones, and a little button or the blade of a knife. The best things are
+already gone away to Copenhagen, and should the Counselor come, he will,
+God help me! carry away the rest. That may be, then, willingly, for I
+cannot use the stuff, after all.”
+
+After coffee, the guests wandered through the old garden: the clearing
+away of the mud was more closely observed, the dairy and pig-sty
+visited, the new threshing-machine inspected. But now the Russian bath
+should be also essayed; “it was heated!” But the end of the affair was,
+that only the Kammerjunker himself made use of it. The dinner-table
+was prepared, and then he returned. “But here something is wanting!”
+ exclaimed he; left the room, and returned immediately with two large
+bouquets, which he stuck into an ale-glass which he placed upon the
+table. “Where Miss Sophie dines, the table must be ornamented with
+flowers: certainly we cannot lay garlands, as you do!” He seated himself
+at the end of the table, and wished, as he himself said, to represent
+the President Lars: they had had the “Wandsbecker Boten” half a year in
+the house, and it would certainly please Miss Sophie if they betrayed
+some acquaintance with books. This Lars and the flowers, here, meant
+quite as much as in the south a serenade under the windows of the fair
+one.
+
+When, toward evening, the carriage for their return drew up before the
+door, Otto still stood contemplating some old inscriptions which were
+built into the tower-wall.
+
+“That you can look at another time,” said Jakoba; “now you must be of
+use a little!” And she reached him the ladies’ cloaks.
+
+Amidst promises of a return visit and the parting yelping of the dogs
+the carriage rolled away.
+
+“I have fairly fallen in love with the old place!” said Sophie.
+
+“The Kaminerjunker gains much upon nearer acquaintance,” said Otto.
+
+They bad now reached the furthest extremity of the garden. A flower-rain
+showered itself over them and the carriage. The Kammerjunker, Jakoba,
+and the Mamsell, had taken a shorter way, and now waved an adieu to the
+travellers, whilst at the same time they scattered hyacinths and stocks
+over them. With a practiced hand Jakoba threw, as a mark of friendship,
+a great pink straight into Otto’s face. “Farewell, farewell!” sounded
+from both sides, and, accompanied by the sound of the evening-bell from
+the near village, for it was sunset, the carriage rolled away.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+     “Dance and stamp
+     Till the shoe-soles drop!”
+                       --Danish Popular Song.
+
+On the following day should the much-talked-of mowing-festival take
+place. It was the hay-harvest which occasioned all this merriment.
+[Author’s Note: It is true that serfdom is abolished, but the peasant
+is still not quite free; neither can he be so. For his house and land he
+must pay a tribute, and this consists in labor. His own work must give
+way to that of his lord. His wagon, which he has had prepared to bring
+home his own harvest, must, if such be commanded, go to the nobleman’s
+land, and there render service. This is, therefore, a kind of tax which
+he pays, and for the faithful payment of which he is rewarded by a
+harvest and mowing-feast; at the latter he receives a certain quantity
+of brandy, and as much ale as he can drink. The dance generally takes
+place in the middle of the court-yard, and the dancers themselves must
+pay their musicians.]
+
+During three afternoons in succession, in the inner court and under free
+heaven, should a ball be held. Along the walls, rough planks, laid upon
+logs of wood, formed a row of benches. At both ends of the court lay
+two barrels of the newly brewed ale, which had received more malt than
+usual, and which, besides, through the silver skilling, and the magic
+dance of the maidens round the tub, had acquired extraordinary strength.
+A large wooden tankard, containing several measures of brandy, stood
+upon a table; the man who watched the bleaching-ground was placed as
+a kind of butler to preside at this sideboard. A bread-woman, with new
+white bread from Nyborg upon her barrow, wheeled into the court, and
+there established her stall for every one; for it was only liquors the
+guests received gratis.
+
+The guests now entered the court by pairs; the men, part in jackets,
+part in long coats which hung down to their ankles. Out of the
+waistcoat-pocket protruded a little nosegay of sweet-williams and musk.
+The girls carried their “posies,” as they called them, in their neatly
+folded pocket-handkerchiefs. Two musicians--one quite a young blade,
+in a laced coat with a stiff cravat, mid the other the well-known Peter
+Cripple, “Musikanti” as he was called--led the procession. They both
+played one and the same piece, but each according to his own manner. It
+was both good and old.
+
+They now began to draw lots, who should dance before the door of the
+family and who before that of the steward; after which the two parties
+drew lots for the musicians. The girls seated themselves in a row upon
+the bench, from whence they were chosen. The gallantry accorded with the
+ball-room,--the hard stone pavement. Not even had the grass been pulled
+up, but that would be all right after dancing there the first day. “Nay,
+why art thou sitting there?” spoken with a kind of morose friendliness,
+was the invitation to dance; and this served for seven dances. “Only
+don’t be melancholy!” resounded from the company, and now the greater
+portion moved phlegmatically along, as if in sleep or in a forced dance:
+the girl with her eyes staring at her own feet, her partner with his
+head bent toward one side, and his eyes in a direct line with the girl’s
+head-dress. A few of the most active exhibited, it is true, a kind of
+animation, by stamping so lustily upon the stone pavement that the dust
+whirled up around them. That was a joy! a joy which had occupied them
+many weeks, but as yet the joy had not reached its height; “but that
+will soon come!” said Wilhelm, who, with his sister and Otto, had taken
+his place at an open window.
+
+The old people meanwhile kept to the ale-barrels, and the brandy. The
+latter was offered to the girls, and they were obliged, at least, to
+sip. Wilhelm soon discovered the prettiest, and threw them roses. The
+girls immediately sprang to the spot to collect the flowers: but the
+cavaliers also wished to have them, and they were the stronger;
+they, therefore, boldly pushed the ladies aside, so that some seated
+themselves on the stone pavement and got no roses: that was a merry bit
+of fun! “Thou art a foolish thing! It fell upon thy shoulder and thou
+couldst not catch it!” said the first lover to his lady, and stuck the
+rose into his waistcoat-pocket.
+
+All got partners--all the girls; even the children, they leaped about to
+their own singing out upon the bridge. Only ONE stood forlorn,--Sidsel,
+with the grown-together eyebrows; she smiled, laughed aloud; no one
+would become her partner. Peter Cripple handed his violin to one of the
+young men and asked him to play, for he himself wished to stretch his
+legs a little. The girls drew back and talked with each other; but Peter
+Cripple stepped quietly forward toward Sidsel, flung his arms around
+her, and they danced a whirling dance. Sophie laughed aloud at it, but
+Sidsel directed her extraordinary glance maliciously and piercingly
+toward her. Otto saw it, and the girl was doubly revolting and frightful
+in his eyes. With the increasing darkness the assembly became more
+animated; the two parties of dancers were resolved into one. At length,
+when it was grown quite dark, the ale barrels become empty, the tankard
+again filled and once more emptied, the company withdrew in pairs,
+singing. Now commenced the first joy, the powerful operation of the ale.
+They now wandered through the wood, accompanying each other home, as
+they termed it; but this was a wandering until the bright morning.
+
+Otto and Wilhelm were gone out into the avenue, and the peasants shouted
+to them a grateful “Good night!” for the merry afternoon.
+
+“Now works the witchcraft!” said Wilhelm; “the magical power of the ale!
+Now begins the bacchand! Give your hand to the prettiest girl, and she
+will immediately give you her heart!”
+
+“Pity,” answered Otto, “that the Maenades of the north possess only that
+which is brutal in common with those of the south!”
+
+“See, there goes the smith’s pretty daughter, to whom I threw the best
+rose!” cried Wilhelm. “She has got two lovers, one under either arm!”
+
+“Yes, there she goes!” simpered a female voice close to them. It was
+Sidsel, who sat upon the steps of a stile almost concealed in the
+darkness, which the trees and the hedge increased still more.
+
+“Has Sidsel no lover?” asked Wilhelm.
+
+“Hi, hi, hi,” simpered she; “the Herr Baron and the other gentleman
+seek, doubtless, for a little bride. Am I beautiful enough? At night all
+cats are gray!”
+
+“Come!” whispered Otto, and drew Wilhelm away from her. “She sits like
+some bird of ill omen there in the hedge.”
+
+“What a difference!” exclaimed Wilhelm, as he followed; “yes, what a
+difference between this monster, nay, between the other girls and Eva!
+She was, doubtless, born in the same poverty, in similar circumstances,
+and yet they are like day and night. What a soul has been given to Eva!
+what inborn nobility! It must be, really, more than a mere freak of
+Nature!”
+
+“Only do not let Nature play her freaks with you!” said Otto, smiling,
+and raised his hand. “You speak often of Eva.”
+
+“Here it was association of ideas,” answered Wilhelm. “The contrast
+awoke remembrance.”
+
+Otto entered his chamber--he opened the window; it was a moonlight
+night. From the near wood resounded laughter and song. They came from
+the young men and girls, who, on their wandering, gave themselves up
+to merriment. Otto stood silent and full of thought in the open window.
+Perhaps it was the moon which lent her paleness to his countenance.
+On what did he reflect? Upon his departure, perhaps? Only one more day
+would he remain here, where he felt himself so much at home; but then
+the journey was toward his own house, to his grandfather, to Rosalie,
+and the old preacher, who all thought so much of him. Otto stood
+listening and silent. The wind bore the song more distinctly over from
+the wood.
+
+“That is their joy, their happiness!” said he. “It might have been my
+joy also, my happiness!” lay in the sigh which he heaved. His lips did
+not move, his thoughts alone spoke their silent language. “I might have
+stood on a level with these; my soul might have been chained to the
+dust, and yet it would have been the same which I now possess, with
+which I long to compass all worlds! the same, endowed with this
+sentiment of pride, which drives me on to active exertion. My fate
+wavered whether I should become one such as these or whether I should
+rise into that circle which the world calls the higher. The mist-form
+did not sink down into the mire, but rose above into the high refreshing
+air. And am I become happy through this?” His eye stared upon the bright
+disk of the moon. Two large tears rolled over his pale cheeks. “Infinite
+Omnipotence! I acknowledge Thy existence! Thou dost direct all; upon
+Thee will I depend!”
+
+A melancholy smile passed over his lips; he stepped back into the
+chamber, folded his hands, prayed, and felt rest and peace.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+     “The travellers roll through the world of men,
+     Like rose leaves in a stream.
+     The past will ne’er come back again,
+     But fade into a dream.”--B. S. INGEMANN.
+
+The following day, the last before Otto’s departure, whilst he and
+Wilhelm were walking in the garden, Sophie approached them with a
+garland made of oak-leaves: this was intended for Otto; they were now
+really to lose him.
+
+“Sophie will scarcely be up so early to-morrow morning,” said Louise;
+“she is, therefore, obliged to present her garland to-day. I am never
+missing at the breakfast-table, as you well know; and I shall then bring
+my bouquet.”
+
+“I shall preserve both until we meet again,” returned Otto; “they are
+vignettes to my beautiful summer-dream. When I again sit in Copenhagen,
+when the rain patters and the winter approaches with cold and a joyless
+sky, I shall still see before me Funen with its green woods, flowers,
+and sunshine; it will appear to me that it must still be so there, and
+that the garland and bouquet are only withered because they are with me
+in the winter cold.”
+
+“In Copenhagen we shall meet again!” said Sophie.
+
+“And I shall see you again with the swallows!” said Louise, “when my
+flowers spring up again, when we have again warm summer days! As far
+as I am concerned, you belong to the summer, and not to the cold, calm
+winter.”
+
+Early on the following morning was Sophie, after all, at the breakfast
+table. That was to honor Otto. Mamma showed herself as the carriage
+was at the door. Wilhelm would accompany him as far as Odense. It was,
+therefore, a double leave taking, here and there.
+
+“We will always remain friends, faithful friends!” said Wilhelm, when
+they parted.
+
+“Faithful friends!” repeated Otto, and they rolled away toward
+Middelfart; thus far should mamma’s own carriage convey the excellent
+Otto. Wilhelm remained behind in Odense; his coachman drove Otto, and
+they discoursed upon the way. They passed Vissenberg: the high, wooded
+hills there have received the name of the Funen Alps. The legend relates
+of robbers who had here deep passages underneath the high-road, where
+they hung bells which rang when any one passed above. The inhabitants
+are still looked upon with suspicion. Vissenberg appears a kind of Itri,
+between Copenhagen and Hamburg. [Author’s Note: “Itri,” Fra Diavolo’s
+birthplace, lies in the Neapolitan States, on the highway between
+Rome and Naples. The inhabitants are not, without reason, suspected of
+carrying on the robber’s trade.] Near the church there formerly lay a
+stone, on which Knud, the saint, is said to have rested himself when
+flying from the rebellious Jutlanders. In the stone remained the
+impression of where he had sat; the hard stone had been softer than the
+hearts of the rebellious people.
+
+This, and similar legends, the coachman knew how to relate; he was born
+in this neighborhood, but not in Vissenberg itself, where they make the
+false notes. [Author’s Note: A number of years ago a band of men were
+seized in Vissenberg who had forged bank-notes.] Every legend gains
+in interest when one hears it in the place with which it is connected.
+Funen is especially rich in such relations.
+
+“That cairn elevates itself at Christmas upon four red posts, and one
+can then see the dance and merriment of the goblins within. Through that
+peasant’s farm there drives every night a glowing coach, drawn by four
+coal-black horses. Where we now see a pond overgrown with reeds and
+roots there once stood a church, but it sank as the godless desecrated
+it; at midnight we still hear their sighs, and hymns of repentance.”
+
+It is true that the narrator mixed up together certain leg-ends which
+related to other places in the country--that he took little springs, and
+mingled his own thoughts with his relations; but Otto listened to him
+with great interest. The discourse turned also upon the family at the
+hall.
+
+“Yes, they are very much liked!” said the coachman; “the gentleman may
+believe we know how to value them.”
+
+“And now, which of the young ladies is the best?” asked Otto.
+
+“Yes, every one is best served by Miss Louise,” returned the fellow.
+
+“Miss Sophie is the prettiest,” said Otto.
+
+“Yes, she is also very good,--she belongs to the learned ones! She knows
+German, that she does! she can act comedy very excellently! I once
+got permission with the rest of the people to be up-stairs in the
+sitting-room--we stood behind the family; she did not manage her affairs
+at all badly.”
+
+However much the old legends interested Otto, it seemed as though he
+listened with more pleasure to the simple reasonings of the coachman
+upon the family who were become so dear to him. Words and thoughts were
+busied about the objects there. Wilhelm, however, was and still remained
+the dearest; he recollected with what mildness Wilhelm had stretched
+forth his hand in reconciliation, when he himself had thrust him
+from him. Already the happy summer days which he had spent at the
+country-seat, the whole visit, appeared a beautiful but short dream.
+
+Otto felt an inward impulse to express his gratitude; his pride even,
+which was a fundamental feature of his character, commanded him to do
+this. Wilhelm’s affection, his desire for a continued friendship, Otto
+thought he must reward; and on this account he added the following words
+to the few lines which he gave the coachman before his passage over the
+Little Belt:--
+
+“Wilhelm, in future we will say thou to each other; that is more
+confidential!” “He is the first to whom I have given my thou,” said
+Otto, when the letter was dispatched. “This will rejoice him: now,
+however, I myself have for once made an advance, but he deserves it.”
+
+A few moments later it troubled him. “I am a fool like the rest!” said
+he, and wished he could annihilate the paper. He was summoned on board.
+The Little Belt is only a river between the two countries; he soon found
+himself upon Jutland ground; the whip cracked, the wheels turned round,
+like the wheels of fortune, up and down, yet ever onward.
+
+Late in the evening he arrived at an inn. From his solitary chamber
+his thoughts flew in opposite directions; now toward the solitary
+country-seat of his grandfather, among the sand-hills; now toward the
+animated mansion in Funen, where the new friends resided. He had
+opened his box and taken out what lay quite at the top, the garland of
+oak-leaves and the beautiful bouquet of flowers of this morning.
+
+Most people maintain that one dreams at night of that which one has
+thought much about. According to this, Otto must have thought a deal
+about the North Sea, for of it he dreamed the whole night,--not of the
+young ladies.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+     “The heat-lark warbles forth his sepulchral melodies.”
+                                             S. S. BLICHER.
+
+The peninsula of Jutland possesses nothing of the natural beauty
+which Zealand and Funen present--splendid beeches and odoriferous
+clover-fields in the neighborhood of the salt sea; it possesses at
+once a wild and desolate nature, in the heath-covered expanses and the
+far-stretching moors. East and west are different; like the green, sappy
+leaf, and grayish white sea-weed on the sea shore. From the Woods of
+Marselisborg to the woods south of Coldinger Fjord, is the land rich
+and blooming; it is the Danish Nature in her greatness. Here rises the
+Heaven Mountain, with its wilderness of coppice and heather; from here
+you gaze over the rich landscape, with its woods and lakes, as far down
+as the roaring Cattegat.
+
+The western coast, on the contrary, lies without a tree, without bushes,
+with nothing but white sand-hills stretching along the roaring ocean,
+which scourges the melancholy coast with sand-storms and sharp winds.
+Between these contrasts, which the east and west coasts present, the
+Hesperides and Siberia, lies the vast heath which stretches itself from
+the Lyneborg sand to the Skagen’s reef. No hedge shows here the limits
+of possession. Among the crossing tracks of carriage wheels must thou
+seek thy way. Crippled oaks, with whitish-green moss overgrown to the
+outermost branches, twist themselves along the ground, as if fearing
+storms and the sea-mist. Here, like a nomadic people, but without
+flocks, do the so-called Tartar bands wander up and down, with their
+peculiar language and peculiar ceremonies. Suddenly there shows itself
+in the interior of the heathy wilderness a colony--another, a strange
+people, German emigrants, who through industry compel the meagre country
+to fruitfulness.
+
+From Veile, Otto wished to take the road through Viborg, as the most
+direct and the shortest to his grandfather’s estate, which lay between
+Nisumfjord and Lemvig.
+
+The first heath-bushes accosted him as dear friends of his childhood.
+The beautiful beech-woods lay behind him, the expanse of heath began;
+but the heath was dear to him: it was this landscape which formed the
+basis of many dear recollections.
+
+The country became ever higher with brown heights, beyond which nothing
+was visible; houses and farms became more rare, the cherry orchards
+transformed themselves into cabbage-gardens. Only single spots were free
+from heather, and here grew grass, but short, and like moss or duckweed
+which grows upon ponds: here birds congregated by hundreds, and
+fluttered twittering into the air as the carriage drove past.
+
+“You know where to find the green spot in the heath, and how to become
+happy through it,” sighed Otto. “Could I only follow your example!”
+
+At a greater distance rose bare hills, without ling or ploughed land;
+the prickly heath looked brown and yellow on the sharp declivities. A
+little boy and girl herded sheep by the way-side; the boy played the
+Pandean pipe, the little girl sang a psalm,--it was the best song which
+she knew how to sing to the traveller, in order to win a little present
+from him.
+
+The day was warm and beautiful, but the evening brought the cold mist
+from the sea, which, however, in the interior of the country loses
+something of its power.
+
+“That is a kiss of welcome from my home,” said Otto; “the death-kiss of
+the mermaid! In Funen they call it the elf maiden.”
+
+Within the last few years a number of children have been sent from the
+Orphan Asylum to the heath, in order that, instead of Copenhagen
+rogues, they may become honest Jutland peasants. Otto had a boy of this
+description for his coachman. The lad was very contented, and yet Otto
+became low-spirited from his relation. Recollections from his own life
+stirred within his breast. “Return thanks to God,” said he, and gave the
+lad a considerable present; “on the heath thou hast shelter and a home;
+in Copenhagen, perhaps, the sandy beach would have been thy nightly
+resting-place, hunger and cold the gifts which the day would bring
+thee.”
+
+The nearer he approached the west, the more serious became his frame of
+mind; it was as if the desolate scenery and cold sea-mist entered his
+soul. The pictures of the gay country-seat at Funen were supplanted by
+recollections of his home with his grandfather. He became more and more
+low-spirited. It was only when a single mile separated him from his
+home that the thought of surprising his dear friends conquered his
+melancholy.
+
+He caught sight of the red roof of the house, saw the willow
+plantations, and heard the bark of the yard-dog. Upon the hillock before
+the gate stood a group of children. Otto could no longer endure the slow
+driving through the deep ruts. He sprang out of the carriage, and ran
+more than he walked. The children on the hillock became aware of him,
+and all looked toward the side from whence he came.
+
+The slow driving, and his being absorbed in melancholy fancies, had
+relaxed his powerful frame; but now in one moment all his elasticity
+returned: his cheeks glowed, and his heart beat loudly.
+
+From the court resounded singing--it was the singing of a psalm. He
+stepped through the gateway. A crowd of peasants stood with bared heads:
+before the door stood a carriage, some peasants were just raising a
+coffin into it. In the doorway stood the old preacher, and spoke with a
+man clad in black.
+
+“Lord Jesus! who is dead?” were Otto’s first words, and his countenance
+became pale like that of a corpse.
+
+“Otto!” all exclaimed.
+
+“Otto!” exclaimed also the old preacher, astonished; then seized his
+hand, and said gravely, “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away;
+blessed be the name of the Lord!”
+
+“Let me see the face of the dead!” said Otto. Not a tear came to his
+eye; surprise and sorrow were too great.
+
+“Shall I take out the screws?” inquired the man who had just screwed up
+the coffin.
+
+“Let him sleep the eternal rest!” said the preacher.
+
+Otto stared at the black coffin in which his grandfather lay. The
+carriage drove away with it. Otto followed after with the preacher,
+heard him throw earth upon it, heard words which he did not comprehend,
+saw the last corner of the coffin, and it was then removed from his
+sight. All was as a dream to him.
+
+They returned back to the preacher’s abode; a pale figure approached
+him: it was Rosalie--old Rosalie.
+
+“We have here no abiding-place, we all hasten toward futurity!” said
+the old preacher. “Strengthen yourself now with meat and drink! The body
+cannot suffer like the soul. We have accompanied him to His sleeping
+chamber; his bed was well prepared! I have prayed the evening prayer; he
+sleeps in God, and will awaken to behold His glory. Amen!”
+
+“Otto! thou dear Otto!” said Rosalie. “The bitterest day brings me this
+joy! How have I thought of thee! Amongst strangers shouldst thou receive
+the tidings of his death! with no one who could feel for thy sorrow!
+where thou shouldst see no eye weep for what thou hast lost! Now thou
+art here! now, when I believed thee so far distant--it is a miracle!
+Thou couldst only have received the letter to-day which carried the
+intelligence of thy grandfather’s death to thee!”
+
+“I wished to surprise you,” said Otto. “A melancholy surprise awaited
+me!”
+
+“Sit down, my child!” said the preacher, and drew him toward the covered
+table. “When the tree falls which gave us shade and fruit, from which
+we, in our own little garden, have planted shoots and sown seeds, we may
+well look on with sadness and feel our loss: but we must not forget our
+own garden, must not forget to cherish that which we have won from the
+fallen tree: we must not cease to live for the living! I miss, like you,
+the proud tree, which rejoiced my soul and my heart, but I know that it
+is planted in a better garden, where Christ is the gardener.”
+
+The preacher’s invitation to remain with him, during his stay, in his
+house, Otto declined. Already this first night he wished to establish
+himself in his own little chamber in the house of mourning. Rosalie also
+would return.
+
+“We have a deal to say to each other,” said the old preacher, and laid
+his hand upon Otto’s shoulder. “Next summer you will hardly press my
+hand, it will be pressed by the turf.”
+
+“To-morrow I will come to you,” said Otto, and drove back with the old
+Rosalie to the house.
+
+The domestics kissed the hand and coat of the young master--he wished to
+prevent this; the old woman wept. Otto stepped into the room; here had
+stood the corpse, on account of which the furniture had been removed,
+and the void was all the more affecting. The long white mourning
+curtains fluttered in tire wind before the open window. Rosalie led
+him by the hand into the little sleeping-room where the grandfather had
+died. Here everything yet stood as formerly--the large book case, with
+the glass doors, behind which the intellectual treasure was preserved:
+Wieland and Fielding, Millot’s “History of the World,” and Von der
+Hagen’s “Narrenbuch,” occupied the principal place: these books had
+been those most read by the old gentleman. Here was also Otto’s earliest
+intellectual food, Albertus Julius, the English “Spectator,” and Evald’s
+writings. Upon the wall hung pikes and pistols, and a large old sabre,
+which the grandfather had once worn. Upon the table beneath the mirror
+stood an hour-glass; the sand had run out. Rosalie pointed toward the
+bed. “There he died,” said she, “between six and seven o’clock in the
+evening. He was only ill three days; the two last he passed in delirium:
+he raised himself in bed, and shook the bed posts; I was obliged to let
+two strong men watch beside him. ‘To horse! to horse!’ said he; ‘the
+cannons forward!’ His brain dreamed of war and battles. He also spoke of
+your blessed father severely and bitterly! Every word was like the stab
+of a knife; he was as severe toward him as ever!”
+
+“And did the people understand his words?” asked Otto with a wrinkled
+brow.
+
+“No, for the uninitiated they were dark words; and even had they
+possessed any meaning, the men would have believed it was the sickness
+which spoke out of him. ‘There stands the mother with the two children!
+The one shall fall upon the flank of the enemy and bring me honor and
+joy. The mother and daughter I know not!’ That was all which I heard him
+say about you and your mother and sister. By noon on the third day the
+fever had spent itself; the strong, gloomy man was become as weak and
+gentle as a child; I sat beside his bed. ‘If I had only Otto here!’ said
+he. ‘I have been severely attacked, Rosalie, but I am now much better:
+I will go to sleep; that strengthens one.’ Smilingly he closed his eyes
+and lay quite still: I read my prayers, withdrew gently so as not to
+wake him; he lay there unchanged when I returned. I sat a little while
+beside his bed; his hands lay upon the coverlid; I touched them, they
+were ice-cold. I was frightened, touched his brow, his face--he was
+dead! he had died without a death-struggle!”
+
+For a long time did they converse about the dead man; it was near
+midnight when Otto ascended the narrow stairs which led to the little
+chamber in the roof, where as child and boy he had slept. All stood here
+as it had done the year before, only in nicer order. Upon the wall hung
+the black painted target, near to the centre of which he had once shot.
+His skates lay upon the chest of drawers, near to the nodding plaster
+figure. The long journey, and the overpowering surprise which awaited
+him on his return, had strongly affected him: he opened the window;
+a large white sand-hill rose like a wall straight up before it, and
+deprived him of all view. How often, when a child, had the furrows
+made by rain in the sand, and the detached pieces, presented to him
+pictures,--towns, towers, and whole marching armies. Now it was only a
+white wall, which reminded him of a winding-sheet. A small streak of the
+blue sky was visible between the house and the steep slope of the hill.
+Never before had Otto felt, never before reflected, what it was to stand
+alone in the world, to be lovingly bound to no one with the band of
+consanguinity.
+
+“Solitary, as in this silent night do I stand in the world! solitary in
+the mighty crowd of human beings! Only ONE being can I call mine! only
+ONE being press as kindred to my heart! And I shudder at the thought of
+meeting with this being--I should bless the thought that she was dead!
+Father! thou didst ruin one being and make three miserable. I have
+never loved thee; bitterness germinated within my breast when I
+became acquainted with thee! Mother! thy features have died out of my
+recollection; I revere thee! Thou wast all love; to love didst thou
+offer up thy life--more than life! Pray for me with thy God! Pray for
+me, ye dead! if there is immortality; if the flesh is not alone born
+again in grass and the worm; if the soul is not lost in floods of air!
+We shall be unconscious of it: eternally shall we sleep! eternally!”
+ Otto supported his forehead upon the window-frame, his arm sank
+languidly, “Mother! poor mother! thou didst gain by death, even if it
+be merely an eternal sleep,--asleep without dreams! We have only a short
+time to live, and yet we divide our days of life with sleep! My body
+yearns after this short death! I will sleep--sleep like all my beloved
+ones! They do not awaken!” He threw himself upon the bed. The cold air
+from the sea blew through the open window. The wearied body conquered;
+he sank into the death-like sleep, whilst his doubting soul, ever
+active, presented him with living dreams.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+     “Man seems to me a foolish being; he drives along over the
+     waves of time, endlessly thrown up and down, and descrying a
+     little verdant spot, formed of mud and stagnant moor and of
+     putrid green mouldiness, he cries out, Land! He rows
+     thither, ascends--and sinks and sinks--and is no more to be
+     seen.”--The Golden Fleece of GRILLPARZER.
+
+Old Rosalie was pouring out coffee when Otto came down the next morning.
+Peace and resignation to the will of God lay in her soft countenance.
+Otto was pale, paler than usual, but handsomer than Rosalie had seen him
+before: a year had rendered him older and more manly; a handsome, crisp
+beard curled over his chin; manly gravity lay in his eyes, in which,
+at his departure, she had only remarked their inborn melancholy glance.
+With a kind of satisfaction she looked upon this beautiful, melancholy
+countenance, and with cordial affection she stretched forth her hand
+toward him.
+
+“Here stands thy chair, Otto; and here thy cup. I will drink to thy
+welcome. It seems to me long since I saw thee, and yet it is, now I have
+thee again, only a short time. Were that place only not empty!” and
+she pointed to the place at the table which the grandfather had used to
+occupy.
+
+“If I had only seen him!” said Otto.
+
+“His countenance was so gentle in death,” said Rosalie. “The severity
+and gravity which had settled in his eyes were softened away. I was
+myself present when he was dressed. He had his uniform on, which he
+always wore upon occasions of ceremony, the sabre by his side and the
+great hat upon his head. I knew that this was his wish!” Quietly she
+made the sign of the cross.
+
+“Are all my grandfather’s papers sealed?” inquired Otto.
+
+“The most important--those which have the greatest interest for thee,”
+ said Rosalie, “are in the hands of the preacher. Last year, the day
+after thy departure, he gave them to the preacher; thy father’s last
+letter I know is amongst them.”
+
+“My father!” said Otto, and glanced toward the ground. “Yes,” continued
+he, “there is truth in the words of Scripture,--the sins of the fathers
+are visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generation!”
+
+“Otto!” said Rosalie, with a beseeching and reproachful look, “thy
+grandfather was a severe man. Thou last known him, hast seen his darkest
+moments, and yet then age and cares had softened him: his love to thee
+calmed every outbreak. Had he only loved thy father as he loved thee,
+things would, perhaps, have ended better: but we may not judge!”
+
+“And what have I done?” said Otto. “Thou, Rosalie, knowest the
+history of my life. Is it not as if a curse rested upon me? I was a
+high-spirited boy, I often occasioned thee tears; yet didst thou always
+place thyself between me and punishment. It was my evil blood, the blood
+of my birth in which the curse lay, that drove me on!”
+
+“But thou didst become good and full of love, as thou art now!” said
+Rosalie.
+
+“Only when I became acquainted with myself and my destiny. In the
+thoughtlessness of childhood, unacquainted with myself and the world,
+did I myself have that sign of my misery, which now presses down my
+soul, cut into my flesh. Yes, Rosalie! I remember this very well,
+and have clearly preserved this, my earliest recollection before
+my grandfather took me, and I came here a boy. I remember the great
+building from whence I was brought, the number of people who there
+worked, sang, and laughed, and who told me extraordinary stories of how
+badly people were treated in the beautiful world. This was my parents’
+home, thought I, when I began to ponder upon parents and their
+connection with children. It was a large manufactory which they
+possessed, thought I; I remembered the number of work-people. All played
+and romped with me. I was wild and full of boisterous spirits a boy of
+only six years old, but with the perseverance and will of one of ten.
+Rosalie, thou sawest many proofs of the evil which lay in my blood; it
+bordered upon insolence. I remembered well the strong, merry Heinrich,
+who always sang at his loom; he showed me and the others his tattooed
+breast, upon which he had his whole mournful history imprinted. Upon
+his arm were his own and his bride’s names. That pleased me; I wished to
+have my name also on my arm. ‘It is painful!’ said he; ‘then thou wilt
+pipe, my lad!’ That was spur enough to make me desire it. I allowed him
+to puncture my skin, to puncture an O and a T upon my shoulder, and
+did not cry,--no, not once whilst the powder burnt into it; but I was
+praised, and was proud to bear the initials--proud of them until three
+years ago, when I met Heinrich here. I recognized him, but he did not
+recognize me. I showed him my shoulder, and besought him to read the
+name, this O and T: but he did not say Otto Thostrup; he named a name
+which destroyed the happiness of my childhood, and has made me miserable
+forever!”
+
+“It was a fearful day!” said Rosalie. “Thou didst demand from me an
+explanation, thy grandfather gave it thee, and thou wast no longer the
+Otto thou hadst formerly been. Yet wherefore speak of it? Thou art good
+and wise, noble and innocent. Do not fill thy heart with sorrow from a
+time which is past, and which, for thy sake, shall be forgotten.”
+
+“But Heinrich still lives!” said Otto; “I have met with him, have spoken
+with him: it was as if all presence of mind forsook me.”
+
+“When and where?” asked Rosalie.
+
+Otto related of his walk with Wilhelm in the park, and of the juggler,
+in whom he had recognized Heinrich. “I tore myself from my friends,
+I wandered the whole night alone in the wood. O Rosalie, I thought
+of death! I thought of death as no Christian ought to do. A beautiful
+morning followed, I wandered beside the sea which I love, and in which
+I have so often dived. Since that explanation of the initials on my
+shoulder was suggested, that explanation which reminded me of my unhappy
+birth, I have never uncovered them before any one. O, I have rubbed
+thorn with a stone, until they were bloody! The letters are gone, but
+still I imagine I can read them in the deep scar--that in it I see a
+Cain’s mark! That morning the desire to bathe came upon me. The fresh
+current infused life once more into my soul. Just then Wilhelm and
+several acquaintance came down; they called to me and carried off my
+clothes; my blood boiled; all my unhappiness, which this night had
+stirred within my soul, again overwhelmed me: it was as though the
+obliterated initials on my shoulder would reveal themselves in the scar
+and betray the secret of my grief. Disgust of life seized upon me. I
+no longer knew what I shouted to them, but it seemed to me as if I must
+swim out into the stream and never return. I swam until it became night
+before my eyes. I sank, and Wilhelm rescued me! Never since then have
+we spoken of this hour! O Rosalie! long is it since I have been able to
+open my heart as before thee at this moment. What use is it to have a
+friend if one cannot lay before him one’s whole thoughts? To no one
+have I been able to unfold them but to thee, who already knowest them. I
+suffer, as a criminal and yet am I innocent,--just as the misshapen, the
+deformed man, is innocent of his ugliness!”
+
+“I do not possess thy knowledge, Otto,” said Rosalie, and pressed his
+hand; “have never rejoiced in such a clear head as thine; but I have
+that which thou canst not as yet possess--experience. In trouble,
+as well as in joy, youth transforms the light cobweb into the cable.
+Self-deception has changed the blood in thy veins, the thoughts in thy
+soul; but do not forever cling to this one black spot! Neither wilt
+thou! it will spur thee on to activity, will enervate thy soul, not
+depress thee! The melancholy surprise of thy grandfather’s death, whom
+thou didst believe active and well, has now made thee dejected, and thy
+thoughts so desponding. But there will come better days! happy days!
+Thou art young, and youth brings health for the soul and body!”
+
+She led Otto into the garden, where the willow plantations protected the
+other trees from the sharp west wind. The gooseberry-bushes bore fruit,
+but it was not yet ripe: one bush Otto had planted when a cutting; it
+was now large. Rosalie had tied the twigs to a palisade, so that, as an
+espalier, it could thoroughly drink in the sun’s rays. Otto regarded the
+fetters more than the good intention.
+
+“Let it grow free!” said he; “if that brittle palisade should tumble
+down, the twigs would be broken.” And he cut the bands.
+
+“Thou art still the old Otto,” said Rosalie.
+
+They went into her little room, where the crucifix, and before it a
+small vase of flowers, adorned the table. Above the cross hung a garland
+of withered heather.
+
+“Two years ago didst thou give me that, Otto!” said Rosalie. “There
+were no more flowers, there was nothing green but the heath, and thou
+twinedst a garland of it for me. Afterward I would not take it down from
+the crucifix.”
+
+They were interrupted by a visit. It was from the old preacher.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+     “His coal was coarse, its fashion old;
+       He asked no dress of greater worth
+     Than that which kept from storm and cold
+       The Baptist when he preached on earth.”
+                                C. J. BORE.
+
+Not alone of Otto’s affairs, but also of “the city yonder,” as the
+preacher called Copenhagen, would he speak. Only once a week came the
+“Viborg Collector” to hint, and the Copenhagen papers were a whole month
+going their round. “One would willingly advance with the time,” said he.
+Yesterday, at the interment, he had not found it seemly to gratify his
+desire of hearing dear Otto talk about the city, but to-day he thought
+it might well be done, and therefore he would not await Otto’s visit but
+come over to pay one himself.
+
+“Thou hast certainly seen our good king?” was his first question. “Lord
+help the anointed one! he is then as vigorous and active as ever--my
+good King Frederik!” And now he must relate a trait which had touched
+his heart, and which, in his opinion, deserved a place in the annals of
+history. This event occurred the last time that the king was in Jutland;
+he had visited the interior of the country and the western coast also.
+When he was leaving a public-house the old hostess ran after him, and
+besought that the Father would, as a remembrance, write his name with
+chalk upon a beam. The grand gentlemen wished to deter her, but she
+pulled at the king’s coat; and when he had learned her wish he nodded in
+a friendly manner, and said, “Very willingly!” and then turned back and
+wrote his name on the beam. Tears came into the old man’s eyes; he wept,
+and prayed for his king. He now inquired whether the old tree was still
+standing in the Regent’s Court, and then spoke of Nyerup and Abrahamson,
+whom he had known in his student days.
+
+In fact, after all, he was himself the narrator; each of his questions
+related to this or that event in his own life, and he always returned
+to this source--his student-days. There was then another life, another
+activity, he maintained. His royal idea of beauty had been Queen
+Matilda. [Translator’s Note: The unhappy wife of Christian VII. and
+daughter of our George III.] “I saw her often on horseback,” said he.
+“It was not then the custom in our country for ladies to ride. In her
+country it was the fashion; here it gave rise to scandal. God gave
+her beauty, a king’s crown, and a heart full of love; the world gave
+her--what it can give--a grave near to the bare heath!”
+
+Whilst he so perpetually returned to his own recollections, his share of
+news was truly not new, but he was satisfied. Copenhagen appeared to him
+a whole world--a royal city; but Sodom and Gomorrah had more than one
+street there.
+
+Otto smiled at the earnestness with which he said this.
+
+“Yes, that I know better than thou, my young friend!” continued the old
+preacher. “True, the devil does not go about like a roaring lion, but
+there he has his greatest works! He is well-dressed, and conceals his
+claws and his tail! Do not rely upon thy strength! He goes about, like
+the cat in the fable, ‘pede suspenso,’ sneakingly and cautiously! It is,
+after all, with the devil as it is with a Jutland peasant. This fellow
+comes to the city, has nothing, runs about, and cleans shoes and boots
+for the young gentlemen, and by this means he wins a small sum of money.
+He knows how to spare. He can now hire the cellar of the house in
+which thou livest, and there commence some small trade. The trade is
+successful, very successful. It goes on so well that he can hire the
+lower story; then he gains more profit, and before thou canst look about
+thee he buys the whole house. See, that is the way with the Jutland
+peasant, and just the same with the devil. At first he gets the cellar,
+then the lower story, and at last the whole house!”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+     “Sure ‘tis fair in foreign land,
+         But not so fair as home;
+
+     Let me but see thy mountains grand
+         Glaciers and snowy dome!
+
+     Let me but hear the sound that tells
+     Of climbing cattle, dressed with bells.”
+                                The Switzer’s Homesickness.
+
+Not until after breakfast did the preacher pass over to Otto’s affairs.
+His grandfather’s will made him the sole heir to the large property; a
+man in Copenhagen, the merchant Berger, should be his guardian, since
+the preacher did not wish to undertake the office. Rosalie was not
+forgotten: her devotion and fidelity had won for her a relative’s right.
+Her last days should be free from care: she had truly striven to remove
+all care from the dead whilst yet he lived. An old age free from care
+awaited her; but Otto wished that she should also have a happy old age.
+He imparted his plan to the preacher; but the latter shook his head,
+thought it was not practicable, and regarded it as a mere fancy--a whim.
+But such it was not.
+
+Some days passed by. One afternoon Rosalie sat upon a small wooden bench
+under the cherry-trees, and was making mourning for the winter.
+
+“This is the last summer that we shall sit here,” said she; “the last
+summer that this is our home. Now I am become equally rooted to this
+spot; it grieves me that I must leave it.”
+
+“Thou wast forced to leave thy dear Switzerland,” said Otto; “that was
+still harder!”
+
+“I was then young,” answered she. “The young tree may be easily
+transplanted, but the old one has shot forth deeper roots. Denmark is a
+good land--a beautiful land!”
+
+“But not the west coast of Jutland!” exclaimed Otto. “For thy green
+pasture hast thou here heath; for thy mountains, low sand-hills.”
+
+“Upon the Jura Mountains there is also heath,” said Rosalie. “The heath
+here often reminds me of my home on the Jura. There also is it cold, and
+snow can fall already in August. The fir-trees then stand as if powdered
+over.”
+
+“I love Switzerland, which I have never seen,” pursued Otto. “Thy
+relation has given me a conception of the picturesque magnificence of
+this mountain-land. I have a plan, Rosalie. I know that in the heart
+of a mountaineer homesickness never dies. I remember well how thy eyes
+sparkled when thou toldest of the walk toward Le Locle and Neufchâtel;
+even as a boy I felt at thy words the light mountain air. I rode with
+thee upon the dizzy height, where the woods lay below us like potato
+fields. What below arose, like the smoke from a charcoal-burner’s kiln,
+was a cloud in the air. I saw the Alpine chain, like floating cloud
+mountains; below mist, above dark shapes with glancing glaciers.”
+
+“Yes, Otto,” said Rosalie, and her eyes sparkled with youthful fire; “so
+looks the Alpine chain when one goes from Le Locle to Neulfchâtel: so
+did I see it when I descended the Jura for the list time. It was in
+August. The trees, with their autumnal foliage, stood yellow and red
+between the dark firs; barberries and hips grew among the tall fern.
+The Alps lay in such a beautiful light, their feet blue as heaven, their
+peaks snow-white in the clear sunshine. I was in a sorrowful mood; I
+was leaving my mountains! Then I wrote in my book--O, I remember it so
+well!--The high Alps appear to me the folded wings of the earth: how
+if she should raise them! how if the immense wings should unfold, with
+their gay images of dark woods, glaciers, and clouds! What a picture! At
+the Last Judgment will the earth doubtless unfold these pinions, soar
+up to God, and in the rays of His sunlight disappear! I also have been
+young, Otto,” pursued she, with a melancholy smile. “Thou wouldst have
+felt still more deeply at the sight of this splendor of nature. The lake
+at the foot of the mountains was smooth as a mirror; a little boat with
+white sails swam, like a swan, upon its expanse. On the road along which
+we drove were the peasants beating down chestnuts; the grapes hung in
+large black bunches. How an impression such as this can root itself in
+the memory! It is five and thirty years since, and yet I still see that
+boat with the white sail, the high Alps, and the black grapes.”
+
+“Thou shalt see thy Switzerland again, Rosalie,” exclaimed Otto; “again
+hear the bells of the cows upon the green pastures! Thou shalt go once
+more to the chapel in Franche Compté, shalt visit thy friends at Le
+Locle, see the subterranean mill, and the Doub fall.”
+
+“The mill wheel yet goes round, the water dashes down as in my youth;
+but the friends are gone, my relatives dispersed! I should appear
+a stranger there; and when one has reached my age, nature cannot
+satisfy--one must have people!”
+
+“Thou knowest, Rosalie, my grandfather has settled a sum upon thee so
+long as thou livest. Now I have thought thou couldst spend thy latter
+days with thy beloved ones at home, in the glorious Switzerland. In
+October I take my philosophicum; the following summer I would then
+accompany thee. I must also see that splendid mountain-land,--know
+something more of the world than I have yet known. I know how thy
+thoughts always dwell upon Switzerland. Thither will I reconduct thee;
+thou wilt feel thyself less lonely there than here in Denmark.”
+
+“Thou art carried away by the thoughts of youth, as thou shouldst and
+must be, thou dear, sweet soul!” said Rosalie, smiling. “At my age it is
+not so easy.”
+
+“We will make short days’ journeys,” said Otto, “go with the steamboat
+up the Rhine--that is not fatiguing; and from Basel one is soon in
+Franche Compté on the Jura.”
+
+“No, upon the heath, near Vestervovov, as it is called here, will old
+Rosalie die; here I have felt myself at home, here I have two or three
+friends. The family at Lemvig have invited me, have for me a place at
+table, a little room, and friendly faces. Switzerland would be no
+longer that Switzerland which I quitted. Nature would greet me as an old
+acquaintance; it would be to me music, once more to hear the ringing of
+the cows’ bells; it would affect me deeply, once again to kneel in the
+little chapel on the mountain: but I should soon feel myself a greater
+stranger there than here. Had it been fifteen years ago, my sister would
+still have been living, the dear, pious Adèle! She dwelt with my uncle
+close on the confines of Neufchâtel, as thou knowest, scarcely a quarter
+of a mile from Le Locle--_the town_, as we called it, because it was the
+largest place in the neighborhood. Now there are only distant relations
+of mine living, who have forgotten me. I am a stranger there. Denmark
+gave me bread, it will also give me a grave!”
+
+“I thought of giving thee a pleasure!” said Otto.
+
+“That thou dost by thy love to me!” returned she.
+
+“I thought thou wouldst have shown me thy mountains, thy home, of which
+thou hast so often spoken!”
+
+“That can I still do. I remember every spot, every tree--all remains so
+clear in my recollection. Then we ascend together the Jura higher and
+higher; here are no more vineyards to be found, no maize, no chestnuts
+only dark pines, huge cliffs, here and there a beech, as green and large
+as in Denmark. Now we have the wood behind us, we are many feet
+above the sea; thou canst perceive this by the freshness of the air.
+Everywhere are green meadows; uninterruptedly reaches our ear the
+ringing of the cow-bells. Thou as yet seest no town, and yet we are
+close upon Le Locle. Suddenly the road turns; in the midst of the
+mountain-level we perceive a small valley, and in this lies the town,
+with its red roofs, its churches, and large gardens. Close beneath the
+windows rises the mountain-side, with its grass and flowers; it looks
+as though the cattle must be precipitated upon the houses. We go through
+the long street, past the church; the inhabitants are Protestants--it
+is a complete town of watchmakers. My uncle and Adèle also sat the whole
+day, and worked at wheels and chains. That was for Monsieur Houriet,
+in Le Locle. His daughters I know; one is called Rosalie, like myself.
+Rosalie and Lydia, they will certainly have forgotten me! But it is true
+that we are upon our own journey! Now, thou seest, at the end of the
+town we do not follow the broad road--that leads to Besançon; we remain
+in the lesser one, here in the valley where the town lies. The beautiful
+valley! The green mountain-sides we keep to our right; on it are
+scattered houses, with large stones upon their steep wooden roofs, and
+with little gardens tilled with plum-trees. Steep cliff-walls shut in
+the valley; there stands up a crag; if thou climbest it thou canst look
+straight into France: one sees a plain, flat like the Danish plains. In
+the valley where we are, close under the rock, lies a little house; O, I
+see it distinctly! white-washed and with blue painted window-frames: at
+the gate a great chained dog. I hear him bark! We step into that quiet,
+friendly little house! The children are playing about on the ground.
+O, my little Henry-Numa-Robert! Ah, it is true that now he is older and
+taller than thou! We descend the steps toward the cellar. Here stand
+sacks and chests of flour; under the floor one hears a strange roaring;
+still a few steps lower, and we must light the lamp, for here it is
+dark. We find ourselves in a great water-mill, a subterranean mill. Deep
+below in the earth rushes a river--above no one dreams of it; the water
+dashes down several fathoms over the rushing wheel, which threatens to
+seize our clothes and whirl us away into the circle. The steps on which
+we stand are slippery: the stone walls drip with water, and only a step
+beyond the depth appears bottomless! O, thou wilt love this mill as I
+love it! Again having reached the light of day, and under free heaven,
+one only perceives the quiet, friendly little house. Dost thou know,
+Otto, often as thou hast sat quiet and dreaming, silent as a statue,
+have I thought of my mill, and the repose which it presented? and yet
+how wildly the stream roared in its bosom, how the wheels rushed round,
+and how gloomy it was in the depth!”
+
+“We will leave the mill!” said Otto, and sought to lead her from her
+reflections back to her own relation. “We find ourselves in the wood,
+where the ringing of the evening-bell reaches our ear from the little
+chapel in Franche Compté.”
+
+“There stands my father’s house!” said Rosalie. “From the corner-window
+one looks over the wood toward Aubernez, [Author’s Note: A village in
+the canton Neufchâtel, lying close upon the river Doub, where it forms
+the boundary between Switzerland and France.] where the ridge leads over
+the Doub. The sun shines upon the river, which, far below, winds along,
+gleaming like the clearest silver.”
+
+“And the whole of France spreads itself out before us!” said Otto.
+
+“How beautiful! O, how beautiful!” exclaimed Rosalie, and her eyes
+sparkled as she gazed before her; but soon her glance became sad, and
+she pressed Otto’s hand. “No one will welcome me to my home! I know
+neither their joys nor their sorrows--they are not my own family! In
+Denmark--I am at home. When the cold sea-mist spreads itself over the
+heath I often fancy I am living among my mountains, where the heather
+grows. The mist seems to me then to be a snow-cloud which rests over
+the mountains, and thus, when other people are complaining of the bad
+weather, I am up among my mountains!”
+
+“Thou wilt then remove to the family at Lemvig?” asked Otto.
+
+“There I am welcome!” returned she.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+     “Look at the calming sea. The waves still tremble in the
+     depths, and stem to fear the gale.--Over my head is hovering
+     the shadowy mist.--My curls are wet with the filling dew.”
+      --OSSIAN.
+
+Otto had not as yet visited the sand-hills on the strand, the fishermen,
+or the peasants, among whom formerly he had spent all his spare time.
+
+The beautiful summer’s day drove him forth, his heart yearned to drink
+in the summer warmth.
+
+Only the roads between the larger towns are here tolerable, or rather
+as tolerable as the country will allow. The by-ways were only to be
+discerned by the traces of cart-wheels, which ran on beside each other;
+at certain places, to prevent the wheels sinking into the deep sand,
+ling had been spread; where this is not the case, and the tracks cross
+each other, a stranger would scarcely find the way. Here the landmark
+places its unseen boundary between neighboring possessions.
+
+Every farm, every cottage, every hill, was an old acquaintance to Otto.
+He directed his steps toward Harbooere, a parish which, one may say,
+consists of sand and water, but which, nevertheless, is not to be
+called unfruitful. A few of the inhabitants pursue agriculture, but the
+majority consists of fishermen, who dwell in small houses and have no
+land.
+
+His first encounter upon his wandering was with one of those large
+covered wagons with which the so-called eelmen, between the days of St.
+John and St. Bartholomew, go with eels toward the small towns lying
+to the south and east, and then, laden with apples and garden produce,
+return home--articles which are rapidly consumed by the common people.
+The eelman stopped when he saw and recognized Otto.
+
+“Welcome, Mr. Otto!” said he. “Yes, you are come over abut a sad affair!
+That Major Thostrup should have gone off so! But there was nothing else
+to be expected from him he was old enough.”
+
+“Death demands his right!” replied Otto, and pressed the man’s hand.
+“Things go, doubtless, well with you, Morten Chraenseu?”
+
+“The whole cart full of eels, and some smoked carp! It is also good to
+meet with you, Mr. Otto. Upon the land a preacher is very good, but
+not upon the sea, as they say at home. Yes, you are certainly now a
+preacher, or will become one?”
+
+“No, I am not studying to become a preacher!” answered Otto.
+
+“No! will you then become a lawyer? It strikes me you are clever
+enough--you have no need to study any more! You will just go and say
+a few words to them at home? The grandmother sits and spins yarn for
+eel-nets. She has now the cataract on the other eye, but her mouth is as
+well as ever; she does not let herself grow dumb, although she does sit
+in the dark. Mother provides the baits; she has also enough to do with
+the hooks.”
+
+“But Maria, the lively little Maria?” said Otto.
+
+“The girl? She has gone this year with the other fishergirls to
+Ringkjoebing, to be hired for the hay and corn harvest; we thought we
+could do without her at home. But now, God willing! I must travel on.”
+ Cordially he shook Otto’s hand, and pursued his slow journey.
+
+The brothers of the eelman were active fishermen, as their father
+had been before them; and although they were all married they lived
+together. The swarm of children was not insignificant; young and old
+formed one family, in which the old grandmother had the first voice.
+
+Otto approached the dwelling; before it lay a little plot of land,
+planted with potatoes and carrots, and also beds of onions and thyme.
+Two large bull-dogs, with sharp teeth and wicked eyes, rushed toward
+Otto. “Tyv! Grumsling!” shrieked a voice, and the dogs let fall their
+tails and drew back, with a low growl, toward the house. Here at the
+threshold sat an old woman in a red woolen jacket, with a handkerchief
+of the same material and same color about her neck, and upon her head
+a man’s black felt hat. She spun. Otto immediately recognized the old
+blind grandmother.
+
+“God’s peace be in the house!” said he.
+
+“That voice I have not heard for a year and a day!” replied the old
+woman, and raised her head, as if she would see him with her dead eyes.
+“Are not you Major Thostrup’s Otto? You resemble him in the voice. I
+thought, truly, that if you came here you would pay us a visit. Ide
+shall leave the baits and put on the kettle, that you may have a cup of
+coffee. Formerly you did not use to despise our entertainment. You have
+not grown proud with your journey, have you? The coffee-vetch [Author’s
+Note: Astragalus baeticus is used as a substitute for coffee, and is
+principally grown upon the sand-hills west of Holmsland. It is first
+freed from the husk, and then dried and roasted a little.] is good; it
+is from Holmsland, and tastes better than the merchant’s beans.” The
+dogs still growled at Otto. “Cannot you stupid beasts, who have still
+eyes in your heads to see with, recognize that this is the Major’s
+Otto?” cried she wrathfully, and gave them several good blows with her
+hand.
+
+Otto’s arrival created a great stir in the little household that he was
+welcome, you might see by every countenance.
+
+“Yes,” said the grandmother, “now you are grown much wiser in the town,
+could, very likely, were it needful, write an almanac! You will very
+likely have found for yourself a little bride there, or will you fetch
+one out of Lemvig? for no doubt she must be from a town! Yes, I have
+known him ever since he was a little fellow; yonder, on the wall, he
+made, out of herrings’ heads, the living devil, just as he lives and
+breathes. He thrust our sucking-pig into the eel-cart, between the
+casks. We sought a whole day after the sucking-pig without finding him,
+and he was forced to make the journey with them to Holstebro. Yes,
+he was a wild fellow! Later, when he was obliged to learn so much, he
+became sad. Yes, yes, within the last years his books have overdone
+him!”
+
+“Yes, many a time has he put out to sea with my husband!” pursued one of
+the daughters-in-law. “One night he remained out with him. How anxious
+the French Mamsell at the hall was about him!”
+
+“He was never haughtty,” said the grandmother. “He nibbled his dried
+fish with the fresh fish, and drank a little cup of water, although he
+was used to better things at home. But to-day we have white bread, fresh
+and good; it came yesterday from Lemvig.”
+
+The brandy-glass, with its wooden, red-painted foot, was placed before
+Otto. Under the bed there was an anker of brandy,--“a little stock,” as
+all stranded goods are here called.
+
+Otto inquired after the married sons. They were with their men on the
+shore, ready to embark on their fishing expedition, The grandmother
+would accompany him thither; they were not yet departed: she should
+first take them provisions.
+
+The old woman took her stick, the dog sprang forward, and now commenced
+their wandering among the sand-hills, where their huts or booths, built
+with rafters and smeared with earth, stood. Around lay the refuse of
+fish,--heads and entrails, thrown about. The men were just then busied
+in carrying the trough and fishing-tackle [Author’s Note: A “Bakke”
+ consists of three lines, each of 200 Danish ells, or about 135 yards,
+and of 200 fishing-hooks; the stretched “Bakke” is thus about 200 yards,
+with 600 hooks; these are attached to the line with strings half an
+ell long and as thick as fine twine. To each “Bakke” belongs a square
+trough, on which it is carried on board. To a larger fishing-boat are
+reckoned six lots of hooks; each lot has eight to nine “Bakkes.”] on
+board.
+
+The open sea lay before them, almost as bright as a mirror, for the wind
+was easterly. Near to them paused a horseman; he was partly dressed
+like a peasant, with riding-breeches on, which were buttoned down at the
+sides.
+
+“Have you heard the news?” he cried to Otto. “I come from Ringkjoebing.
+At Merchant Cohen’s I have read the German paper; there is a revolution
+in France! Charles X. is fled with the whole royal family. Yes, in
+Paris, there is fine work!”
+
+“The French are a wild people!” said the grandmother. “A king and a
+queen they have beheaded in my time; now they will do the same with
+these. Will our dear Lord suffer that such things be done to His
+anointed?”
+
+“There will be war again!” said one of the fishermen.
+
+“Then more horses will go out of the country,” said the stranger,
+pressed Otto’s hand, and vanished behind the sandhills.
+
+“Was not that the horse-dealer from Varde?” inquired Otto.
+
+“Yes, he understands languages,” said the fisherman; “and thus he
+is acquainted with foreign affairs sooner than we. Then they are now
+fighting in France! Blood flows in the streets; it will not be so in
+Denmark before the Turk binds his horse to the bush in the Viborg Lake.
+And then, according to the prophecy of the sibyl, it will be near the
+end of the world.”
+
+Meanwhile, everything was prepared for their embarkation. If Mr. Otto
+would take the further oar, and was inclined to pass the night on the
+sea, there was a place for him in the boat. But he had promised Rosalie
+to be back before evening. The grandmother now prayed, kneeling with the
+others, and immediately after quick strokes of the oars the flat boat
+rowed away from the shore. The fate of France was forgotten; their
+calling occupied the fishermen.
+
+The old woman seemed to listen to the strokes of the oars; her dead
+eyes rested immovably on the sea. A sea-mew passed close to her in
+its flight. “That was a bird!” said she. “Is there no one here beside
+ourselves?”
+
+“No; no one at all,” answered Otto, carelessly.
+
+“Is no one in the hut, no one behind the sand-hills?” again asked
+the grandmother. “It was not on account of the dried meat that I came
+here--it was not to wet my face on the shore; I speak with you alone,
+which I could not do in the house. Give me your hand! Now that the old
+man rests in the grave, you yourself will guide the rudder; the estate
+will be sold, and you will not come again to the west coast. Our Lord
+has made it dark before my eyes before He has closed my ears and given
+me leave to go. I can no longer see you, but I have you in my thought
+as you looked before you left our land. That you are handsomer now I
+can easily imagine; but gayer you are not! Talk you certainly can, and I
+have heard you laugh; but that was little better than the two last years
+you were here. Once it was different with you--no fairy could be wilder
+than you!”
+
+“With years one becomes more quiet,” said Otto, and gazed with
+astonishment at the blind woman, who did not leave go his hand. “As a
+boy I was far too merry--that could not continue; and that I should now
+be grave, I have, as you will see, sufficient reason--I have lost my
+last support.”
+
+“Yes, truly, truly!” repeated she slowly, and as if pondering; then
+shook her head. “That is not the reason. Do you not believe in the power
+of the devil? our Lord Christ forgive me! do not you believe in the
+power of wicked men? There is no greater difference between the human
+child and the changeling brat which the underground spirits lay in his
+stead in the cradle, than there is between you when you were a boy and
+you as you became during the last year of your stay here. ‘That comes
+from books, from so much learning,’ said I to other people. Could I only
+have said so to myself! But you shall become gay; the trouble of your
+heart shall wither like a poisonous weed. I know whence it sprung, and
+will, with God’s help, heal it. Will you solemnly promise, that no soul
+in the world shall learn what we speak of in this hour?”
+
+“What have you to say to me?” asked Otto, affected by the extraordinary
+earnestness of the old woman.
+
+“The German Heinrich, the player! You remember him well? He is to blame
+for your grief! Yes, his name drives the blood more quickly through your
+pulse. I feel it, even if I cannot see your face.”
+
+“The German Heinrich!” repeated Otto, and his hand really trembled.
+Had Heinrich, then, when he was here three years ago, told her and the
+fishermen that which no human being must know,--that which had destroyed
+the gayety of his youth? “What have I to do with the German Heinrich?”
+
+“Nothing more than a pious Christian has to do with the devil!” replied
+she, and made the sign of the cross. “But Heinrich has whispered an evil
+word in your ear; he has banished your joyous humor, as one banishes a
+serpent.”
+
+“Has he told you this?” exclaimed Otto, and breathed more quickly. “Tell
+me all that he has said!”
+
+“You will not make me suffer for it!” said she. “I am innocent, and yet
+I have cooperated in it: it was only a word but a very unseemly word,
+and for it one must account at the day of judgment!”
+
+“I do not understand you!” said Otto, and his eyes glanced around to see
+whether any one heard. They were quite alone. In the far distance the
+boat with the fishermen showed itself like a dark speck.
+
+“Do you remember how wild you were as a boy? How you fastened bladders
+to the cat’s legs and tail, and flung her out of the loft-window that
+she might fly? I do not say this in anger, for I thought a deal of you;
+but when you became too insolent one might wall say, ‘Can no one, then,
+curb this lad?’ See, these words I said!--that is my whole fault, but
+since then have lain heavy on my heart. Three years ago came the German
+Heinrich, and stayed two nights in our house; God forgive it us! Tricks
+he could play, and he understood more than the Lord’s Prayer--more than
+is useful to a man. With one trick you were to assist him, but when
+he gave you the goblet you played your own tricks, and he could make
+nothing succeed. You would also be clever. Then he cast an evil eye upon
+you, although he was still so friendly and submissive, because you
+were a gentleman’s child. Do you remember--no, you will certainly have
+forgotten--how you once took the baits of the hooks off and hung my
+wooden shoes on instead? Then I said in anger, and the anger of man
+is never good, ‘Can no one, then, tame this boy for me? He was making
+downright fun of you to your own face,’ said I to the player. ‘Do you
+not know some art by which you can tame this wild-cat?’ Then he laughed
+maliciously, but I thought no more of the matter. The following day,
+however, he said, ‘Now I have curbed the lad! You should only see how
+tame he is become; and should he ever again turn unruly, only ask him
+what word the German Heinrich whispered in his ear, and you shall. Then
+see how quiet he will become. He shall not mock this trick!’ My heart
+was filled with horror, but I thought afterward it really meant
+nothing. Ei! ei! from the hour he was here you are no longer the same as
+formerly; that springs from the magical word he whispered in your ear.
+You cannot pronounce the word, he told me; but by it you have been
+enchanted: this, and not book-learning, has worked the change. But you
+shall be delivered! If you have faith, and that you must have, you shall
+again become gay, and I, spite of the evil words which I spoke, be able
+to sleep peacefully in my grave. If you will only lay this upon your
+heart, now that the moon is in its wane, the trouble will vanish out of
+your heart as the disk of the moon decreases!” And saying this she drew
+out of her pocket a little leather purse, opened it and took out a
+piece of folded paper. “In this is a bit of the wood out of which our
+Saviour’s cross was made. This will draw forth the sorrow from your
+heart, and bear it, as it bore Him who took upon Himself the sorrow of
+the whole world!” She kissed it with pious devotion, and then handed it
+to Otto.
+
+The whole became clear to him. He recollected how in his boyish
+wantonness he had caused Heinrich’s tricks to miscarry, which occasioned
+much pleasure to the spectators, but in Heinrich displeasure: they soon
+again became friends, and Otto recognized in him the merry weaver of the
+manufactory, as he called his former abode. They were alone, Otto asked
+whether he did not remember his name: Heinrich shook his head. Then Otto
+uncovered his shoulder, bade him read the branded letters, and heard the
+unhappy interpretation which gave the death-blow to his gayety. Heinrich
+must have seen what an impression his words made upon the boy: he gained
+through them an opportunity of avenging himself, and at the same time
+of bringing himself again into repute: as a sorcerer. He had tamed him,
+whispered he to the old woman,--he had tamed the boy with a single word.
+At any future wantonness of Otto’s, gravity and terror would immediately
+return should any one ask him, What word did the German Heinrich whisper
+into thy ear? “Only ask him,” had Heinrich said.
+
+In a perfectly natural manner there lay, truly, enchantment in
+Heinrich’s words, even although it were not that enchantment which the
+superstition of the old woman would have signified. A revelation of
+the connection of affairs would have removed her doubts, but here an
+explanation was impossible to Otto. He pressed her hand, besought her to
+be calm; no sorrow lay heavy on his heart, except the loss of his dear
+grandfather.
+
+“Every evening have I named your name it my prayers,” said the old
+grandmother. “Each time when the harbingers of bad weather showed
+themselves, and my sons were on the sea, so that we hung out flags or
+lighted beacons as signals, did I think of the words which had escaped
+my lips, and which the wicked Heinrich had caught up; I feared lest our
+Lord might cause my children to suffer for my injustice.”
+
+“Be calm, my dear old woman!” said Otto. “Keep for yourself the holy
+cross, on the virtue of which you rely; may it remove each sorrow from
+your own heart!”
+
+“No, I am guilty of my own sorrow! yours has a stranger laid upon your
+heart! Only the sorrow of the guiltless will the cross bear.”
+
+The beautiful sentiment which, unconsciously to her, lay in these words,
+affected Otto. He accepted the present, preserved it, sought to calm
+the old woman, and once more at parting glanced toward the splendid sea
+expanse which formed its own boundary.
+
+It was almost evening before he reached the house where Rosalie awaited
+him. His last scene with the blind fisher-woman had again thrown him
+into his gloomy mood. “After all, she really knows nothing!” said he to
+himself. “This Heinrich is my evil angel! might he only die soon!” It
+was in Otto’s soul as if he could shoot a ball through Heinrich’s heart.
+“Did he only lie buried under the heather, and with him my secret! I
+will have blood! yes, there is something devilish in man! Were Heinrich
+only dead! But others live who know my birth,--my sister! my poor,
+neglected sister, she who had the same right to intellectual development
+as myself! How I fear this meeting! it will be bitter! I must away. I
+will hence--here will my life-germ be stifled! I have indeed fortune--I
+will travel! This animated France will drive away these whims, and--I
+am away, far removed from my home. In the coming spring I shall be
+a stranger among strangers!” And his thoughts melted into a quiet
+melancholy. In this manner he reached the hall.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+     “L’Angleterre jalouse et la Grèce homérique,
+     Toute l’Europe admire, et la jeune Amérique
+     Se lève et bat des mains du bord des océans.
+     Trois jours vous ont suffi pour briser vos entraves.
+     Vous êtes les aînés d’une race de braves,
+     Vous êtes les fits des géans!”
+                                  V. HUGO, Chants du Crépuscule.
+
+                  “Politiken, mine Herrer!”
+                       MORTONS’ Lystspil: den Hjemkomne Nabob
+
+“In France there is revolution!” was the first piece of information
+which Otto related. “Charles X. has flown with his family. This, they
+say, is in the German papers.”
+
+“Revolution?” repeated Rosalie, and folded her hands. “Unhappy France!
+Blood has flowed there, and it again flows. There I lost my father and
+my brother. I became a refugee--must seek for myself a new father-land.”
+ She wiped away a tear from her cheek, and sunk into deep meditation.
+She knew the horrors of a revolution, and only saw in this new one a
+repetition of those scenes of terror which she had experienced, and
+which had driven her out into the world, up into the north, where
+she struggled on, until at length she found a home with Otto’s
+grandfather--a resting abode.
+
+Everything great and beautiful powerfully affected Otto’s soul; only in
+one direction had he shown no interest--in the political direction, and
+it was precisely politics which had most occupied the grandfather in
+his seclusion. But Otto’s soul was too vivacious, too easily moved, too
+easily carried away by what lay nearest him. “One must first thoroughly
+enter into life, before the affairs of the world can seize upon us!”
+ said he. “With the greater number of those who in their early youth
+occupy themselves with politics, it is merely affectation. It is with
+them like the boy who forces himself to smoke tobacco so as to appear
+older than he really is.” Beyond his own country, France was the
+only land which really interested Otto. Here Napoleon had ruled, and
+Napoleon’s name had reached his heart--he had grown up whilst this name
+passed from mouth to mouth; the name and the deeds of the hero sounded
+to him, yet a boy, like a great world adventure. How often had he heard
+his grandfather, shaking his head, say, “Yes, now newspaper writers have
+little to tell since Napoleon is quiet.” And then he had related to
+him of the hero at Arcole and among the Pyramids, of the great campaign
+against Europe, of the conflagration at Moscow, and the return from
+Elba.
+
+Who has not written a play in his childhood? Otto’s sole subject was
+Napoleon; the whole history of the hero, from the snow-batteries at
+Brienne to the rocky island in the ocean. True, this poem was a wild
+shoot; but it had sprung from an enthusiastic heart. At that time he
+preserved it as a treasure. A little incident which is connected with
+it, and is characteristic of Otto’s wild outbreaks of temper when a boy,
+we will here introduce.
+
+A child of one of the domestics, a little merry boy with whom Otto
+associated a good deal, was playing with him in his garret. Otto was
+then writing his play. The boy bantered him, pulling the paper at the
+same time. Otto forbade him with the threat,--“If thou dost that again I
+will throw thee out of the window!” The boy again immediately pulled at
+the paper. In a moment Otto seized him by the waist, swung him toward
+the open window, and would certainly have thrown him out, had not
+Rosalie fortunately entered the room, and, with an exclamation of
+horror, seized Otto’s arm, who now stood pale as death and trembling in
+every limb.
+
+In this manner had Napoleon awoke Otto’s interest for France. Rosalie
+also spoke, next to her Switzerland, with most pleasure of this country.
+The Revolution had livingly affected her, and therefore her discourse
+regarding it was living. It even seemed to the old preacher as though
+the Revolution were an event which he had witnessed. The Revolution and
+Napoleon had often fed his thoughts and his discourse toward this land.
+Otto had thus, without troubling himself the least about politics, grown
+up with a kind of interest about France. The mere intelligence of this
+struggle of the July days was therefore not indifferent to him. He
+still only knew what the horse-dealer had related; nothing of the
+congregation, or of Polignac’s ministry: but France was to him the
+mighty world-crater, which glowed with its splendid eruptions, and which
+he admired from a distance.
+
+The old preacher shook his head when Otto imparted this political
+intelligence to him. A king, so long as he lived, was in his eyes holy,
+let him be whatever sort of a man he might. The actions of a king,
+according to his opinion, resembled the words of the Bible, which man
+ought not to weigh; they should be taken as they were. “All authority is
+from God!” said he. “The anointed one is holy; God gives to him wisdom;
+he is a light to whom we must all look up!”
+
+“He is a man like ourselves!” answered Otto. “He is the first magistrate
+of the land, and as such we owe him the highest reverence and obedience.
+Birth, and not worth, gives him the high post which he fills. He ought
+only to will that which is good; to exercise justice. His duties are
+equally great with those of his subjects.”
+
+“But more difficult, my son!” said the old man. “It is nothing, as a
+flower, to adorn the garland; more difficult is it to be the hand which
+weaves the garland. The ribbon must be tight as well as gently tied; it
+must not cut into the stems, and yet it must not be too loose. Yes, you
+young men talk according to your wisdom! Yes, you are wise! quite as
+wise as the woman who kept a roasted chicken for supper. She placed it
+upon a pewter plate upon the glowing coals, and went out to attend to
+her affairs. When she returned the plate was melted, and the chicken lay
+among the ashes. ‘What a wise cat I have!’ said she; ‘she has eaten
+I the plate and left the chicken!’ See, you talk just so, and regard
+things from the same foolish point of view. Do not speak like the rest
+of them in the city! ‘Fear God, and honor the king!’ We have nothing
+to argue with these two; they transact their business between them! The
+French resemble young students; when these have made their examen artium
+they imagine they are equal to the whole world: they grow restive, and
+give student-feasts! The French must have a Napoleon, who can give
+their something to do! If they be left to themselves they will play mad
+pranks!”
+
+“Let us first see what the papers really say,” replied Otto.
+
+The following day a large letter arrived; it was from Wilhelm:--
+
+“My excellent Otto,--We have all drunk to Otto Thostrup’s health. I
+raised the glass, and drank the health. The friendship’s dissonance YOU
+has dissolved itself into a harmonious THOU, and thou thyself hast given
+the accord. All at home speak of thee; even the Kammerjunker’s Mamsell
+chose lately thee, and not her work-box, as a subject of conversation.
+The evening as thou drovest over the Jutland heaths I seated myself at
+the piano, and played thy whole journey to my sisters. The journey over
+the heath I gave them in a monotonous piece, composed of three tones,
+quite dissimilar to that composed by Rousseau. My sisters were near
+despair; but I told them it was not more uninteresting than the heath.
+Sometimes I made a little flight, a quaver; that was the heath-larks
+which flew up into the air. The introduction to the gypsy-chorus in
+‘Preciosa’ signified the German gypsy-flock. Then came the thema out of
+‘Jeannot and Collin’--‘O, joyous days of childhood!’--and then thou wast
+at home. I thundered powerfully down in the bass; that was the North
+Sea, the chorus in thy present grand’ opéra. Thou canst well imagine
+that it was quite original.
+
+“For the rest, everything at home remains in its old state. I have been
+in Svendborg, and have set to music that sweet poem, ‘The Wishes,’ by
+Carl Bagger. His verses seem to me a little rough; but something will
+certainly come out of the fellow! Thy own wishes are they which he has
+expressed. Besides this, the astonishing tidings out of France have
+given us, and all good people here, an electrical shock. Yes, thou in
+thy solitude hast certainly heard nothing of the brilliant July days.
+The Parisians have deposed Charles X. If the former Revolution was
+a blood-fruit, this one is a true passionflower, suddenly sprung up,
+exciting astonishment through its beauty, and as soon as the work
+is ended rolling together its leaves. My cousin Joachim, who as thou
+knowest is just now at Paris, has lived through these extraordinary
+days. The day before yesterday we received a long, interesting letter
+from him, which gave us--of the particulars as well as of the whole--a
+more complete idea than the papers can give us. People assemble in
+groups round the post-houses to receive the papers as they arrive. I
+have extracted from my cousin’s letter what has struck me most, and send
+thee these extracts in a supplement. Thou canst thus in thy retirement
+still live in the world. A thousand greetings from all here. Thou hast a
+place in mamma’s heart, but not less so in mine.
+
+          “Thy friend and brother,
+
+                       “WILHELM.
+
+“P. S.--It is true! My sister Sophie begs thee to bring her a stone from
+the North Sea. Perhaps thou wilt bring for me a bucket of water; but it
+must not incommode thee!”
+
+This hearty letter transported Otto into the midst of the friendly
+circle in Funen. The corner of the paper where Wilhelm’s name stood he
+pressed to his lips. His heart was full of noble friendship.
+
+The extract which Wilhelm had made from his cousin’s letter was short
+and descriptive. It might be compared with a beautiful poem translated
+into good prose.
+
+In the theatre we interest ourselves for struggling innocence; but we
+are still more affected when the destiny of a whole nation is to be
+decided. It is on this account that “Wilhelm Tell” possesses so much
+interest. Not of the single individual is here the question, but of all.
+Here is flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bone. Greater than the play
+created by the poet was the effect which this description of the July
+days produced upon Otto. This was the reality itself in which he lived.
+His heart was filled with admiration for France, who fought for Liberty
+the holy fight, and who, with the language of the sword, had pronounced
+the anathema of the age on the enemies of enlightenment and improvement.
+
+The old preacher folded his hands as he heard it; his eyes sparkled: but
+soon he shook his head. “May men so judge the anointed ones of God? ‘He
+who taketh the sword shall perish by the sword!’”
+
+“The king is for the people,” said Otto; “not the people for the king!”
+
+“Louis XVIth’s unhappy daughter!” sighed Rosalie; “for the third time
+is she driven from her father-land. Her parents and brothers killed! her
+husband dishonored! She herself has a mind and heart. ‘She is the only
+man among the Bourbons,’” said Napoleon.
+
+The preacher, with his old-fashioned honesty, and a royalist from his
+whole heart, regarded the affair with wavering opinion, and with fear
+for the future. Rosalie thought most of those who were made unhappy of
+the royal ladies and the poor children. Each followed the impulse of
+their own nature, and the instinctive feeling of their age; thus did
+Otto also, and therefore was his soul filled with enthusiasm. Enthusiasm
+belongs to youth. His thoughts were busied with dreams of Paris; thither
+flew his wishes. “Yes, I will travel!” exclaimed he; “that will give
+my whole character a more decided bias: I will and must,” added he
+in thought. “My sorrow will be extinguished, the recollections of my
+childhood be forgotten. Abroad, no terrific figures, as here, will
+present themselves to me. My father is dead, foreign earth lies upon his
+coffin!”
+
+“But the office--examination!” said the old preacher, “pass that first.
+It is always good to have this in reserve, even if thou dost make no use
+of it. Only make this year thy philosophicum.”
+
+“And in the spring I shall travel,” said Otto.
+
+“That depends upon thy guardian, my son!” said the preacher.
+
+Several days passed, and Otto began to feel it solitary in his home--all
+moved here in such a confined circle. His mind was accustomed to a wider
+sphere of action. He began to grow weary, and then the hours travel with
+the snail’s pace.
+
+           “...minutterna ligesom räcka og strärka sig.
+   Man känner behof at göre sa med.” [Note: Sketches of Every-day Life.]
+
+He thought of his departure.
+
+“Thou must take the road through Lemvig,” said Rosalie. “I will then
+visit the family there for a few days; it will make them quite happy to
+see thee, and I shall then be so much longer with thee. That thou wilt
+do, wilt thou not?”
+
+The day was fixed when they should travel.
+
+The evening previous, Otto paid his last visit to the preacher. They
+spoke together a long time about the deceased grandfather. The preacher
+gave up several papers to Otto; among them also his father’s last
+letter.
+
+In honor of Otto, a bottle of wine was placed upon the table.
+
+“To thy health, my son!” said the preacher, raising his glass. “We shall
+hardly spend another evening together. Thou wilt have much to learn
+before thou comest as far as I. The world has more thorn-bushes than
+gold-mountains. The times look unsettled. France commences a new
+description of campaign in Europe, and certainly will draw along with
+it all young men: formerly it was the conquerer Napoleon who led to the
+field; now it is the idea of liberty! May the Lord preserve our good
+king, and then it will remain well with us! Thou, Otto, wilt fly out
+into the wide world--hadst thou only first passed thy examination
+for office! But when and where-ever thou mayest fly, remember on all
+occasions the words of Scripture.
+
+“We all desire to rule. Phaeton wished to drive the chariot of the
+sun, but not understanding how to guide the reins, he set fire to the
+countries, precipitated himself from the chariot, and broke his neck. I
+have no one in the city of Copenhagen whom I can ask thee to greet for
+me. All the friends of my youth are scattered to the east and to the
+west. If any of them still be in the city, they will certainly have
+forgotten me. But shouldst thou ever go to the Regent’s Court, and smoke
+with the others a pipe under the tree, think of me. I have also sat
+there when I was young like thee; when the French Revolution drove also
+the blood quicker through my veins, and thoughts of freedom caused me to
+carry my head more high. The dear old tree! [Author’s Note: At the end
+of the last century it was felled, and two younger ones, which are now
+in full growth, planted in its stead.] Yes, but one does not perceive in
+it, as in me, how many years have passed since then!”
+
+He pressed a kiss on Otto’s forehead, gave him his blessing, and they
+parted.
+
+Otto was in a melancholy mood; he felt that he had certainly seen the
+old man for the last time. When he arrived at home he found Rosalie busy
+hacking. The following morning, by earliest dawn, they were to travel
+toward Lemvig. Otto had not been there within these two last years. In
+old times the journey thither had always been to him a festival, now it
+was almost indifferent to him.
+
+He entered his little chamber; for the last time in his life he should
+now sleep there. From the next morning commenced, so it seemed to him, a
+new chapter in his life. Byron’s “Farewell” sounded in his ears like an
+old melody:--
+
+     “Fare thee well, and if forever,
+                Still for ever fare thee well.”
+
+At break of day the carriage rolled away with him and old Rosalie. Both
+were silent; the carriage moved slowly along the deep ruts. Otto looked
+back once more. A lark rose, singing above him.
+
+“It will be a beautiful day!” said the coachman; his words and the song
+of the lark Rosalie regarded as a good omen for Otto’s whole journey.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+   “Geske.--Have you put syrup in the coffee?
+   Henrich.--Yes, I have.
+   Geske.--Be so good, dear madams, be so kind as to be contented.”
+                                      HOLBERG’S Political Pewterer.
+
+Lemvig lies, as is well known, on an arm of the Limfjord. The legend
+relates, that in the Swedish war a troop of the enemy’s cavalry
+compelled a peasant here to mount his horse and serve as a guide.
+Darkness came on; they found themselves already upon the high
+sand-banks. The peasant guided his horse toward a steep precipice; in a
+farm-house on the other side of the fjord they perceived a light. “That
+is Lemvig,” said the peasant; “let us hasten!” He set spurs to his
+horse, the Swedes followed his example, and they were precipitated into
+the depth: the following morning their corpses were found. The monument
+of this bold Lemvig peasant consists of this legend and in the songs of
+the poets; and these are the monuments which endure the longest. Through
+this legend the bare precipice receives an intellectual beauty, which
+may truly compare itself with the naturally beautiful view over the city
+and the bay.
+
+Rosalie and Otto drove into the town. It was two years since he had
+been here; everything seemed to him, during this time, to have shrunk
+together: wherever he looked everything was narrow and small. In his
+recollection, Lemvig was very much larger.
+
+They now drew up before the merchant’s house. The entrance was through
+the shop, which was decorated with wooden shoes, woolen gloves, and
+iron ware. Close within the door stood two large casks of tea. Over the
+counter hung an extraordinary stuffed fish, and a whole bunch of felt
+hats, for the use of both sexes. It was a business en gros and en
+détail, which the son of the house managed. The father himself was
+number one in Lemvig; he had ships at sea, and kept open house, as they
+call it, in the neighborhood.
+
+The sitting-room door opened, and the wife herself, a stout, square
+woman, with an honest, contented countenance, stepped out and
+received the guests with kisses and embraces. Alas! her good Jutland
+pronunciation cannot be given in writing.
+
+“O, how glorious that the Mamsell comes and brings Mr. Thostrup with
+her! How handsome he is become! and how grown! Yes, we have his mark
+still on the door.” She drew Otto along with her. “He has shot up more
+than a quarter of a yard!”
+
+He looked at the objects which surrounded him.
+
+“Yes,” said she, “that instrument we have had since you were last
+here; it is a present to Maren from her brother. She will now sing; you
+something. It is astonishing what a voice she has! Last Whitsuntide she
+sang in the church with the musical people; she sang louder than the
+organ!”
+
+Otto approached the sofa, over which a large piece of needlework hung,
+in a splendid gold frame. “That is Maren’s name-sampler,” said the
+mistress of the house. “It is very pretty. See! there stand all our
+names! Can Mr. Thostrup guess who this is? Here are all the figures
+worked in open stitch. That ship, there, is the Mariane, which was
+called after me. There you see the Lemvig Arms--a tower which stands on
+the waves; and here in the corner, in regular and irregular stitches,
+is her name, ‘Maren, October the 24th, 1828.’ Yes, that is now two years
+since. She has now worked a cushion for the sofa, with a Turk upon
+it. It went the round of the city--every one wished to see it; it is
+astonishing how Maren can use her hands!”
+
+Rosalie inquired after the excellent girl.
+
+“She is preparing the table,” said the lady. “Some good friends are
+coming to us this evening. The secretary will also come; he will then
+play with Maren. You will doubtless, in Copenhagen, have heard much more
+beautiful music; ours is quite simple, but they sing from notes: and I
+think, most likely the secretary will bring his musical-box with him.
+That is splendid! Only lately he sang a little song to the box, that was
+much better than to the larger instrument; for I must say he has not the
+strong chest which Maren has.”
+
+The whole family assembled themselves for the first time at the
+dinner-table. The two persons who took the lowest places at table
+appeared the most original; these were the shopman and the aunt. Both
+of them had only at dinner the honor of being with the family; they were
+quite shut out from the evening parties.
+
+The shopman, who in the shop was the first person, and who could there
+speak a few words, sat here like a quiet, constrained creature; his hair
+combed toward one side, and exhibiting two red, swollen hands: no sound
+escaped his lips; kissing the hand of the lady of the house, at coming
+and going, was all he did beside eat.
+
+The aunt, who was not alone called so by the family, but by the whole
+of Lemvig, was equally sparing of her words, but her face was constantly
+laughing. A flowered, red cotton cap fitted close to the thin face,
+giving something characteristic to the high cheek-bones and hanging
+lip. “She assisted in the household, but could take no part in genteel
+company,” as the lady expressed herself. She could never forget how, at
+the Reformation Festival, when only the singers sang in the church, aunt
+began singing with them out of her book, so that the churchwarden was
+forced to beg her to be silent; but this she took very ill, and declared
+she had as notch right as the others to praise God, and then sang in
+defiance. Had she not been “aunt,” and not belonged to the family to
+which she did, she would certainly have been turned out.
+
+She was now the last person who entered and took her place at table.
+Half an hour had she been sought after before she was found. She had
+stood at the end of the garden, before the wooden trellis. Grass had
+been mown in the field behind the garden, and made into a rick; to see
+this she had gone to the trellis, the odor had agreeably affected
+her; she had pressed her face against the trellis-work, and from
+contemplation of it had fallen into thought, or rather out of thought.
+There she was found, and the dreamer was shaken into motion. She was
+again right lively, and laughed each time that Otto looked at her. He
+had his seat between Maren and the lady of the house, at the upper end
+of the table. Maren was a very pretty girl--little, somewhat round,
+white and red, and well-dressed. A vast number of bows, and a great
+variety of colors, were her weak side. She was reading at this time
+“Cabal and Love.”
+
+“Thou art reading it in German!” said the mother.
+
+“Yes, it must be a beautiful piece. I speak German very well, but when I
+wish to read it I get on too slowly with it: I like to get to the end of
+a book!”
+
+The husband had his place at the head of the table. A little black cap
+sat smoothly on his gray hair, and a pair of clever eyes sparkled in his
+countenance. With folded hands he prayed a silent prayer, and then bowed
+his head, before he allowed the dinner to be served. Rosalie sat beside
+him. Her neighbor on the right seemed very talkative. He was an old
+soldier, who in his fortieth year had gone as lieutenant with the land’s
+troops, and had permission to wear the uniform, and therefore sat there
+in a kind of military coat, and with a stiff cravat. He was already deep
+in Polignac’s ministry and the triumph of the July days; but he had the
+misfortune to confound Lafitte and Lafayette together. The son of the
+house only spoke of bull-calves. The lady at the table was a little
+mamsell from Holstebro, who sat beside him, dressed like a girl for
+Confirmation, in a black silk dress and long red shawl. She was in grand
+array, for she was on a visit. This young lady understood dress-making,
+and could play upon the flute; which, however, she never did without
+a certain bashfulness: besides this, she spoke well, especially upon
+melancholy events. The bottle of wine only circulated at the upper
+end of the table; the shopman and aunt only drank ale, but it foamed
+gloriously: it had been made upon raisin-stalks.
+
+“He is an excellent man, the merchant, whom you have received as
+guardian, Mr. Thostrup,” said the master of the house. “I am in
+connection with him.”
+
+“But it is strange,” interrupted the lady, “that only one out of his
+five daughters is engaged. If the young ladies in Copenhagen do not go
+off better than that, what shall we say here?”
+
+“Now Mr. Thostrup can take one of them,” said the husband. “There is
+money, and you have fortune also; if you get an office, you can live in
+floribus!”
+
+Maren colored, although there was no occasion for coloring; she even
+cast down her eyes.
+
+“What should Mr. Thostrup do with one of them?” pursued the wife. “He
+shall have a Jutland maiden! There are pretty young ladies enough here
+in the country-seats,” added she, and laid the best piece of meat upon
+his plate.
+
+“Do the royal company give pretty operas?” asked Maren, and gave another
+direction to the conversation.
+
+Otto named several, among others Der Freischütz.
+
+“That must be horrible!” said the lieutenant. “They say the wolf-glen
+is so natural, with a waterfall, and an owl which flutters its wings.
+Burgomaster Mimi has had a letter from a young lady in Aarhuus, who has
+been in Copenhagen, and has seen this piece. It was so horrible that she
+held her hand before her face, and almost fainted. They have a splendid
+theatre!”
+
+“Yes, but our little theatre was very pretty!” said the lady of the
+house. “It was quite stupid that the dramatic company should have been
+unlucky. The last piece we gave is still clear in my recollection; it
+was the ‘Sandseslöse.’ I was then ill; but because I wished so much to
+see it, the whole company was so obliging as to act it once more, and
+that, too, in our sitting-room, where I lay on the sofa and could
+look on. That was an extraordinary mark of attention from them! Only
+think--the burgomaster himself acted with them!”
+
+In honor of the strangers, coffee was taken after dinner in the garden,
+where, under the plum-trees, a swing was fixed. Somewhat later a sailing
+party was arranged. A small yacht belonging to the merchant lay, just
+unladen, near the bridge of boats.
+
+Otto found Maren and the young lady from Holstebro sitting in the arbor.
+Somewhat startled, they concealed something at his entrance.
+
+“The ladies have secrets! May one not be initiated?”
+
+“No, not at all!” replied Maren.
+
+“You have manuscript poems in the little book!” said Otto, and boldly
+approached. “Perhaps of your own composition?”
+
+“O, it is only a memorandum-book,” said Maren, blushing. “When I read
+anything pretty I copy it, for we cannot keep the books.”
+
+“Then I may see it!” said Otto. His eye fell upon the written sheet:--
+
+             “So fliessen nun zwei Wasser
+              Wohl zwischen mir und Dir
+              Das eine sind die Thränen,
+              Das andre ist der See!”
+               [Note: Des Knaben Wunderhorn.]
+
+he read. “That is very pretty! ‘Der verlorne Schwimmer,’ the poem is
+called, is it not?”
+
+“Yes, I have copied it out of the secretary’s memorandum-book; he has so
+many pretty pieces.”
+
+“The secretary has many splendid things!” said Otto, smiling.
+“Memorandum-book, musical snuff-box”--
+
+“And a collection of seals!” added the young lady from Holstebro.
+
+“I must read more!” said Otto; but the ladies fled with glowing cheeks.
+
+“Are you already at your tricks, Mr. Thostrup?” said the mother, who
+now entered the garden. “Yes, you do not know how Maren has thought of
+you--how much she has spoken of you. You never wrote to us; we never
+heard anything of you, except when Miss Rosalie related us something
+out of your letters. That was not nice of you! You and Maren were always
+called bride and bridegroom. You were a pair of pretty children, and
+your growth has not been disadvantageous to either of you.”
+
+At four o’clock the evening party assembled--a whole swarm of young
+ladies, a few old ones, and the secretary, who distinguished himself by
+a collection of seals hanging to a long watch-chain, and everlastingly
+knocking against his body; a white shirt-frill, stiff collar, and a
+cock’s comb, in which each hair seemed to take an affected position.
+They all walked down to the bay. Otto had some business and came
+somewhat later. Whilst he was crossing, alone, the court-yard, he heard,
+proceeding from the back of the house, a fearful, wild cry, which ended
+in violent sobbing. Terrified, he went nearer, and perceived the aunt
+sitting in the middle of a large heap of turf. The priestess at Delphi
+could not have looked more agitated! Her close cap she had torn from her
+head; her long, gray hair floated over her shoulders; and with her feet
+she stamped upon the turf, like a willful child, until the pieces flew
+in various directions. When she perceived Otto she became calm in a
+moment, but soon she pressed her thin hands before her face and sobbed
+aloud. To learn from her what was the matter was not to be thought of.
+
+“O, she is only quarrelsome!” said the girl, to whom Otto had turned for
+an explanation. “Aunt is angry because she was not invited to sail with
+the company. She always does so,--she can be quite wicked! Just lately,
+when she should have helped me to wring out the sheets, she always
+twisted them the same way that I did, so that we could never get done,
+and my hands hurt me very much!”
+
+Otto walked down to the bay. The sail was unfurled, the secretary
+brought out his musical-box, and, accompanied by its tones, they glided
+in the burning sunshine over the water.
+
+On the other side tea was to be drunk, and then Maren was to sing. Her
+mother asked her to sing the song with the strong tones, so that Otto
+might hear what a voice she had.
+
+She sang “Dannevang.” Her voice had uncommon power, but no style, no
+grace.
+
+“Such a voice, I fancy, you have not heard in the theatre at
+Copenhagen?” said the secretary, with dogmatical gravity.
+
+“You might wish yourself such a chest!” said the lieutenant.
+
+The secretary should now sing; but he had a little cold, which he had
+always.
+
+“You must sing to the musical-box!” said the lady, and her wish was
+fulfilled. If Maren had only commenced, one might have believed it a
+trial of skill between Boreas and Zephyr.
+
+They now walked about, drank tea, and after this they were to return
+to the house, there to partake of fish and roast meat, a piece of boxed
+ham, and other good things.
+
+Otto could by no means be permitted to think of leaving them the
+following morning; he must remain a few days, and gather strength, so
+that in Copenhagen he might apply himself well to work. But only one
+day would he enjoy all the good things which they heaped upon him. He
+yearned for other people, for a more intellectual circle. Two
+years before he had agreed splendidly with them all, had found them
+interesting and intellectual; now he felt that Lemvig was a little town,
+and that the people were good, excellent people.
+
+The following play again brought capital cookery, good foul, and good
+wine--that was to honor Mr. Thostrup. His health was drunk, Maren was
+more confidential, the aunt had forgotten her trouble, and again sat
+with a laughing face beside the constrained shopman. They must, it is
+true, make a little haste over their dinner, for the fire-engine was to
+be tried; and this splendor, they maintained, Otto must see, since he so
+fortunately chanced to lie there.
+
+“How can my mother think that this will give Mr. Thostrup pleasure?”
+ said Maren. “There is nothing to see in it.”
+
+“That has given him pleasure formerly!” answered the mother. “It is,
+also, laughable when the boys run underneath the engine-rain, and the
+stream comes just in their necks.”
+
+She spoke of the former Otto and of the present one--he was become so
+Copenhagenish, so refined and nice, as well in the cut of his clothes
+as in his manners; yet she still found an opportunity of giving him a
+little hint to further refinement. Only think! he took the sugar for his
+coffee with his fingers!
+
+“But where are the sugar-tongs, the massive silver sugar-tongs?” asked
+she. “Maren, dost thou allow him to take the sugar with his fingers?”
+
+“That is more convenient!” answered Otto. “I do that always.”
+
+“Yes, but if strangers had been here,” said the hostess, in a friendly
+but teaching tone, “we must, like that grand lady you know of, have
+thrown the sugar out of the window.”
+
+“In the higher circles, where people have clean fingers, they make use
+of them!” said Otto. “There would be no end of it if one were to take it
+with the sugar-tongs.”
+
+“They are of massive silver!” said the lady, and weighed them in her
+hand.
+
+Toward evening Rosalie went into the garden under the plum trees.
+
+“These, also, remind me of my mountains,” said she; “this is the only
+fruit which will properly flourish there. Lemvig lies, like La Locle, in
+a valley,” and she pointed, smiling, to the surrounding sand-hills.
+“How entirely different it is here from what it is at home on thy
+grandfather’s estate! There I have been so accustomed to solitude, that
+it is almost too lively for me here. One diversion follows another.”
+
+It was precisely this which Otto did not like. These amusements of the
+small towns wearied him, and he could not delight himself with them, no
+longer mingle in this life.
+
+He wished to set out early the following morning. It would be too
+exhausting to drive along the dry road in the sun’s heat, they all
+declared; he must wait until the afternoon, then it would be cooler;
+it was, also, far pleasanter to travel in the night. Rosalie’s prayers
+decided him. Thus, after dinner and coffee, the horses should be put
+into the carriage.
+
+It was the last day. Maren was somewhat in a grave mood. Otto must
+write in her album. “He would never come to Lemvig again,” said she. As
+children they had played with each other. Since he went to Copenhagen
+she had, many an evening, seated herself in the swing near the
+summer-house and thought of him. Who knows whether she must not have
+done so when she copied out of the secretary’s memorandum-book, the
+verses,--
+
+             “So fliessen nun zwei Wasser
+              Wohl zwischen mir and Dir?”
+
+The sea certainly flows between Aarhuus and Copenhagen.
+
+“Maren will perhaps go over for the winter,” said the mother; “but we
+dare not speak too much about it, for it is not yet quite settled. It
+will really make her gayer! lately she has been very much inclined to
+melancholy, although God knows that we have denied her no pleasure!”
+
+There now arrived a quantity of letters from different acquaintance, and
+from their acquaintance: if Mr. Thostrup would have the goodness to
+take care of this to Viborg, these to Aarhuus, and the others as far as
+Copenhagen. It was a complete freight, such as one gets in little towns,
+just as though no post went through the country.
+
+The carriage stopped before the door.
+
+Rosalie melted into tears. “Write to me!” said she. “Thee I shall never
+see again! Greet my Switzerland when thou comest there!”
+
+The others were merry. The lady sang,--
+
+                “O could I, like a cloud, but fly!”
+
+The young lady from Holstebro bowed herself before him with an
+Album-leaf its her hand, upon which she must beg Mr. Thostrup to write
+her something. Maren gave him her hand, blushed and drew back: but as
+the carriage rolled away she waved her while handkerchief through the
+open window: “Farewell! Farewell!”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+     “Stop! cried Patroclus, with mighty, thundering voice.”
+      --WILSTER’S Iliad.
+
+The parting with Rosalie, the hospitality of the family, and their
+sincere sympathy, touched Otto; he thought upon the last days, upon his
+whole sojourn in his home. The death of his grandfather made this an
+important era in his life. The quiet evening and the solitary road
+inclined him still more to meditation.
+
+How cheering and interesting had been a visit to Lemvig in former times!
+Then it furnished matter for conversation with Rosalie for many weeks;
+it now lay before him a subject of indifference. The people were
+certainly the same, therefore the change must have taken place in
+himself. He thought of Copenhagen, which stood so high, and of the
+people there.
+
+“After all, the difference is not so great!” said he. “In Copenhagen
+the social foci are more numerous, the interests more varied; each day
+brings a fresh topic of conversation, and one can choose one’s society.
+The multitude, on the contrary, has something citizenish; it obtrudes
+itself even from beneath the ball-dress which shows itself at court; it
+is seen in the rich saloon of the wholesale merchant, as well as in the
+house of the brandy distiller, whose possessions give to him and his two
+brewers the right of election. It is the same food which is presented
+to us; in the small towns one has it on earthenware, in Copenhagen on
+china. If one had only the courage, in the so-called higher classes,
+to break through the gloss which life in a greater circle, which
+participation in the customs of the world, has called forth, one should
+soon find in many a lady of rank, in many a nobleman who sits not
+alone in the theatre, on the first bench, merely that empty common
+earthenware; and that, as with the merchant’s wife in Lemvig, a déjeuner
+or a soirée, like some public event, will occupy the mind before and
+after its occurrence. A court-ball, at which either the son or daughter
+has figured, resembles the most brilliant success in an examination for
+office. We laugh at the authorities of Lemvig, and yet with us the crowd
+runs after nothing but authorities and newspapers. This is a certain
+state of innocence. How many a poor officer or student must play the
+subordinate part of the shopman at the table of the rich, and gratefully
+kiss the hand of the lady of the house because she has the right of
+demanding gratitude? And in the theatre, with the multitude, what does
+not ‘an astonishing chest’ do? A strength of voice which can penetrate
+right through the leather of the mind gains stormy applause, whilst
+taste and execution can only be appreciated by the few. The actor can
+be certain of applause if he only thunder forth his parting reply. The
+comedian is sure of a shout of bravo if he puts forth an insipidity, and
+rubs his legs together as if replying with spirit and humor. The massive
+plate in the house gives many a lady the boldness to teach that in which
+she herself might perhaps have been instructed. Many a lady, like the
+Mamsell from Holstebro, dresses always in silk and a long shawl, and
+if one asks after her profession one finds it consists at most in
+dress-making; perhaps she does not even possess the little accompanying
+talent of playing the flute. How many people do not copy, like Maren,
+out of other people’s memorandum-books, and do not excel musical-boxes!
+still one hears a deal of musical snuff-box music, and is waited upon by
+voices which are equally as insignificant as the secretary’s.”
+
+These were pretty much Otto’s reflections, and certainly it was a good
+feeling which lay at the bottom of them. Let us remember in our judgment
+that he was so young, and that he had only known Copenhagen _one_ year;
+otherwise he would most certainly have thought _quite differently_.
+
+Night spread itself over the heath, the heavens were clear. Slowly the
+carriage wound along through the deep sand. The monotonous sound, the
+unchanging motion, all rendered Otto sleepy. A falling star shot like
+a fire column across the sky--this woke him for a moment; he soon again
+bowed his head and slept, fast and deep. It was an hour past midnight,
+when he was awoke by a loud cry. He started up--the fire burnt before
+them; and between it and the horse stood two figures, who had taken
+hold of the leather reins. Close beside them was a cart, under which was
+placed a sort of bed, on which slept a woman and some children.
+
+“Will you drive into the soup-kettle?” asked a rough voice, whilst
+another scolded in a gibberish which was unintelligible to Otto.
+
+It had happened to the coachman as to him, only that the coachman had
+fallen asleep somewhat later; the horses had lost their track,
+and uncertain, as they had long been, they were now traversing the
+impassable heath. A troop of the so-called Scavengers, who wander
+through these districts a nomadic race, had here taken up their quarters
+for the night, had made a fire and hung the kettle over it, to cook some
+pieces of a lamb they had stolen on their journey.
+
+“They were about half a mile from the highway,” said an elderly woman
+who was laying some bushes of heath under the kettle.
+
+“Half a mile?” replied a voice from the other side of the cart, and Otto
+remarked a man who, wrapped in a large gray riding-cloak, had stretched
+himself out among the heather. “It is not a quarter of a mile to the
+highway if people know how to direct their course properly!”
+
+The pronunciation of the man was somewhat foreign, but pure, and free
+from the gibberish which the others employed in their speech. The voice
+seemed familiar to Otto, his ear weighed each syllable, and his blood
+ran quicker through his veins: “It is the German Heinrich, the evil
+angel of my life!” he felt, and wrapt himself closer in his mantle, so
+that his countenance was concealed.
+
+A half-grown lad came forward and offered himself as a guide.
+
+“But the lad must have two marks!” said the woman.
+
+Otto nodded assent, and glanced once more toward the man in whom he
+believed he recognized the German Heinrich; the man had again carelessly
+stretched himself among the heath, and did not seem inclined to enter
+into farther discourse.
+
+The woman desired the payment in advance, and received it. The boy led
+the horses toward one side; at the moment the fire flare up between the
+turf-sods, a great dog, with a loose cord about his neck, sprang forward
+and ran barking after the carriage, which now travelled on over the
+heath in the gloomy night.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+     “Poetry does not always express sorrow; the rainbow can also
+     arch across a cloudless blue firmament.”--JEAN PAUL.
+
+We again find ourselves in Copenhagen, where we meet with Otto, and may
+every day expect Wilhelm, Miss Sophie, and the excellent mamma; they
+would only stay a few weeks. To learn tidings of their arrival, Otto
+determined to pay a visit where they were expected; we know the house,
+we were present at the Christmas festival: it was here that Otto
+received his noble pedigree.
+
+We will now become somewhat better acquainted with the family. The
+husband had a good head, as people sat, had an excellent wine-cellar,
+and was, as one of the friends maintained, a good l’hombre player. But
+the soul of the house, the animating genius, which drew into this circle
+all that possessed life and youth, was the wife. Beautiful one could by
+no means call her, but, enchanted by her natural loveliness, her
+mind, and her unaffectedness, you forgot this in a few moments. A rare
+facility in appreciating the comic of every-day life, and a good-humored
+originality in its representation, always afforded her rich material for
+conversation. It was as if Nature, in a moment of thoughtlessness, had
+formed an insipid countenance, but immediately afterward strove to make
+good her fault by breathing into it a soul, which, even through pale
+blue eyes, pale cheeks, and ordinary features, could make her beauty
+felt.
+
+When Otto entered the room he heard music. He listened: it must be
+either Weyse or Gerson.
+
+“It is the Professor Weyse,” said the servant, and Otto opened the door
+softly, without knocking.
+
+The astral-lamp burnt upon the table; upon the sofa sat two young
+ladies. The mistress of the house nodded Otto a friendly welcome, but
+then smiling laid her finger on her lips, as a sign of silence, and
+pointed to a chair, on which he seated himself, and listened to the soft
+tones, which, like spirits, floated from the piano at which the musician
+sat. It was as if the slumbering thoughts and feelings of the soul,
+which in every breast find a response, even among the most opposite
+nations, had found a voice and language. The fantasies died away in a
+soft, spiritual piano. Thus lightly has Raphael breathed the Madonna
+di Foligno upon the clouds; she rests there as a soap-bubble rests upon
+velvet. That dying away of the tomes resembled the thoughts of the lover
+when his eye closes, and the living dream of his heart imperceptibly
+merges and vanishes in sleep. Reality is over.
+
+Here also the tones ceased.
+
+            “Der Bettelvogt von Ninive
+             Zog hinab zum Genfersee,
+                  Hm, hm!”
+              [Author’s Note: An old popular German song.]
+
+commenced the musician once more, with an originality and spirit which
+influenced the whole company. Far too soon did he again break off,
+after he had enchanted all ears by his own treasures, as well as by the
+curiosities of the people’s life in the world of sound. Only when he
+was gone did admiration find words; the fantasies still echoed in every
+heart.
+
+“His name deserves to be known throughout Europe!” said the gracious
+lady; “how few people in the world know Weyse and Kuhlau!”
+
+“That is the misfortune of a musician being born in a small country,”
+ said Otto. “His works become only manuscript for friends; his auditory
+extends only from Skagen to Kiel: there the door is closed.”
+
+“One must console one’s self that everything great and good becomes at
+length known,” said the cousin of the family, who is known to us by his
+verses for the Christmas-tree. “The nations will become acquainted with
+everything splendid in the kingdom of mind, let it bloom in a small or
+in a large country. Certainly during this time the artist may have died,
+but then he must receive compensation in another world.”
+
+“I truly believe,” returned the gracious lady, “that he would wish a
+little in advance here below, where it is so ordered that the immortal
+must bow himself before the mortal.”
+
+“Certainly,” replied Otto; “the great men of the age are like mountains;
+they it is which cause the land to be seen from afar, and give it
+importance, but in themselves they are bare and cold; their heights are
+never properly known.”
+
+“Very beautiful,” said the lady; “you speak like a Jean Paul.”
+
+At this moment the door opened, and all were surprised by the entrance
+of Miss Sophie, Wilhelm, and the dear mamma. They were not expected
+before the following evening. They had travelled the whole day through
+Zealand.
+
+“We should have been here to dinner,” said Sophie, “but my brother could
+not get his business finished in Roeskelde; then he had forgotten to
+order horses, and other little misadventures occurred: six whole hours
+we remained there. Mamma contracted quite a passion there--she fell
+fairly in love with a young girl, the pretty Eva.”
+
+“Yes, she is a nice creature!” said the old lady. “Had I not reason, Mr.
+Thostrup? You and my Wilhelm had already made her interesting to me. She
+has something so noble, so refined, which one so rarely meets with in
+the lower class; she deserves to come among educated people.”
+
+“Otto, what shall our hearts say,” exclaimed Wilhelm, “when my good
+mother is thus affected?”
+
+They assembled round the tea-table. Wilhelm addressed Otto with the
+confidential “thou” which Otto himself had requested.
+
+“We will drink together in tea and renew our brotherhood.”
+
+Otto smiled, but with such a strangely melancholy air, and spoke not a
+word.
+
+“He’s thinking about the old grandfather,” thought Wilhelm, and laid his
+hand upon his friend’s shoulder. “The Kammerjunker and his ladies greet
+thee!” said he. “I believe the Mamsell would willingly lay thee in her
+own work-box, were that to be done.”
+
+Otto remained quiet, but in his soul there was a strange commotion. It
+would be a difficult thing to explain this motive, which belonged to
+his peculiarity of mind; it entered among the mysteries of the soul. The
+multitude call it in individuals singularity, the psychologist finds a
+deeper meaning in it, which the understanding is unable to fathom. We
+have examples of men, whose strength of mind and body were well known,
+feeling faint at the scent of a rose; others have been thrown into a
+convulsive state by touching gray paper. This cannot be explained; it
+is one of the riddles of Nature. A similar relaxing sensation Otto
+experienced when he, for the first time, heard himself addressed as
+“thou” by Wilhelm. It seemed to him as though the spiritual band which
+encircled them loosened itself, and Wilhelm became a stranger. It was
+impossible for Otto to return the “thou,” yet, at the same time, he
+felt the injustice of his behavior and the singularity, and wished to
+struggle against it; he mastered himself, attained a kind of eloquence,
+but no “thou” would pass his lips.
+
+“To thy health, Otto,” said Wilhelm, and pushed his cup against Otto’s.
+
+“Health!” said Otto, with a smile.
+
+“It is true,” began the cousin, “I promised you the other day to bring
+my advertisements with me; the first volume is closed.” And he drew
+from his pocket a book in which a collection of the most original
+Address-Gazette advertisements, such as one sees daily, was pasted.
+
+“I have one for you,” said the lady; “I found it a little time since. ‘A
+woman wishes for a little child to bottle.’ Is not that capital?”
+
+“Here is also a good one,” said Wilhelm, who had turned over the leaves
+of the book: “‘A boy of the Mosaic belief may be apprenticed to a
+cabinet-maker, but he need not apply unless he will eat everything that
+happens to be in the house.’ That is truly a hard condition for the poor
+lad.”
+
+“Almost every day,” said the cousin, “one may read, ‘For the play of
+to-day or to-morrow is a good place to be had in the third story in the
+Christenbernikov Street.’ The place is a considerable distance from the
+theatre.”
+
+“Theatre!” exclaimed the master of the house, who now entered to take
+his place at the tea-table, “one can soon hear who has that word in
+his mouth; now is he again at the theatre! The man can speak of nothing
+else. There ought, ready, to be a fine imposed, which he should pay each
+time he pronounces the word theatre. I would only make it a fine of two
+skillings, and yet I dare promise that before a month was over he would
+be found to pay in fines his whole pocket-money, and his coat and boots
+besides. It is a real mania with the man! I know no one among my young
+friends,” added he, with an ironical smile at Wilhelm,--“no, not one,
+who has such a hobby-horse as our good cousin.”
+
+“Here thou art unjust to him!” interrupted his wife; “do not place a
+fine upon him, else I will place thee in a vaudeville! Thy life is in
+politics; our cousin’s in theatrical life; Wilhelm’s in thorough-bass;
+and Mr. Thostrup’s in learned subjects. Each of you is thus a little
+nail in the different world-wheels; whoever despises others shows
+that he considers his wheel the first, or imagines that the world is
+a wheelbarrow, which goes upon one wheel! No, it is a more complicated
+machine.”
+
+Later in the evening, when the company broke up, Otto and Wilhelm went
+together.
+
+“I do not think,” said Wilhelm, “that thou hast yet said thou to me. Is
+it not agreeable to thee?”
+
+“It was my own wish, my own request,” replied Otto. “I have not remarked
+what expressions I have employed.” He remained silent. Wilhelm himself
+seemed occupied with unusual thoughts, when he suddenly exclaimed: “Life
+is, after all, a gift of blessings! One should never make one’s self
+sorrows which do not really exist! ‘Carpe diem,’ said old Horace.”
+
+“That will we!” replied Otto; “but now we must first think of our
+examination.”
+
+They pressed each other’s hands and parted.
+
+“But I have heard no thou!” said Wilhelm to himself “He is an oddity,
+and yet I love him! In this consists, perhaps, my own originality.”
+
+He entered his room, where the hostess had been cleaning, and had
+arranged the books and papers in the nicest order. Wilhelm truly called
+it disorder; the papers in confusion and the books in a row. The lamp
+even had a new place; and this was called order!
+
+Smiling, he seated himself at the piano; it was so long since they had
+said “Good day” to each other! He ran over the keys several times, then
+lost himself in fantasies. “That is lovely!” he exclaimed. “But it is
+not my property! What does it belong to? It melts into my own feelings!”
+ He played it again. It was a thema out of “Tancredi,” therefore from
+Rossini, even the very composer whom our musical friends most looked
+down upon; how could he then guess who had created those tones which now
+spoke to his heart? His whole being he felt penetrated by a happiness, a
+love of life, the cause of which he knew not. He thought of Otto with a
+warmth which the latter’s strange behavior did not deserve. All beloved
+beings floated so sweetly before his mind. This was one of those moments
+which all good people know; one feels one’s self a member of the great
+chain of love which binds creation together.
+
+So long as the rose-bud remains folded together it seems to be without
+fragrance; yet only one morning is required, and the fine breath streams
+from the crimson mouth. It is only one moment; it is the commencement of
+a new existence, which already has lain long concealed in the bud: but
+one does not see the magic wand which works the change. This spiritual
+contrast, perhaps, took place in the past hour; perhaps the last evening
+rays which fell upon the leaves concealed this power! The roses of the
+garden must open; those of the heart follow the same laws. Was this
+love? Love is, as poets say, a pain; it resembles the disease of the
+mussel, through which pearls are formed. But Wilhelm was not sick; he
+felt himself particularly full of strength and enjoyment of life. The
+poet’s simile of the mussel and the pearl sounds well, but it is false.
+Most poets are not very learned in natural history; and, therefore, they
+are guilty of many errors with regard to it. The pearl is formed on the
+mussel not through disease; when an enemy attacks her she sends forth
+drops in her defense, and these change into pearls. It is thus strength,
+and not weakness, which creates the beautiful. It would be unjust to
+call love a pain, a sickness; it is an energy of life which God has
+planted in the human breast; it fills our whole being like the fragrance
+which fills each leaf of the rose, and then reveals itself among the
+struggles of life as a pearl of worth.
+
+These were Wilhelm’s thoughts; and yet it was not perfectly clear to him
+that he loved with his whole soul, as one can only love once.
+
+The following forenoon he paid a visit to Professor Weyse.
+
+“You are going to Roeskelde, are you not?” asked Wilhelm. “I have heard
+you so often play the organ here in Our Lady’s church, I should very
+much like to hear you there, in the cathedral. If I were to make the
+journey, would you then play a voluntary for me?”
+
+“You will not come!” said the musician.
+
+“I shall come!” answered Wilhelm, and kept his word. Two days after this
+conversation he rolled through the streets of Roeskelde.
+
+“I am come for a wager! I shall hear Weyse play the organ!” said he to
+the host, although there was no need for an apology.
+
+Bulwer in his romance, “The Pilgrims of the Rhine,” has with endless
+grace and tenderness called forth a fairy world. The little spirits
+float there as the breath of air floats around the material reality; one
+is forced to believe in their existence. With a genius powerful as that
+which inspired Bulwer, glorious as that which infused into Shakespeare
+the fragrance we find breathed over the “Midsummer-night’s Dream,” did
+Weyse’s tones fill Wilhelm; the deep melodies of the organ in the
+old cathedral had indeed attracted him to the quiet little town! The
+powerful tones of the heart summoned him! Through them even every day
+things assumed a coloring, an expression of beauty, such as Byron shows
+us in words, Thorwaldsen in the hard stone, Correggio in colors.
+
+We have by Goethe a glorious poem, “Love a Landscape-painter.” The poet
+sits upon a peak and gazes before him into the mist, which, like canvas
+spread upon the easel, conceals all heights and expanses; then comes
+the God of Love and teaches him how to paint a picture on the mist. The
+little one now sketches with his rosy fingers a picture such as only
+Nature and Goethe give us. Were the poet here, we could offer him no
+rock on which he might seat himself, but something, through legends and
+songs, equally beautiful. He would then sing,--I seated myself upon the
+mossy stone above the cairn; the mist resembled outstretched canvas. The
+God of Love commenced on this his sketch. High up he painted a glorious
+still, whose rays were dazzling! The edges of the clouds he made as of
+gold, and let the rays penetrate through them; then painted he the fine
+light boughs of fresh, fragrant trees; brought forth one hill after the
+other. Behind these, half-concealed, lay a little town, above which rose
+a mighty church; two tall towers with high spires rose into the air; and
+below the church, far out, where woods formed the horizon, drew he a
+bay so naturally! it seemed to play with the sunbeams as if the waves
+splashed up against the coast. Now appeared flowers; to the fields and
+meadows he gave the coloring of velvet and precious stones; and on the
+other side of the bay the dark woods melted away into a bluish mist. “I
+can paint!” said the little one; “but the most difficult still remains
+to do.” And he drew with his delicate finger, just where the rays of the
+sun fell most glowingly, a maiden so gentle, so sweet, with dark
+blue eyes and cheeks as blooming as the rosy fingers which formed the
+picture. And see! a breeze arose; the leaves of the trees quivered;
+the expanse of water ruffled itself; the dress of the maiden was
+gently stirred; the maiden herself approached: the picture itself was a
+reality! And thus did the old royal city present itself before Wilhelm’s
+eyes, the towers of the cathedral, she tay, the far woods, and--Eva!
+
+The first love of a pure heart is holy! This holiness may be indicated,
+but not described! We return to Otto.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+     “A man only gains importance by a poet’s fancy, when his
+     genius vividly represents to our imagination a clearer, but
+     not an ennobled image of men and objects which have an
+     existence; then alone he understands how to idealize.”--H.
+     HERTZ.
+
+We pass on several weeks. It was toward the end of September, the examen
+philosophicum was near. Preparations for this had been Otto’s excuse for
+not yet having visited the family circle of his guardian, the merchant
+Berger. This was, however, brought about by Otto’s finding one day, when
+he went to speak with his guardian, the mistress of the house in the
+same room. We know that there are five daughters in the house, and that
+only one is engaged, yet they are all well-educated girls--domestic
+girls, as their mother assured her friend upon more than one occasion.
+
+“So, then, I have at length the honor of making your acquaintance,” said
+Mrs. Berger, “this visit, truly, is not intended either for me or the
+children, but still you must now drink a cup of coffee with us. Within
+it certainly looks rather disorderly; the girls are making cloaks for
+the winter. We will not put ourselves out of the way for you: you shall
+be regarded as a member of the family: but then you must come to us in a
+friendly way. Every Thursday our son-in-law dines with us, will you then
+be contented with our dinner? Now you shall become acquainted with my
+daughters.”
+
+“And I must to my office,” said the husband; “therefore let us consider
+Thursday as an appointment. We dine at three o’clock, and after coffee
+Laide gives us music.”
+
+The lady now conducted Otto into the sitting-room, where he found the
+four daughters in full activity with a workwoman. The fifth daughter,
+Julle, was, as they had told him, gone to the shops for patterns:
+yesterday she had run all over the town, but the patterns she received
+were not good.
+
+The lady told him the name of each daughter; their characteristics he
+naturally learnt later.
+
+All the five sisters had the idea that they were so extremely different,
+and yet they resembled each other to a hair. Adelaide, or Laide, as she
+was also called, was certainly the prettiest; that she well knew also,
+therefore she would have a fur cape, and no cloak; her figure should be
+seen. Christiane was what one might call a practical girl; she knew how
+to make use of everything. Alvilde had always a little attack of the
+tooth-ache; Julle went shopping, and Miss Grethe was the bride. She was
+also musical, and was considered witty. Thus she said one evening when
+the house-door was closed, and groaned dreadfully on its hinges, “See
+now, we have port wine after dinner.” [Translator’s Note: A pun which it
+is impossible to translate. The Danish word Portviin according to sound,
+may mean either port wine or the creaking of a door.] The brother, the
+only son of the house, with whom we shall become better acquainted, had
+written down this conceit; “but that was only to be rude toward her,”
+ said Miss Grethe. “Such good ideas as this I have every hour of the
+day!”
+
+We ought really to accuse these excellent girls of nothing foolish; they
+were very good and wise. The lover, Mr. Svane, was also a zealous wit;
+he was so lively, they said. Every one with whom he became a little
+familiar he called immediately Mr. Petersen, and that was so droll!
+
+“Now the father has invited Mr. Thostrup to come on Thursday!” said the
+lady. “I also think, if we were to squeeze ourselves a little together,
+he might find a place with us in the box; the room is, truly, very
+confined.”
+
+Otto besought them not to incommode themselves.
+
+“O, it is a large box!” said the lady, but she did not say how many of
+them were already in it. Only eleven ladies went from the family itself.
+They were obliged to go to the theatre in three parties, so that
+people might not think; if they all went together, there was a mob.
+One evening, when the box had been occupied by eighteen persons, beside
+several twelve-year old children, who had sat in people’s laps, or stood
+before them, and the whole party had returned home in one procession,
+and were standing before the house door to go in, people streamed
+together, imagining there was some alarm, or that some one had fallen
+into convulsions. “What is the matter?” they asked, and Miss Grethe
+immediately replied, “It is a select company!” [Translator’s Note: A
+select or shut-out company. We regret that this pun, like the foregoing
+one, is untransferable into English.] Since that evening they returned
+home in separate divisions.
+
+“It is really a good box!” said Alvilde; “if we had only other
+neighbors! The doors are opening and shutting eternally, and make a
+draught which is not bearable for the teeth. And then they speak so
+loud! the other night I did not hear a single word of the pretty song
+about Denmark.”
+
+“But did you lose much through that?” asked Otto, smiling, and soon they
+found themselves very much at variance, just as if they had been old
+acquaintances. “I do not think much of these patriotic scraps, where the
+poet, in his weakness, supports himself by this beautiful sentiment
+of patriotism in the people. You will certainly grant that here the
+multitude always applauds when it only hears the word ‘Father-land,’ or
+the name of ‘Christian IV.’ The poet must give something more; this is
+a left-handed kind of patriotism. One would really believe that Denmark
+were the only country in the world!”
+
+“Fie, Mr. Thostrup!” said the lady: “do you not then love your
+father-land?”
+
+“I believe I love it properly!” returned he: “and because it really
+possesses so much that is excellent do I desire that only what is
+genuine should be esteemed, only what is genuine be prized.”
+
+“I agree in the main with Mr. Thostrup,” said Miss Grethe, who was
+busied in unpicking and turning her cloak, in order, as she herself
+said, to spoil it on the other side. “I think he is right! If a poem is
+well spoken on the stage, it has always a kind of effect. It is just the
+same as with stuffs--they may be of a middling quality and may have an
+unfavorable pattern, but if they are worn by a pretty figure they look
+well after all!”
+
+“I am often vexed with the public!” said Otto. “It applauds at improper
+places, and sometimes exhibits an extraordinary innocence.”
+
+“Those are ‘the lords of the kingdom of mind,’” said Miss Grethe,
+smiling.
+
+   [Note: “We are the lords of the kingdom of mind!
+         We are the stem which can never decay!”
+          --Students’ Song, by CHRISTIAN WINTHER.]
+
+“No, the _neighbors_!” replied Otto quickly.
+
+At this moment Miss Julle entered. She had been wandering from shop
+to shop, she said, until she could bear it no longer! She had had the
+stuffs down from all the shelves, and at length had succeeded so far
+as to become possessed of eight small pieces--beautiful patterns, she
+maintained. And now she knew very well where the different stuffs were
+to be had, how wide they were, and how much the yard. “And whom did I
+meet?” said she; “only think! down the middle of East Street came the
+actor--you know well! Our little passion! He is really charming off the
+stage.”
+
+“Did you meet him?” said Laide. “That girl is always lucky!”
+
+“Mr. Thostrup,” said the mother, presenting him, for the young lady
+seemed to forget him entirely, so much was she occupied with this
+encounter and her patterns.
+
+Julle bowed, and said she had seen him before: he had heard Mynster, and
+had stood near the chair where she sat; he was dressed in an olive-green
+coat.
+
+“Then you are acquainted with each other!” said the lady. “She is the
+most pious of all the children. When the others rave about Spindler and
+Johanne Schoppenhauer, she raves about the clergyman who confirmed her.
+You know my son? He became a student a year before you. He sees you in
+the club sometimes.”
+
+“There you will have seen him more amiable than you will find him
+at home,” said Adelaide. “Heaven knows he is not gallant toward his
+sisters!”
+
+“Sweet Laide, how can you say so!” cried the mother. “You are always so
+unjust toward Hans Peter! When you become better acquainted with him,
+Mr. Thostrup, you will like him; he is a really serious young man, of
+uncorrupted manners. Do you remember, Laide, how he hissed that evening
+in the theatre when they gave that immoral piece? And how angry he is
+with that ‘Red Riding Hood?’ O, the good youth! Besides, in our family,
+you will soon meet with an old acquaintance--in a fortnight a lady out
+of Jutland will come here. She remains the winter here. Do you not guess
+who it is? A little lady from Lemvig!”
+
+“Maren!” exclaimed Otto.
+
+“Yes, truly!” said the lady. “She is said to have such a beautiful
+voice!”
+
+“Yes, in Lemvig,” remarked Adelaide. “And what a horrible name she has!
+We must christen her again, when she comes. She must be called Mara, or
+Massa.”
+
+“We could call her Massa Carara!” said Grethe.
+
+“No; she shall be called Maja, as in the ‘Every-day Tales,’” said
+Christiane.
+
+“I am of Jane’s opinion!” said the mother. “We will christen her again,
+and call her Maja.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+     Men are not always what they seem.--LESSING.
+
+Our tale is no creation of fancy; it is the reality in which we live;
+bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh. Our own time and the men of
+our own age we shall see. But not alone will we occupy ourselves with
+every-day life, with the moss on the surface; the whole tree, from the
+roots to the fragrant leaves, will we observe. The heavy earth shall
+press the roots, the moss and bark of every-day life adhere to the
+stern, the strong boughs with flowers and leaves spread themselves out,
+whilst the sun of poetry shall shine among them, and show the colors,
+odor, and singing-birds. But the tree of reality cannot shoot up so soon
+as that of fancy, like the enchantment in Tieck’s “Elves.” We must seek
+our type in nature. Often may there be an appearance of cessation;
+but that is not the case. It is even so with our story; whilst
+our characters, by mutual discourse, make themselves worthy of
+contemplation, there arises, as with the individual branches of the
+tree, an unseen connection. The branch which shoots high up in the air,
+as though it would separate itself from the mother-stem, only presses
+forward to form the crown, to lend uniformity to the whole tree. The
+lines which diverge from the general centre are precisely those which
+produce the harmony.
+
+We shall, therefore, soon see, though these scenes out of every-day life
+are no digression from the principal events, nothing episodical which
+one may pass over. In order still sooner to arrive at a clear perception
+of this assertion, we will yet tarry a few moments in the house of Mr.
+Berger, the merchant; but in the mean time we have advanced three weeks.
+Wilhelm and Otto had happily passed their examen philosophicum. The
+latter had paid several visits, and was already regarded as an old
+friend of the family. The lover already addressed him with his droll
+“Good day, Mr. Petersen;” and Grethe was witty about his melancholy
+glance, which he was not always able to conquer. She called it “making
+faces,” and besought him to appear so on the day of her funeral.
+
+The object of the five sisters’ first Platonic love had been their
+brother. They had overwhelmed him with caresses and tenderness, had
+admired and worshipped him. “The dear little man!” they called him; they
+had no other. But Hans Peter was so impolite and teasing toward the dear
+sisters, that they were found to resign him so soon as one of them had
+a lover. Upon this lover they all clung. Each one seemed to have a piece
+of him. He was Grethe’s bridegroom, would be their brother-in-law. They
+might address him with the confidential thou, and even give him a little
+kiss.
+
+Otto’s appearance in the family caused these rays to change their
+direction. Otto was handsome, and possessed of fortune; either of which
+often suffices to bow a female heart. Beauty bribes the thoughtless;
+riches, the prudent.
+
+Maren, or as she was here called, Maja, had arrived. The young ladies
+had already pulled off some of her bows, arranged her hair differently,
+and made one of her silk handkerchiefs into an apron; but, spite of all
+this finesse, she still remained the lady from Lemvig. They could remove
+no bows from her pronunciation. She had been the first at home; here she
+could not take that rank. This evening she was to see in the theatre,
+for the first time, the ballet of the “Somnambule.”
+
+“It is French!” said Hans Peter; “and frivolous, like everything that we
+have from them.”
+
+“Yes, the scene in the second act, where she steps out of the window,”
+ said the merchant; “that is very instructive for youth!”
+
+“But the last act is sweet!” cried the lady. “The second act is
+certainly, as Hans Peter very justly observed, somewhat French. Good
+heavens! he gets quite red, the sweet lad!” She extended her hand to
+him, and nodded, smiling, whereupon Hans Peter spoke very prettily
+about the immorality on the stage. The father also made some striking
+observation.
+
+“Yes,” said the lady, “were all husbands like thee, and all young men
+like Hans Peter, they would speak in another tone on the stage, and
+dress in another manner. In dancing it is abominable; the dresses are so
+short and indecent, just as though they had nothing on! Yet, after all,
+we must say that the ‘Somnambule’ is beautiful. And, really, it is quite
+innocent!”
+
+They now entered still deeper into the moral: the conversation lasted
+till coffee came.
+
+Maren’s heart beat even quicker, partly in expectation of the play,
+through hearing of the corruptions of this Copenhagen Sodom. She heard
+Otto defend this French piece; heard him speak of affectation. Was
+he then corrupted? How gladly would she have heard him discourse upon
+propriety, as Hans Peter had done. “Poor Otto!” thought she; “this
+is having no relations, but being forced to struggle on in the world
+alone.”
+
+The merchant now rose. He could not go to the theatre. First, he had
+business to attend to; and then he must go to his club, where he had
+yesterday changed his hat.
+
+“Nay, then, it has happened to thee as to Hans Peter!” said the lady.
+“Yesterday, in the lecture-room, he also got a strange hat. But, there,
+thou hast his hat!” she suddenly exclaimed, as her eye fell upon the hat
+which her husband held in his hand. “That is Hans Peter’s hat! Now, we
+shall certainly find that he has thine! You have exchanged them here at
+home. You do not know each other’s hats, and therefore you fancy this
+occurred from home.”
+
+One of the sisters now brought the hat which Hans Peter had got in
+mistake. Yes, it was certainly the father’s. Thus an exchange in the
+house, a little intermezzo, which naturally, from its insignificance,
+was momentarily forgotten by all except the parties concerned, for to
+them it was an important moment in their lives; and to us also, as we
+shall see, an event of importance, which has occasioned us to linger
+thus long in this circle. In an adjoining room will we, unseen spirits,
+watch the father and son. They are alone; the family is already in the
+theatre. We may, indeed, watch them--they are true moralists. It is only
+a moral drawn from a hat.
+
+But the father’s eyes rolled, his cheeks glowed, his words were
+sword-strokes, and must make an impression on any disposition as gentle
+as his son’s; but the son stood quiet, with a firm look and with a
+smile on his lips, such as the moral bestows. “You were in the adjoining
+room!” said he. “Where it is proper for you to be there may I also
+come.”
+
+“Boy!” cried the father, and named the place, but we know it not;
+neither know we its inhabitants. Victor Hugo includes them in his
+“Children’s Prayer,” in his beautiful poem, “La Prière pour Tous.” The
+child prays for all, even “for those who sell the sweet name of love.”
+
+     [Note: “Prie!... Pour les femmes échevelées Qui vendent
+      le doux nom d’amour!”]
+
+“Let us be silent with each other!” said the son. “I am acquainted with
+many histories. I know another of the pretty Eva!”--
+
+“Eva!” repeated the father.
+
+We will hear no more! It is not proper to listen. We see the father
+and son extend their hands. It appeared a scene of reconciliation. They
+parted: the father goes to his business, and Hans Peter to the
+theatre, to anger himself over the immorality in the second act of the
+“Somnambule.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+     “L’amour est pour les coeurs,
+     Ce que l’aurore est pour les fleurs,
+     Et le printemps pour la nature.”--VIGUE.
+
+     “Love is a childish disease and like the small-pox. Some
+     die, some become deformed, others are more or less scarred,
+     while upon others the disease does not leave any visible
+     trace.”--The Alchemist, by C. HAUCH.
+
+“Be candid, Otto!” said Wilhelm, as he one day visited his friend. “You
+cannot make up your mind to say thou to me; therefore let it be. We are,
+after all, good friends. It is only a form; although you must grant that
+in this respect you are really a great fool.”
+
+Otto now explained what an extraordinary aversion he had felt, what a
+painful feeling had seized upon him, and made it impossible to him.
+
+“There you were playing the martyr!” said Wilhelm, laughing. “Could you
+not immediately tell me how you were constituted? So are most men. When
+they have no trouble, they generally hatch one themselves; they will
+rather stand in the cold shadow than in the warm sunshine, and yet the
+choice stands open to us. Dear friend, reflect; now we are both of us on
+the stream: we shall soon be put into the great business-bottles, where
+we shall, like little devils, stretch and strain ourselves without
+ever getting out, until life withdraws from us!” He laid his arm
+confidentially upon Otto’s shoulder. “Often have I wished to speak with
+you upon one point! Yes, I do not desire that you should confess every
+word, every thought to me. I already know that I shall be able to prove
+to you that the thing lies in a region where it cannot have the power
+which you ascribe to it. In the cold zones a venomous bite does not
+operate as dangerously as in warmer ones; a sorrow in childhood cannot
+overpower us as it does in riper age. Whatever misfortune may have
+happened to you when a child, if in your wildness--you yourself say that
+you were wild--whatsoever you may have then done, it cannot, it ought
+not to influence your whole life: your understanding could tell you this
+better than I. At our age we find ourselves in the land of joy, or we
+never enter it!”
+
+“You are a happy man!” exclaimed Otto, and gazed sorrowfully before
+him. “Your childhood afforded you only joy and hope! Only think of the
+solitude in which mine was passed. Among the sand-hills of the west
+coast my days glided away: my grandfather was gloomy and passionate;
+our old preacher lived only in a past time which I knew not, and Rosalie
+regarded the world through the spectacles of sorrow. Such an environment
+might well cast a shadow upon my life-joy. Even in dress, one is
+strangely remarkable when one comes from afar province to the capital;
+first this receives another cut, and one gradually becomes like those
+around one. The same thing happens in a spiritual relation, but one’s
+being and ideas one does not change so quickly as one’s clothes. I have
+only been a short time among strangers, and who knows?” added he, with
+a melancholy smile, “perhaps I shall come into equilibrium when some
+really great misfortune happens to me and very much overpowers me,
+and then I may show the same carelessness, the same phlegm as the
+multitude.”
+
+“A really great misfortune!” repeated Wilhelm. “You do, indeed, say
+something. That would be a very original means of cure, but you are an
+original being. Perhaps lay this means you might really be healed. ‘Make
+no cable out of cobweb!’ said a celebrated poet whose name does not
+occur to me at this moment. But the thought is good, you should have it
+embroidered upon your waistcoat, so that you might have it before your
+eyes when you droop your head. Do not look so grave; we are friends,
+are we not? Among all my young acquaintance you are the dearest to me,
+although there are moments when I know not how it stands with us. I
+could confide every secret to you, but I am not sure that you would be
+equally open with me. Do not be angry, my dear friend! There are secrets
+of so delicate a nature, that one may not confide them even to the
+dearest friend. So long as we preserve _our_ secret it is our prisoner;
+it is quite the contrary, however, so soon as we have let it escape us.
+And yet, Otto, you are so dear to me, that I believe in you as in my own
+heart. This, even now, bears a secret which penetrates me with joy and
+love of life! I must speak cut. But you must enter into my joy, partake
+in it, or say nothing about it; you have then heard nothing--nothing!
+Otto, I love! therefore am I happy, therefore is there sunshine in my
+heart, life joy in my veins! I love Eva, the beautiful lovely Eva!”
+
+Otto pressed his hand, but preserved silence.
+
+“No, not so!” cried Wilhelm. “Only speak a word! Do you I’m in a
+conception of the world which has opened before me?”
+
+“Eva is beautiful! very beautiful!” said Otto, slowly. “She is innocent
+and good. What can one wish for more? I can imagine how she fills your
+whole heart! But will she do so always? She will not always remain
+young, always lovely! Has she, then, mind sufficient to be everything
+to you? Will this momentary happiness which you prepare for her and
+yourself be great enough to outweigh--I will not say the sorrow, but the
+discontent which this union will bring forth in your family? For God’s
+sake, think of everything!”
+
+“My dear fellow!” said Wilhelm, “your old preacher now really speaks
+out of you! But enough: I can bear the confession. I answer, ‘Yes, yes!’
+with all my heart, ‘yes!’ Wherefore will you now bring me out of my
+sunshine into shade? Wherefore, in my joy over the beauty of the rose
+should I be reminded that the perfume and color will vanish, that the
+leaves will fall? It is the course of life! but must one, therefore,
+think of the grave, of the finale, when the act begins?”
+
+“Love is a kind of monomania,” said Otto; “it may be combated: it
+depends merely upon our own will.”
+
+“Ah, you know this not at all!” said Wilhelm. “But it will come in due
+time, and then you will be far more violent than others! Who knows?
+perhaps this is the sorrow of which you spoke, the misfortune which
+should bring your whole being into equipoise! That was also a kind of
+search after the sorrowful. I will sincerely wish that your heart may be
+filled with love as mine is; then will the influence of the sand-hills
+vanish, and you will speak with me as you ought to do, and as my
+confidence deserves!”
+
+“That will I!” replied Otto. “You make the poor girl miserable! Now you
+love Eva, but then you will no longer be able. The distance between
+you and her is too great, and I cannot conceive how the beauty of her
+countenance can thus fill your whole being. A waiting-girl! yes, I
+repeat the name which offends your ear: a waiting-girl! Everywhere
+will it be repeated. And you? No one can respect nobility less than I
+do--that nobility which is only conferred by birth; it is nothing, and a
+time will come when this will not be prized at all, when the nobility of
+the soul will be the only nobility. I openly say this to you, who are a
+nobleman yourself. The more development of mind, the more ancestors!
+But Eva has nothing, can have nothing, except a pretty face, and this
+is what has enchained you; you are become the servant of a servant, and
+that is degrading yourself and your nobility of mind!”
+
+“Mr. Thostrup!” exclaimed Wilhelm, “you wound me! This is truly not the
+first time, but now I am weary of it. I have shown too much good nature,
+and that is the most unfortunate failing a man can be cursed with!”
+
+He seated himself at the piano, and hammered away.
+
+Otto was silent a moment, his checks glowed, but he was soon again calm,
+and in a joking tone said: “Do not expend your anger upon that poor
+instrument because we disagree in our views. You are playing only
+dissonances, which offend my ear more than your anger!”
+
+“Dissonances!” repeated Wilhelm. “Cannot you hear that they are
+harmonies? There are many things for which you have a bad ear!”
+
+Otto knew how to lead his anger to different points regarding which
+they had formerly been at variance, but he spoke with such mildness that
+Wilhelm’s anger rather abated than increased.
+
+They were again friends, but regarding Eva not one word more was said.
+
+“I should not be an honest and true friend to him, were I to let him
+be swallowed up by this whirlpool!” said Otto to himself, when he was
+alone. “At present he is innocent and good but at his age, with his gay
+disposition!--I must warn Eva! soon! soon! The snow which has once
+been trodden is no longer pure! Wilhelm will scarcely forgive me! But I
+must!”
+
+On the morrow it was impossible for him to travel to Roeskelde, but the
+following day he really would and must hasten thither.
+
+Still, in the early morning hour, Eva occupied his thoughts; she busied
+Wilhelm’s also, but in a different way: but they agreed in the purity of
+their intentions. There was still a third, whose blood was put in motion
+at the mention of her name, who said: “The pretty Eva is a servant
+there! One must speak with her. The family can make an excursion there!”
+
+“You sweet children!” said the merchant’s wife, “the autumn is charming,
+far pleasanter than the whole summer! The father, should the weather
+remain good, will make an excursion with us to Lethraborg the day after
+to-morrow. We will then walk in the beautiful valley of the Hertha, and
+pass the night at Roeskelde. Those will be two delightful days! What an
+excellent father you have! But shall we not invite Mr. Thostrup to go
+with us? We are so many ladies, and it looks well to have a few young
+gentlemen with us. Grethe, thou must write an invitation; thou canst
+write thy father’s name underneath.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+     “These poetical letters are so similar to those of Baggesen,
+     that we could be almost tempted to consider the news of his
+     death as false, although so well affirmed that we must
+     acknowledge it.”--Monthly Journal of Literature.
+
+     “She is as slender as the poplar-willow, as fleet as the
+     hastening waters. A Mayflower odorous and sweet.”--H. P.
+     HOLST.
+
+     “Ah, where is the rose?”--Lulu, by GUNTELBURG.
+
+The evening before Otto was to travel with the merchant’s family to
+Roeskelde he called upon the family where Miss Sophie was staying. Her
+dear mamma had left three days before. Wilhelm had wished to accompany
+him to Roeskelde, but the mother did not desire it.
+
+“We have had a pleasure to-day,” said Sophie, “a pleasure from which we
+shall long have enjoyment. Have you seen the new book, the ‘Letters of
+a Wandering Ghost?’ It is Baggesen himself in his most perfect beauty,
+a music which I never believed could have been given in words. This is
+a poet! He has made July days in the poetry of Denmark. Natural thoughts
+are so strikingly, and yet so simply expressed; one has the idea that
+one could write such verses one’s self, they fall so lightly.”
+
+“They are like prose,” said the lady, “and yet the most beautifully
+perfect verse I know. You must read the book, Mr. Thostrup!”
+
+“Perhaps you will read to us this evening?” said Sophie. “I should very
+much like to hear it again.”
+
+“In a second reading one shall enter better into the individual
+beauties,” said the lady of the house.
+
+“I will remain and listen,” said the host.
+
+“This must be a masterpiece!” exclaimed Otto,”--a true masterpiece,
+since all are so delighted with it.”
+
+“It is Baggesen himself; and truly as he must sing in that world where
+everything mortal is ennobled.”
+
+      “‘Meadows all fragrance, the strongholds of pleasure,
+        Heaven blue streamlets,
+
+That speed through the green woods in musical measure,’” began Otto, and
+the spiritual battle-piece with beauty and tone developed itself more
+and more; they found themselves in the midst of the winter camp of the
+Muses, where the poet with
+
+     ...“lyre on his shoulder and sword at....
+
+Hastened to fight with the foes of the Muses.” Otto’s gloomy look won
+during the perusal a more animated expression. “Excellent!” exclaimed
+he; “this is what I myself have thought and felt, but, alas! have been
+unable to express.”
+
+“I am a strange girl,” said Sophie; “whenever I read a new poet of
+distinguished talent, I consider that he is the greatest. It was so with
+Byron and Victor Hugo. ‘Cain’ overwhelmed me, ‘Notre Dame’ carried me
+away with it. Once I could imagine no greater poet than Walter Scott,
+and yet I forget him over Oehlenschläger; yes, I remember a time when
+Heiberg’s vaudevilles took almost the first place among my chosen
+favorites. Thus I know myself and my changeable disposition, and yet
+I firmly believe that I shall make an exception with this work. Other
+poets showed me the objects of the outer world, this one shows me my own
+mind: my own thoughts, my own being he presents before me, and therefore
+I shall always take the same interest in the Ghost’s Letters.”
+
+“They are true food for the mind,” said Otto; “they are as words in
+season; there must be movement in the lake, otherwise it will become a
+bog.”
+
+“The author is severe toward those whom he has introduced,” said the
+lady; “but he carries, so to say, a sweet knife. A wound from a sharp
+sword-blade is not so painful as that from a rusty, notched knife.”
+
+“But who may the author be?” said Sophie.
+
+“May we never learn!” replied Otto. “Uncertainty gives the book
+something piquant. In such a small country as ours it is good for the
+author to be unknown. Here we almost tread upon each other, and look
+into each other’s garments. Here the personal conditions of the author
+have much to do with success; and then there are the newspapers, where
+either friend or enemy has an assistant, whereas the being anonymous
+gives it the patent of nobility. It is well never to know an author.
+What does his person matter to us, if his book is only good?
+
+“‘Crush and confound the rabble dissolute That desecrate thy poet’s
+grave?’” read Otto, and the musical poem was at an end. All were
+enchanted with it. Otto alone made some small objections: “The Muses
+ought not to come with ‘trumpets and drums,’ and so many expressions
+similar to ‘give a blow on the chaps,’ etc., ought not to appear.”
+
+“But if the poet will attack what is coarse,” said Sophie, “he must
+call things by their proper names. He presents us with a specimen of the
+prosaic filth, but in a soap-bubble. We may see it, but not seize upon
+it. I consider that you are wrong!”
+
+“The conception of idea and form,” said Otto, “does not seem to be
+sufficiently presented to one; both dissolve into one. Even prose is a
+form.”
+
+“But the form itself is the most important,” said the lady of the house;
+“with poetry as with sculpture, it is the form which gives the meaning.”
+
+“No, pardon me!” said Otto; “poetry is like the tree which God allows
+to grow. The inward power expresses itself in the form; both are equally
+important, but I consider the internal as the most holy. This is here
+the poet’s thought. The opinion which he expresses affects us as much as
+the beautiful dress in which he has presented it.”
+
+Now commenced a contest upon form and material, such as was afterward
+maintained throughout the whole of Copenhagen.
+
+“I shall always admire the ‘Letters of a Wandering Ghost,’” said
+Sophie,--“always rave about these poems. To-night I shall dream of
+nothing but this work of art.”
+
+How little men can do that which they desire, did this very moment
+teach.
+
+When we regard the fixed star through a telescope and lose ourselves
+in contemplation, a little hair can conceal the mighty body, a grain of
+dust lead us from these sublime thoughts. A letter came for Miss Sophie;
+a traveller brought it from her mother: she was already in Funen, and
+announced her safe arrival.
+
+“And the news?” said the hostess.
+
+“Mamma has hired a new maid, or, rather, she has taken to be with her
+an amiable young girl--the pretty Eva in Roeskelde. Mr. Thostrup and
+Wilhelm related to us this summer several things about her which make
+her interesting. We saw her on our journey hither, when mamma was
+prepossessed by her well-bred appearance. Upon her return, the young
+girl has quite won her heart. It really were a pity if such a pretty,
+respectable girl remained in a public-house. She is very pretty; is she
+not, Mr. Thostrup?”
+
+“Very pretty!” answered Otto, becoming crimson, for Sophie said this
+with an emphasis which was not without meaning.
+
+The following day, at an early hour, Otto found himself at the
+merchant’s.
+
+Spite of the changeable weather of our climate, all the ladies were in
+their best dresses. Three persons must sit upon each seat. Hans Peter
+and the lover had their place beside the coachman. It was a long time
+before the cold meat, the provision for several days, was packed up, and
+the whole company were seated. At length, when they had got out of the
+city, Christiane recollected that they had forgotten the umbrellas, and
+that, after all, it would be good to have them. The coachman must go
+back for them, and meantime the carriage drew up before the Column of
+Liberty. The poor sentinel must now become an object of Miss Grethe’s
+interest. Several times the soldier glanced down upon his regimentals.
+He was a Krähwinkler, who had an eye to his own advantage. A man who
+rode past upon a load of straw occupied a high position. That was very
+interesting.
+
+Otto endeavored to give the conversation another direction. “Have
+not you seen the new poem which has just appeared, the ‘Letters of a
+Wandering Ghost?’” asked he, and sketched out their beauty and tendency.
+
+“Doubtless, very heavy blows are dealt!” said Mr. Berger, “the man must
+be witty--Baggesen to the very letter.”
+
+“The ‘Copenhagen Post’ is called the pump!” said Hans Peter.
+
+“That is superb!” cried Grethe. “Who does it attack besides?”
+
+“Folks in Soroe, and this ‘Holy Andersen,’ as they call him.”
+
+“Does he get something?” said Laide. “That I will grant him for his milk
+and water. He was so impolite toward the ladies!”
+
+“I like them to quarrel in this way!” said the merchant’s lady. “Heiberg
+will doubtless get his share also, and then he will reply in something
+merry.”
+
+“Yes,” said Mr. Berger, “he always knows how to twist things in such a
+manner that one must laugh, and then it is all one to us whether he is
+right or not.”
+
+“This book is entirely for Heiberg,” said Otto. “The author is
+anonymous, and a clever man.”
+
+“Good Heavens! you are not the author, Mr. Thostrup?” cried Julle, and
+looked at him with a penetrating gaze. “You can manage such things
+so secretly! You think so highly of Heiberg: I remember well all the
+beautiful things you said of his ‘Walter the Potter’ and his ‘Psyche.’”
+
+Otto assured her that he could not confess to this honor.
+
+They reached Roeskelde in the forenoon, but Eva did not receive them.
+The excursion to Lethraborg was arranged; toward evening they should
+again return to the inn, and then Eva would certainly appear.
+
+The company walked in the garden at Lethraborg: the prospect from the
+terrace was beautiful; they looked through the windows of the castle,
+and at length came to the conclusion that it would be best to go in.
+
+“There are such beautiful paintings, people say!” remarked the lover.
+
+“We must see them,” cried all the ladies.
+
+“Do you often visit the picture-gallery of the Christiansborg?” inquired
+Otto.
+
+“I cannot say that we do!” returned Mrs. Berger. “You well know that
+what is near one seldom sees, unless one makes a downright earnest
+attempt, and that we have not yet done. Besides, not many people go up:
+that wandering about the great halls is so wearying.”
+
+“There are splendid pieces by Ruysdal!” said Otto.
+
+“Salvator Rosa’s glorious ‘Jonas’ is well worth looking at!”
+
+“Yes, we really must go at once, whilst our little Maja is here. It does
+not cost more than the Exhibition, and we were there three times last
+year. The view from the castle windows toward the canal, as well as
+toward the ramparts, is so beautiful, they say.”
+
+The company now viewed the interior of Lethraborg, and then wandered
+through the garden and in the wood. The trees had their autumnal
+coloring, but the whole presented a variety of tints far richer than one
+finds in summer. The dark fir-trees, the yellow beeches and oaks, whose
+outermost branches had sent forth light green shoots, presented a most
+picturesque effect, and formed a splendid foreground to the view over
+old Leire, the royal city, now a small village, and across the bay to
+the splendid cathedral.
+
+“That resembles a scene in a theatre!” cried Mrs. Berger, and
+immediately the company were deep in dramatic affairs.
+
+“Such a decoration they should have in the royal theatre!” said Hans
+Peter.
+
+“Yes, they should have many such!” said Grethe. “They should have some
+other pieces than those they have. I know not how it is with our poets;
+they have no inventive power. Relate the droll idea which thou hadst
+the other day for a new piece!” said she to her lover, and stroked his
+cheeks.
+
+“O,” said he, and affected a kind of indifference, “that was only an
+idea such as one has very often. But it might become a very nice piece.
+When the curtain is drawn up, one should see close upon the lamps the
+gable-ends of two houses. The steep roofs must go down to the stage, so
+that it is only half a yard wide, and this is to represent a watercourse
+between the two houses. In each garret a poor but interesting family
+should dwell, and these should step forth into the watercourse, and
+there the whole piece should be played.”
+
+“But what should then happen?” asked Otto.
+
+“Yes,” said the lover, “I have not thought about that; but see, there is
+the idea! I am no poet, and have too much to do at the counting-house,
+otherwise one might write a little piece.”
+
+“Heavens! Heiberg ought to have the idea!” said Grethe.
+
+“No, then it would be a vaudeville,” said the lover, “and I cannot bear
+them.”
+
+“O, it might be made charming!” cried Grethe. “I see the whole piece!
+how they clamber about the roofs! The idea is original, thou sweet
+friend!”
+
+By evening the family were again in Roeskelde.
+
+The merchant sought for Eva. Otto inquired after her, so did Hans Peter
+also, and all three received the same answer.
+
+“She is no longer here.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+     “I wish I was air, that I could beat my wings, could chase
+     the clouds, and try to fly over the mountain summits: that
+     would be life.”--F. RÜCKERT.
+
+The first evening after Otto’s return to Copenhagen he spent with
+Sophie, and the conversation turned upon his little journey. “The pretty
+Eva has vanished!” said he.
+
+“You had rejoiced in the prospect of this meeting, had you not?” asked
+Sophie.
+
+“No, not in the least!” answered Otto.
+
+“And you wish to make me believe that? She is really pretty, and has
+something so unspeakably refined, that a young gentleman might well
+be attracted by her. With my brother it is not all quite right in this
+respect; but, candidly speaking, I am in great fear on your account, Mr.
+Thostrup. Still waters--you know the proverb? I might have spared you
+the trouble. The letter which I received a few evenings ago informed me
+of her departure. Mamma has taken her with her. It seemed to her a
+sin to leave that sweet, innocent girl in a public-house. The host and
+hostess were born upon our estate, and look very much up to my mother;
+and as Eva will certainly gain by the change, the whole affair was soon
+settled. It is well that she is come under mamma’s oversight.”
+
+“The girl is almost indifferent to me!” said Otto.
+
+“Almost!” repeated Sophie. “But this almost, how many degrees of warmth
+does it contain? ‘O Vérité! Où sont les autels et tes prêtres?’” added
+she, and smiling raised her finger.
+
+“Time will show how much you are in error!” answered Otto with much
+calmness.
+
+The lady of the house now entered, she had made various calls;
+everywhere the Ghost’s Letters were the subject of conversation, and now
+the conversation took the same direction.
+
+It was often renewed. Otto was a very frequent guest at the house. The
+ladies sat at their embroidery frames and embroidered splendid pieces
+of work, and Otto must again read the “Letters of the Wandering Ghost;”
+ after this they began “Calderon,” in whom Sophie found something
+resembling the anonymous author. The world of poetry afforded subjects
+for discourse, and every-day life intermingled its light, gay scenes; if
+Wilhelm joined them, he must give them music, and all remarked that his
+fantasies were become far richer, far softer. He had gained his touch
+from Weyse, said they. No one thought how much one may learn from one’s
+own heart. With this exception he was the same joyous youth as ever. No
+one thought of him and Eva together. Since that evening when the friends
+had almost quarreled, he had never mentioned her name; but Otto had
+remarked how when any female figure met them, Wilhelm’s eyes flashed,
+and how, in society, he singled out the most beautiful. Otto said
+jokingly to him, that he was getting oriental thoughts. Oehlenschläger’s
+“Helge,” and Goethe’s Italian sonnets were now Wilhelm’s favorite
+reading. The voluptuous spirit of these poems agreed with the dreams
+which his warm feelings engendered. It was Eva’s beauty--her beauty
+alone which had awoke this feeling in him; the modesty and poverty of
+the poor girl had captivated him still more, and caused him to forget
+rank and condition. At the moment when he would approach her, she was
+gone. The poison was now in his blood. If is gay and happy spirit did
+not meanwhile let him sink into melancholy and meditation; his feeling
+for beauty was excited, as he himself expressed it. In thought he
+pressed beauty to his heart, but only in thought--but even this is sin,
+says the Gospel.
+
+Otto, on the contrary, moved in the lists of philosophy and poetry. Here
+his soul conceived beauty--inspired, he expressed it; and Sophie’s
+eyes flashed, and rested with pleasure on him. This flattered him and
+increased his inspirations. For many years no winter had been to him so
+pleasant, had passed away so rich in change as this; he caught at the
+fluttering joy and yet there were moments when the though pressed upon
+him--“Life is hastening away, and I do not enjoy it.” In the midst
+of his greatest happiness he experienced a strange yearning after the
+changing life of travel. Paris glanced before his eyes like a star of
+fortune.
+
+“Out into the bustling world!” said he so often to Wilhelm, that the
+same thought was excited in him. “In the spring we will travel!” Now
+were plans formed; circumstances were favorable. Thus in the coming
+spring, in April, the still happier days should begin.
+
+“We will fly to Paris!” said Wilhelm; “to joy and pleasure!”
+
+Joy and pleasure were to be found at home, and were found: we will
+introduce the evening which brought them; perhaps we shall also find
+something more than joy and pleasure.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+     “A midsummer day’s entertainment--but how? In February? Yea,
+     some here and behold it!”--DR. BALFUNGO.
+
+With us the students form no Burschenschafts, have no colors. The
+professors do not alone in the chair come into connection with them;
+the only difference is that which exists between young and old scholars.
+Thus they come in contact with each other, thus they participate in
+their mutual pleasures. We will spend an evening of this kind in the
+Students’ Club, and then see for ourselves whether Miss Sophie were
+right when she wished she were a man, merely that she might be a student
+and member of this club. We choose one evening in particular, not only
+that we may seek a brilliant moment, but because this evening can afford
+us more than a description.
+
+An excursion to the park had often been discussed in the club. They
+wished to hire the Caledonia steam-packet. But during the summer months
+the number of members is less; the majority are gone to the provinces to
+visit their relations. Winter, on the contrary, assembles them all.
+This time, also, is the best for great undertakings. The long talked of
+excursion to the park was therefore fixed for Carnival Monday, the 14th
+of February, 1831. Thus ran the invitations to the professors and older
+members. “It will be too cold for me,” replied one. “Must one take a
+carriage for one’s self?” asked mother. No, the park was removed to
+Copenhagen. In the Students’ Club itself, in the Boldhuus Street, No.
+225, was the park-hill with its green trees, its swings, and amusements.
+See, only the scholars of the Black School could have such ideas!
+
+The evening of the 114th of February drew near. The guests assembled in
+the rooms on the first floor. Meanwhile all was arranged in the second
+story. Those who represented jugglers were in their places. A thundering
+cracker was the steamboat signal, and now people hastened to the park,
+rushing up-stairs, where two large rooms had, with great taste and
+humor, been converted into the park-hill. Large fir-trees concealed the
+walls--you found yourself in a complete wood. The doors which connected
+the two rooms were decorated with sheets, so that it looked as if
+you were going through a tent. Hand-organs played, drums and trumpets
+roared, and from tents and stages the hawkers shouted one against the
+other. It was a noise such as is heard in the real park when the hubbub
+has reached its height. The most brilliant requisites of the real
+park were found here, and they were not imitated; they were the things
+themselves. Master Jakel’s own puppets had been hired; a student,
+distinguished by his complete imitation of the first actors, represented
+them by the puppets. The fortress of Frederiksteen was the same which we
+have already seen in the park. “The whole cavalry and infantry,--here a
+fellow without a bayonet, there a bayonet without a fellow!” The old Jew
+sat under his tree where he announced his fiftieth park jubilee: here
+a student ate flax, there another exhibited a bear; Polignac stood as a
+wax figure outside a cabinet. The Magdalene convent exhibited its little
+boxes, the drum-major beat most lustily, and from a near booth came the
+real odor of warm wafer-cakes. The spring even, which presented itself
+in the outer room, was full of significance. Certainly it was only
+represented by a tea-urn concealed between moss and stones, but
+the water was real water, brought from the well in Christiansborg.
+Astounding and full of effect was the multitude of sweet young girls
+who showed themselves. Many of the youngest students who had feminine
+features were dressed as ladies; some of them might even be called
+pretty. Who that then saw the fair one with the tambourine can have
+forgotten her? The company crowded round the ladies. The professors paid
+court to them with all propriety, and, what was best of all, some ladies
+who were less successful became jealous of the others. Otto was much
+excited; the noise, the bustle, the variety of people, were almost
+strikingly given. Then came the master of the fire-engines, with his
+wife and little granddaughter; then three pretty peasant girls; then the
+whole Botanical Society, with their real professor at their head. Otto
+seated himself in a swing; an itinerant flute-player and a drummer
+deafened him with dissonances. A young lady, one of the beauties, in a
+white dress, and with a thin handkerchief over her shoulders, approached
+and threw herself into his arms. It was Wilhelm! but Otto found his
+likeness to Sophie stronger than he had ever before noticed it to be;
+and therefore the blood rushed to his cheeks when the fair one threw
+her arms around him, and laid her cheek upon his: he perceived more of
+Sophie than of Wilhelm in this form. Certainly Wilhelm’s features were
+coarser--his whole figure larger than Sophie’s; but still Otto fancied
+he saw Sophie, and therefore these marked gestures, this reeling about
+with the other students, offended his eyes. When Wilhelm seated himself
+on his knee, and pressed his cheek to his, Otto felt his heart beat
+as in fever; it sent a stream of fire through his blood: he thrust him
+away, but the fair one continued to overwhelm him with caresses.
+
+There now commenced, in a so-called Krähwinkel theatre, the comedy, in
+which were given the then popular witticisms of Kellerman.
+
+The lady clung fast to Otto, and flew dancing with him through the
+crowd. The heat, the noise, and, above all, the exaggerated lacing,
+affected Wilhelm; he felt unwell. Otto led him to a bench and would
+have unfastened his dress, but all the young ladies, true to their part,
+sprang forward, pushed Otto aside, surrounded their sick companion and
+concealed her, whilst they tore up the dress behind so that she might
+have air: but, God forbid! no gentleman might see it.
+
+Toward evening a song was commenced, a shot was heard, and the last
+verse announced:--
+
+     “The gun has been fired, the vessel must fly
+       To the town from the green wood shady.
+     Come, friends, now we to the table will hie,
+       A gentleman and a fair lady.”
+
+And now all rushed with the speed of a steamboat downstairs, and soon
+sat in gay rows around the covered tables.
+
+Wilhelm was Otto’s lady--the Baron was called the Baroness; the glasses
+resounded, and the song commenced:--
+
+     “These will drink our good king’s health,
+       Will drink it here, his loyal students.”
+
+And that patriotic song:--
+
+     “I know a land up in the North
+       Where it is good to be.”
+
+It concluded with--
+
+                        “An hurrah
+     For the king and the rescript!”
+
+In joy one must embrace everything joyful, and that they did. Here was
+the joy of youth in youthful hearts.
+
+     “No condition’s like the student’s;
+       He has chosen the better way!”
+
+so ran the concluding verse of the following song, which ended with the
+toast,--
+
+     “For her of whom the heart dreams ever,
+       But whom the lips must never name!”
+
+It was then that Wilhelm seemed to glow with inward fire; he struck his
+glass so violently against Otto’s that it broke, and the wine was spilt.
+
+“A health to the ladies!” cried one of the signors.
+
+“A health to the ladies!” resounded from the different rooms, which were
+all converted into the banquet-hall.
+
+The ladies rose, stood upon their chairs, some even upon the table,
+bowed, and returned thanks for the toast.
+
+“No, no,” whispered Otto to Wilhelm, at the same time pulling him
+down. “In this dress you resemble your sister so much, that it is quite
+horrible to me to see you act a part so opposed to her character!”
+
+“And your eyes,” Said Wilhelm, smiling, “resemble two eyes which have
+touched my heart. A health to first love!” cried he, and struck his
+glass against Otto’s so that the half of his wine was again lost.
+
+The champagne foamed, and amidst noise and laughter, as during the
+carnival joy, a new song refreshed the image of the nark which they had
+just left:--     “Here if green trees were not growing
+       Fresh as on yon little hill,
+     Heard we not the fountains flowing,
+       We in sooth should see them still!
+     Tents were filled below, above,
+     Filled with everything but love!
+
+     ***
+
+     Here went gratis brushing-boys--     Graduated have they all!
+     Here stood, who would think it, sir?
+     A student as a trumpeter!”
+
+“A health to the one whose eyes mine resemble!” whispered Otto, carried
+along with the merriment.
+
+“That health we have already drunk!” answered Wilhelm, “but we cannot do
+a good thing too often.”
+
+“Then you still think of Eva?”
+
+“She was beautiful! sweet! who knows what might have happened had she
+remained here? Her fate has fallen into mamma’s hands, and she and the
+other exalted Nemesis must now conduct the affair: I wash my hands of
+it.”
+
+“Are you recovered?” asked Otto. “But when you see Eva again in the
+summer?”
+
+“I hope that I shall not fall sick,” replied Wilhelm; “I have a strong
+constitution. But we must now hasten up to the dance.”
+
+All rushed from the tables, and up-stairs, where the park was arranged.
+There was now only the green wood to be seen. Theatres and booths had
+been removed. Gay paper-lamps hung among the branches, a large orchestra
+played, and a half-bacchanalian wood-ball commenced. Wilhelm was Otto’s
+partner, but after the first dance the lady sought out for herself a
+more lively cavalier.
+
+Otto drew back toward the wall where the windows were concealed by the
+boughs of Fir-tree. His eye followed Wilhelm, whose great resemblance
+to Sophie made him melancholy; his hand accidentally glided through the
+branches and touched the window-seat; there lay a little bird--it was
+dead!
+
+To increase the illusion they had bought a number of birds, which should
+fly about during the park-scene, but the poor little creatures had died
+from fright at the wild uproar. In the windows and corners they lay
+dead. It was one of these birds that Otto found.
+
+“It is dead!” said he to Wilhelm, who approached him.
+
+“Now, that is capital!” returned the friend; “here you have something
+over which you may be sentimental!”
+
+Otto would not reply.
+
+“Shall we dance a Scotch waltz?” asked Wilhelm laughing, and the wine
+and his youthful blood glowed in his cheeks.
+
+“I wish you would put on your own dress!” said Otto. “You resemble, as I
+said before, your sister”--
+
+“And I am my sister,” interrupted Wilhelm, in his wantonness. “And as
+a reward for your charming readings aloud, for your excellent
+conversation, and the whole of your piquant amiability, you shall now be
+paid with a little kiss!” He pressed his lips to Otto’s forehead; Otto
+thrust him back and left the company.
+
+Several hours passed before he could sleep; at length he was forced to
+laugh over his anger: what mattered it if Wilhelm resembled his sister?
+
+The following morning Otto paid her a visit. All listened with lively
+interest to his description of the merry St. John’s day in February.
+He also related how much Wilhelm had resembled his sister, and how
+unpleasant this had been to him; and they laughed. During the relation,
+however, Otto could not forbear drawing a comparison. How great a
+difference did he now find! Sophie’s beauty was of quite another kind!
+Never before had he regarded her in this light. Of the kisses which
+Wilhelm had given him, of course, they did not speak; but Otto thought
+of them, thought of them quite differently to what he had done before,
+and--the ways of Cupid are strange! We will now see how affairs stand
+after advancing fourteen days.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+   “Huzza for Copenhagen and for Paris! may they both flourish!”
+                                     The Danes in Paris by HEIBERG.
+
+Wilhelm’s cousin, Joachim, had arrived from Paris. We remember the young
+officer, out of whose letters Wilhelm had sent Otto a description of
+the struggle of the July days. As an inspired hero of liberty had he
+returned; struggling Poland had excited his lively interest, and he
+would willingly have combated in Warsaw’s ranks. His mind and his
+eloquence made him doubly interesting. The combat of the July days,
+of which he had been an eye-witness, he described to them. Joachim was
+handsome; he had an elegant countenance with sharp features, and was
+certainly rather pale--one might perhaps have called him worn with
+dissipation, had it not been for the brightness of his eyes, which
+increased in conversation. The fine dark eyebrow, and even the little
+mustache, gave the countenance all expression which reminded one of fine
+English steel-engravings. His figure was small, almost slender, but the
+proportions were beautiful. The animation of the Frenchman expressed
+itself in every motion, but at the same time there was in him a certain
+determination which seemed to say: “I am aware of my own intellectual
+superiority!”
+
+He interested every one: Otto also listened with pleasure when Cousin
+Joachim related his experiences, but when all eyes were turned toward
+the narrator, Otto fixed his suddenly upon Sophie, and found that she
+could moderate his attentions. Joachim addressed his discourse to all,
+but at the points of interest his glance rested alone on the pretty
+cousin! “She interests him!” said Otto to himself. “And Cousin Joachim?”
+ Yes, he relates well; but had we only traveled we should not be inferior
+to him!”
+
+“Charles X. was a Jesuit!” said Joachim; “he strove after an
+unrestrained despotism, and laid violent hands on the Charter. The
+expedition against Algiers was only a glittering fire-work arranged to
+flatter the national pride--all glitter and falseness! Like Peirronnet,
+through an embrace he would annihilate the Charter.”
+
+The conversation now turned from the Jesuits to the Charter and
+Polignac. The minute particulars, which only an eyewitness can relate,
+brought the struggle livingly before their eyes. They saw the last
+night, the extraordinary activity in the squares where the balls
+were showered, and in the streets where the barricades were erected.
+Overturned wagons and carts, barrels and stones, were heaped upon each
+other--even the hundred year-old trees of the Boulevards were cut
+down to form barricades: the struggle began, Frenchman fought against
+Frenchman--for liberty and country they sacrificed their life.
+
+      [Note:
+     “Ceux qui pieusement sont morts pour la patrie
+     Ont droit qu’à leur cerceuil la foule vienne et prie:
+     Entre le plus beaux noms, leur nom est le plus beau.
+     Toute gloire, près d’eux, passe et tombe éphèmere
+     Et, comme ferait une mère,
+     La voix d’un peuple entier les berce en leur tombeau!”
+      --VICTOR HUGO.]
+
+And he described the victory and Louis Philippe, whom he admired and
+loved.
+
+“That was a world event,” said the man of business. “It electrified
+both king and people. They still feel the movement. Last year was an
+extraordinary year!”
+
+“For the Copenhageners also,” said Otto, “there were three colors. These
+things occupied the multitude with equal interest: the July Revolution,
+the ‘Letters of a Wandering Ghost,’ and Kellermann’s ‘Berlin Wit.’”
+
+“Now you are bitter, Mr. Thostrup,” said the lady of the house.
+“The really educated did not occupy themselves with these Berlin
+‘Eckensteher’ which the multitude have rendered national!”
+
+“But they hit the right mark!” said Otto; “they met with a reception
+from the citizens and people in office.”
+
+“That I can easily believe,” remarked Joachim; “that is like the people
+here!”
+
+“That is like the people abroad!” said the hostess. “In Paris they pass
+over still more easily from a revolution, in which they themselves have
+taken part, to a review by Jules Janin, or to a new step of Taglioni’s,
+and from that to ‘une histoire scandaleuse!’”
+
+“No, my gracious lady, of the last no one takes any notice--it belongs
+to the order of the day!”
+
+“That I can easily believe!” said Miss Sophie.
+
+The man of business now inquired after the Chamber. The cousin’s answer
+was quite satisfactory. The lady of the house wished to hear of the
+flower-markets, and of the sweet little inclosed gardens in the Places.
+Sophie wished to hear of Victor Hugo. She received a description of him,
+of his abode in the Place Royale, and of the whole Europe littéraire
+beside. Cousin Joachim was extremely interesting.
+
+Otto did not pay another visit for two days.
+
+“Where have you been for so long?” asked Sophie, when he came again.
+
+“With my books!” replied he: there lay a gloomy expression in his eyes.
+
+“O, you should have come half an hour earlier--our cousin was here!
+He was describing to me the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. O, quite
+excellently!”
+
+“He is an interesting young man!” said Otto.
+
+“The glorious garden!” pursued Sophie, without remarking the emphasis
+with which Otto had replied. “Do you not remember, Mr. Thostrup, how
+Barthélemi has spoken of it? ‘Où tout homme, qui rêve à son pays absent,
+Retrouve ses parfums et son air caressant.’ In it there is a whole
+avenue with cages, in which are wild beasts,--lions and tigers! In small
+court-yards, elephants and buffaloes wander about at liberty! Giraffes
+nibble the branches of high trees! In the middle of the garden are the
+courts for bears, only there is a sort of well in which the bears
+walk about; it is surrounded by no palisades, and you stand upon the
+precipitous edge! There our cousin stood!”
+
+“But he did not precipitate himself down!” said Otto, with indifference.
+
+“What is the matter?” asked Sophie. “Are you in your elegiac mood? You
+look as I imagine Victor Hugo when he has not made up his mind about the
+management of his tragic catastrophe!”
+
+“That is my innate singularity!” replied Otto. “I should have pleasure
+in springing down among the bears of which you relate!”
+
+“And in dying?” asked Sophie. “No, you must live. ‘C’est le bonheur de
+vivre Qui fait la gloire de mourir.’”
+
+“You speak a deal of French to-day,” said Otto, with a friendliness
+of manner intended to soften the bitterness of the tone. “Perhaps your
+conversation with the lieutenant was in that language?”
+
+“French interests me the most!” replied she. “I will ask our cousin to
+speak it often with me. His accent is excellent, and he is himself a
+very interesting man!”
+
+“No doubt of it!” answered Otto.
+
+“You will remain and dine with us?” said the lady of the house, who now
+entered.
+
+Otto did not feel well.
+
+“These are only whims,” said Sophie.
+
+The ladies made merry, and Otto remained. Cousin Joachim came and was
+interesting--very interesting, said all. He related of Paris, spoke also
+of Copenhagen, and drew comparisons. The quietness of home had made an
+especial impression on him.
+
+“People here,” said he, “go about as if they bore some heavy grief, or
+some joy, which they might not express. If one goes into a coffee-house,
+it is just as if one entered a house of mourning. Each one seats
+himself, a newspaper in his hand, in a corner. That strikes one when one
+comes from Paris! One naturally has the thought,--Can these few degrees
+further north bring so much cold into the blood? There is the same
+quiet in our theatre. Now I love this active life. The only boldness the
+public permits itself is hissing a poor author; but a wretched singer,
+who has neither tone nor manner, a miserable actress, will be endured,
+nay, applauded by good friends--an act of compassion. She is so fearful!
+she is so good! In Paris people hiss. The decoration master, the
+manager, every one there receives his share of applause or blame. Even
+the directors are there hissed, if they manage badly.”
+
+“You are preaching a complete revolution in our theatrical kingdom!”
+ said the lady of the house. “The Copenhageners cannot ever become
+Parisians, and neither should they.”
+
+“The theatre is here, as well as there, the most powerful organ of the
+people’s life. It has the greatest influence, and ours stands high, very
+high, when one reflects in what different directions it must extend its
+influence. Our only theatre must accommodate itself, and represent, at
+the same time, the Theatre Français, the grand Opera, the Vaudeville,
+and Saint-Martin; it must comprehend all kinds of theatrical
+entertainments. The same actors who to-day appear in tragedy, must
+to-morrow show themselves in a comedy or vaudeville. We have actors who
+might compare themselves with the best in Paris--only _one_ is above all
+ours, but, also, above all whom I have seen in Europe, and this one
+is Mademoiselle Mars. You will, doubtless, consider the reason
+extraordinary which gives this one, in my opinion, the first place. This
+is her age, which she so completely compels you to forget. She is still
+pretty; round, without being called fat. It is not through rouge, false
+hair, or false teeth, that she procures herself youth; it lies in her
+soul, and from thence it flows into every limb--every motion becomes
+charming! She fills you with astonishment! her eyes are full of
+expression, and her voice is the most sonorous which I know! It is
+indeed music! How can one think of age when one is affected by an
+immortal soul? I rave about Léontine Fay, but the old Mars has my heart.
+There is also a third who stands high with the Parisians--Jenny Vertprè,
+at the Gymnase Dramatique, but she would be soon eclipsed were the
+Parisians to see our Demoiselle Pätges. She possesses talent which will
+shine in every scene. Vertprè has her loveliness, her whims, but not
+her Proteus-genius, her nobility. I saw Vertprè in ‘La Reine de Seize
+Ans,’--a piece which we have not yet; but she was only a saucy soubrette
+in royal splendor--a Pernille of Holberg’s, as represented by a
+Parisian. We have Madame Wexschall, and we have Frydendal! Were Denmark
+only a larger country, these names would sound throughout Europe!”
+
+He now described the decorations in the “Sylphide,” in “Natalia,” and in
+various other ballets, the whole splendor, the whole magnificence.
+
+“But our orchestra is excellent!” said Miss Sophie.
+
+“It certainly contains several distinguished men,” answered Joachim;
+“but must one speak of the whole? Yes, you know I am not musical, and
+cannot therefore express myself in an artistical manner about music,
+but certain it is that something lay in my ear, in my feeling, which, in
+Paris, whispered to me, ‘That is excellent!’ Here, on the contrary, it
+cries, ‘With moderation! with moderation!’ The voice is the first; she
+is the lady; the instruments, on the contrary, are the cavaliers who
+shall conduct the former before the public. Gently they should take her
+by the hand; she must stand quite foremost; but here the instruments
+thrust her aside, and it is to me as if each instrument would have the
+first place, and constantly shouted, ‘Here am I! here am I!”
+
+“That sounds very well!” said Sophie; “but one may not believe you!
+You have fallen in love with foreign countries, and, therefore, at home
+everything must be slighted.”
+
+“By no means! The Danish ladies, for instance, appear the prettiest, the
+most modest whom I have known.”
+
+“Appear?” repeated Otto.
+
+“Joachim possesses eloquence,” said the lady of the house.
+
+“That has developed itself abroad!” answered he: “here at home there are
+only two ways in which it can publicly develop itself--in the pulpit,
+and at a meeting in the shooting-house. Yet it is true that now we
+are going to have a Diet and a more political life. I feel already,
+in anticipation, the effect; we shall only live for this life, the
+newspapers will become merely political, the poets sing politics the
+painters choose scenes from political life. ‘C’est un Uebergang!’
+as Madame La Flèche says. [Author’s Note: Holberg’s Jean de France.]
+Copenhagen is too small to be a great, and too great to be a small city.
+See, there lies the fault!”
+
+Otto felt an irresistible desire to contradict him in most things which
+he said about home. But the cousin parried every bold blow with a joke.
+
+“Copenhagen must be the Paris of the North,” said he, “and that it
+certainly would become in fifty, or twice that number of years. The
+situation was far more beautiful than that of the city of the Seine. The
+marble church must be elevated, and become a Pantheon, adorned with the
+works of Thorwaldsen and other artists; Christiansborg, a Louvre, whose
+gallery you visit; Öster Street and Pedermadsen’s passage, arcades such
+as are in Paris, covered with glass roofs and flagged, shops on both
+sides, and in the evening, when thousands of gas-lamps burnt, here
+should be the promenade; the esplanades would be the Champs Elysées,
+with swings and slides, music, and mâts de cocagne. [Author’s Note:
+High smooth poles, to the top of which victuals, clothes, or money are
+attached. People of the lower classes then try to climb up and seize the
+prizes. The best things are placed at the very top of the pole.] On
+the Peblinger Lake, as on the Seine, there should be festive water
+excursions made. Voilà!” exclaimed he, “that would be splendid!”
+
+“That might be divine!” said Sophie.
+
+Animation and thought lay in the cousin’s countenance; his fine features
+became striking from their expression. Thus did his image stamp itself
+in Otto’s soul, thus did it place itself beside Sophie’s image as she
+stood there, with her large brown eyes, round which played thought and
+smiles, whilst they rested on the cousin. The beautifully formed white
+hand, with its taper fingers, played with the curls which fell over her
+cheeks. Otto would not think of it.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+     “And if I have wept alone, it is my own sorrow.”--GOETHE
+
+Latterly Otto had been but seldom at Mr. Berger’s. He had no interest
+about the merchant’s home. The family showed him every politeness and
+mark of confidence; but his visits became every week more rare. Business
+matters, however, led him one day there.
+
+Chance or fate, as we call it, if the shadow of a consequence shows
+itself, caused Maren to pass through the anteroom when Otto was about
+taking his departure. She was the only one of the ladies at home. In
+three weeks she would return to Lemvig. She said that she could not
+boast of having enjoyed Mr. Thostrup’s society too often.
+
+“Your old friends interest you no longer!” added she, somewhat gravely.
+With this exception she had amused herself very well in the city,
+had seen everything but the stuffed birds, and these she should see
+to-morrow. She had been seven times in the theatre, and had seen the
+“Somnambule” twice. However, she had not seen “Der Frieschütz,” and
+she had an especial desire to see this on account of the wolf-glen. At
+Aarhuus there was a place in the wood, said she, called the wolf-glen;
+this she knew, and now wished to see whether it resembled the one on the
+stage.
+
+“May I then greet Rosalie from you?” she asked at length.
+
+“You will still remain three weeks here,” said Otto: “it is too soon to
+speak of leave-taking.”
+
+“But you scarcely ever come here,” returned she. “You have better places
+to go to! The Baron’s sister certainly sees you oftener; she is said
+to be a pretty and very clever girl: perhaps one may soon offer one’s
+congratulations?”
+
+Otto became crimson.
+
+“In spring you will travel abroad,” pursued she; “we shall not then see
+you in Jutland: yes, perhaps you will never go there again! That will
+make old Rosalie sad: she thinks so incredibly much of you. In all the
+letters which I have received here there were greetings to Mr. Thostrup.
+Yes, I have quite a multitude of them for you; but you do not come to
+receive them, and I dare not pay a visit to such a young gentleman. For
+the sake of old friendship let me, at least, be the first who can relate
+at home of the betrothal!”
+
+“How can you have got such a thought?” replied Otto. “I go to so many
+houses where there are young ladies; if my heart had anything to do with
+it, I should have a bad prospect. I have great esteem for Miss Sophie;
+I speak with her as with you, that is all. I perceive that the air of
+Copenhagen has affected you; here in the city they are always betrothing
+people. This comes from the ladies in the house here. How could you
+believe such stories?”
+
+Maren also joked about it, but after they had parted she seated herself
+in a corner, drew her little apron over her head and wept; perhaps
+because she should soon leave the lively city, where she had been seven
+times to the theatre, and yet had not seen the wolf-glen.
+
+“Betrothed!” repeated Otto to himself, and thought of Sophie, of the
+cousin, and of his own childhood, which hung like a storm-cloud in
+his heaven. Many thoughts passed through his mind: he recollected the
+Christmas Eve on which he had seen Sophie for the first time, when she,
+as one of the Fates, gave him the number. He had 33, she 34; they were
+united by the numbers following each other. He received the pedigree,
+and was raised to her nobility. The whole joke had for him a
+signification. He read the verse again which had accompanied it. The
+conclusion sounded again and again in his ears:--“From this hour forth
+thy soul high rank hath won her, Nor will forget thy knighthood and thy
+honor!”
+
+“O Sophie!” he exclaimed aloud, and the fire which had long smouldered
+in his blood now burst forth in flames. “Sophie! thee must I press to my
+heart!” He lost himself in dreams. Dark shapes disturbed them. “Can she
+then be happy? Can I? The picture which she received where the covering
+of ice was broken and the faithful dog watched in vain, is also
+significant. That is the fulfillment of hopes. I sink, and shall never
+return!”
+
+The image of the cousin mingled in his dreams. That refined countenance
+with the little mustache looked forth saucily and loquaciously; and
+Sophie’s eyes he saw rest upon the cousin, whilst her white hand played
+with the brown curls which fell over her cheek.
+
+“O Sophie!” sighed Otto, and fell asleep.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+           ...“We live through others,
+     We think we are others; we seem
+     Others to be... And so think others of us.”
+                                       SCHEFER.
+
+When the buds burst forth we will burst forth also! had Otto and Wilhelm
+often said. Their plan was, in the spring to travel immediately to
+Paris, but on their way to visit the Rhine, and to sail from Cologne to
+Strasburg.
+
+“Yes, one must see the Rhine first!” said Cousin Joachim; “when one has
+seen Switzerland and Italy, it does not strike one nearly as much.
+That must be your first sight; but you should not see it in spring, but
+toward autumn. When the vines have their full variety of tint, and the
+heavy grapes hang from the stems, see, it is then the old ruins stand
+forth. These are the gardens of the Rhine! Another advantage which you
+have in going there in autumn is that you then enter Paris in winter,
+and that one must do; then one does not come post festum; then is the
+heyday of gayety--the theatre, the soirées, and everything which can
+interest the beau monde.”
+
+Although Otto did not generally consider the cousin’s words of much
+weight, he this time entered wonderfully into his views. “It would
+certainly be the most prudent to commence their journey toward autumn,”
+ he thought: “there could be no harm in preparing themselves a little
+more for it!”
+
+“That is always good!” said Joachim; “but, what is far more advantageous
+abroad than all the preparations you can make at home, is said in a few
+words--give up all intercourse with your own country-people! Nowadays
+every one travels! Paris is not now further from us than Hamburg was
+some thirty years ago. When I was in Paris I found there sixteen or
+seventeen of my countrymen. O, how they kept together! Eleven of
+them dwelt in the same hôtel: they drank coffee together, walked out
+together, went to the restaurateur’s together, and took together half a
+bench in the theatre. That is the most foolish thing a person can do!
+I consider travelling useful for every one, from the prince to the
+travelling journeyman. But we allow too many people to travel! We are
+not rich, therefore restrictions should be made. The creative artist,
+the poet, the engineer, and the physician must travel; but God knows why
+theologians should go forth. They can become mad enough at home!
+They come into Catholic countries, and then there is an end of them!
+Wherefore should book-worms go forth? They shut themselves up in the
+diligence and in their chambers, rummage a little in the libraries, but
+not so much as a pinch of snuff do they do us any good when they return!
+Those who cost the most generally are of the least use, and bring the
+country the least honor! I, thank God! paid for my journey myself, and
+am therefore free to speak my opinion!”
+
+We will now hear what Miss Sophie said, and therefore advance a few
+days.
+
+“We keep you then with us till August!” said she, once when she was
+alone with Otto. “That is wise! You can spend some time with us in
+Funen, and gather strength for your journey. Yes, the journey will do
+you good!”
+
+“I hope so!” answered Otto. “I am perhaps able to become as interesting
+as your cousin, as amiable!”
+
+“That would be requiring too much from you!” said Sophie, bantering him.
+“You will never have his humor, his facility in catching up character.
+You will only preach against the depravity of the Parisians; you will
+only be able to appreciate the melancholy grandeur of Switzerland and
+the solitude of the Hungarian forests.”
+
+“You would make a misanthrope of me, which I by no means am.”
+
+“But you have an innate talent for this character!” answered Sophie.
+“Something will certainly be polished away by this journey, and it is on
+account of this change that I rejoice.”
+
+“Must one, then, have a light, fickle mood to please you?” asked Otto.
+
+“Yes, certainly!” answered Sophie, ironically.
+
+“Then it is true what your cousin told me!” said Otto. “If one will be
+fortunate with the ladies, one must at least be somewhat frivolous, fond
+of pleasure, and fickle,--that makes one interesting. Yes, he has made
+himself acquainted with the world, he has experience in everything!”
+
+“Yes, perfectly!” said Sophie, and laughed aloud.
+
+Otto was silent, with contracted brow.
+
+“I wish you sunshine!” said Sophie, and smiling raised her finger. Otto
+remained unchanged--he wrinkled his brow.
+
+“You must change very much!” said she, half gravely; and danced out of
+the room.
+
+Three weeks passed by, rich in great events in the kingdom of the
+heart; it was still a diplomatic secret: the eyes betrayed it by their
+pantomimic language, the mouth alone was silent, and it is after all the
+deciding power.
+
+Otto visited the merchant’s family. Maren had departed just the day
+before. In vain had she awaited his visit throughout the three weeks.
+
+“You quite forget your true friends!” said the ladies. “Believe us,
+Maja was a little angry with you, and yet we have messages. Now she is
+sailing over the salt sea.”
+
+This was not precisely the case; she was already on land, and just at
+this moment was driving over the brown heath, thinking of Copenhagen
+and the pleasures there, and of the sorrow also--it is so sad to be
+forgotten by a friend of childhood! Otto was so handsome, so clever--she
+did not dream at all how handsome and clever she herself would appear at
+home. Beauty and cleverness they had discovered in her before she left;
+now she had been in the capital, and that gives relief.
+
+The little birds fluttered round the carriage; perhaps they sang to her
+what should happen in two years: “Thou wilt be a bride, the secretary’s
+lovely little bride; thou shalt have both him and the musical-box!
+Thou wilt be the grandest lady in the town, and yet the most excellent
+mother. Thy first daughter shall be called Maja--that is a pretty name,
+and reminds thee of past days!”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+     “The monastery is still called ‘Andersskov’ (the wood of
+     Anders) in memory of its being the habitation of the pious
+     Anders.
+
+     “The hill on which he awoke, comforted by sleep, is still
+     called ‘Hvile höi’ (the hill of rest). A cross having a
+     Latin inscription, half-effaced, marks the spot.”--J. L.
+     HEIBERG.
+
+It was spring, fresh, life-bearing spring! Only one day and one night,
+and the birds of passage were back again; the woods made themselves once
+more young with green, odorous leaves; the Sound had its swimming Venice
+of richly laden vessels; only one day and one night, and Sophie was
+removed from Otto--they were divided by the salt sea; but it was spring
+in his heart; from it flew his thoughts, like birds of passage, to the
+island of Funen, and there sang of summer. Hope gave him more “gold and
+green woods” than the ships bear through the Sound, more than Zealand’s
+bays can show. Sophie at parting pressed his hand. In her eyes lay what
+his heart might hope and dream.
+
+He forgot that hope and dreams were the opposites of reality.
+
+Cousin Joachim had gone to Stockholm, and would not return either in the
+spring or summer to Funen. On the contrary, Otto intended to spend a
+few weeks at the country-seat; not before August would he and Wilhelm
+travel. There would at least be one happy moment, and many perhaps
+almost as happy. In his room stood a rose-bush, the first buds formed
+themselves, and opened their red lips--as pure and tender as these
+leaves was Sophie’s cheek: he bent over the flower, smiled and read
+there sweet thoughts which were related to his love. A rose-bud is a
+sweet mystery.
+
+                   “The myriad leaves enmaze
+                    Small labyrinthine ways
+                    Where spicy odor flows,
+                    Thou lovelv bud o’ the rose!”
+
+The day came on which Otto, after he had comfortably terminated his
+visits of leave-taking, at midday, in the company of three young
+students travelled away through Zealand. They had taken a carriage
+together as far as Slagelse, where, like Abraham’s and Lot’s shepherds,
+they should separate to the right and left. Otto remained alone, in
+order to travel post that night to Nyborg. It was only four o’clock in
+the afternoon, Otto had no acquaintance here, therefore it was but to
+take a walk.
+
+“There still exist remains of the old Antvorskov convent, [Author’s
+Note: The convent was founded by Waldemar I., 1177.] do there not?”
+ asked he.
+
+“Yes, but very little!” answered the host. “The convent became a castle,
+the castle a private house, and now within the last few years, on
+account of the stones, it has been still more pulled down. You will find
+nothing old remaining, except here and there in the garden a piece of a
+red wall standing out. But the situation is beautiful! If you will only
+take the road toward the large village called Landsgrav, you are on the
+way to Korsöer, and close to the cross of the holy Anders. It is a right
+pleasant excursion!”
+
+“Convent ruins and the holy cross!” said Otto; “that sounds quite
+romantic!” And he commenced his wanderings.
+
+A few scholars from the Latin school, with their books held together by
+a strait, and then a square built lancer, who greeted in military style
+an elderly-young lady, who was seated behind a barricade of geraniums
+and wall flowers, were the only individuals he met with on his way. Yet
+Otto remarked that the windows were opened as he passed; people wanted
+to see who the stranger might be who was going up the street.
+
+A long avenue led from the town to the castle. On either side the way
+lay detached houses, with little gardens. Otto soon reached the remains
+of old Antvorskov. The way was red from the stones which were flung
+about, and were now ground to dust. Huge pieces of wall, where the
+mortar and stone were united in one piece, lay almost concealed among
+the high nettles. Rather more distant stood a solitary house of two
+stories. It was narrow, and whitewashed. A thick pilaster, such as one
+sees in churches, supported the strong wall. This was half of the last
+wing of the castle,--a mingling of the ancient and incident, of ruin and
+dwelling-house.
+
+Otto went into the garden, which was laid out upon the hill itself, and
+its terraces. Here were only young trees; but the walks were everywhere
+overgrown. The view stretched itself far over the plain, toward the Belt
+and Funen. He descended from the terrace down to the lowest wall. In
+this there yet remained a piece of an old tombstone, of the age of the
+convent, on which you perceived the trace of a female form; and near
+to this the figure of a skeleton, round which was twined a snake. Otto
+stood sunk in contemplation, when an old man, with two water-buckets
+suspended from a yoke on his shoulders, approached a near well.
+
+The old man was very ready to commence a conversation. He told
+of excavations, and of an underground passage which had not been
+discovered, but which, according to his opinion, was certainly in
+existence. So far they had only found a few walled-round spaces, which
+had most probably been prisons. In one of these was an iron chain
+fastened into the wall. But with regard to the underground passage, they
+had only not yet discovered the right place, for it must exist. It led
+from here, deep under the lake and forest, toward Soröe. There were
+large iron gates below. At Christmas one could hear how they were swung
+to and fro. “Whoever should have that which is concealed there,” said
+the old man, “would be a made man, and need not neither slip nor slide.”
+
+Otto looked at the solitary wing which rose up over the terrace. How
+splendid it had been here in former times!
+
+Close to the large wood, several miles in extent, which stretches itself
+on the other side of Soröe, down to the shore of the King’s Brook, lay
+the rich convent where Hans Tausen spoke what the Spirit inspired him
+with. Times changed; the convent vanished;
+
+                 “Halls of state
+      Tower upon that spot elate;
+      Where the narrow cell once stood;”
+      [Author’s Note: Anders-skov, by Oehlenschläger.]
+
+where the monks sang psalms, knights and ladies danced to the sound of
+beating drums: but these tone’s ceased; the blooming cheeks became dust.
+It was again quiet. Many a pleasant time did Holberg ride over from
+Soröe, through the green wood, to visit the steward of Antvorskov. Otto
+recollected what one of his daughters, when an old woman, had related
+to a friend of his. She was a child, and lay in the cradle, when old
+Holberg came riding there, with a little wheaten loaf and a small pot of
+preserve in his pocket--his usual provision on such little excursions.
+The steward’s young wife sat at her spinning-wheel. Holberg paced up
+and down the room with the husband; they were discussing politics. This
+interested the wife, and she joined in the conversation. Holberg turned
+round to her,--“I fancy the distaff speaks!” said he. This the wife
+could never forget. [Translator’s Note: Rokkehoved, distaff, means also
+dunce in Danish.]
+
+Otto smiled at this recollection of the witty but ungallant poet,
+quitted the garden, and went through a winding hollow way, where the
+luxuriant briers hung in rich masses over the stone fence. Slagelse,
+with its high hills in the background, looked picturesque. He soon
+reached Landsgrav. The sun went down as he walked over the field where
+the wooden cross stands, with its figure of the Redeemer, in memory of
+the holy Anders. Near it he perceived a man, who appeared to kneel. One
+hand held fast by the cross; in the other was a sharp knife, with which
+he was probably cutting out his name. He did not observe Otto. Near
+the man lay a box covered with green oil-cloth; and in the grass lay a
+knapsack, a pair of boots, and a knotty stick. It must be a wandering
+journeyman, or else a pedlar.
+
+Otto was about to return, when the stranger rose and perceived him. Otto
+stood as if nailed to the earth. It was the German Heinrich whom he saw
+before him.
+
+“Is not that Mr. Thostrup?” said the man and that horrible grinning
+smile played around his mouth. “No, that I did not expect!”
+
+“Does it go well with you, Heinrich?” asked Otto.
+
+“There’s room for things to mend!” replied Heinrich “It goes better with
+you! Good Lord, that you should become such a grand gentleman! Who would
+have thought it, when you rode on my knee, and I pricked you in the arm?
+Things go on strangely in this world! Have you heard of your sister? She
+was not so much spoiled as you! But she was a beautiful child!”
+
+“I have neither seen her nor my parents!” replied he, with a trembling
+which he strove to conquer. “Do you know where she is?”
+
+“I am always travelling!” said Heinrich; “but thus much I know, that
+she is still in Funen. Yes, she must take one of us, an unpretending
+husband! You can choose a genteel young lady for yourself. That’s the
+way when people are lucky. You will become a landed proprietor. Old
+Heinrich will then no doubt obtain permission to exhibit his tricks on
+your estate? But none of its will speak of former times!--of the red
+house on the Odense water!” This last he whispered quite low. “I shall
+receive a few shillings from you?” he asked.
+
+“You shall have more!” said Otto, and gave to him. “But I wish us to
+remain strangers to each other, as we are!”
+
+“Yes, certainly, certainly!” said Heinrich, and nodded affirmatively
+with his head, whilst his eyes rested on the gift Otto had presented him
+with. “Then you are no longer angry with my joke in Jutland?” asked he
+with a simpering smile, and kissed Otto’s hand. “I should not have known
+you then. Had you not shown me your shoulder, on which I saw the letters
+O and T which I myself had etched, it would never have occurred to
+me that we knew each other! But a light suddenly flashed across me. I
+should have said Otto Thostrup; but I said ‘Odense Tugt-huus.’ [Note:
+Odense house of correction.] That was not handsome of me, seeing you are
+such a good gentleman!”
+
+“Yes, now adieu!” said Otto, and extended to him unwillingly his hand.
+
+“There, our Saviour looks down upon us!” said the German Heinrich, and
+fixed his eyes upon the figure on the cross. “As certainly as He lives
+may you rely upon the silence of my mouth. He is my Redeemer, who hangs
+there on the cross, just as he is etched upon my skin, and as he stands
+along the high-roads in my father-land. Here is the only place in the
+whole country where the sign of the cross stands under the free heaven;
+here I worship: for you must know, Mr. Thostrup, I am not of your faith,
+but of the faith of the Virgin Mary. Here I have cut into the wood the
+holy sign, such as is placed over every door in my father-land,--an I,
+an H, and this S. In this is contained my own name; for H stands for
+Heinrich; I, for I myself; and S means Sinner; that is, I, Heinrich,
+Sinner. Now I have completed my worship, and you have given me a
+handsome skilling, I shall now go to my bed at the public-house; and if
+the girl is pretty, and lets one flatter her, I am still young enough,
+and shall fancy that I am Mr. Thostrup, and have won that most glorious,
+elegant young lady! Hurrah! it is a player’s life which we lead!”
+
+Otto left him, but heard how Heinrich sang:
+
+           “Tri, ri, ro,
+   The summer comes once mo!
+     To beer, boys! to beer
+   The winter lies in bands, O!
+     And he who won’t come here,
+   We’ll trounce him with our wands, O!
+            Yo, yo, yo,
+   The summer comes once mo!”
+
+As, suddenly on a clear sunny day, a cloud can appear, extinguish the
+warm sunshine, conceal the green coast, and change everything into
+gray mist forms, so was it now with Otto, who had but just before felt
+himself so happy and full of youthful joy.
+
+“You can sleep quietly!” said the host, when Otto returned to Slagelse;
+“you shall be wakened early enough to leave with the mail.”
+
+But his rest was like a delirium.
+
+The post-horn sounded in the empty street; they rolled away--it was at
+daybreak.
+
+“Is that a gallows?” inquired one of the travellers, and pointed toward
+the hill, where at this distance the cross looked like a stake.
+
+“That is the cross of the holy Anders!” replied Otto; and livingly stood
+before him the recollections of the evening before.
+
+“Does that really exist?” said the stranger. “I have read of it in the
+‘Letters of a Wandering Ghost.’”
+
+This was a beautiful morning, the sun shone warmly, the sea was smooth
+as a mirror, and so much the faster did the steamboat glide away. The
+vessel with the mail, which had set sail two hours earlier, still lay
+not far from land. The sails hung down loosely; not a breeze stirred
+them.
+
+The steamboat glided close past her; the passengers in the mail-vessel,
+the greater portion coachmen, travelling journeymen, and peasants, stood
+on the deck to see it. They waved greetings. One of the foremost leaned
+on his knotty stick, pulled off his hat, and shouted, “Good morning,
+my noble gentlefolk!” It was the German Heinrich; he then was going to
+Funen. Otto’s heart beat faster, he gazed down among the rushing waves
+which foamed round the paddle, where the sunbeams painted a glorious
+rainbow.
+
+“That is lovely!” said one of the strangers, close to him.
+
+“Very lovely!” returned Otto, and stilled the sigh which would burst
+forth from his breast.
+
+Scarcely two hours were fled--the cables were flung upon the Nyborg
+bridge of boats, and the steamboat made fast to the island of Funen.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+     “It is so sweet when friendly hands bid you a hearty
+     welcome, so dear to behold well-known features, wherever you
+     turn your eyes. Everything seems so home-like and quiet
+     about you and in your own breast.”   HENRIETTE HAUCK.
+
+Otto immediately hired a carriage, and reached the hall just about
+dinner-time. In the interior court-yard stood two calashes and an
+Holstein carriage; two strange coachmen, with lace round their hats,
+stood in animated discourse when Otto drove in through the gate. The
+postilion blew his horn.
+
+“Be quiet there!” cried Otto.
+
+“There are strangers at the hall!” said the postilion; “I will only let
+them know that another is coming.”
+
+Otto gazed at the garden, glanced up toward the windows, where mine of
+the ladies showed themselves only out of a side building a female
+head was stretched out, whose hair was put back underneath a cap. Otto
+recognized the grown-together eyebrows. “Is she the first person I am to
+see here?” sighed he; and the carriage rolled into the inner court. The
+dogs barked, the turkey-cocks gobbled, but not Wilhelm showed himself.
+The Kammerjunker came--the excellent neighbor! and immediately afterward
+Sophie; both exclaimed with smiles, “Welcome!”
+
+“See, here we have our man!” said the Kammerjunker; “we can make use of
+him in the play!”
+
+“It is glorious you are come!” cried Sophie. “We shall immediately put
+you under arrest.” She extended her hand to him--he pressed it to his
+lips. “We will have tableaux vivants this evening!” said she: “the
+pastor has never seen any. We have no service from Wilhelm; he is in
+Svendborg, and will not return for two days. You must be the officer;
+the Kammerjunker will represent the Somnambulist, who comes with her
+light through the window. Will you?”
+
+“Everything you desire!” said Otto.
+
+“Do not speak of it!” returned Sophie, and laid her finger on her lips.
+The mother descended the steps.
+
+“Dear Thostrup!” said she, and pressed, with warm cordiality, both his
+hands. “I have really quite yearned after you. Now Wilhelm is away, you
+must for two whole days put up with us alone.”
+
+Otto went through the long passage where hung the old portraits; it was
+as if these also wished welcome. It only seemed a night full of many
+dreams which had passed since he was here; a year in the lapse of time
+is also not so long as a winter’s night in the life of man.
+
+Here it was so agreeable, so home-like; no one could have seen by the
+trees that since then they had stood stripped of leaves and covered with
+snow; luxuriantly green they waved themselves in the sun’s warmth, just
+as when Otto last gazed out of this window.
+
+He had the red room as before. The dinner-bell rang.
+
+Louise met him in the passage.
+
+“Thostrup!” exclaimed she, with delight, and seized his hand. “Now, it
+is almost a year and a day since I saw you!”
+
+“Yes much has happened in this year!” said the Kammerjunker. “Come
+soon to me, and you shall see what I have had made for pastime--a
+bowling-green! Miss Sophie has tried her skill upon it.”
+
+The Kammerjunker took the mother to dinner. Otto approached Sophie.
+
+“Will you not take the Kammerjunker’s sister?” whispered she.
+
+Mechanically, Otto made his bow before Miss Jakoba.
+
+“Take one of the young ladies!” said she; “you would rather do that?”
+
+Otto bowed, cast a glance toward Sophie; she had the old pastor. Otto
+smiled, and conducted Jakoba to table.
+
+The Mamsell, renowned through her work-box, sat on his left hand.
+He observed the company who, beside those we have already mentioned,
+consisted of several ladies and gentlemen whom he did not know. One
+chair was empty, but it was soon occupied; a young girl, quiet in her
+attire, and dressed like Louise, entered.
+
+“Why do you come so late?” asked Sophie, smiling.
+
+“That is only known to Eva and me!” said Louise, and smiled at the young
+girl.
+
+Eva seated herself. It was, perhaps, the complete resemblance of their
+dress which induced Otto to observe both her and Louise so closely, and
+even against his own will to draw comparisons. Both wore a simple dark
+brown dress, a small sea-green handkerchief round the neck. Louise
+seemed to him enchanting--pretty one could not call her: Eva, on the
+contrary, was ideal; there lay something in her appearance which made
+him think of the pale pink hyacinth. Every human being has his invisible
+angel, says the mythos; both are different and yet resemble each other.
+Eva was the angel; Louise, on the contrary, the human being in all its
+purity. Otto’s eyes encountered those of Sophie--they were both directed
+to the same point. “What power! what beauty!” thought he. Her mind is
+far above that of Louise, and in beauty she is a gorgeous flower, and
+not, like Eva, a fine, delicate hyacinth. He drew eloquence from these
+eyes, and became interesting like the cousin, although he had not been
+in Paris.
+
+The Kammerjunker spoke of sucking-pigs, but that also was interesting;
+perhaps be drew his inspiration out of the same source as Otto. He spoke
+of the power of green buckwheat, and how the swine which eat it become
+mad. From this doubtless originated the legend of the devil entering
+into the swine. It is only coal-black pigs which can digest green
+buckwheat; if they have a single white speck upon them, they become ill
+at eating. “This is extraordinary,” exclaimed he.
+
+In his enthusiasm his discourse became almost a cry, which caused Miss
+Jakoba to say that one might almost think that he himself had eaten
+green buckwheat.
+
+Otto meantime cut out of the green melon-peel a man, and made him ride
+on the edge of his glass; that withdrew Sophie’s attention from the
+Kammerjunker. The whole company found that this little cut-out figure
+was very pretty; and the Mamsell begged that she might have it--it
+should lie in her work-box.
+
+Toward evening all were in preparation for the approaching tableaux.
+
+Eva must represent Hero. With a torch in her hand she must kneel on a
+table, which was to be draped so as to represent a balcony. The poor
+girl felt quite unhappy at having to appear in this manner. Sophie
+laughed at her fear, and assured her that she would be admired, and that
+therefore she must and should.
+
+“Give way to my sister,” said Louise, in a beseeching voice; and Eva was
+ready, let down her long brown hair, and allowed Sophie to arrange the
+drapery.
+
+Otto must put on an officer’s uniform. He presented himself to the
+sisters.
+
+“That gold is not sewn fast on the collar,” said Sophie, and undertook
+to rectify it. He could easily keep the uniform on whilst she did this,
+said she. Her soft hand touched Otto’s cheek, it was like an electric
+shock to him; his blood burned; how much he longed to press the hand to
+his lips!
+
+They all burst out laughing when the Kammerjunker appeared in a white
+petticoat which only reached a little below the knee, and in a large
+white lady’s dressing-jacket. Miss Sophie must arrange his hair. She did
+it charmingly; her hand stroked the hair away from his brow, and glided
+over his cheeks: he kissed it; she struck him in the face, and begged
+him not to forget himself! “We are ladies,” said he, and rose in his
+full splendor. They all laughed except Otto; he could not--he felt a
+desire to beat him. The spectators arranged themselves in a dark room,
+the folding doors were opened.
+
+Eva as Hero, in a white linen robe, her hair hanging down on her
+shoulders, and a torch in her hand, gazed out over the sea. No painter
+could have imagined anything more beautiful; the large dark-blue eyes
+expressed tenderness and melancholy; it was Eva’s natural glance,
+but here you saw her quiet. The fine black eyebrows increased the
+expression, the whole figure was as if breathed into the picture.
+
+Now followed a new picture--Faust and Margaret in the arbor; behind
+stood Mephistophiles, with his devilish smile. The Kammerjunker’s
+Mamsell was Margaret. When the doors were opened she sent forth aloud
+cry, and ran away; she would not stay, she was so afraid. The group was
+disarranged, people laughed and found it amusing, but the Kammerjunker
+scolded aloud, and swore that she should come in again; at that the
+laughter of the spectators increased, and was not lessened when the
+Kammerjunker, forgetting his costume as the Somnambule, half stepped
+into the frame in which the pictures were represented, and seated the
+Mamsell on the bench. This group was only seen for one moment: the
+dorors were again closed; the spectators applauded, but a whistle was
+heard. Laughter, and the hum of conversation, resounded through the
+room; and it was impossible to obtain perfect quiet, although a new
+picture already shone in the frame. It was Sophie as Correggio’s
+“Magdalene”: her rich hair fell in waves over her shoulders and round
+arms; before her lay the skull and the holy book.
+
+Otto’s blood flowed faster; never had he seen Sophie more beautiful. The
+audience, however, could not entirely forget the comic scene which they
+had just witnessed; there was heard a faint suppressed laughter.
+
+This at length was able to take its free course when the following
+picture presented itself, where the Kammerjunker, as the Somnambule, his
+hand half-concealing the extinguished light, showed himself at the open
+window.
+
+A most stormy burst of applause was awarded to the actors.
+
+“Miss Sophie has arranged the whole!” cried the Kammerjunker, and now
+her name sounded from the lips of all the audience.
+
+Not before two days did Wilhelm return. He and Otto slept in the same
+apartment. Otto told of the tableaux, and said how lovely Eva had been
+as Hero.
+
+“That I can well believe,” replied Wilhelm, but did not enter further
+into the subject; he laughed about the Kammerjunker and the disarranged
+group.
+
+Otto again named Eva, but Wilhelm lightly passed over this subject in
+his replies. Otto could not fathom their connection.
+
+“Shall we not go to sleep?” said Wilhelm; they wished each other
+good-night, and it was quiet.
+
+The old man Sleep, as Tieck has described him, with the box out of
+which he brings his dream-puppets, now commenced his nightly dramatic
+adventures, which lasted until the sun shone in through the window.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+     “He draws nearer and nearer to her.
+     ‘O, give my hope an answer by this pink-flower.’
+     She sighs: ‘O, I will--no--I will not.’”
+                              The Dancer, by PALUDAN-MÜLLER
+
+“I shall get to know!” thought Otto. “This violent love cannot be
+evaporated.” He paid attention to every little occurrence. Eva was the
+same quiet, modest creature as formerly--a house-fairy who exercised
+a friendly influence over all. Wilhelm spoke with her, but not with
+passion, neither with affected indifference. However, we cannot entirely
+rely upon Otto’s power of observation: his glance was directed too often
+toward a dearer object--his attention was really directed to Sophie.
+
+They walked in the garden.
+
+“Once as you certainly know,” said Otto, “your brother had a fancy for
+the pretty Eva. Is it not, therefore, somewhat dangerous her living
+here? Has your mother been prudent?”
+
+“For Wilhelm I am quite unconcerned!” answered Sophie. “Only take care
+of yourself! Eva is very amiable, and has very much changed for the
+better since she came here. My sister Louise quite raves about her, and
+my mother regards her almost as an adopted daughter. You have certainly
+remarked that she is not kept in the background. Yet she is weak; she
+resembles the tender mountain-flowers which grow in ice and snow, but
+which bow their heads in the soft mountain air, when it is warmed by
+the sun. It really seems to me that she is become weaker since she has
+enjoyed our care and happy days. When I saw her at Roeskelde she was far
+more blooming.”
+
+“Perhaps she thinks of your brother--thinks of him with quiet sorrow?”
+
+“That I do not think is the case,” replied Sophie; “otherwise Louise
+would have heard something of it. She possesses Eva’s entire confidence.
+You may make yourself easy, if you are jealous!”
+
+“What make you conjecture this? My thoughts are directed above, and not
+beneath me!” said he, with a kind of pride, “I feel that I could never
+fall in love with Eva. Feel love toward her? no! Even when I think of
+it, I feel almost as though I had some prejudice against her. But you
+joke; you will rally me, as you have so often done. We shall soon part!
+Only two months longer shall I remain in Denmark! Two long years abroad!
+How much may occur in that time! Will you think of me--really think of
+me, Miss Sophie?” He bent, and kissed her hand.
+
+Sophie became crimson. Both were silent.
+
+“Are you here!” said the mother, who came out of a side walk.
+
+Otto stooped lower, and broke one of the beautiful stocks which hung
+over the border.
+
+“Are you taking Louise’s favorite flowers?” said she, smiling. “This bed
+is declared to be inviolable.”
+
+“I was so unfortunate as to break it!” said Otto, confused.
+
+“He wished to gather the dark-red pink for my table-garland!” said
+Sophie. “If he took it, my conscience would be clear!”
+
+And they all three walked along speaking of cherries, gooseberries, of
+the linen on the bleaching-ground, and of the warm summer’s day.
+
+In the evening Eva and the two sisters sat at their work, Otto and
+Wilhelm had taken their seats beside them. They spoke of Copenhagen.
+
+Sophie knew how to introduce a number of little anecdotes, which she had
+gathered among the young ladies there. Otto entered into her ideas, and
+knew cleverly how to support what she said. What in reality interested
+young ladies was discussed.
+
+“When a girl is confirmed, all manner of fancies awake!” said Otto. “She
+experiences a kind of inclination for the heart of man; but this may
+not be acknowledged, except for two friends to the clergyman and the
+physician. For these she has quite a passion, especially for the
+former; she stands in a kind of spiritual rapport with him. His physical
+amiability melts into the spiritual. Thus her first love one may
+designate clergyman-love.”
+
+“That is well said!” exclaimed Sophie.
+
+“He preaches himself so deeply into her heart!” pursued Otto. “She melts
+into tears, kisses his hand, and goes to church; but not for the sake of
+God, but on account of the sweet clergyman!”
+
+“O, I know that so well!” said Sophie, and laughed.
+
+“Fie! you do not mean so!” said Louise; “and I do not know how you can
+say such a thing Mr. Thostrup! That is frightful! You do not in the
+least know a young girl’s soul! do not know the pure feeling with which
+she inclines herself to the man who has laid open before her the holy
+things of religion! Do not make sport of the innocent, the pure, which
+is so far removed from every earthly impression!”
+
+“I assure you,” said Otto, smiling, “were I a poet, I would make the
+clergyman-love ridiculous in a hundred witty epigrams; and were I a
+teacher, I would protest against it from the chair.”
+
+“That would be scattering poison into a well!” said Louise. “You, as a
+man, do not know the pure, the holy sentiment which exists in a young
+girl’s bosom. Eva, thou art certainly of my opinion?”
+
+“Neither is this Mr. Thostrup’s opinion?” answered she, and looked at
+him with a mild gravity.
+
+Wilhelm laughed aloud.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+
+     “Alas, I am no sturdy oak!
+     Alas, I’m but the flower
+       That wakes the kiss of May!
+     And when has fled its little hour,
+       Will voice of Death obey.”--RUCKERT.
+
+The following afternoon came visitors--two young ladies from Nyborg,
+friends of Sophie and Louise. Before dinner they would take a walk
+through the wood to an inclosure where the flax was in bloom. Otto was
+to accompany them.
+
+“I am also of the party!” said the Kammerjunker, who just galloped into
+the court-yard as the ladies, with Otto, were about setting out on
+their excursion. Thus the whole company consisted of five ladies and two
+gentlemen.
+
+“The cows are not in the field over which we must go, are they?” asked
+Eva.
+
+“No, my good girl!” returned Sophie; “you may be quite easy! Besides, we
+have two gentlemen with us.”
+
+“Yes; but they would not be able to protect us from the unruly
+bullocks!” said Louise. “But we have nothing to fear. Where we are
+going the cows do not go until after they are milked. I am no heroine!
+Besides, it is not long since one bullock nearly gored the cowherd to
+death. He also gored Sidsel a great hole in her arm just lately: you
+remember the girl with her eyebrows grown together?”
+
+“There is also in the wood a wild sow, with eleven sucking pigs!” said
+Sophie, in ironical gravity; “it would not be agree able to meet with
+her!”
+
+“She is almost as dangerous as the bullocks!” said the Kammerjunker, and
+laughed at Eva.
+
+The conversation took another turn.
+
+“Shall we not visit Peter Cripple?” asked Sophie. “The gentlemen can
+then see the smith’s pretty daughter; she is really too beautiful to be
+his wife!”
+
+“Is Peter Cripple married?” inquired Otto.
+
+“No, the wedding will be held on Sunday!” replied the Kammerjunker; “but
+the bride is already in the house. The bans were published last Sunday,
+and they immediately commenced housekeeping together. This often takes
+place even earlier, when a man cannot do without a wife. She has taken
+him on account of his full money-bags!”
+
+“Yes, with the peasant it is seldom love which brings about the affair!”
+ said Louise. “Last year there was quite a young girl who married a
+man who might have been her grandfather. She took him only, she said,
+because he had such a good set of earthenware.”
+
+“These were very brittle things to marry upon!” remarked Otto.
+
+Meantime they were nearly come to the edge of the wood. Here stood a
+little house; hops hung luxuriantly over the hedge, the cat stood with
+bent back upon the crumbling edge of the well.
+
+Sophie, at the head of the whole company, stepped into the room, where
+Peter Cripple sat on the table sewing; but, light and active as an
+elf, he sprang down from the table to kiss her hand. The smith’s pretty
+daughter was stirring something in an iron pot in the hearth. St. John’s
+wort, stuck between the beams and the ceiling, shot forth in luxuriant
+growth, prophesying long life to the inhabitants of the house. On the
+sooty ceiling glittered herrings’ souls, as a certain portion of the
+herring’s entrails is called, and which Peter Cripple, following the
+popular belief, had flung up to the ceiling, convinced that so long as
+they hung there he should be freed from the ague.
+
+Otto took no part in the conversation, but turned over a quantity of
+songs which he found; they were stitched together in a piece of blue
+tobacco-paper. The principal contents were, “New, Melancholy Songs,”
+ “Of the Horrible Murder,” “The Audacious Criminal,” “The Devil in Salmon
+Lane,” “Boat’s Fall,” and such things; which have now supplanted, among
+the peasants, the better old popular songs.
+
+With Louise, Eva, and one of the ladies from Nyborg, Otto slowly
+preceded the others, who had still some pleasantries to say before
+leaving Peter Cripple and his bride.
+
+“Shall we not go over the inclosure to the cairn?” said Louise. “It is
+clear to-day; we shall see Zealand. The others will follow us; here,
+from the foot-path, they will immediately discover us.”
+
+Otto opened the gate and they went through the inclosure. They had
+already advanced a considerable way, when the Kammerjunker and his
+ladies reached the foot-path from which they could see the others.
+
+“They are going to the cairn,” said he.
+
+“Then they will have a little fright!” said Sophie. “Down in the corner
+of the inclosure lie the young cattle. They may easily mistake them for
+cows, and the wild bullocks!”
+
+“Had we not better call them back?” asked the other lady.
+
+“But we must frighten them a little,” said Sophie. “Shout to them that
+there are the cows!”
+
+“Yes, that I can do with a clear conscience!” said the Kammerjunker;
+and he shouted as loud as he could, “There are the cows! Turn back! turn
+back!”
+
+Eva heard it the first. “O God!” said she, “hear what they are calling
+to us!”
+
+Otto glanced around, but saw no cows.
+
+“They are standing still!” said Sophie; “call once again!”
+
+The Kammerjunker shouted as before, and Sophie imitated the lowing of
+the cows. At this noise the young cattle arose.
+
+Louise now became aware of them. “O heavens!” exclaimed she; “there,
+down in the corner of the inclosure, are all the cows!”
+
+“Let us run!” cried Eva, and took to flight.
+
+“For God’s sake, do not run!” cried Otto; “walk slowly and quietly,
+otherwise they may come!”
+
+“Come away, away!” resounded from the wood.
+
+“O Lord!” shrieked Eva, when she saw the creatures raise their tails in
+the air as soon as they perceived the fugitives.
+
+“Now they are coming!” cried the lady who accompanied them, and sent
+forth a loud scream.
+
+Eva fled first, as if borne by the wind; the lady followed her, and
+Louise ran on after them.
+
+Otto now really saw all the cattle, which, upon the ladies flight, had
+instinctively followed, chasing over the field after them in the same
+direction.
+
+Nothing now remained for him but, like the others, to reach the gate.
+This he opened, and had just closed again, when the cattle were close
+upon them, but no one had eyes to see whether the cattle were little or
+big.
+
+“Now there is no more danger!” cried Otto, as soon as he had well closed
+the gate; but the ladies still fled on, passing among the trees until
+they reached the spot where the Kammerjunker and his two ladies awaited
+them with ringing laughter.
+
+Sophie was obliged to support herself against a tree through all the
+amusement. It had been a most remarkable spectacle, this flight; Eva at
+the head, and Mr. Thostrup rushing past them to open the gate. Louise
+was pale as death, and her whole body trembled; the friend supported her
+arm and forehead on a tree, and drew a long breath.
+
+“Bah!” again cried Sophie, and laughed.
+
+“But where is Eva?” asked Otto, and shouted her name.
+
+“She ran here before me!” said Louise; “she is doubtless leaning against
+a tree, and recovering her strength.”
+
+“Eva!” cried Sophie. “Where is my hero: ‘I want a hero!’” [Author’s
+Note: Byron’s Don Juan.]
+
+Otto returned to seek her. At this moment Wilhelm arrived.
+
+The Kammerjunker regretted that he had not seen the race with them, and
+related the whole history to him.
+
+“O come! come!” they heard Otto shout. They found him kneeling in the
+high grass. Eva lay stretched out on the ground; she was as pale as
+death; her head rested in Otto’s lap.
+
+“God in heaven!” cried Wilhelm, and flung himself down before her. “Eva!
+Eva! O, she is dead! and thou art to blame for it, Sophie! Thou hast
+killed her!” Reproachfully he fixed his eyes on his sister. She burst
+into tears, and concealed her face in her hands.
+
+Otto ran to the peasant’s cottage and brought water. Peter Cripple
+himself hopped like a mountain-elf behind him through the high nettles
+and burdocks, which closed above and behind him again.
+
+The Kammerjunker took Eva in his strong arms and carried her to the
+cottage. Wilhelm did not leave hold of her hand. The others followed in
+silence.
+
+“Try and get her home,” said Wilhelm; “I myself will fetch the
+physician!” He rushed forth, and hastened through the wood to the ball,
+where he ordered the men to bring out a sedan-chair for the invalid;
+then had horses put into one of the lightest carriages, seated himself
+in it as coachman, and drove away to Nyborg, the nearest town, which,
+however, was distant almost twenty miles.
+
+Sophie was inconsolable. “It is my fault!” she said, and wept.
+
+Otto found her sitting before the house, under an elder-tree. She could
+not endure to see Eva’s paleness.
+
+“You are innocent,” said Otto. “Believe me, to-morrow Eva will be
+completely restored! She herself,” added he, in an assuaging tone,
+“behaved in an imprudent manner. I warned her not to run. Her own terror
+is to blame for all.”
+
+“No, no,” returned Sophie; “my folly, my extravagance, has caused the
+whole misfortune!”
+
+“Now it is much better,” said the Kammerjunker, coming out of the house.
+“She must be devilish tender to fly before a few calves! I really must
+laugh when I think of it, although it did come to such an end!”
+
+The men now arrived whom Wilhelm had sent with the sedan-chair.
+
+Eva thought she could walk, if she might lean upon some one; but it
+would be better, her friends thought, if she were carried.
+
+“Dost thou feel any pain?” asked Louise, and gave her a sisterly kiss on
+the brow.
+
+“No, none at all,” replied Eva. “Do not scold me for having frightened
+you so. I am so fearful, and the bullock were close behind us.”
+
+“They were, God help me, only calves!” answered the Kammerjunker; “they
+wished to play, and only ran because you ran!”
+
+“It was a foolish joke of mine!” said Sophie, and seized Eva’s hand. “I
+am very unhappy about it!”
+
+“O no!” said Eva, and smiled so pensively, yet happily. “To-morrow I
+shall be quite well again!” Her eye seemed to seek some one.
+
+Otto understood the glance. “The physician is sent for. Wilhelm has
+himself driven over for him.”
+
+Toward the middle of the wood the mother herself approached them; she
+was almost as pale as Eva.
+
+All sought to calm her; Eva bowed her head to kiss the good lady’s hand.
+The Kammerjunker told the story to her, and she shook her head. “What an
+imprudent, foolish joke!” said she; “here you see the consequences!”
+
+Not before late in the afternoon did Wilhelm return with the physician;
+he found his patient out of all danger, but prescribed what should still
+be done. Quiet and the warm summer air would do the most for her.
+
+“See,” said Otto, when, toward evening he met Sophie in the garden,
+“to-day Wilhelm did not conceal his feelings!”
+
+“I fear that you are right!” returned Sophie. “He loves Eva, and that is
+very unfortunate. Tell me what you know about it.”
+
+“I know almost nothing!” said Otto, and told about little Jonas and the
+first meeting with Eva.
+
+“Yes, that he has told us already himself! But do you know nothing
+more?” Her voice became soft, and her eyes gazed full of confidence into
+Otto’s.
+
+He related to her the short conversation which he had had last autumn
+with Wilhelm, how angry he had been with his candid warning, and how
+since then they had never spoken about Eva.
+
+“I must confide my fear to our mother!” said Sophie. “I almost now am
+glad that he will travel in two months, although we shall then lose you
+also!”
+
+And Otto’s heart beat; the secret of his heart pressed to his lips;
+every moment he would speak it. But Sophie had always still another
+question about her brother; they were already out of the garden, already
+in the court-yard, and yet Otto had said nothing.
+
+Therefore was he so quiet when, late in the evening, he and Wilhelm
+entered their chamber. Wilhelm also spoke no word, but his eye
+repeatedly rested expectantly on Otto, as if waiting for him to break
+the silence. Wilhelm stepped to the open window and drank in the fresh
+air, suddenly he turned round, flung his arms round Otto, and exclaimed,
+“I can no longer endure it! I must say it to some one! I love her, and
+will never give her up, let every one be opposed! I have now silently
+concealed my feelings for some months; I can do so no longer, or I shall
+become ill, and for that I am not made!”
+
+“Does she know this?” asked Otto.
+
+“No, and yes! I do not know what I should answer! Here at home I have
+never spoken alone with her. The last time when Weyse played on the
+organ at Roeskelde I had bought a pretty silk handkerchief, and this
+I took with me for her; I know not, but I wished to give her pleasure.
+There came a woman past with lovely stocks; I stood at the open window;
+she offered me a bouquet, and I bought it. ‘Those are lovely flowers!’
+said Eva, when she entered. ‘They will fade with me!’ said I; ‘put them
+in water and keep there for yourself!’ She wished only to have a few,
+but I obliged her to take them all: she blushed, and her eyes gazed
+strangely down into my soul. I know not what sort of a creature I
+became, but it was impossible for me to give her the handkerchief; it
+seemed to me that this would almost be an offense. Eva went away with
+the flowers, but the next morning it seemed to me that she was uneasy; I
+fancied I saw her color come and go when I bade her adieu! She must have
+read the thoughts in my soul!”
+
+“And the handkerchief?” interrupted Otto.
+
+“I gave it to my sister Sophie,” said Wilhelm.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV
+
+             “Tell me
+     What would my heart?
+       My heart’s with thee,
+     With thee would have a part.”
+                GOETHE’S West-östlicher Divan.
+
+     “There stands the man again--
+     The man with gloomy mien.”
+              Memories of Travel, by B. C. INGEMANN.
+
+Several days passed; the fine crimson again returned to Eva’s cheeks.
+The first occasion of her going out with the others was to see the
+rape-stalks burned. These were piled together in two immense stacks. In
+the morning, at the appointed hour, which had been announced through
+the neighborhood that no one might mistake it for a conflagration, the
+stalks were set fire to. This took place in the nearest field, close
+beside the hall, where the rape-seed was threshed upon an out-spread
+sail.
+
+The landscape-painter, Dahl, has given us a picture of the burning
+Vesuvius, where the red lava pours down the side of the mountain; in the
+background one sees across the bay as far as Naples and Ischia: it is a
+piece full of great effect. Such a splendid landscape is not to be found
+in flat Denmark, where there are no great natural scenes, and yet this
+morning presented even there a picture with the same brilliant coloring.
+We will study it. In the foreground there is a hedge of hazels, the nuts
+hang in great clusters, and contrast strongly with their bright green
+against the dark leaves; the blue chicory-flower and the blood-red poppy
+grew on the side of the ditch, upon which are some tall rails, over
+which the ladies have to climb: the delicate sylph-like figure is Eva.
+In the field, where nothing remains but the yellow stubble, stand Otto
+and Wilhelm; two magnificent hounds wag their tails beside them. To the
+left is a little lake, thickly overgrown with reeds and water-lilies,
+with the yellow trollius for its border. In the front, where the wood
+retreats, lie, like a great stack, the piled-together rape-stalks: the
+man has struck fire, has kindled the outer side of them, and with a
+rapidity like that of the descending lava the red fire flashes up the
+gigantic pile. It crackles and roars within it. In a moment it is all a
+burning mound; the red flames flash aloft into the blue air, high above
+the wood which is now no longer visible. A thick black smoke ascends up
+into the clear air, where it rests like a cloud. Out of the flames,
+and even out of the smoke, the wind carries away large masses of fire,
+which, crackling and cracking, are borne on to the wood, and which fill
+the spectator with apprehension of their falling upon the nearest trees
+and burning up leaf and branch.
+
+“Let us go further off,” said Sophie; “the heat is too great here.”
+
+They withdrew to the ditch.
+
+“O, how many nuts!” exclaimed Wilhelm; “and I do not get one of them! I
+shall go after them if they be ripe.”
+
+“But you have grapes and other beautiful fruit!” said Eva smiling. “We
+have our beautiful things at home!”
+
+“Yes, it is beautiful, very beautiful at home!” exclaimed Wilhelm;
+“glorious flowers, wild nuts; and there we have Vesuvius before us!” He
+pointed to the burning pile.
+
+“No,” said Sophie; “it seems to me much more like the pile upon
+which the Hindoo widow lays herself alive to be burned! That must be
+horrible!”
+
+“One should certainly be very quickly dead!” said Eva.
+
+“Would you actually allow yourself to be burned to death, if you were a
+Hindoo widow--after, for instance, Mr. Thostrup, or after Wilhelm,” said
+she, with a slight embarrassment, “if he lay dead in the fire?”
+
+“If it were the custom of the country, and I really had lost the only
+support which I had in the world--yes, so I would!”
+
+“O, no, no!” said Louise.
+
+“In fact it is brilliant!” exclaimed Sophie.
+
+“Burning is not, perhaps, the most painful of deaths!” said Otto, and
+plucked in an absent manner the nuts from the hedge. “I know a story
+about a true conflagration.”
+
+“What is it like?” asked Wilhelm.
+
+“Yet it is not a story to tell in a large company; it can only be heard
+when two and two are together. When I have an opportunity, I shall tell
+it!”
+
+“O, I know it!” said Wilhelm. “You can relate it to one of my sisters
+there, whichever you like best! Then I shall--yes, I must relate it to
+Eva!”
+
+“It is too early in the day to hear stories told!” said Louise; “let us
+rather sing a song!”
+
+“No, then we shall have to weep in the evening,” replied Wilhelm. And
+they had neither the song nor the story.
+
+Mamma came wandering with Vasserine, the old, faithful hound: they
+two also wished to see how beautiful the burning looked. It succeeded
+excellently with the rape-stalks; but the other burning, of which the
+story was to be told, it did not yet arrive at an outbreak! It might be
+expected, however, any hour in the day.
+
+In the evening Otto walked alone through the great chestnut avenue.
+The moon shone brightly between the tree-branches. When he entered the
+interior court Wilhelm and Sophie skipped toward him, but softly, very
+softly. They lifted their hands as if to impress silence.
+
+“Come and see!” said Sophie; “it is a scene which might be painted! it
+goes on merrily in the servants’ hall; one can see charmingly through
+the window!”
+
+“Yes, come!” said Wilhelm.
+
+Otto stole softly forward. The lights shone forth.
+
+Within there was laughter and loud talking; one struck upon the table,
+another sung,--
+
+        “And I will away to Prussia land,
+             Hurrah!
+         And when I am come to Prussia land,
+             Hurrah!”  [Note: People’s song.]
+
+Otto looked in through the window.
+
+Several men and maids sat within at the long wooden table at the end
+of this stood Sidsel in a bent attitude, her countenance was of a deep
+crimson; she spoke a loud oath and laughed--no one imagined that they
+were observed. All eyes were riveted upon a great fellow who, with his
+shirt-sleeves rolled up, and a pewter tankard in his hand, was standing
+there. It was the German Heinrich, who was exhibiting to them his
+conjuring tricks. Otto turned pale; had the dead arisen from the bier
+before him it could not have shocked him more.
+
+“Hocus-pocus Larifari!” cried Heinrich within, and gave the tankard to a
+half-grown fellow, of the age between boy and man.
+
+“If thou hast already a sweetheart,” said he; “then the corn which is
+within it will be turned to flour; but if thou art still only a young
+cuckoo, then it will remain only groats.”
+
+“Nay, Anders Peersen!” said all the girls laughing, “now we shall see
+whether thou art a regular fellow!”
+
+Sophie stole away.
+
+The echoing laughter and clapping of hands announced the result.
+
+“Is it not the same person who was playing conjuring tricks in the
+park?” inquired Wilhelm.
+
+“Yes, certainly,” replied Otto; “he is to me quite repulsive!” And so
+saying, he followed Sophie.
+
+Late in the evening, when all had betaken themselves to rest, Wilhelm
+proposed to Otto that they should make a little tour, as he called it.
+
+“I fancy Meg Merrilies, as my sister calls Sidsel,” said he, “has made
+a conquest of the conjuror, although he might be her father. They have
+been walking together down the avenue; they have been whispering a deal
+together; probably he will to-night sleep in one of the barns. I must go
+and look after him; he will be lying there and smoking his pipe, and
+may set our whole place on fire. Shall we go down together? We can take
+Vasserine and Fingel with us.”
+
+“Let him sleep!” said Otto; “he will not be so mad as to smoke tobacco
+in the straw! To speak candidly, I do not wish to be seen by him. He was
+several times at my grandfather’s house. I have spoken with him, and now
+that I dislike him I do not wish to see him!”
+
+“Then I will go alone!” said Wilhelm.
+
+Otto’s heart beat violently; he stood at the open window and looked out
+over the dark wood, which was lit up by the moon. Below in the court he
+heard Wilhelm enticing the dogs out. He heard yet another voice, it was
+that of the steward, and then all was again silent. Otto thought upon
+the German Heinrich and upon Sophie, his life’s good and bad angels;
+and he pictured to himself how it would be if she extended to him
+her hand--was his bride! and Heinrich called forth before her the
+recollections which made his blood curdle.
+
+It seemed to him as if something evil impended over him this night. “I
+feel a forewarning of it!” said he aloud.
+
+Wilhelm came not yet back.
+
+Almost an hour passed thus. Wilhelm entered, both dogs were with him;
+they were miry to their very sides.
+
+“Did you meet any one?” inquired Otto.
+
+
+“Yes, there was some one,” said Wilhelm, “but not in the barn. The
+stupid dogs seemed to lose their nature; it was as if there was a
+somebody stealing along the wall, and through the reeds in the moat. The
+hounds followed in there; you can see how they look!--but they came the
+next moment back again, whined, and hung down their ears and tails. I
+could not make them go in again. Then the steward was superstitious!
+But, however, it could only be either the juggler, or one of the
+servant-men who had stilts. How otherwise any one could go in among the
+reeds without getting up to their necks, I cannot conceive!”
+
+All was again perfectly still without. The two friends went to the open
+window, threw their arms over each other’s shoulders, and looked out
+into the silent night.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+     “Bring’ häusliche Hülfe
+     Incubus! incubus.
+     Tritt herhor und mache den Schluss.”
+                             GOETHE’s Faust.
+
+     “Es giebt so bange Zeiten,
+     Es giebt so trüben Muth!”--NOVALIS.
+
+The next morning Wilhelm related his evening adventure at the
+breakfast-table; the sisters laughed at it. The mother, on the contrary,
+was silent, left the room, and after some time returned.
+
+“There have been thieves here!” said she, “and one might almost imagine
+that they were persons in the household itself. They have been at the
+press where the table-linen is kept, and have not been sparing in their
+levies. The beautiful old silver tankard, which I inherited from my
+grandmother, is also missing. I would much sooner have given the value
+of the silver than have lost that piece!”
+
+“Will not the lady let it be tried by the sieve?” asked the old servant:
+“that is a pretty sure way!”
+
+“That is nothing but superstition,” answered she; “in that way the
+innocent may so easily be suspected.”
+
+“As the lady pleases!” said the servant, and shook his head.
+
+In the mean time a search through the house was instituted. The boxes of
+the domestics were examined, but nothing was discovered.
+
+“If you would only let the sieve be tried!” said the old servant.
+
+In the afternoon Otto went into the garden; he fell into discourse with
+the gardener, and they spoke of the theft which had occurred.
+
+“It vexes every one of us,” said he, “because we think much of the lady,
+and of the whole family. And some one must, nevertheless, be suspected.
+We believe that it was Sidsel, for she was a good-for-nothing person! We
+folks tried among ourselves with the sieve, but however, at the mention
+of her name, if it did not move out of its place. We had set it upon
+the point of a knife, and mentioned the name of every person about
+the place, but it stood as if it were nailed quite fast. But there was
+really something to see, which not one of us would have believed. I’ll
+say no more about it, although we had every one of us our own thoughts.
+I would have taken my oath of it.”
+
+Otto pressed him to mention the person who was suspected.
+
+“Yes, to you perhaps, I may mention it,” replied he; “but you will not
+say anything about it? As we were standing today, at noon, around the
+sieve, and it did not move at Sidsel’s name, she became angry, because
+a word bad been let fall which could not be agreeable to her if she were
+innocent. She drew herself up as if in a passion, and said to us, ‘But
+there are also in the hall a many people besides us, who may slip and
+slide! There are strangers here, and the fine Mamsell, and the farmers.
+Yes, I suspect no one, but every one ought to be named!’
+
+“And so we did it. Yes, we mentioned even your name, Mr. Thostrup,
+although we knew very well that you were guiltless of the charge; but we
+would not excuse any one. The sieve stood quite entirely still until we
+mentioned Eva’s name, and then it moved. Not one of us actually could
+believe it, and the servant Peter said also that it was because of the
+draught from the chimney. We mentioned yet once more all the names, and
+the sieve stood still until we came to Eva’s, and then we perceived very
+plainly a movement. The servant Peter at the same moment gave a great
+blow to the sieve, so that it fell to the ground, and he swore that it
+was a lie, and that he would answer for Eva. I would have done so too;
+but yet it was very extraordinary with the sieve! Most of the folks,
+however, have their own thoughts, but no one venture to express them
+to the gentry who think so much of her. I cannot, however, rightly
+reconcile it to myself!”
+
+“She is innocent!” said Otto; and it amazed him that any one should
+cast the slightest suspicion on Eva. He thought of German Heinrich and
+Sidsel, who alone appeared to him suspicious. There then occurred to him
+an experiment of which he had heard from Rosalie. It now seemed to him
+available, and, physiologically considered, much more certain than that
+with the sieve.
+
+“Probably it may lead to a discovery,” said he, after he had
+communicated his whole plan to Sophie and the steward.
+
+“Yes, we mast try it!” said she; “it is excellent! I also will be put to
+the proof, although I am initiated into the mystery.”
+
+“Yes, you, your sister, Wilhelm, Eva, we all of us must,” said Otto.
+“Only I will not do the speaking: that the steward must do.”
+
+“That is proper, very proper!” replied she: “it shall be tried this
+evening when it is dark.”
+
+The time came; the steward assembled the people.
+
+“Now I know,” said he, “how we shall find the thief!”
+
+All were to remain in the first room: within a side-room, which was
+quite dark, there stood in a corner on the right hand a copper kettle;
+to this every person as they came in, one by one, were to go and lay
+their hand down on the flat bottom of the kettle. The hand of every one
+who was innocent would be brought out again white and pure, but the hand
+of the criminal would be severely burned, and would become black as a
+coal.
+
+“He who now,” said the steward, addressing them, “has a good conscience,
+may go with this and our Lord into the innermost room, lay his hand upon
+the bottom of the kettle, and show it to me. Now I go to receive you
+all!”
+
+The daughters went, the friends, Eva, and all the household. The steward
+questioned them as they came in: “Answer me, upon thy conscience, did
+thy hand touch the flat bottom of the kettle?”
+
+All replied, “Yes!”
+
+“Then show me your hand!” said he; and they showed them, and all were
+black: Sidsel’s alone was white.
+
+“Thou art the thief!” said the steward. “Thy evil conscience has
+condemned thee. Thou hast not touched the kettle; hast not laid thy hand
+upon it, or it would have become as black as that of the others. The
+kettle was blackened inside with turpentine smoke; they who came with a
+good conscience, knowing that their hands would remain pure like their
+consciences, touched the kettle fearlessly and their hands became black!
+Thou hast condemned thyself! Confess, or it will go worse with thee!”
+
+Sidsel, uttered a horrible cry and fell down upon her knees.
+
+“O God, help me!” said she, and confessed that she was the thief.
+
+A chamber high up in the roof was prepared as a prison; here the
+delinquent was secured until the affair, on the following day, should be
+announced to the magistrate.
+
+“Thou shalt be sent to Odense, and work upon the treadmill!” said
+Wilhelm: “to that thou belongest!”
+
+The family assembled at the tea-table. Sophie joked about the day’s
+adventure.
+
+“Poor Sidsel!” said Eva.
+
+“In England she would be hanged,” said Wilhelm; “that would be a fine
+thing to see!”
+
+“Horrible!” replied Louise; “they must die of terror in going to the
+gallows.”
+
+“Nay, it is very merry,” said Wilhelm. “Now you shall hear what glorious
+music has been set to it by Rossini!” And he played the march from
+“Gazza Ladra,” where a young girl is led to the gallows.
+
+“Is it not merry?” asked he. “Yes, he is a composer!”
+
+“To me it seems precisely characteristic,” answered Otto. “They are not
+the feelings of the girl which the composer wished to express; it is the
+joy of the rude rabble in witnessing an execution--to them a charming
+spectacle, which is expressed in these joyous tones: it is a tragic
+opera, and therefore he chose exactly this character of expression!”
+
+“It is difficult to say anything against that,” replied Wilhelm; “yet
+what you assert I have not heard from any other person.”
+
+“When a soldier is executed they play some lively air,” said Otto; “the
+contrast in this case brings forth the strongest effect!”
+
+The servant now entered, and said with a smile that Peter Cripple, the
+“new-married man,” as he called him, was without and wished to speak to
+the Baron Wilhelm.
+
+“It is about a waltz,” said he, “which the Baron had promised to him!”
+
+“It is late for him to come into the court!” said Sophie “the peasants
+generally go to bed with the sun.”
+
+In the lobby stood the announced Peter in his stocking-feet, with his
+hat in one hand and a great stick in the other. He knew, he said, that
+it was still daytime with the gentlefolks; he was just coming past the
+hall and thought that he could, perhaps, have that Copenhagen Waltz
+which the Baron had promised him: he should want it to-morrow night
+to play at a wedding, and, therefore, he wished to have it now that he
+might practice it first of all.
+
+Sophie inquired after his young wife, and said something merry. Louise
+gave him a cup of tea, which he drank in the lobby. Otto looked at him
+through the open door; he made comical grimaces, and looked almost as
+if he wished to speak with him. Otto approached him, and Peter thrust
+a piece of paper into his hand, making at the same time a significant
+gesture indicative of silence.
+
+Otto stepped aside and examined the dirty piece of paper, which was
+folded together like a powder and sealed with a lump of wax. On the
+outside stood, in scarcely legible characters,
+
+           “TotH’ WeL-borne,
+               Mr. Odto Tustraab.”
+
+He endeavored, in the first place, to read it in the moonlight; but that
+was scarcely possible.
+
+After considerable labor he made out the meaning of this letter,
+written, as it was in a half-German, half-Danish gibberish, of the
+orthography of which we have given a specimen in the direction. The
+letter was from the German Heinrich. He besought Otto to meet him this
+evening in the wood near Peter Cripple’s house, and he would give to him
+an explanation which should be worth the trouble of the walk. It would
+occasion, he said, much trouble and much misery to Mr Thostrup if he did
+not go.
+
+A strange anxiety penetrated Otto. How could he steal away without being
+missed? and yet go he both must and should. An extraordinary anxiety
+drove him forth.
+
+“Yes, the sooner the better!” said he, hastening down the steps and
+leaping in haste over the low garden-fence lest the gate should,
+perhaps, make a noise. He was very soon in the wood: he heard the
+beating of his own heart.
+
+“Eternal Father!” said he, “strengthen my soul! Release me from this
+anxiety which overpowers me! Let all be for the best!”
+
+He had now reached Peter Cripple’s house. A figure leaned against the
+wall; Otto paused, measured it with his eye to ascertain who it was, and
+recognized German Heinrich.
+
+“What do you want with me?” inquired Otto.
+
+Heinrich raised his hand in token of silence, beckoned him forward,
+and opened a little gate which led to the back of the house. Otto
+mechanically followed him.
+
+“It goes on badly at the hall,” said Heinrich. “Sidsel is really put in
+prison, and will be taken to-morrow to Odense, to the red house by the
+river.”
+
+“It is what she has deserved!” said Otto. “I did not bring it about.”
+
+“O no!” answered Heinrich; “in a certain way we bring nothing about; but
+you can put in a good word for her. You must see that this punishment
+does not befall her.”
+
+“But the punishment is merited!” replied Otto; “and how can I mix myself
+up in the affair? What is it that you have to say to me?”
+
+“Yet, the good gentleman must not get angry!” began Heinrich again; “but
+I am grieved about the girl. I can very well believe that he does not
+know her, and therefore it gives him no trouble; but if I were now to
+whisper a little word in his ear? She is your own sister, Mr. Thostrup!”
+
+All grew dark before Otto’s eyes; a chill as of death went through his
+blood; his hands held firmly by the cold wall, or he must have sunk to
+the earth; not a sound escaped his lips.
+
+German Heinrich laid his hand in a confidential manner upon his
+shoulder, and continued in a jeering, agitated tone, “Yes, it is hard
+for you to hear! I also struggled a long time with myself before I could
+make up my mind to tell you. But a little trouble is preferable to a
+great one. I had some talk with her yesterday, but I did not mention
+you, although it seemed queer to me at my heart that the brother should
+sit at the first table with the young ladies, and the sister be farm
+swine-maiden. Now they have put her in prison! I am very sorry for her
+and you too, Mr. Thostrup, for it is disagreeable! If the magistrate
+come to-morrow morning, and she fall into the claws of the red angel,
+it will not be so easy to set her at liberty again! But yet you
+could, perhaps, help her; as, for instance, to-night! I could make an
+opportunity--I would be in the great avenue beyond the hall. If she
+could get thus far she would be safe; I would then conduct her out of
+this part of the country. I may as well tell you that we were yesterday
+half-betrothed! She goes with me; and you can persuade the gracious lady
+at the hall to let the bird fly!”
+
+“But how can I? how can I?” exclaimed Otto.
+
+“She is, however, always your sister!” said Heinrich, and they both
+remained silent for a moment. “Then I will,” said Heinrich, “if all be
+still at the hall, wait in the avenue as the bell goes twelve.”
+
+“I must!” exclaimed Otto; “I must! God help me!”
+
+“Jesu, Maria, help!” said Heinrich, and Otto left him.
+
+“She is my sister! she, the most horrible of all!” sighed he; his knees
+trembled, and he leaned against a tree for support: his countenance was
+like that of the dead; cold sweat-drops stood upon his brow. All around
+him lay the dark night-like wood; only to the left glimmered, between
+the bushes, the moonlight reflected from the lake.
+
+“Within its depths,” sighed he, “all would be forgotten--my grief would
+be over! Yet, what is my sin? Had I an existence before I was born upon
+this globe? Must I here be punished for sins which I then committed?”
+
+His dark eye stared lifelessly out of his pale countenance. Thus sit the
+dead upon their graves in the silent night; thus gazes the somnambulist
+upon the living world around him.
+
+“I have felt this moment before--this moment which now is here; it was
+the well-spring whence poison was poured over my youthful days! She is
+my sister! She? unhappy one that I am!”
+
+Tears streamed from his eyes, it was a convulsive weeping; he cried
+aloud, it was impossible to him to suppress his voice; he sank half down
+by the tree and wept, for it was night in his soul: silent, bitter tears
+flowed, as the blood flows when the heart is transpierced. Who could
+breathe to him consolation? There lay no balsam in the gentle airs
+of the clear summer night, in the fragrance of the wood, in the holy,
+silent spirit of nature. Poor Otto!
+
+             “Weep, only weep! it gives repose,
+              A world is every tear that flows,--
+              A world of anguish and unrest,
+              That rolleth from the troubled breast.
+
+             “And hast thou wept whilst tears can flow,
+              A tranquil peace thy heart will know;
+              For sorrow, trivial or severe,
+              Hath had its seat in every tear.
+
+             “Think’st thou that He, whose love beholds
+              The worm the smallest leaf enfolds,--
+              That He, whose power sustains the whole
+              Forgets a world--thy human soul?”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+
+     “Mourir! c’est un instant de supplice: mais vivre?”
+      --FRÉDÉRIC SOULIE.
+
+The physician from Nyborg, who had been on a visit to a sick person in
+the neighborhood, took this opportunity of calling on the family and
+inquiring after Eva’s health. They had prayed him to stay over the night
+there, and rather to drive hone in the early morning than so late in the
+evening. He allowed himself to be persuaded. Otto, on his return,
+found him and the family in deep conversation. They were talking of the
+“Letters of a Wandering Ghost.”
+
+“Where have you been?” asked Sophie, as Otto entered.
+
+“You look so pale!” said Louise; “are you ill?”
+
+“I do not feel well!” replied Otto; “I went therefore down into the
+garden a little. Now I am perfectly recovered.” And he took part in the
+conversation.
+
+The overwhelming sorrow had dissolved itself in tears. His mind had
+raised itself up again from its stupefaction, and sought for a point of
+light on which to attach itself. They were talking of the immense caves
+of Maastricht, how they stretch themselves out into deep passages and
+vast squares, in which sound is lost, and where the light, which cannot
+reach the nearest object, only glimmers like a point of fire. In order
+to comprehend this vacuity and this darkness, the travellers let the
+guide extinguish his torch, and all is night; they are penetrated, as it
+were, with darkness; the hand feels after a wall, in order to have some
+restraint, some thought on which to repose itself: the eye sees nothing;
+the ear hears nothing. Horror seizes on the strongest mind: the same
+darkness, the same desolate emotion, had Heinrich’s words breathed into
+Otto’s soul; therefore he sank like the traveller to the earth: but as
+the traveller’s whole soul rivets itself by the eye upon the first spark
+which glimmers, to kindle again the torch which is to lead him forth
+from this grave, so did Otto attach himself to the first awakening
+thought of help. “Wilhelm? his soul is noble and good, him will I
+initiate into my painful secret, which chance had once almost revealed
+to him.”
+
+But this was again extinguished, as the first spark is extinguished
+which the steel gives birth to. He could not confide himself to Wilhelm;
+the understanding which this very confidence would give birth to between
+them, must separate them from each other. It was humiliating, it was
+annihilating. But for Sophie? No, how could he, after that, declare the
+love of his heart? how far below her should he be placed, as the child
+of poverty and shame! But the mother of the family? Yes, she was gentle
+and kind; with a maternal sentiment she extended to him her hand, and
+looked upon him as on a near relation. His thoughts raised themselves on
+high, his hands folded themselves to prayer; “The will of the Lord
+alone be done!” trembled involuntarily from his lips. Courage returned
+refreshingly to his heart. The help of man was like the spark which
+was soon extinguished; God was an eternal torch, which illumined the
+darkness and could guide him through it.
+
+“Almighty God! thou alone canst and willest!” said he; “to thou who
+knowest the heart, do thou alone help and lead me!”
+
+This determination was firmly taken; to no human being would he confide
+himself; alone would he release the prisoner, and give her up to
+Heinrich. He thought upon the future, and yet darker and heavier than
+hitherto it stood before him. But he who confides in God can never
+despair the only thing that was now to be done was to obtain the key of
+the chamber where Sidsel was confined, and then when all in the house
+were asleep he would dare that which must be done.
+
+Courage and tranquillity return into every powerful soul when it once
+sees the possibility of accomplishing its work. With a constrained
+vivacity Otto mingled in the conversation, no one imagining what a
+struggle his soul had passed through.
+
+The disputation continued. Wilhelm was in one of his eloquent moods. The
+doctor regarded the “Letters of the Wandering Ghost” as one of the most
+perfect books in the Danish literature. Once Sophie had been of the same
+opinion, now she preferred Cooper’s novels to this and all other books.
+
+“People so easily forget the good for the new,” said Wilhelm; “if the
+new is only somewhat astonishing, the many regard the author as the
+first of writers. The nation is, aesthetically considered, now in its
+period of development. Every really cultivated person, who stands among
+the best spirits of his age, obtains, whilst he observes his own advance
+in the intellectual kingdom, clearness with regard to the development
+of his nation. This has, like himself, its distinct periods; in him
+some important event in life, in it some agitating world convulsion,
+may advance them suddenly a great leap forward. The public favor is
+unsteady; to-day it strews palm-branches, to-morrow it cries, ‘Crucify
+him!’ But I regard that as a moment of development. You will permit
+me to make use of an image to elucidate my idea. The botanist goes
+wandering through field and wood, he collects flowers and plants; every
+one of these had, while he gathered it, his entire interest, his whole
+thought--but the impression which it made faded before that of its
+successor: nor is it till after a longer time that he is able to enjoy
+the whole of his treasures, and arrange them according to their worth
+and their rareness. The public seizes alike upon flowers and herbs; we
+hear its assiduous occupation with the object of the moment, but it is
+not yet come into possession of the whole. At one time, that which was
+sentimental was the foremost in favor, and that poet was called the
+greatest who best knew how to touch this string; then it passed over
+to the peppered style of writing, and nothing pleased but histories
+of knights and robbers. Now people find pleasure in prosaic life, and
+Schröder and Iffland are the acknowledged idols. For us the strength
+of the North opened heroes and gods, a new and significant scene. Then
+tragedy stood uppermost with us. Latterly we have begun to feel
+that this is not the flesh and blood of the present times. Then the
+fluttering little bird, the vaudeville, came out to us from the dark
+wood, and enticed us into our own chambers, where all is warm and
+comfortable, where one has leave to laugh, and to laugh is now a
+necessity for the Danes. One must not, like the crowd, inconsiderately
+place that as foremost which swims upon the waters, but treasure the
+good of every time, and arrange them side by side, as the botanist
+arranges his plants. Every people must, under the poetical sunshine,
+have their sentimental period, their berserker rage, their enjoyment of
+domestic life, and their giddy flights beyond it; it must merge itself
+in individuality before it can embrace the beauty of the whole. It is
+unfortunate for the poet who believes himself to be the wheel of his
+age; and yet he, with his whole crowd of admirers, is, as Menzel says,
+only a single wheel in the great machine--a little link in the infinite
+chain of beauty.”
+
+“You speak like a Plato!” said Sophie.
+
+“If we could accord as well in music as we do in poetry,” said Otto,
+“then we should be entirely united in our estimation of the arts. I love
+that music best which goes through the ear to the heart, and carries
+me away with it; on the contrary, if it is to be admired by the
+understanding, it is foreign to me.”
+
+“Yes, that is your false estimation of the subject, dear friend!” said
+Wilhelm: “in aesthetics you come at once to the pure and true; but in
+music you are far away in the outer court, where the crowd is dancing,
+with cymbals and trumpets, around the musical golden calf!”
+
+And now the aesthetic unity brought them into a musical disunity. On
+such occasions, Otto was not one to be driven back from his position; he
+very well knew how to bear down his assailant by striking and original
+observations: but Otto, this evening, although he was animated
+enough--excited, one might almost say--did not exhibit the calmness, the
+decision in his thoughts and words, which otherwise would have given him
+the victory.
+
+It was a long hour, and one yet longer and more full of anxiety, which
+commenced with supper. The conversation turned to the events of the day.
+Otto mingled in it, and endeavored therefrom to derive advantage; it was
+a martyrdom of the soul. Sophie praised highly his discovery.
+
+“If Mr. Thostrup had not been here,” said she, “then we should hardly
+have discovered the thief. We must thank Mr. Thostrup for it, and really
+for a merry, amusing spectacle.”
+
+They joked about it alai laughed, and Otto was obliged to laugh also.
+
+“And now she sits up there, like a captive, in the roof!” said he; “it
+must be an uncomfortable night to her!”
+
+“Oh, she sleeps, perhaps, better than some of us others!” said Wilhelm:
+“that will not annoy her!”
+
+“She is confined in the gable chamber, out in the court, is she not?”
+ inquired Otto: “there she has not any moonlight.”
+
+“Yes, surely she has!” answered Sophie; “it is in the gable to the
+right, hooking toward the wood, that she is confined. We have placed her
+as near to the moon as we could. The gable on the uppermost floor is our
+keep.”
+
+“But is it securely locked?” inquired Otto.
+
+“There is a padlock and a great bar outside the door; those she cannot
+force, and no one about the place will do such a piece of service for
+her. They dislike her, every one of them.”
+
+They rose up from the table; the bell was just on the stroke of eleven.
+
+“But the Baron must play us a little piece!” said the physician.
+
+“Then Mr. Thostrup will sing us the pretty Jutlandish song by
+Steen-Blicher!” exclaimed Louise.
+
+“O yes!” said the mother, and clapped Otto on the shoulder.
+
+Wilhelm played.
+
+“Do sing!” said Wilhelm; all besought him to do so, and Otto sang the
+Jutlandish song for them.
+
+“See, you sang that with the proper humor,” said Sophie, and clapped her
+hands in applause. With that all arose, offered to him their hands,
+and Wilhelm whispered to him, yet so that the sisters heard it, “This
+evening you have been right amiable!”
+
+Otto and Wilhelm went to their sleeping-room.
+
+“But, my good friend,” said Wilhelm, “what did you really go into the
+garden for? Be so good as to confess to me: you were not unwell! You did
+not go only into the garden! you went into the wood, and you remained a
+long time there! I saw it! You made a little visit to the handsome
+woman while the fiddler was here, did you not? I do not trust you so
+entirely!”
+
+“You are joking!” answered Otto.
+
+“Yes, yes,” continued Wilhelm, “she is a pretty little woman. Do you not
+remember how, last year at the mowing-feast, I threw roses at her? Now
+she is Peter Cripple’s wife. When she comes with her husband then we
+have, bodily, ‘Beauty and the Beast.’”
+
+That which Otto desired was, that Wilhelm should now soon go to sleep,
+and, therefore, he would not contradict him; he confessed even that the
+young wife was handsome, but added that she, as Peter Cripple’s wife,
+was to him like a beautiful flower upon which a toad had set itself,--it
+would be disgusting to him to press the flower to his lips.
+
+The friends were soon in bed. They bade each other good night, and
+seemed both of them to sleep; and with Wilhelm this was the case.
+
+Otto lay awake; his pulse throbbed violently.
+
+Now the great hall clock struck twelve. All was still, quite still; but
+Otto did not yet dare to raise himself. It struck a quarter past the
+hour. He raised himself slowly, and glanced toward the bed where Wilhelm
+lay. Otto arose and dressed himself, suppressing the while his very
+breathing. A hunting-knife which hung upon the wall, and which belonged
+to Wilhelm, he put in his pocket; and lifted up, to take with him, the
+fire-tongs, with which he intended to break the iron staple that held
+the padlock. Yet once more he looked toward Wilhelm, who slept soundly.
+He opened the door, and went out without his shoes.
+
+He looked out from the passage-windows to see if lights were visible
+from any part of the building. All was still; all was in repose. That
+which he now feared most was, that one of the dogs might be lying in the
+lobby, and should begin to bark. But there was not one. He mounted up
+the steps, and went into the upper story.
+
+Only once before had he been there; now all was in darkness. He felt
+with his hands before him as he went.
+
+At length he found a narrow flight of stairs which led into a yet higher
+story. The opening at the top was closed, and he was obliged to use his
+whole strength to open it. At length it gave way with a loud noise. This
+was not the proper entrance; that lay on the opposite side of the story,
+and had he gone there he would have found it open, whereas this one had
+not been opened for a long time.
+
+The violent efforts which he had made caused him great pain, both in
+his neck and shoulders; but he was now at the very top of the building,
+close before the door he sought, and the moonlight shone in through the
+opening in the roof.
+
+By the help of the hunting-knife and the fire-tongs he succeeded in
+forcing the door, and that without any very considerable noise. He
+looked into a small, low room, upon the floor of which some dirty
+coverlets were thrown.
+
+Sidsel slept deeply and soundly with open mouth. A thick mass of hair
+escaped from beneath her cap, upon her brow; the moonlight fell, through
+the window-pane in the roof, upon her face. Otto bowed himself over her
+and examined the coarse, unpleasing features. The thick, black eyebrows
+appeared only like one irregular streak.
+
+“She is my sister!” was the thought which penetrated him. “She lay upon
+the same bosom that I did! The blood in these limbs has kinship with
+that in mine! She was the repelled one, the rejected one!”
+
+He trembled with pain and anguish; but it was only for a short time.
+
+“Stand up!” cried he, and touched the sleeper.
+
+“Ih, jane dou! [Author’s Note: An exclamation among the common people
+of Funen, expressive of terror.] what is it?” cried she, half terrified,
+and fixed her unpleasant eyes wildly upon him.
+
+“Come with me!” said Otto, and his voice trembled as he spoke. “German
+Heinrich waits in the avenue! I will help you out! Hence; to-morrow it
+will be too late!”
+
+“What do you say?” asked she, and still looked at him with a bewildered
+mien.
+
+Otto repeated his words.
+
+“Do you think that I can get away?” asked she, and seized him by the
+arm, as she hastily sprang up.
+
+“Only silently and circumspectly!” said Otto.
+
+“I should not have expected theft from you!” said she. “But tell me why
+you do it?”
+
+Otto trembled; it was impossible for him to tell her his reasons, or to
+express the word,--“Thou art my sister!”
+
+His lips were silent.
+
+“To many a fellow,” said she, “have I been kinder than I ought to have
+been, but see whether any of them think about Sidsel! And you do it! You
+who are so fine and so genteel!”
+
+Otto pressed together his eyelids; he heard her speak; an animal
+coarseness mingled itself with a sort of confidential manner which was
+annihilating to him.
+
+“She is my sister!” resounded in his soul.
+
+“Come now! come now!” and, descending the steps, she followed after him.
+
+“I know a better way!” said she, as they came to the lowest story. She
+seized his arm and they again descended a flight of steps.
+
+Suddenly a door opened itself, and Louise, still dressed, stepped forth
+with a light. She uttered a faint cry, and her eye riveted itself upon
+the two forms before her.
+
+But still more terribly and more powerfully did this encounter operate
+upon Otto. His feet seemed to fail him, and, for a moment, every
+object moved before his eyes in bright colors. It was the moment of his
+severest suffering. He sprang forth toward Louise, seized her hand, and,
+pale as death, with lifeless, staring eyes, half kneeling, besought of
+her, with an agitated voice:--
+
+“For God’s sake, tell no one of that which you have seen! I am compelled
+to serve her--she is my sister! If you betray my secret I am lost to
+this world--I must die! It was not until this evening that I knew this
+to be the case! I will tell you all, but do not betray me! And do you
+prevent tomorrow any pursuit after her! O Louise! by the happiness of
+your own soul feel for the misery of mine! I shall destroy myself if you
+betray me!”
+
+“O God!” stammered Louise. “I will do all--all! I will be silent!
+Conduct her hence, quick, that you may meet with no one!”
+
+She seized Otto’s hand; he sank upon his knee before her, and looked
+like a marble image which expressed manly beauty and sorrow.
+
+Louise bent herself with sisterly affection over him; tears flowed down
+her cheeks; her voice trembled, but it was tranquillizing, like the
+consolation of a good angel. With a glance full of confidence in her,
+Otto tore himself away. Sidsel followed him and said not a word.
+
+He led her to the lowest story and opened for her, silently, a window,
+through which she could descend to the garden, and thence easily reach
+the avenue where German Heinrich waited for her. To have accompanied
+her any further was unnecessary; it would have been venturing too much
+without any adequate cause. She stood now upon the window-sill--Otto put
+a little money into her hand.
+
+“The Lord is above us!” said he, in a solemn voice. “Never forget Him
+and endeavor to amend your life! All may yet be well!” He involuntarily
+pressed her hand in his. “Have God always in your thoughts!” said he.
+
+“I shall get safely away, however,” said she, and descended into the
+garden; she nodded, and vanished behind the hedge.
+
+Otto stood for a while and listened whether any noise was heard, or
+whether any dog barked. He feared for her safety. All was still.
+
+Just as sometimes an old melody will suddenly awake in our remembrance
+and sound in our ear, so awoke now a holy text to his thoughts. “Lord,
+if I should take the wings of the morning, and should fly to the
+uttermost parts of the sea, thither thou wouldst lead me, and thy right
+hand would hold me fast! Thou art near to us! Thou canst accomplish and
+thou willest our well-being! Thou alone canst help us!”
+
+In silence he breathed his prayer.
+
+He returned to his chamber more composed in mind. Wilhelm seemed to
+sleep; but as Otto approached his bed he suddenly raised himself, and
+looked, inquiringly, around him.
+
+“Who is there?” exclaimed he; “you are dressed! where have you been?” He
+was urgent in his inquiry.
+
+Otto gave a joking reason.
+
+“Let me have your hand!” said he. Otto gave it to him, he felt his pulse.
+
+“Yes, quite correct!” said he; “the blood is yet in commotion. One sees
+plain enough that there is no concealing things! Here was I sleeping in
+all innocence, and you were running after adventures. You wicked bird!”
+
+The thoughts worked rapidly in Otto’s soul. If Louise would only be
+silent, no one would dream of the possibility of his having part in
+Sidsel’s flight. He must allow Wilhelm quietly to have his joke.
+
+“Was not I right?” asked Wilhelm.
+
+“And if now you were so,” replied Otto, “will you tell it to any one?”
+
+“Do you think that I could do such a thing?” replied Wilhelm; “we are
+all of us only mortal creatures!”
+
+Otto gave him his hand. “Be silent!” he said.
+
+“Yes, certainly,” said Wilhelm; and, according to his custom,
+strengthened it with an oath. “Now I have sworn it,” said he; “but when
+there is an opportunity you must tell me more about it!”
+
+“Yes, certainly,” said Otto, with a deep sigh. Before his friend he no
+longer stood pure and guiltless.
+
+They slept. Otto’s sleep was only a hateful dream.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII
+
+     “...Wie entzückend
+     Und süss es ist, in einer schönen Seele,
+     Verherrlicht uns zu fühlen, es zu wissen,
+     Das uns’re Fruede fremde Wangen röthet,
+     Und uns’re Angst in fremdem Busen zittert,
+     Das uns’re Leiden fremde Augen nässen.”
+                                      SCHILLER.
+
+“How pale!” said Wilhelm the next morning to Otto. “Do you see, that is
+what people get by night-wandering?”
+
+“How so?” inquired Otto.
+
+Wilhelm made a jest of it.
+
+“You have been dreaming that!” said Otto.
+
+“How do you mean?” replied Wilhelm; “will you make me fancy that I have
+imagined it? I was really quite awake! we really talked about it; I
+was initiated in it. Actually I have a good mind to give you a moral
+lecture. If it had been me, how you would have preached!”
+
+They were summoned to breakfast. Otto’s heart was ready to burst. What
+might he not have to hear? What must he say?
+
+Sophie was much excited.
+
+“Did you, gentlemen, hear anything last night?” she inquired. “Have you
+both slept?”
+
+“Yes, certainly,” replied Wilhelm, and looked involuntarily at Otto.
+
+“The bird is flown, however!” said she; “it has made its escape out of
+the dove-cote.”
+
+“What bird?” asked Wilhelm.
+
+“Sidsel!” replied she; “and, what is oddest in the whole affair is, that
+Louise has loosed her wings. Louise is quite up to the romantic. Think
+only! she went up in the night to the topmost story, unlocked the
+prison-tower, gave a moral lecture to Sidsel, and after that let her go!
+Then in the morning comes Louise to mamma, relates the whole affair, and
+says a many affecting things!”
+
+“Yes, I do not understand it,” said the mother, addressing Louise. “How
+you could have had the courage to go up so late at night, and go up to
+_her_! But it was very beautiful of you! Let her escape! it is, as you
+say, best that she should. We should all of us have thought of that last
+evening!”
+
+“I was so sorry for her!” said Louise; “and by chance it happened that I
+had a great many things to arrange after you were all in bed. Everything
+was so still in the house, it seemed to me as if I could hear Sidsel
+sigh; certainly it was only my own imagination, but I could do no other
+than pity her! she was so unfortunate! Thus I let her escape!”
+
+“Are you gone mad?” inquired Wilhelm; “what a history is this? Did you
+go in the night up to the top of the house? That is an unseasonable
+compassion!”
+
+“It was beautiful!” said Otto, bending himself involuntarily, and
+kissing Louise’s hand.
+
+“Yes, that is water to his mill!” exclaimed Wilhelm. “I think nothing of
+such things!”
+
+“We will not talk about it to anyone,” said the mother. “The steward
+shall not proceed any further in it. We have recovered the old silver
+tankard, and the losing that was my greatest trouble. We will thank God
+that we are well rid of her! Poor thing! she will come to an unfortunate
+end!”
+
+“Are you still unwell, Mr. Thostrup?” said Sophie, and looked at him.
+
+“I am a little feverish,” replied he. “I will take a very long walk, and
+then I shall be better.”
+
+“You should take a few drops,” said the lady.
+
+“O, he will come to himself yet!” said Wilhelm; “he must take exercise!
+His is not a dangerous illness.”
+
+Otto went into the wood. It was to him a temple of God; his heart poured
+forth a hymn of thanksgiving. Louise had been his good angel. He felt
+of a truth that she would never betray his secret. His thoughts clung to
+her with confidence. “Are you still unwell?” Sophie had said. The tones
+of her voice alone had been like the fragrance of healing herbs; in her
+eye he had felt sympathy and--love. “O Sophie!” sighed he. Both sisters
+were so dear to him.
+
+He entered the garden and went along the great avenue; here he met
+Louise. One might almost have imagined that she had sought for him:
+there was no one but her to be seen in the whole avenue.
+
+Otto pressed her hand to his lips. “You have saved my life!” said he.
+
+“Dear Thostrup!” answered she, “do not betray yourself. Yon have come
+happily out of the affair! Thank God! my little part in it has concealed
+the whole. For the rest I have a suspicion. Yes, I cannot avoid it. May
+not the whole be an error? It is possible that she is that which you
+said! Tell me all that you can let me know. From this seat we can see
+everybody who comes into the avenue. No one can hear us!”
+
+“Yes, to you alone I can confide it!” said Otto; “to you will I tell
+it.”
+
+He now related that which we know about the manufactory, which he called
+the house, in which German Heinrich had first seen him, and had tattooed
+his initials upon his shoulder; their later meeting in the park, and
+afterwards by St. Ander’s Cross.
+
+Louise trembled; her glance rested sympathizingly upon Otto’s pale and
+handsome countenance. He showed her the letter which had been brought to
+him the last evening, and related to her what Heinrich had told him.
+
+“It may be so,” said Louise; “but yet I have not been able to lose
+the idea all the morning that you have been deceived. Not one of her
+features resembles yours. Can brother and sister be so different as you
+and she? Yet, be the truth as it may, promise me not to think too much
+about it. There is a good Ruler above who can turn all things for the
+best.”
+
+“These horrible circumstances,” said Otto, “have robbed me of the
+cheerfulness of my youth. They thrust themselves disturbingly into my
+whole future. Not to Wilhelm--no, not to any one have I been able to
+confide them. You know all! God knows that you were compelled to learn
+them. I leave myself entirely in your hands!”
+
+He pressed her hand silently, and with the earnest glance of confidence
+and truth they looked at each other.
+
+“I shall speedily leave my native country,” said Otto. “It may be
+forever. I should return with sorrow to a home where no happiness
+awaited me. I stand so entirely alone in the world!”
+
+“But you have friends,” said Louise; “sincere friends. You must think
+with pleasure of returning home to Denmark. My mother loves you as if
+she were your own mother. Wilhelm and Sophie--yes, we will consider you
+as a brother.”
+
+“And Sophie?” exclaimed Otto.
+
+“Yes, can you doubt it?” inquired Louise.
+
+“She knows me not as you know me; and if she did?”--He pressed his hands
+before his eyes and burst into tears. “You know all: you know more
+than I could tell her,” sighed he. “I am more unfortunate than you can
+believe. Never can I forget her--never!”
+
+“For Heaven’s sake compose yourself!” said Louise rising. “Some one
+might come, and you would not be able to conceal your emotion. All may
+yet be well! Confide only in God in heaven!”
+
+“Do not tell your sister that which I have told you. Do not tell any
+one. I have revealed to you every secret which my soul contains.”
+
+“I will be to you a good sister,” said Louise, and pressed his hand.
+
+They silently walked down the avenue.
+
+The sisters slept in the same room.
+
+At night, after Sophie had been an hour in bed, Louise entered the
+chamber.
+
+“Thou art become a spirit of the night,” said Sophie. “Where hast thou
+been? Thou art not going up into the loft again to-night, thou strange
+girl? Had it been Wilhelm, Thostrup, or myself who had undertaken such a
+thing, it would have been quite natural; but thou”--
+
+“Am I, then, so very different to you all?” inquired Louise. “I should
+resemble my sister less than even Mr. Thostrup resembles her. You two
+are so very different!”
+
+“In our views, in our impulses, we very much resemble each other!” said
+Sophie.
+
+“He is certainly not happy,” exclaimed Louise. “We can read it in his
+eyes.”
+
+“Yes, but it is precisely that which makes him interesting!” said
+Sophie; “he is thus a handsome shadow-piece in everyday life.”
+
+“Thou speakest about it so calmly,” said Louise, and bent over her
+sister, “I would almost believe that it was love.”
+
+“Love!” exclaimed Sophie, raising herself up in bed, for now Louise’s
+words had become interesting to her; “whom dost thou think that he
+loves?”
+
+“Thyself,” replied Louise, and seized her sister’s hand.
+
+“Perhaps?” returned Sophie. “I also made fun of him! It certainly went
+on better when our cousin was here. Poor Thostrup!”
+
+“And thou, Sophie,” inquired Louise, “dost thou return his love?”
+
+“It is a regular confession that thou desirest,” replied she. “He is
+in love--that all young men are. Our cousin, I can tell thee, said many
+pretty things to me. Even the Kammerjunker flatters as well as he can,
+the good soul! I have now resolved with myself to be a reasonable girl.
+Believe me, however, Thostrup is in an ill humor!”
+
+“If the Kammerjunker were to pay his addresses to you, would you accept
+him?” asked Louise, and seated herself upon her sister’s bed.
+
+“What can make you think of such a thing?” inquired she. “Hast thou
+heard anything?--Thou makest me anxious! O Louise! I joke, I talk a
+deal; but for all that, believe me, I am not happy!”
+
+They talked about the Kammerjunker, about Otto, and about the French
+cousin. It was late in the night. Large tears stood in Sophie’s eyes,
+but she laughed for all that, and ended with a quotation from Jean Paul.
+
+Half an hour afterward she slept and dreamed; her round white arm lay
+upon the coverlet, and her lips moved with these words:
+
+           “With a smile as if an angel
+            Had just then kissed her mouth.” [Note: Christian Winther.]
+
+Louise pressed her countenance on the soft pillow, and wept.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX
+
+      “A swarm of colors, noise and screaming,
+         Music and sights, past any dreaming,
+       The rattle of wheels going late and early,--
+         All draw the looker-on into the hurly-burly.”
+                                         TH. OVERSKOU.
+
+A few days passed on. Otto heard nothing of German Heinrich or of his
+sister. Peter Cripple seemed not to be in their confidence. All that
+he knew was, that the letter which he had conveyed to Otto was to be
+unknown to any one beside. As regarded German Heinrich, he believed that
+he was now in another part of tire country; but that at St. Knud’s fair,
+in Odense, he would certainly find him.
+
+In Otto’s soul there was an extraordinary combating. Louise’s words,
+that he had been deceived, gave birth to hopes, which, insignificant as
+the grain of mustard-seed, shot forth green leaves.
+
+“May not,” thought he, “German Heinrich, to further his own plans, have
+made use of my fear? I must speak with him; he shall swear to me the
+truth.”
+
+He compared in thought the unpleasing, coarse features of Sidsel, with
+the image which his memory faintly retained of his little sister.
+She seemed to him as a delicate creature with large eyes. He had not
+forgotten that the people about them had spoken of her as of “a kitten
+that they could hardly keep alive.” How then could she now be this
+square-built, singularly plain being, with the eyebrows growing
+together? “I must speak with Heinrich,” resolved he; “she cannot be my
+sister! so heavily as that God will not try me.”
+
+By such thoughts as these his mind became much calmer. There were
+moments when the star of love mirrored itself in his life’s sea.
+
+His love for Sophie was no longer a caged bird within his breast; its
+wings were at liberty; Louise saw its release; it was about to fly to
+its goal.
+
+St. Knud’s fair was at hand, and on that account the family was about to
+set out for Odense. Eva was the only one who was to remain at home. It
+was her wish to do so.
+
+“Odense is not worth the trouble of thy going to see,” said Sophie; “but
+in this way thou wilt never increase thy geographical knowledge. In the
+mean time, however, I shall bring thee a fairing--a husband of honey
+cake, ornamented with almonds.”
+
+Wilhelm thought that she should enjoy the passing pleasure, and go with
+them; but Eva prayed to stay, and she had her will.
+
+“There is a deal of pleasure in the world,” said Wilhelm, “if people
+will only enjoy it. If one day in Paris is a brilliant flower, a day at
+Odense fair is also a flower. It is a merry, charming world that we
+live in! I am almost ready to say with King Valdemar, that if I might
+keep--yes, I will say, the earth, then our Lord might willingly for
+me keep heaven: there it is much better than we deserve; and God knows
+whether we may not, in the other world, have longings after the old
+world down here!”
+
+“After Odense fair?” asked Sophie ironically.
+
+Otto stood wrapped in his own thoughts. This day, he felt, would be one
+of the most remarkable in his life. German Heinrich must give him
+an explanation. Sophie must do so likewise Could he indeed meet with
+success from them both? Would not sorrow and pain be his fairings?
+
+The carriage rolled away.
+
+From the various cross-roads came driving up the carriages of the gentry
+and the peasants; the one drove past the other; and as the French and
+English Channel collects ships from the Atlantic Ocean, so did the
+King’s Road those who drove in carriages, those who rode on horseback,
+and those who went on foot.
+
+Behind most of the peasant-vehicles were tied a few horses, that went
+trotting on with them. Mamsells from the farms sat with large gloves on
+their red arms and hands. They held their umbrellas before their faces
+on account of the dust and the sun.
+
+“The Kammerjunker’s people must have set off earlier than we,” said
+Sophie, “otherwise they would have called for us.”
+
+Otto looked inquiringly at her. She thought on the Kammerjunker!
+
+“We shall draw up by Faugde church,” said Sophie. “Mr. Thostrup can
+see Kingo’s [Author’s Note: The Bishop of Funen, who died in 1703.]
+grave--can see where the sacred poet lies. Some true trumpeting angels,
+in whom one can rightly see how heavy the marble is, fly with the
+Bishop’s staff and hat within the chapel.”
+
+Otto smiled, and she thought also about giving him pleasure.
+
+The church was seen, the grave visited, and they rapidly rolled along
+the King’s Road toward Odense, the lofty tower of whose cathedral had
+hailed them at some miles’ distance.
+
+We do not require alone from the portrait-painter that he should
+represent the person, but that he should represent him in his happiest
+moment. To the plain as well as to the inexpressive countenance must
+the painter give every beauty which it possesses. Every human being
+has moments in which something intellectual or characteristic presents
+itself. Nature, too, when we are presented only with the most barren
+landscape, has the same moments; light and shadow produce these effects.
+The poet must be like the painter; he must seize upon these moments in
+human life as the other in nature.
+
+If the reader were a child who lived in Odense, it would require nothing
+more from him than that he should say the words, “St. Knud’s fair;”
+ and this, illumined by the beams of the imagination of childhood, would
+stand before him in the most brilliant colors. Our description will be
+only a shadow; it will be that, perhaps, which the many will find it to
+be.
+
+Already in the suburbs the crowd of people, and the outspread
+earthenware of the potters, which entirely covered the trottoir,
+announced that the fair was in full operation.
+
+The carriage drove down from the bridge across the Odense River.
+
+“See, how beautiful it is here!” exclaimed Wilhelm.
+
+Between the gardens of the city and a space occupied as a bleaching
+ground lay the river. The magnificent church of St. Knud, with its lofty
+tower, terminated the view.
+
+“What red house was that?” inquired Otto, when they had lost sight of
+it.
+
+“That is the nunnery!” replied Louise, knowing what thought it was which
+had arisen in his mind.
+
+“There stood in the ancient times the old bishop’s palace, where
+Beldenak lived!” said Sophie. “Just opposite to the river is the
+bell-well, where a bell flew out of St. Albani’s tower. The well is
+unfathomable. Whenever rich people in Odense die, it rings down below
+the water!”
+
+“It is not a pleasant thought,” said Otto, “that it rings in the well
+when they must die.”
+
+“One must not take it in that way now!” said Sophie, laughing, and
+turned the subject. “Odense has many lions,” continued she, “from a
+king’s garden with swans in it to a great theatre, which has this in
+common with La Scala and many Italian ones, that it is built upon the
+ruins of a convent. [Note: That of the Black Brothers.]
+
+“In Odense, aristocracy and democracy held out the longest,” said
+Wilhelm, smiling; “yet I remember, in my childhood, that when the nobles
+and the citizens met on the king’s birthday at the town-house ball, that
+we danced by ourselves.”
+
+“Were not, then, the citizens strong enough to throw the giddy nobles
+out of the window?” inquired Otto.
+
+“You forget, Mr. Thostrup, that you yourself are noble!” said Sophie. “I
+was really the goddess of fate who gave to you your genealogical tree.”
+
+“You still remember that evening?” said Otto, with a gentle voice, and
+the thoughts floated as gayly in his mind as the crowd of people floated
+up and down in the streets through which they drove.
+
+Somewhere about the middle of the city five streets met; and this
+point, which widens itself out into a little square, is called the Cross
+Street: here lay the hotel to which the family drove.
+
+“Two hours and a quarter too late!” said the Kammerjunker, who came out
+to meet them on the steps. “Good weather for the fair, and good
+horses! I have already been out at the West-gate, and have bought two
+magnificent mares. One of them kicked out behind, and had nearly given
+me a blow on the breast, so that I might have said I had had my fairing!
+Jakoba is paying visits, drinking chocolate, and eating biscuits.
+Mamsell is out taking a view of things. Now you know our story.”
+
+The ladies went to their chamber, the gentlemen remained in the saloon.
+
+“Yes, here you shall see a city and a fair, Mr. Thostrup!” said the
+Kammerjunker, and slapped Otto on the shoulder.
+
+“Odense was at one time my principal chief-city,” said Wilhelm; “and
+still St. Knud’s Church is the most magnificent I know. God knows
+whether St. Peter’s in Rome would make upon me, now that I am older, the
+impression which this made upon me as a child!”
+
+“In St. Knud’s Church lies the Mamsell with the cats,” said the
+Kammerjunker.
+
+“The bishop’s lady, you should say,” returned Wilhelm. “The legend
+relates, that there was a lady of a Bishop Mus who loved her cats to
+that degree that she left orders that they should be laid with her
+in the grave. [Author’s Note: The remains of the body, as well as the
+skeletons of the cats, are still to be seen in a chapel on the western
+aisle of the church.] We will afterward go and see them.”
+
+“Yes, both the bishop’s lady and the cats,” said the Kammerjunker, “look
+like dried fish! Then you must also see the nunnery and the military
+library.”
+
+“The Hospital and the House of Correction!” added Wilhelm.
+
+The beating of a drum in the street drew them to the window. The city
+crier, in striped linsey-woolsey jacket and breeches, and with a
+yellow band across his shoulders, stood there, beat upon his drum, and
+proclaimed aloud from a written paper many wonderful things which were
+to be seen in the city.
+
+“He beats a good drum,” said the Kammerjunker.
+
+“It would certainly delight Rossini and Spontini to hear the fellow!”
+ said Wilhelm. “In fact Odense would be, at New Year’s time, a city for
+these two composers. You must know that at that season drums and fifes
+are in their glory. They drum the New Year in. Seven or eight little
+drummers and fifers go from door to door, attended by children and old
+women; at that time they beat both the tattoo and the reveille. For this
+they get a few pence. When the New Year is drummed-in in the city they
+wander out into the country, and drum there for bacon and groats. The
+New Year’s drumming in lasts until about Easter.”
+
+“And then we have new pastimes,” said the Kammerjunker.
+
+“Then come the fishers from Stige, [Author’s Note: A fishing village
+in Odense Fjord.] with a complete band, and carrying a boat upon their
+shoulders ornamented with a variety of flags. After that they lay a
+board between two boats, and upon this two of the youngest and the
+strongest have a wrestling-match, until one of them falls into the
+water. The last years they both have allowed themselves to tumble in.
+And this has been done in consequence of one young man who fell in being
+so stung by the jeers which his fall had occasioned that he left, that
+same day, the fishing village, after which no one saw him. But all the
+fun is gone now! In my boyhood the merriment was quite another thing.
+It was a fine sight when the corporation paraded with their ensign
+and harlequin on the top! And at Easter, when the butchers led about a
+bullock ornamented with ribbons and Easter-twigs, on the back of which
+was seated a little winged boy in a shirt. They had Turkish music, and
+carried flagons with them! See! all that have I outlived, and yet I am
+not so old. Baron Wilhelm must have seen the ornamented ox. Now all that
+is past and gone; people are got so refined! Neither is St. Knud’s fair
+that which it used to be.”
+
+“For all that, I rejoice that it is not so!” said Wilhelm. “But we will
+go into the market and visit the Jutlanders, who are sitting there among
+the heath with their earthenware. You will stand a chance there, Mr.
+Thostrup, of meeting with an old acquaintance; only you must not have
+home-sickness when you smell the heather and hear the ringing of the
+clattering pots!”
+
+The ladies now entered. Before paying any visits they determined upon
+making the round of the market. The Kammerjunker offered his arm to the
+mother. Otto saw this with secret gladness, and approached Sophie. She
+accepted him willingly as an attendant; they must indeed get into the
+throng.
+
+As in the Middle Ages the various professions had their distinct streets
+and quarters, so had they also here. The street which led to the market
+place, and which in every-day life was called the “Shoemaker Street,”
+ answered perfectly to its name. The shoemakers had ranged their tables
+side by side. These, and the rails which had been erected for the
+purpose, were hung over with all kinds of articles for the feet; the
+tables themselves were laden with heavy shoes and thick-soled boots.
+Behind these stood the skillful workman in his long Sunday coat, and
+with his well-brushed felt-hat upon his head.
+
+Where the shoemakers’ quarter ended that of the hatters’ began, and with
+this one was in the middle of the great market-place, where tents and
+booths formed many parallel streets. The booth of galanterie wares, the
+goldsmith’s, and the confectioner’s, most of them constructed of canvas,
+some few of them of wood, were points of great attraction. Round about
+fluttered ribbons and handkerchiefs; round about were noise and bustle.
+Peasant-girls out of the same village went always in a row, seven or
+eight inseparables, with their hands fast locked in each other; it was
+impossible to break the chain; and if people tried to press through
+them, the whole flock rolled together in a heap.
+
+Behind the booths there lay a great space filled with wooden shoes,
+coarse earthenware, turners’ and saddlers’ work. Upon tables were spread
+out toys, generally rudely made and coarsely painted. All around
+the children assayed their little trumpets, and turned about their
+playthings. The peasant-girls twirled and twisted both the work-boxes
+and themselves many a time before the bargain was completed. The air
+was heavy with all kinds of odors, and was spiced with the fragrance of
+honey-cake.
+
+Here acquaintances met each other-some peasant-maidens, perhaps, who had
+been born in the same village, but since then had been separated.
+
+“Good day!” exclaimed they, took each other by the hand, gave their arms
+a swing, and laughed.
+
+“Farewell!”
+
+That was the whole conversation: such a one went on in many places.
+
+“That is the heather!” exclaimed Otto, as he approached the quarter
+where the Jutland potters had their station; “how refreshing is the
+odor!” said he, and stooping down seized a twig fresh and green, as if
+it had been plucked only yesterday.
+
+“Aye, my Jesus though! is not that Mr. Otto!” exclaimed a female voice
+just beside him, and a young Jutland peasantwoman skipped across the
+pottery toward him. Otto knew her. It was the little Maria, the eelman’s
+daughter, who, as we may remember at Otto’s visit to the fisher’s,
+had removed to Ringkjoebing, and had hired herself for the hay and
+cornharvest--the brisk Maria, “the girl,” as her father called her. She
+had been betrothed in Ringkjoebing, and married to the rich earthenware
+dealer, and now had come across the salt-water to Odense fair, where she
+should meet with Mr. Otto.
+
+“Her parents lived on my grandfather’s estate,” said Otto to Sophie,
+who observed with a smile the young wife’s delight in meeting with
+an acquaintance of her childhood. The husband was busily employed in
+selling his wares; he heard nothing of it.
+
+“Nay, but how elegant and handsome you are become!” said the young wife:
+“but see, I knew you again for all that! Grandmother, you may believe
+me, thinks a deal about you! The old body, she is so brisk and lively;
+it does not trouble her a bit that she cannot see! You are the second
+acquaintance that I have met with in the fair. It’s wonderful how people
+come here from all parts of the world! The players are here too! You
+still remember the German Heinrich? Over there in the gray house, at the
+corner of the market, he is acting his comedy in the gateway.”
+
+“I am glad that I have seen you!” said Otto, and nodded kindly. “Greet
+them at home, and the grandmother, for me!”
+
+“Greet them also from me!” said Sophie smiling. “You, Mr. Thostrup, must
+for old acquaintance sake buy something. You ought also to give me a
+fairing: I wish for that great jug there!”
+
+“Where are you staying!” cried Wilhelm, and came back, whilst the rest
+went forward.
+
+“We would buy some earthenware,” said Sophie. “Souvenir de Jutland. The
+one there has a splendid picture on it!”
+
+“You shall have it!” said Otto. “But if I requested a fairing from you,
+I beseech of you, might I say”--
+
+“That it possibly might obtain its worth from my hand,” said Sophie,
+smiling. “I understand you very well--a sprig of heather? I shall
+steal!” said she to the young wife, as she took a little sprig of heath
+and stuck it into his buttonhole. “Greet the grandmother for me!”
+
+Otto and Sophie went.
+
+“That’s a very laughing body!” said the woman half aloud, as she looked
+after them; her glance followed Otto, she folded her hands--she was
+thinking, perhaps, on the days of her childhood.
+
+At St. Knud’s church-yard Otto and Sophie overtook the others. They were
+going into the church. On the fair days this and all the tombs within it
+were open to the public.
+
+From whichever side this church is contemplated from without, the
+magnificent old building has, especially from its lofty tower and
+spire, something imposing about it; the interior produces the same, nay,
+perhaps a greater effect. But as the principal entrance is through the
+armory, and the lesser one is from the side of the church, its full
+impression is not felt on entering it; nor is it until you arrive at the
+end of the great aisle that you are aware rightly of its grandeur. All
+there is great, beautiful, and light. The whole interior is white with
+gilding. Aloft on the high-vaulted roof there shine, and that from the
+old time, many golden stars. On both sides, high up, higher than the
+side-aisles of the church, are large Gothic windows, from which the
+light streams down. The side-aisles are adorned with old paintings,
+which represent whole families, women and children, all clad in
+canonicals, in long robes and large ruffs. In an ordinary way, the
+figures are all ranged according to age, the oldest first, and then down
+to the very least child, and stand with folded hands, and look piously
+with downcast eyes and faces all in one direction, until by length of
+time the colors have all faded away.
+
+Just opposite to the entrance of the church may be seen, built into the
+wall, a stone, on which is a bas-relief, and before it a grave. This
+attracted Otto’s attention.
+
+“It is the grave of King John and of Queen Christina, of Prince
+Francesco and of Christian the Second,” said Wilhelm; “they lie together
+in a small vault!” [Author’s Note: On the removal of the church of
+the Grey Brothers, the remains of these royal parents and two of their
+children were collected in a coffin and placed here in St. Knud’s
+Church. The memorial stone, of which we have spoken, was erected
+afterwards.]
+
+“Christian the Second!” exclaimed Otto. “Denmark’s wisest and dearest
+king!”
+
+“Christian the Bad!” said the Kammerjunker, amazed at the tone of
+enthusiasm in which Otto had spoken.
+
+“Christian the Bad!” repeated Otto; “yes, it is now the mode to speak of
+him thus, but we should not do so. We ought to remember how the Swedish
+and Danish nobles behaved themselves, what cruelties they perpetrated,
+and that we have the history of Christian the Second from one of the
+offended party. Writers flatter the reigning powers. A prince must
+have committed crimes, or have lost his power, if his errors are to be
+rightly presented to future generations. People forget that which was
+good in Christian, and have painted the dark side of his character, to
+the formation of which the age lent its part.”
+
+The Kammerjunker could not forget the Swedish bloodbath, the execution
+of Torben Oxe, and all that can be said against the unfortunate king.
+
+Otto drove him completely out of the field, in part from his enthusiasm
+for Christian the Second, but still more because it was the Kammerjunker
+with whom he was contending. Sophie took Otto’s side, her eye sparkled
+applause, and the victory could not be other than his.
+
+“What is it that the poet said of the fate of a king?” said Sophie.
+
+                              “Woe’s me for him
+   Who to the world shows more of ill than good!
+   The good each man ascribes unto himself,
+   Whilst on him only rest the crimes o’ th’ age.”
+
+“Had Christian been so fortunate as to have subdued the rebellious
+nobles,” continued Otto, “could he have carried out his bold plans, then
+they would have called him Christian the Great: it is not the active
+mind, but the failure in any design, which the world condemns.”
+
+Louise nevertheless took the side of the Kammerjunker, and therefore
+these two went together up the aisle toward the tomb of the Glorup
+family. Wilhelm and his mother were already gone out of the church.
+
+“I envy you your eloquence!” said Sophie, and looked with an expression
+of love into Otto’s face; she bent herself over the railing around the
+tomb, and looked thoughtfully upon the stone. Thoughts of love were
+animated in Otto’s soul.
+
+“Intellect and heart!” exclaimed he, “must admire that which is great:
+you possess both these!” He seized her hand.
+
+A faint crimson passed over Sophie’s cheeks. “The others are gone out!”
+ she said; “come, let us go up to the chancel.”
+
+“Up to the altar!” said Otto; “that is a bold course for one’s whole
+life!”
+
+Sophie looked jestingly at him. “Do you see the monument there within
+the pillars?” asked she after a short pause; “the lady with the crossed
+arms and the colored countenance? In one night she danced twelve knights
+to death, the thirteenth, whom she had invited for her partner, cut her
+girdle in two in the dance and she fell dead to the earth!” [Author’s
+Note: In Thiele’s Danish Popular Tradition it is related that she was
+one Margrethe Skofgaard of Sanderumgaard, and that she died at a ball,
+where she had danced to death twelve knights. The people relate it with
+a variation as above; it is probable that it is mingled with a second
+tradition, for example, that of the blood-spots at Koldinghuus, which
+relates that an old king was so angry with his daughter that he resolved
+to kill her, and ordered that his knights should dance with her one
+after another until the breath was out of her. Nine had danced with her,
+and then came up the king himself as the tenth, and when he became weary
+he cut her girdle in two, on which the blood streamed from her mouth and
+she died.]
+
+“She was a northern Turandot!” said Otto; “the stony heart itself was
+forced to break and bleed. There is really a jest in having the marble
+painted. She stands before future ages as if she lived--a stone image,
+white and red, only a mask of beauty. She is a warning to young ladies!”
+
+“Yes, against dancing!” said Sophie, smiling at Otto’s extraordinary
+gravity.
+
+“And yet it must be a blessed thing,” exclaimed he, “a very blessed
+thing, amid pealing music, arm-in-arm with one’s beloved, to be able to
+dance life away, and to sink bleeding before her feet!”
+
+“And yet only to see that she would dance with a new one!” said Sophie.
+
+“No, no!” exclaimed Otto, “that you could not do! that you will not do!
+O Sophie, if you knew!”--He approached her still nearer, bent his head
+toward her, and his eye had twofold fire and expression in it.
+
+“You must come with us and see the cats!” said the Kammerjunker, and
+sprang in between them.
+
+“Yes, it is charming!” said Sophie. “You will have an opportunity, Mr.
+Thostrup, of moralizing over the perishableness of female beauty!”
+
+“In the evening, when we drive home together,” thought Otto to himself
+consolingly, “in the mild summer-evening no Kammerjunker will disturb
+me. It must, it shall be decided! Misfortune might subject the
+wildness of childhood, but it gave me confidence, it never destroyed my
+independence; Love has made me timid,--has made me weak. May I thereby
+win a bride?”
+
+Gravely and with a dark glance he followed after Sophie and her guide.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL
+
+     “In vain his beet endeavors were;
+     Dull was the evening, and duller grew.”--LUDOLF SCHLEF.
+
+     “Seest thou how its little life
+       The bird hides in the wood?
+     Wilt thou be my little wife--
+       Then do it soon. Good!
+     --A bridegroom am I.”--Arion.
+
+Close beside St. Knud’s Church, where once the convent stood, is now the
+dwelling of a private man. [Author’s Note: See Oehlenschläger’s Jorney
+to Funen.] The excellent hostess here, who once charmed the public on
+the Danish stage as Ida Munster, awaited the family to dinner.
+
+After dinner they wandered up and down the garden, which extended to the
+Odense River.
+
+In the dusk of evening Otto went to visit the German Heinrich; he had
+mentioned it to Louise, and she promised to divert attention from him
+whilst he was away.
+
+The company took coffee in the garden-house; Otto walked in deep thought
+in the avenue by the side of the river. The beautiful scene before
+him riveted his eye. Close beside lay a water-mill, over the two great
+wheels of which poured the river white as milk. Behind this was thrown a
+bridge, over which people walked and drove. The journeyman-miller
+stood upon the balcony, and whistled an air. It was such a picture as
+Christian Winther and Uhland give in their picturesque poems. On the
+other side of the mill arose tall poplars half-buried in the green
+meadow, in which stood the nunnery; a nun had once drowned herself where
+now the red daisies grow.
+
+A strong sunlight lit up the whole scene. All was repose and summer
+warmth. Suddenly Otto’s ear caught the deep and powerful tones of an
+organ; he turned himself round. The tones, which went to his heart, came
+from St. Knud’s Church, which lay close beside the garden. The sunshine
+of the landscape, and the strength of the music, gave, as it were, to
+him light and strength for the darkness toward which he was so soon to
+go.
+
+The sun set; and Otto went alone across the market-place toward the old
+corner house, where German Heinrich practiced his arts. Upon this place
+stood St. Albani’s Church, where St. Knud, betrayed by his servant
+Blake, [Author’s Note: Whence has arisen the popular expression of
+“being a false Blake.”] was killed by the tumultuous rebels. The common
+people believe that from one of the deep cellars under this house
+proceeds a subterranean passage to the so-called “Nun’s Hill.” At
+midnight the neighboring inhabitants still hear a roaring under the
+marketplace, as if of the sudden falling of a cascade. The better
+informed explain it as being a concealed natural water-course, which has
+a connection with the neighboring river. In our time the old house is
+become a manufactory; the broken windows, the gaps of which are repaired
+either with slips of wood or with paper, the quantity of human bones
+which are found in the garden, and which remain from the time when this
+was a church-yard, give to the whole place a peculiar interest to the
+common people of Odense.
+
+Entering the house at the front, it is on the same level as the
+market-place; the back of the house, on the contrary, descends
+precipitously into the garden, where there are thick old walls and
+foundations. The situation is thus quite romantic; just beside it is
+the old nunnery, with its dentated gables, and not far off the ruins, in
+whose depths the common people believe that there resides an evil being,
+“the river-man,” who annually demands his human sacrifice, which he
+announces the night before. Behind this lie meadows, villas, and green
+woods.
+
+On the other side of the court, in a back gate-way, German Heinrich
+had set up his theatre. The entrance cost eight skillings; people of
+condition paid according to their own will.
+
+Otto entered during the representation. A cloth constituted the whole
+scenic arrangement. In the middle of the floor sat a horrible goblin,
+with a coal-black Moorish countenance and crispy hair upon its head. An
+old bed-cover concealed the figure, yet one saw that it was that of a
+woman.
+
+The audience consisted of peasants and street boys. Otto kept himself in
+the background, and remained unobserved by Heinrich.
+
+The representation was soon at an end, and the crowd dispersed. It was
+then that Otto first came forward.
+
+“We must speak a few words together!” said he. “Heinrich, you have not
+acted honestly by me! The girl is not that which you represented her to
+be; you have deceived me: I demand an explanation!”
+
+German Heinrich stood silent, but every feature eloquently expressed
+first amazement, and then slyness and cunning; his knavish, malicious
+eye, measured Otto from top to toe.
+
+“Nay; so then, Mr. Thostrup, you are convinced, are you, that I have
+been cheating you?” said he. “If so, why do you come to me? In that case
+there needs no explanation. Ask herself there!” And so saying he pointed
+to the black-painted figure.
+
+“Do not be too proud, Otto!” said she, smiling; “thou couldst yet
+recognize thy sister, although she has a little black paint on her
+face!”
+
+Otto riveted a dark, indignant glance upon her, pressed his lips
+together, and tried to collect himself. “It is my firm determination
+to have the whole affair searched into,” said he, with constrained
+calmness.
+
+“Yes, but it will bring you some disagreeables!” said Heinrich, and
+laughed scornfully.
+
+“Do not laugh in that manner when I speak to you!” said Otto, with
+flushing cheeks.
+
+Heinrich leaned himself calmly against the door which led into the
+garden.
+
+“I am acquainted with the head of the police,” said Otto, “and I might
+leave the whole business in his hands. But I have chosen a milder way; I
+am come myself. I shall very soon leave Denmark; I shall go many
+hundred miles hence shall, probably, never return; and thus you see the
+principal ground for my coming to you is a whim: I will know wherefore
+you have deceived me; I will know what is the connection between you and
+her.”
+
+“Nay; so, then, it is _that_ that you want to know?” said Heinrich, with
+a malicious glance. “Yes, see you, she is my best beloved; she shall be
+my wife: but your sister she is for all that, and that remains so!”
+
+“Thou couldst easily give me a little before thou settest off on thy
+journey!” said Sidsel, who seemed excited by Heinrich’s words, and put
+forth her painted face.
+
+Otto glanced at her with contracted eyebrows.
+
+“Yes,” said she, “I say ‘thou’ to thee: thou must accustom thyself to
+that! A sister may have, however, that little bit of pleasure!”
+
+“Yes, you should give her your hand!” said Heinrich, and laughed.
+
+“Wretch!” exclaimed Otto, “she is not that which you say! I will find
+out my real sister! I will have proof in hand of the truth! I will
+show myself as a brother; I will care for her future! Bring to me her
+baptismal register; bring to me one only attestation of its reality--and
+that before eight days are past! Here is my address, it is the envelope
+of a letter; inclose in it the testimonial which I require, and send it
+to me without delay. But prove it, or you are a greater villain than I
+took you for.”
+
+“Let us say a few rational words!” said Heinrich, with a constrained,
+fawning voice. “If you will give to me fifty rix-dollars, then you shall
+never have any more annoyance with us! See, that would be a great deal
+more convenient.”
+
+“I abide by that which I have said!” answered Otto; “we will not have
+any more conversation together!” And so saying, he turned him round to
+go out.
+
+Heinrich seized him by the coat.
+
+“What do you want?” inquired Otto.
+
+“I mean,” said Heinrich, “whether you are not going to think about the
+fifty rix-dollars?”
+
+“Villain!” cried Otto, and, with the veins swelling in his forehead, he
+thrust Heinrich from him with such force, that he fell against the worm
+eaten door which led into the garden; the panel of the door fell out,
+and had not Heinrich seized fast hold on some firm object with both his
+hands, he must have gone the same way. Otto stood for a moment silent,
+with flashing eyes, and threw the envelope, on which his address was, at
+Heinrich’s feet, and went out.
+
+When Otto returned to the hotel, he found the horses ready to be put to
+the carriage.
+
+“Have you had good intelligence?” whispered Louise.
+
+“I have in reality obtained no more than I had before!” replied he;
+“only my own feelings more strongly convince me than ever that I have
+been deceived by him.”
+
+He related to her the short conversation which had taken place.
+
+The Kammerjunker’s carriage was now also brought out; in this was more
+than sufficient room for two, whereas in the other carriage they had
+been crowded. The Kammerjunker, therefore, besought that they would
+avail themselves of the more convenient seat which he could offer; and
+Otto saw Sophie and her mother enter the Kammerjunker’s carriage. This
+arrangement would shortly before have confounded Otto, now it had much
+less effect upon him. His mind was so much occupied by his visit to
+German Heinrich, his soul was filled with a bitterness, which for the
+moment repelled the impulse which he had felt to express his great love
+for Sophie.
+
+“I have been made Heinrich’s plaything--his tool!” thought he. “Now he
+ridicules me, and I am compelled to bear it! That horrible being is not
+my sister!--she cannot be so!”
+
+The street was now quiet. They mounted into the carriage. In the corner
+house just opposite there was a great company; light streamed through
+the long curtains, a low tenor voice and a high ringing soprano mingled
+together in Mozart’s “Audiam, audiam, mio bene.”
+
+“The bird may not flutter from my heart!” sighed Otto, and seated
+himself by the side of Louise. The carriage rolled away.
+
+The full moon shone; the wild spiraea sent forth its odor from the road
+side; steam ascended from the moor-lands; and the white mist floated
+over the meadows like the daughters of the elfin king.
+
+Louise sat silent and embarrassed; trouble weighed down her heart. Otto
+was also silent.
+
+The Kammerjunker drove in first, cracked his whip, and struck up a wild
+halloo.
+
+Wilhelm began to sing, “Charming the summer night,” and the Kammerjunker
+joined in with him.
+
+“Sing with us man,” cried Wilhelm to the silent Otto, and quickly the
+two companies were one singing caravan.
+
+It was late when they reached the hall.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI
+
+     “Destiny often pulls off leaves, as we treat the vine, that
+     its fruits may be earlier brought to maturity.”--JEAN PAUL.
+
+It was not until toward morning that Otto fell into sleep. Wilhelm and
+he were allowed to take their own time in rising, and thus it was late
+in the day before these two gentlemen made their appearance at the
+breakfast-table; the Kammerjunker was already come over to the hall, and
+now was more adorned than common.
+
+“Mr. Thostrup shall be one of the initiated!” said the mother. “It
+will be time enough this evening for strangers to know of it. The
+Kammerjunker and my Sophie are betrothed.”
+
+“See, it was in the bright moonlight, Mr. Thostrup, that I became such
+a happy man!” said the Kammerjunker, and kissed the tips of Sophie’s
+fingers. He offered his other hand to Otto.
+
+Otto’s countenance remained unchanged, a smile played upon his lips.
+“I congratulate you!” said he; “it is indeed a joyful day! If I were a
+poet, I would give you an ode!”
+
+Louise looked at him with an extraordinary expression of pain in her
+countenance.
+
+Wilhelm called the Kammerjunker brother-in-law, and smiling shook both
+his hands.
+
+Otto was unusually gay, jested, and laughed. The ladies went to their
+toilet, Otto into the garden.
+
+He had been so convinced in his own mind that Sophie returned his
+passion. With what pleasure had she listened to him! with what an
+expression had her eye rested upon him! Her little jests had been to
+him such convincing proofs that the hope which he nourished was no
+self-delusion. She was the light around which his thoughts had circled.
+Love to her was to him a good angel, which sung to him consolation and
+life’s gladness in his dark moments.
+
+Now, all was suddenly over. It was as if the angel had left him; the
+flame of love which had so entirely filled his soul, was in a moment
+extinguished to its last spark. Sophie was become a stranger to him; her
+intellectual eye, which smiled in love on the Kammerjunker, seemed to
+him the soulless eye of the automaton. A stupefying indifference went
+through him, deadly as poison that is infused into the human blood.
+
+“The vain girl! she thought to make herself more important by repelling
+from her a faithful heart! She should only see how changed her image is
+in my soul. All the weaknesses which my love for her made me pass over,
+now step forth with repulsive features! Not a word which she spoke fell
+to the ground. The diamond has lost its lustre; I feel only its sharp
+corners!”
+
+Sophie had given the preference to a man who, in respect of intellect,
+stood far below Otto! Sophie, who seemed to be enthusiastic for art and
+beauty, for everything glorious in the kingdom of mind, could thus have
+deceived him!
+
+We will now see the sisters in their chamber.
+
+Louise seemed pensive, she sat silently looking before her.
+
+Sophie stood thoughtfully with a smile upon her lips.
+
+“The Kammerjunker is very handsome, however!” exclaimed she: “he looks
+so manly!”
+
+“You ought to find him love-worthy!” said Louise.
+
+“Yes,” replied her sister, “I have always admired these strong
+countenances! He is an Axel--a northern blackbearded savage. Faces such
+as Wilhelm’s look like ladies’! And he is so good! He has said, that
+immediately after our marriage we shall make a tour to Hamburg. What
+dress do you think I should wear?”
+
+“When you make the journey to Hamburg?” inquired Louise.
+
+“O no, child! to-day I mean. Thostrup was indeed very polite! he
+congratulated me! I felt, however, rather curious when it was told to
+him. I had quite expected a scene! I was almost ready to beg of you
+to tell him first of all. He ought to have been prepared. But he was,
+however, very rational! I should not have expected it from him. I really
+wish him all good, but he is an extraordinary character! so melancholy!
+Do you think that he will take my betrothal to heart? I noticed that
+when I was kissed he turned himself suddenly round to the window and
+played with the flowers. I wish that he would soon go! The journey
+into foreign countries will do him good--there he will soon forget his
+heart’s troubles. To-morrow I will write to Cousin Joachim; he will also
+be surprised!”
+
+Late in the afternoon came Jakoba, the Mamsell, the preacher, and yet a
+few other guests.
+
+In the evening the table was arranged festively. The betrothed sat
+together, and Otto had the place of honor--he sat on the other side
+of Sophie. The preacher had written a song to the tune of “Be thou
+our social guardian-goddess;” this was sung. Otto’s voice sounded
+beautifully and strong; he rang his glass with the betrothed pair, and
+the Kammerjunker said that now Mr. Thostrup must speedily seek out a
+bride for himself.
+
+“She is found,” answered Otto; “but now that is yet a secret.”
+
+“Health to the bride!” said Sophie, and rung her glass; but soon again
+her intellectual eye rested upon the Kammerjunker, who was talking about
+asparagus and stall-feeding with clover, yet her glance brought him back
+again to the happiness of his love.
+
+It was a very lively evening. Late in the night the party broke up. The
+friends went to their chamber.
+
+“My dear, faithful Otto!” said Wilhelm, and laid his hand on his
+shoulder; “you were very lively and good-humored this evening. Continue
+always thus!”
+
+“I hope to do so,” answered Otto: “may we only always have as happy an
+evening as this!”
+
+“Extraordinary man!” said Wilhelm, and shook his head. “Now we will soon
+set out on our journey, and catch for ourselves the happiness of the
+glorious gold bird!”
+
+“And not let it escape again!” exclaimed Otto. “Formerly I used to say,
+To-morrow! to-morrow! now I say, To-day, and all day long! Away with
+fancies and complainings. I now comprehend that which you once said to
+me, that is. Man _can_ be happy if he only _will_ be so.”
+
+Wilhelm took his hand, and looked into his face with a half-melancholy
+expression.
+
+“Are you sentimental?” inquired Otto.
+
+“I only affect that which I am not!” answered Wilhelm; and with that,
+suddenly throwing off the natural gravity of the moment, returned to his
+customary gayety.
+
+The following days were spent in visiting and in receiving visitors. On
+every post-day Otto sought through the leathern bag of the postman, but
+he found no letter from German Heinrich, and heard nothing from him. “I
+have been deceived,” said he, “and I feel myself glad about it! She, the
+horrible one, is not my sister!”
+
+There was a necessity for him to go away, far from home, and yet he felt
+no longing after the mountains of Switzerland or the luxuriant beauty of
+the south.
+
+“Nature will only weaken me! I will not seek after it. Man it is that I
+require: these egotistical, false beings--these lords of everything!
+How we flatter our weaknesses and admire our virtues! Whatever serves to
+advance our own wishes we find to be excellent. To those who love us,
+we give our love in return. At the bottom, whom do I love except myself?
+Wilhelm? My friendship for him is built upon the foundation,--I cannot
+do without thee! Friendship is to me a necessity. Was I not once
+convinced that I adored Sophie, and that I never could bear it if she
+were lost to me? and yet there needed the conviction ‘She loves thee
+not,’ and my strong feeling was dead. Sophie even seems to me
+less beautiful; I see faults where I formerly could only discover
+amiabilities! Now, she is to me almost wholly a stranger. As I am, so
+are all. Who is there that feels right lovingly, right faithfully for
+me, without his own interest leading him to do so? Rosalie? My old,
+honest Rosalie? I grew up before her eyes like a plant which she loved.
+I am dear to her as it! When her canary-bird one morning lay dead in its
+cage, she wept bitterly and long; she should never more hear it sing,
+she should never more look after its cage and its food. It was the loss
+of it which made her weep. She missed that which had been interesting
+to her. I also interested her. Interest is the name for that which
+the world calls love. Louise?” He almost spoke the name aloud, and his
+thoughts dwelt, from a strong combination of circumstances, upon it.
+“She appears to me true, and capable of making sacrifices! but is not
+she also very different from all the others? How often have I not heard
+Sophie laugh at her for it--look down upon her!” And Otto’s better
+feeling sought in vain for a shadow of self-love in Louise, a single
+selfish motive for her noble conduct.
+
+“Away from Denmark! to new people! Happy he who can always be on the
+wing, making new friendships, and speedily breaking them off! At the
+first meeting people wear their intellectual Sunday apparel; every point
+of light is brought forth; but soon and the festival-day is over, and
+the bright points have vanished.”
+
+“We will set off next week!” said Wilhelm, “and then it shall be--
+
+    ‘Over the rushing blue waters away!
+     We will speed along shores that are verdant and gay!’
+
+Away over the moors, up the Rhine, through the land of champagne to the
+city of cities, the life-animating Paris!”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLII
+
+     “A maiden stood musing, gentle and mild. I grasped the hand
+     of the friendly child, but the lovely fawn shyly
+     disappeared.... From the Rhine to the Danish Belt,
+     beautiful and lovely maidens are found in palaces and tents;
+     yet nobody pleases me.”--SCHMIDT VON LÜBECK.
+
+The last day at home was Sophie’s birthday. In the afternoon the whole
+family was invited to the Kammerjunker’s, where Jakoba and the Mamsell
+were to be quite brilliant in their cookery.
+
+A table filled with presents, all from the Kammerjunker, awaited Miss
+Sophie; it was the first time that he had ever presented to her a
+birthday gift, and he had now, either out of his own head or somebody’s
+else, fallen on the very good idea of making her a present for every
+year which she had lived. Every present was suited to the age for which
+it was intended, and thus he began with a paper of sugar-plums and ended
+with silk and magnificent fur; but between beginning and end there
+were things, of which more than the half could be called solid: gold
+ear-rings, a boa, French gloves, and a riding-horse. This last, of
+course, could not stand upon the table. It was a joy and a happiness;
+people walked about, and separated themselves by degrees into groups.
+
+The only one who was not there was Eva. She always preferred remaining
+at home; and yet, perhaps, to-day she might have allowed herself to have
+been overpersuaded, had she not found herself so extremely weak.
+
+Silently and alone she now sat at home in the great empty parlor. It
+was in the twilight; she had laid down her work, and her beautiful,
+thoughtful eyes looked straight before her: thoughts which we may not
+unveil were agitating her breast.
+
+Suddenly the door opened, and Wilhelm stood before her. Whilst the
+others were walking he had stolen away. He knew that Eva was alone at
+home; nobody would know that he visited her, nobody would dream of their
+conversation.
+
+“You here!” exclaimed Eva, when she saw him.
+
+“I was compelled to come,” answered he. “I have slipped away from
+the others; no one knows that I am here. I must speak with you, Eva.
+To-morrow I set off; but I cannot leave home calmly and happily without
+knowing--what this moment must decide.”
+
+Eva rose, her checks crimsoned, she cast down her eyes.
+
+“Baron Wilhelm!” stammered she, “it is not proper that I should remain
+here!” She was about to leave the room.
+
+“Eva!” said Wilhelm, and seized her hand, “you know that I love you! My
+feelings are honorable! Say Yes, and it shall be holy to me as an oath.
+Then I shall begin my journey glad at heart, as one should do. Your
+assent shall stand in my breast, shall sound in my ear, whenever sin and
+temptation assail me! It will preserve me in an upright course, it will
+bring me back good and unspoiled. My wife must you be! You have
+soul, and with it nobility! Eva! in God’s name, do not make a feeble,
+life-weary, disheartened being of me!”
+
+“O Heavens!” exclaimed she, and burst into tears, “I cannot, and--will
+not! You forget that I am only a poor girl, who am indebted for
+everything to your mother! My assent would displease her, and some time
+or other you would repent of it! I cannot!--I do not love you!” added
+she, in a tremulous voice.
+
+Wilhelm stood speechless.
+
+Eva suddenly rang the bell.
+
+“What are you doing?” exclaimed he.
+
+The servant entered.
+
+“Bring in lights!” said she; “but first of all you must assist me with
+these flowers down into the garden. It will do them good to stand in the
+dew.”
+
+The servant did as she bade; she herself carried down one of the pots,
+and left the room.
+
+“I do not love you!” repeated Wilhelm to himself, and returned to the
+company which he had left, and where he found all gayety and happiness.
+
+The supper-table was spread in the garden; lights burned in the open air
+with a steady flame; it was a summer-evening beautiful as the October of
+the South; the reseda sent forth its fragrance; and when Sophie’s health
+was drunk cannon were fired among the lofty fir-trees, the pines of the
+North.
+
+The next morning those countenances were dejected which the evening
+before had been so gay. The carriage drew up to the door. The dear
+mother and sisters wept; they kissed Wilhelm, and extended their hands
+to Otto.
+
+“Farewell!” said Louise; “do not forget us!” and her tearful glance
+rested upon Otto. Eva stood silent and pale.
+
+“You will not forget me!” whispered Otto, as he seized Louise’s hand. “I
+will forget your sister!”
+
+The carriage rolled away; Wilhelm threw himself back into a corner. Otto
+looked back once more; they all stood at the door, and waved their white
+handkerchiefs.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIII
+
+     “In one short speaking silence all conveys--
+     And looks a sigh, and weeps without a tear.”
+                                   MRS. BROWNING.
+
+     “Forgive us our debts as we
+       The debts of others forgive;
+     And lead us not in tempting ways;
+       Apart from evil let us live.”
+                    A. VON CHAMISSO.
+
+We will not accompany the friends, but will remain behind in Funen,
+where we will make a bolder journey than they, namely, we will go back
+one-and-twenty years. We will allow the circumstances of Otto’s birth
+again to come before us. It is a leap backward that we take from 1830 to
+1810. We are in Odense, that old city, which takes its name from Odin.
+
+The common people there have still a legend about the origin of the name
+of the city. Upon Naesbyhoved’s Hill [Author’s Note: Not far from the
+city, by the Odense Channel; it is described in Wedel Simonsen’s City
+Ruins.] there once stood a castle; here lived King Odin and his wife:
+Odense city was not then in existence, but the first building of it was
+then begun. [Author’s Note: The place is given as being that of the now
+so-called Cross Street.] The court was undecided as to the name which
+should be given to the city. After long indecision it was at last agreed
+that the first word which either King or Queen should speak the next
+morning should be the name given to it. In the early morning the Queen
+awoke and looked out from her window over the wood. The first house in
+the city was erected to the roof, and the builders had hung up a
+great garland, glittering with tinsel, upon the rooftree. “Odin, see!”
+ exclaimed the Queen; and thenceforward the city was called Odensee,
+which name, since then, has been changed by daily speech to Odense.
+
+When people ask the children in Copenhagen whence they have come, they
+reply, out of the Peblingsöe. The little children of Odense, who
+know nothing about the Peblingsöe, say that they are fetched out of
+Rosenbaek, a little brook which has only been ennobled within the few
+last years, just as in Copenhagen is the case with Krystal Street, which
+formerly had an unpleasant name. This brook runs through Odense, and
+must, in former times, when united with the Odense River, have formed an
+island where the city at that time stood; hence some people derive the
+name of Odense from Odins Ei, or Odins Ö, that is, Odin’s Island. Be it
+then as it might, the brook flows now, and in 1810, when the so-called
+Willow-dam, by the West Gate, was not filled up, it stood, especially in
+spring, low and watery. It often overflowed its banks, and in so doing
+overflowed the little gardens which lay on either side. It thus ran
+concealed through the city until near the North Gate, where it made its
+appearance for a moment and then dived again in the same street, and,
+like a little river, flowed through the cellars of the old justice-room,
+which was built by the renowned Oluf Bagger. [Author’s Note: He was so
+rich that once, when Frederick the Second visited him, he had the room
+heated with cinnamon chips. Much may be found about this remarkable
+man in the second collection of Thiele’s Popular Danish Legends. His
+descendants still live in Odense, namely, the family of the printer Ch.
+Iversen, who has preserved many curiosities which belonged to him.]
+
+It was an afternoon in the summer of 1810; the water was high in the
+brook, yet two washerwomen were busily employed in it; reed-matting
+was fast bound round their bodies, and they beat with wooden staves the
+clothes upon their washing-stools. They were in deep conversation, and
+yet their labor went on uninterruptedly.
+
+“Yes,” said one of them, “better a little with honor, than much with
+dishonor. She is sentenced; to-morrow she is to go about in the pillory.
+That is sure and certain! I know it from the trumpeter’s Karen, and from
+the beggar-king’s [Author’s Note: Overseer of the poor.] wife: neither
+of them go about with lies.”
+
+“Ih, my Jesus!” exclaimed the other, and let her wooden beater fall, “is
+Johanne Marie to go in the pillory, the handsome girl? she that looked
+so clever and dressed herself so well?”
+
+“Yes, it is a misfortune!” said the first; “a great misfortune it must
+be! No, let every one keep his own! say I every day to my children.
+After the sweet claw comes the bitter smart. One had much better work
+till the blood starts from the finger-ends.”
+
+“Ih, see though!” said the other; “there goes the old fellow, Johanne
+Marie’s father. He is an honest man; he was so pleased with his
+daughter, and to-morrow he must himself bind her to the pillory! But can
+she really have stolen?”
+
+“She has herself confessed,” returned she; “and the Colonel is severe. I
+fancy the Gevaldiger is going there.”
+
+“The Colonel should put the bridle on his own son. He is a bad fellow!
+Not long ago, when I was washing yarn there, and was merry, as I always
+am, he called me ‘wench.’ If he had said ‘woman,’ I should not have
+troubled myself about it, for it has another meaning; but ‘wench,’ that
+is rude! Ei, there sails the whole affair!” screamed she suddenly, as
+the sheet which she had wound round the washing-stool got loose and
+floated down the stream: she ran after it, and the conversation was
+broken off.
+
+The old man whom they had seen and compassionated, went into a great
+house close by, where the Colonel lived. His eyes were cast upon the
+ground; a deep, silent suffering lay in his wrinkled face; he gently
+pulled at the bell, and bowed himself deeply before the black-appareled
+lady who opened to him the door.
+
+We know her--it was the old Rosalie, then twenty years younger than when
+we saw her upon the western coast of Jutland.
+
+“Good old man!” said she, and laid her hand kindly on his shoulder.
+“Colonel Thostrup is severe, but he is not, however, inhuman; and that
+he would be if he let you tomorrow do your office. The Colonel has said
+that the Gevaldiger should stay at home.”
+
+“No!” said the old man, “our Lord will give me strength. God be thanked
+that Johanne Marie’s mother has closed her eyes: she will not see the
+misery! We are not guilty of it!”
+
+“Honest man!” said Rosalie. “Johanne was always so good and clever;
+and now”--she shook her head--“I would have sworn for her, but she has
+confessed it herself!”
+
+“The law must have its course!” said the old man, and tears streamed
+down his cheeks.
+
+At that moment the door opened, and Colonel Thostrup, a tall, thin man,
+with a keen eye, stood before them. Rosalie left the room.
+
+“Gevaldiger,” said the Colonel, “to-morrow you will not be required to
+act in your office.”
+
+“Colonel,” returned the old man, “it is my duty to be there, and, if I
+may say a few words, people would speak ill of me if I kept away.”
+
+On the following forenoon, from the early morning, the square where lay
+the council-house and head-watch, was filled with people; they were come
+to see the handsome girl led forth in the pillory. The time began
+to appear long to them, and yet no sign was seen of that which they
+expected. The sentinel, who went with measured step backward and forward
+before the sentry-box, could give no intelligence. The door of the
+council-house was closed, and everything gave occasion to the report
+which suddenly was put into circulation, that the handsome Johanne Marie
+had been for a whole hour in the pillory within the council-house, and
+thus they should have nothing at all to see. Although it is entirely
+opposed to sound reason that punishment should be inflicted publicly, it
+met with much support, and great dissatisfaction was excited.
+
+“That is shabby!” said a simple woman, in whom we may recognize one of
+the washerwomen; “it is shabby thus to treat the folks as if they were
+fools! Yesterday I slaved like a horse, and here one has stood two whole
+hours by the clock, till I am stiff in the legs, without seeing anything
+at all!”
+
+“That is what I expected,” said another woman; “a fair face has many
+friends! She has known how to win the great people to her side!”
+
+“Do not you believe,” inquired a third, “that she has been good friends
+with the Colonels son?”
+
+“Yes; formerly I would have said No, because she always looked so
+steady, and against her parents there is not a word to be said; but as
+she has stolen, as we know she has, she may also have been unsteady.
+The Colonel’s son is a wild bird; riots and drinks does he in secret! We
+others know more than his father does: he had held too tight a hand over
+him. Too great severity causes bad blood!”
+
+“God help me, now it begins!” interrupted another woman, as a detachment
+of soldiers marched out of the guard-house, and at some little distance
+one from the other inclosed an open space. The door of the council-house
+now opened, and two officers of police, together with some of the guard,
+conducted out the condemned, who was placed in the pillory. This was a
+sort of wooden yoke laid across the shoulders of the delinquent; a piece
+of wood came forward from this into which her hands were secured: above
+all stood two iron bars, to the first of which was fastened a little
+bell; to the other a long fox’s tail, which hung down the lack of the
+condemned.
+
+The girl seemed hardly more than nineteen, and was of an unusually
+beautiful figure; her countenance was nobly and delicately formed,
+but pale as death: yet there was no expression either of suffering or
+shame,--she seemed like the image of a penitent, who meekly accomplishes
+the imposed penance.
+
+Her aged father, the Gevaldiger, followed her slowly; his eye was
+determined; no feature expressed that which went forward in his soul:
+he silently took his place beside one of the pillars before the guard
+house.
+
+A loud murmur arose among the crowd when they saw the beautiful girl and
+the poor old father, who must himself see his daughter’s disgrace.
+
+A spotted dog sprang into the open space; the girl’s monotonous tread,
+as she advanced into the middle of the square, the ringing of the little
+bell, and the fox-tail which moved in the wind, excited the dog, which
+began to bark, and wanted to bite the fox’s tail. The guards drove the
+dog away, but it soon came back again, although it did not venture again
+into the circle, but thrust itself forward, and never ceased barking.
+
+Many of those who already had been moved to compassion by the beauty
+of the girl and the sight of the old father, were thrown again by this
+incident into a merry humor; they laughed and found the whole thing very
+amusing.
+
+The hour was past, and the girl was now to be released. The Gevaldiger
+approached her, but whilst he raised his hand to the yoke the old
+man tottered, and sank, in the same moment, back upon the hard stone
+pavement.
+
+A shriek arose from those who stood around; the young girl alone stood
+silent and immovable; her thoughts seemed to be far away. Yet some
+people fancied they saw how she closed her eyes, but that was only for
+a moment. A policeman released her from the pillory, her old father
+was carried into the guard-house, and two policemen led her into the
+council-house.
+
+“See, now it is over!” said an old glover, who was among the spectators;
+“the next time she’ll get into the House of Correction.”
+
+“O, it is not so bad there,” answered another; “they sing and are merry
+there the whole day long, and have no need to trouble themselves about
+victuals.”
+
+“Yes, but that is prison fare.”
+
+“It is not so bad--many a poor body would thank God for it; and Johanne
+Marie would get the best of it. Her aunt is the head-cook, and the cook
+and the inspector they hang together. It’s my opinion, however, that
+this affair will take the life out of the old man. He got a right
+good bump as he fell on the stone-pavement; one could hear how it rung
+again.”
+
+The crowd separated.
+
+The last malicious voice had prophesied truth.
+
+Three weeks afterward six soldiers bore a woven, yellow straw coffin
+from a poor house in East Street. The old Gevaldiger lay, with closed
+eyes and folded hands, in the coffin. Within the chamber, upon the
+bedstead, sat Johanne Marie, with a countenance pale as that of the dead
+which had been carried away. A compassionate neighbor took her hand, and
+mentioned her name several times before she heard her.
+
+“Johanne, come in with me; eat a mouthful of pease and keep life in
+you; if not for your own sake, at least for that of the child which lies
+under your heart.”
+
+The girl heaved a wonderfully deep sigh. “No, no!” said she, and closed
+her eyes.
+
+Full of pity, the good neighbor took her home with her.
+
+A few days passed on, and then one morning two policemen entered the
+poor room in which the Gevaldiger had died. Johanne Marie was again
+summoned before the judge.
+
+A fresh robbery had taken place at the Colonel’s. Rosalie said that it
+was a long time since she had first missed that which was gone, but that
+she thought it best to try to forget it. The Colonel’s violent temper
+and his exasperation against Johanne Marie, who, as he asserted, by
+her bad conduct, had brought her old, excellent father to the grave,
+insisted on summoning her before the tribunal, that the affair might be
+more narrowly inquired into.
+
+Rosalie, who had been captivated by the beauty of the girl and by her
+modest demeanor, and who was very fond of her, was this time quite calm,
+feeling quite sure that she would deny everything, because, in fact,
+the theft had only occurred within the last few days. The public became
+aware of this before long, and the opinion was that Johanne Marie could
+not possibly have been an actor in it; but, to the astonishment of the
+greater number, she confessed that she was the guilty person, and that
+with such calmness as amazed every one. Her noble, beautifully
+formed countenance seemed bloodless; her dark-blue eyes beamed with a
+brilliancy which seemed like that of delirium; her beauty, her calmness,
+and yet this obduracy in crime, produced an extraordinary impression
+upon the spectators.
+
+She was sentenced to the House of Correction in Odense. Despised and
+repulsed by the better class of her fellow-beings, she went to her
+punishment. No one had dreamed that under so fair a form so corrupt a
+soul could have been found. She was set to the spinning-wheel; silent
+and introverted, she accomplished the tasks that were assigned her. In
+the coarse merriment of the other prisoners she took no part.
+
+“Don’t let your heart sink within you, Johanne Marie,” said German
+Heinrich, who sat at the loom; “sing with us till the iron bars rattle!”
+
+“Johanne, you brought your old father to the grave,” said her relation,
+the head-cook; “how could you have taken such bad courses?”
+
+Johanne Marie was silent; the large, dark eyes looked straight before
+her, whilst she kept turning the wheel.
+
+Five months went on, and then she became ill--ill to death, and
+gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl--two beautiful and well-formed
+children, excepting that the girl was as small and delicate as if its
+life hung on a thread.
+
+The dying mother kissed the little ones and wept; it was the first time
+that the people within the prison had seen her weep. Her relation the
+cook sat alone with her upon the bed.
+
+“Withdraw not your hand from the innocent children,” said Johanne Marie;
+“if they live to grow up, tell them some time that their mother was
+innocent. My eternal Saviour knows that I have never stolen! Innocent
+am I, and innocent was I when I went out a spectacle of public derision,
+and now when I sit here!”
+
+“Ih, Jesus though! What do you say?” exclaimed the woman.
+
+“The truth!” answered the dying one. “God be gracious to me!--my
+children!”
+
+She sank back upon the couch, and was dead.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIV
+
+     “Ah! wonderfully beautiful is God’s earth, and worthy it is
+     to live contented.”--HÖLTY.
+
+We now return to the hall in Funen, to the family which we left there;
+but autumn and winter are gone whilst we have been lingering on the
+past. Otto and Wilhelm have been two months away. It is the autumn of
+1832.
+
+The marriage of the Kammerjunker and Sophie was deferred, according to
+her wish, until the second of April, because this day is immortal in the
+annals of Denmark. In the house, where there now were only the mother,
+Louise, and Eva, all was quiet. Through the whole winter Eva had become
+weaker; yet she did not resemble the flowers which wither; there was no
+expression of illness about her--it was much more as if the spiritual
+nature overpowered the bodily; she resembled an astral lamp which,
+filled with light, seems almost resembled be an ethereal existence. The
+dark-blue eyes had an expression of soul and feeling which attracted
+even the simple domestics at the hall. The physician assured them that
+her chest was sound, and that her malady was to him a riddle. A
+beautiful summer, he thought, would work beneficially upon her.
+
+Wilhelm and Otto wrote alternately. It was a festival-day whenever a
+letter came; then were maps and plans of the great cities fetched out,
+and Louise and Eva made the journey with them.
+
+“To-day they are here, to-morrow they will be there,” cried they.
+
+“How I envy them both, to see all these glorious things!” said Louise.
+
+“The charming Switzerland!” sighed Eva. “How refreshing the air must be
+to breathe! How well one must feel one’s self there!”
+
+“If you could only go there, Eva,” said Louise, “then you would
+certainly get better.”
+
+“Here all are so kind to me; here I am so happy!” answered she. “I am
+right thankful to God for it. How could I have hoped for such a home as
+this? God reward you and your good mother for your kindness to me.
+Once I was so unhappy; but now I have had a double repayment for all
+my sorrow, and all the neglect I have suffered. I am so happy, and
+therefore I would so willingly live!”
+
+“Yes, and you shall live!” said Louise. “How came you now to think about
+dying? In the summer you will perfectly recover, the physician says. Can
+you hide from me any sorrow? Eva, I know that my brother loves you!”
+
+“He will forget that abroad!” said Eva. “He must forget it! Could I
+be ungrateful? But we are not suited for each other!” She spoke of her
+childhood, of long-passed, sorrowful days. Louise laid her arm upon
+her shoulder: they talked till late in the evening, and tears stood in
+Louise’s eyes.
+
+“Only to you could I tell it!” said Eva. “It is to me like a sin, and
+yet I am innocent. My mother was so too--my poor mother! Her sin was
+love. She sacrificed all; more than a woman should sacrifice. The old
+Colonel was stern and violent. His wrath often became a sort of frenzy,
+in which he knew not what he did. The son was young and dissipated; my
+mother a poor girl, but very handsome, I have heard. He seduced her.
+She had become an unfortunate being, and that she herself felt. The
+Colonel’s son robbed his father and an old woman who lived in the
+family: that which had been taken was missed. The father would have
+murdered the son, had he discovered the truth; the son, therefore,
+sought in his need help from my poor mother. He persuaded her to save
+him by taking the guilt on herself. The whole affair as regarded her
+was, he intended, only to come from the domestics. She thought that with
+her honor all was lost. She, indeed, had already given him the best of
+which she was possessed. In anguish of heart, and overpowered by his
+prayers, she said, ‘Yes; my father has been angry and undone already.’”
+
+Eva burst into tears.
+
+“Thou dear, good girl!” said Louise, and kissed her forehead.
+
+“My poor mother,” continued Eva, “was condemned to an undeserved
+punishment. I cannot mention it. For that reason I have never had a
+desire to go to Odense. The old lady in the Colonel’s family concealed,
+out of kindness, her loss; but by accident it was discovered. The
+Colonel was greatly embittered. My mother was overwhelmed by shame and
+misfortune: the first error had plunged her into all this. She was
+taken to the House of Correction in Odense. The Colonel’s son shortly
+afterward went away in a vessel. My unhappy mother was dispirited:
+nobody knew that she had endured, out of despair and love, a disgrace
+which she had not deserved. It was not until she lay upon her death-bed,
+when I and my brother were born, that she told a relation that she was
+innocent. Like a criminal, in the early morning she was carried to
+the grave in a coffin of plaited straw. A great and a noble heart was
+carried unacknowledged to the dead!”
+
+“You had a brother?” inquired Louise, and her heart beat violently. “Did
+he die? and where did you, poor children, remain?”
+
+“The cook in the house kept us with her. I was small and weak; my
+brother, on the contrary, was strong, and full of life. He lived mostly
+among the prisoners. I sat in a little room with my doll. When we were
+in our seventh year, we were sent for to the old Colonel. His son died
+abroad; but before his death he had written to the old man, confessing
+to him his crime, my mother’s innocence, and that we were his children!
+I resembled my father greatly. The old gentleman, as soon as he saw
+me, was very angry, and said, ‘I will not have her!’ I remained with my
+foster-mother. I never saw my brother after that time. The Colonel left
+the city, and took him with him.”
+
+“O God!” cried Louise; “you have still some papers on this subject? Do
+you not know your brother? It is impossible that it should be otherwise!
+You are Otto’s sister!”
+
+“O Heavens!” exclaimed Eva; her hands trembled, and she became as pale
+as a corpse.
+
+“You are fainting!” cried Louise, throwing her arm around her waist and
+kissing her eyes and her cheeks. “Eva! he is your brother! the dear,
+good Otto! O, he will be so happy with you! Yes, your eyes are like his!
+Eva, you beloved girl!”
+
+Louise related to her all that Otto had confided to her. She told her
+about German Heinrich, and how Otto had assisted Sidsel away, and how
+they had met.
+
+Eva burst into tears. “My brother! O Father in heaven, that I may but
+live! live and see him! Life is so beautiful! I must not die!”
+
+“Happiness will make you strong! There is no doubt but that he is your
+brother! We must tell it to mamma. O Heavens! how delighted she will be!
+and Otto will no longer suffer and be unhappy! He may be proud of you,
+and happy in you! O, come, come!”
+
+She led Eva out with her to her mother, who was already in bed; but how
+could Louise wait till next morning?
+
+“May the Lord bless thee, my good child!” said the lady, and pressed a
+kiss upon her forehead.
+
+Eva related now how the Colonel had, given a considerable sum to
+her foster-mother; but that was all she was to receive, he had said.
+Afterward, when the foster-mother died, Eva had still two hundred
+rix-dollars; and on consideration of this the sister of the deceased
+had taken Eva to live with her. With her she came to Copenhagen and to
+Nyboder, and at that time she was ten years old. There she had to nurse
+a little child--her brother she called it--and that was the little
+Jonas. As she grew older, people told her that she was handsome. It was
+now four years since she was followed one evening by two young men, one
+of whom we know--our moral Hans Peter. One morning her foster-mother
+came to her with a proposal which drove her to despair. The merchant
+had seen her, and wished to purchase the beautiful flower. Upon this Eva
+left her home, and came to the excellent people at Roeskelde; and from
+that day God had been very good to her.
+
+She sank down upon her knees before the elderly lady’s bed. She was not
+among strangers: a mother and a sister wept with the happy one.
+
+“O that I might live!” besought Eva, in the depths of her heart. As a
+glorified one she stood before them. Her joy beamed through tears.
+
+The next morning she felt herself singularly unwell. Her feet trembled;
+her cheeks were like marble. She seated herself in the warm sunshine
+which came in through the window. Outside stood the trees with large,
+half-bursting buds. A few mild nights would make the wood green. But
+summer was already in Eva’s heart; there was life’s joy and gladness.
+Her large, thoughtful eyes raised themselves thankfully to heaven.
+
+“Let me not die yet, good God!” prayed she; and her lips moved to a low
+melody, soft as if breezes passed over the outstretched chords:--
+
+           “The sunshine warm, the odorous flowers,
+            Of these do not bereave me!
+            I breathe with joy the morning hours,
+            Let not the grave receive me!
+            There can no pleasant sunbeams fall,
+            No human voice come near me;
+            There should I miss the flow’rets small,
+            There have no friends to cheer me.
+
+            Now, how to value life I know--
+            I hold it as a treasure;
+            There is no love i’ th’ grave below,
+            No music, warmth, or pleasure.
+            On it the heavy earth is flung,
+            The coffin-lid shuts tightly!
+            My blood is warm, my soul is young!
+            Life smiles--life shines so brightly!”
+
+She folded her hands: all became like flowers and gold before her eyes.
+Afar off was the sound of music: she reeled and sank down upon the sofa
+which was near her. Life flowed forth from her heart, but the sensation
+was one of bliss; a repose, as when the weary bow down their heads for
+sleep.
+
+“Here is a letter!” cried Louise, full of joy, and found her white and
+cold. Terrified, she called for help, and bent over her.
+
+Eva was dead.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLV
+
+     “Knowest thou the mountain and its cloudy paths? where the
+     mule is seeking its misty way.”--GOETHE.
+
+The letter was from Wilhelm; every line breathed life’s joy and
+gladness.
+
+“MIA CARA SORELLA!
+
+“Does it not sound beautifully? It is Italian! Now then, I am in that
+so-often-sung-of Paradise, but of the so much-talked-about blue air,
+I have as yet seen nothing of consequence. Here it is gray, gray as in
+Denmark. To be sure Otto says that it is beautiful, that we have the
+heaven of home above us, but I am not so poetical. The eating is
+good, and the filth of the people strikes one horribly after being in
+Switzerland, the enchanting Switzerland! Yes, there is nature! We have
+made a crusade through it, you may think. But now you shall hear about
+the journey, and the entrance into ‘la bella Italia,’ which is yet below
+all my expectations. I cannot at all bear these feeble people; I cannot
+endure this monk-odor and untruthfulness. We are come direct from the
+scenery of Switzerland, from clouds and glaciers, from greatness and
+power. We travelled somewhat hastily through the valley of the Rhone;
+the weather was gray, but the whole obtained therefrom a peculiar
+character. The woods in the lofty ridges looked like heather; the valley
+itself seemed like a garden filled with vegetables, vineyards, and green
+meadows. The clouds over and under one another, but the snow-covered
+mountains peeped forth gloriously from among them, It was a riven
+cloud-world which drove past,--the wild chase with which the daylight
+had disguised itself. It kissed in its flight Pissevache, a waterfall
+by no means to be despised. In Brieg we rested some time, but at two
+o’clock in the morning began again our journey over the Simplon. This is
+the journey which I will describe to you. Otto and I sat in the coupée.
+Fancy us in white blouses, shawl-caps, and with green morocco slippers,
+for the devil may travel in slippers--they are painful to the feet.
+
+“We both of us have mustaches! I have seduced Otto. They become us
+uncommonly well, and give us a very imposing air; and that is very good
+now that we are come into the land of banditti, where we must endeavor
+to awe the robbers. Thus travelled we. It was a dark night, and still
+as death, as in the moment when the overture begins to an opera. Soon,
+indeed, was the great Simplon curtain to be rolled up, and we to behold
+the land of music. Immediately on leaving the city, the road began to
+ascend; we could not see a hand before us; around us tumbled and roared
+the water-courses,--it was as if we heard the pulse of Nature beat.
+Close above the carriage passed the white clouds; they seemed like
+transparent marble slabs which were slid over us. We had the gray dawn
+with us, whilst deep in the valley lay yet the darkness of night; in
+an hour’s time it began to show itself there among the little wooden
+houses.
+
+“It is a road hewn out of the rocks. The giant Napoleon carried it
+through the backbone of the earth. The eagle, Napoleon’s bird, flew like
+a living armorial crest over the gigantic work of the master. There it
+was cold and gray; the clouds above us, the clouds below us, and in the
+middle space steep rocky walls.
+
+“At regular distances houses (relais) are erected for the travellers;
+in one of these we drank our coffee. The passengers sat on benches and
+tables around the great fire-place, where the pine logs crackled. More
+than a thousand names were written on the walls. I amused myself by
+writing mamma’s, yours, Sophie’s, and Eva’s; now they stand there, and
+people will fancy that you have been on the Simplon. In the lobby I
+scratched in that of Mamsell, and added ‘Without her workbox.’ Otto
+was thinking about you. We talked in our, what the rest would call
+‘outlandish speech,’ when I all at once exclaimed, ‘It is really Eva’s
+birthday!’ I remembered it first. In Simplon town we determined to drink
+her health.
+
+“We set off again. Wherever the glaciers might fall and destroy the road
+the rocks have been sprung, and formed into great galleries, through
+which one drives without any danger. One waterfall succeeds another.
+There is no balustrade along the road, only the dark, deep abyss where
+the pine-trees raise themselves to an immense height, and yet only look
+like rafters on the mighty wall of rock. Before we had advanced much
+further, we came to where trees no longer grew. The great hospice lay in
+snow and cloud. We came into a valley. What solitude! what desolation!
+only naked crags! They seemed metallic, and all had a green hue. The
+utmost variety of mosses grew there; before us towered up an immense
+glacier, which looked like green bottle-glass ornamented with snow.
+It was bitterly cold here, and in Simplon the stoves were lighted; the
+champagne foamed, Eva’s health was drunk, and, only think! at that very
+moment an avalanche was so gallant as to fall. That was a cannonade; a
+pealing among the mountains! It must have rung in Eva’s ears. Ask her
+about it. I can see how she smiles.
+
+“We now advanced toward Italy, but cold was it, and cold it remained.
+The landscape became savage; we drove between steep crags. Only fancy,
+on both sides a block of granite several miles long, and almost as high,
+and the road not wider than for two carriages to pass, and there you
+have a picture of it. If one wanted to see the sky, one was obliged to
+put one’s head out of the carriage and look up, and then it was as if
+one looked up from the bottom of the deepest well, dark and narrow.
+Every moment I kept thinking, ‘Nay, if these two walls should come
+together!’ We with carriage and horses were only like ants on a pebble.
+We drove through the ribs of the earth! The water roared; the clouds
+hung like fleeces on the gray, craggy walls. In a valley we saw boys
+and girls dressed in sheep-skins, who looked as wild as if they had been
+brought up among beasts.
+
+“Suddenly the air became wondrously mild. We saw the first fig-tree by
+the road-side. Chestnuts hung over our heads; we were in Isella, the
+boundary town of Italy. Otto sang, and was wild with delight; I studied
+the first public-house sign, ‘Tabacca e vino.’
+
+“How luxuriant became the landscape! Fields of maize and vineyards! The
+vine was not trained on frames as in Germany!--no, it hung in luxuriant
+garlands, in great huts of leaves! Beautiful children bounded along the
+road, but the heavens were gray, and that I had not expected in Italy.
+From Domo d’Ossola, I looked back to my beloved Switzerland! Yes, she
+turns truly the most beautiful side toward Italy. But there was not
+any time for me to gaze; on we must. In the carriage there sat an old
+Signorina; she recited poetry, and made: with her eyes ‘che bella cosa!’
+
+“About ten o’clock at night we were in Baveno, drank tea, and slept,
+whilst Lago Maggiore splashed under our window. The lake and the
+Borromaen island we were to see by daylight.
+
+“‘Lord God!’ thought I, ‘is this all?’ A scene as quiet and riant as
+this we--have at home! Funen after this should be called Isola bella,
+and the East Sea is quite large enough to be called Lago Maggiore. We
+went by the steamboat past the holy Borromeus [Author’s Note: A colossal
+statue on the shore of Lago Maggiore.] to Sesto de Calende; we had a
+priest on board, who was very much astonished at our having come from so
+far. I showed him a large travelling map which we had with us, where
+the Lago Maggiore was the most southern, and Hamburg the most northern
+point. ‘Yet still further off,’ said I; ‘more to the north!’ and he
+struck his hands together when he perceived that we were from beyond the
+great map. He inquired whether we were Calvinists.
+
+“We sped through glorious scenes. The Alps looked like glass mountains
+in a fairy tale. They lay behind us. The air was warm as summer, but
+light as on the high mountains. The women wafted kisses to us; but they
+were not handsome, the good ladies!
+
+“Tell the Kammerjunker that the Italian pigs have no bristles, but have
+a coal-black shining skin like a Moor.
+
+“Toward night we arrived at Milan, where we located ourselves with
+Reichmann, made a good supper, and had excellent beds; but I foresee
+that this bliss will not last very long. On the other side of the
+Apennines we shall be up to the ears in dirt, and must eat olives
+preserved in oil; but let it pass. Otto adapts himself charmingly to
+all things; he begins to be merry--that is, at times! I, too, have had
+a sort of vertigo--I am taken with Italian music; but then there is a
+difference in hearing it on the spot. It has more than melody; it has
+character. The luxuriance in nature and in the female form; the light,
+fluttering movement of the people, where even pain is melody, has won my
+heart and my understanding. Travelling changes people!
+
+“Kiss mamma for me! Tell Eva about the health-drinking on the Simplon,
+and about the falling avalanche: do not forget that; that is precisely
+the point in my letter! Tell me too how Eva blushed, and smiled, and
+said, ‘He thought of me!’ Yes, in fact it is very noble of me. My sweet
+Sophie and her Kammerjunker, Jakoba and Mamsell, must have a bouquet of
+greetings, which you must arrange properly. If you could but see Otto
+and me with our mustaches! We make an impression, and that is very
+pleasant. If the days only did not go on so quickly--if life did not
+pass so rapidly!
+
+           “‘Questa vita mortale
+             Che par si bella, a quasi piuma al vento
+             Che la porta a la perde in un momento,’ [Note: Guarini]
+
+as we Italians say. Cannot you understand that?
+
+“Thy affectionate brother,
+
+“WILHELM.”
+
+Otto wrote in the margin of the letter, “Italy is a paradise! Here the
+heavens are three times as lofty as at home. I love the proud pine-trees
+and the dark-blue mountains. Would hat everybody could see the glorious
+objects!”
+
+Wilhelm added to this, “What he writes about the Italian heavens is
+stupid stuff. Ours at home is just as good. He is an odd person, as you
+very well know!
+
+“‘Addic! A rivederci!’”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVI
+
+     “Thou art master in thy world.
+     Hast thou thyself, then thou hast all!”
+      --WAHLMANN.
+
+In the summer of 1834 the friends had been absent for two years. In the
+last year, violet-colored gillyflowers had adorned a grave in the little
+country church-yard.
+
+     “A heart which overflowed with love,
+     Was gone from earth to love and God,”
+      were the words which might be read upon the grave-stone.
+
+A withered bouquet of stocks had been found by Louise, with the
+certificate of Eva’s birth and her hymn-book. These were the flowers
+which Wilhelm had given her that evening at Roeskelde. Among the dry
+leaves there lay a piece of paper, on which she had written,--“Even like
+these flowers let the feelings die away in my soul which these flowers
+inspire it with!”
+
+And now above her grave the flowers which she had loved sent forth their
+fragrance.
+
+It was Sunday; the sun shone warm; the church-goers, old and young,
+assembled under the great lime-tree near Eva’s grave. They expected
+their young preacher, who to-day was to preach for the third time.
+
+The gentlefolks would also certainly be there, they thought, because the
+young Baron was come back out of foreign parts, and with him the other
+gentleman, who certainly was to have Miss Louise.
+
+“Our new preacher is worth hearing,” said one of the peasant women;
+“such a young man, who actually preaches the old faith! as gentle and as
+meek in conversation as if he were one of ourselves! And in the pulpit,
+God help us! it went quite down into my legs the last time about the Day
+of Judgment!”
+
+“There is Father!” [Note: The general term applied to the preacher by
+the Danish peasants.] exclaimed the crowd, and the heads of old and
+young were uncovered. The women courtesied deeply as a young man in
+priest-robes went into the church-door. His eyes and lips moved to a
+pious smile, the hair was smooth upon his pale forehead.
+
+“Good day, children!” said he.
+
+It was Hans Peter. He had, indeed, had “the best characters,” and thus
+had received a good living, and now preached effectively about the devil
+and all his works.
+
+The singing of the community sounded above the grave where the sun
+shone, where the stocks sent forth their fragrance, and where Eva slept:
+she whose last wish was to live.
+
+     “There is no love i’ th’ grave below,
+     No music, warmth, or pleasure.”
+
+The earth lay firm and heavy upon her coffin-lid.
+
+During the singing of the second hymn a handsome carriage drove up
+before the church-yard. The two friends, who were only just returned to
+their home in Denmark, entered the church, together with the mother and
+Louise.
+
+Travelling and two years had made Wilhelm appear somewhat older;
+there was a shadow of sadness in his otherwise open and life-rejoicing
+countenance. Otto looked handsomer than formerly; the gloomy expression
+in his face was softened, he looked around cheerfully, yet thoughtfully,
+and a smile was on his lips when he spoke with Louise.
+
+There was in the sermon some allusion made to those who had returned
+home; for the rest, it was a flowery discourse interlarded with many
+texts from the Bible. The community shed tears; the good, wise people,
+they understood it to mean that their young lord was returned home
+uninjured from all the perils which abound in foreign lands.
+
+The preacher was invited to dinner at the hall. The Kammerjunker and
+Sophie came also, but it lasted “seven long and seven wide,” as
+Miss Jakoba expressed herself, before they could get through all the
+unwrapping and were ready to enter the parlor, for they had with them
+the little son Fergus, as he was called, after the handsome Scotchman in
+Sir Walter Scott’s “Waverley.” That was Sophie’s wish. The Kammerjunker
+turned the name of Fergus to Gusseman, and Jacoba asserted that it was a
+dog’s name.
+
+“Now you shall see my little bumpkin!” said he, and brought in a
+square-built child, who with fat, red cheeks, and round arms, stared
+around him. “That is a strong fellow! Here is something to take hold of!
+Tralla-ralla-ralla!” And he danced him round the room.
+
+Sophie laughed and offered her hand to Otto.
+
+Wilhelm turned to Mamsell. “I have brought something for you,” said he,
+“something which I hope may find a place in the work-box--a man made of
+very small mussel-shells; it is from Venice.”
+
+“Heavens! from all that way off!” said she and courtesied.
+
+After dinner they walked in the garden.
+
+Wilhelm spoke already of going the following year again to Paris.
+
+“Satan!” said the Kammerjunker. “Nay, I can do better with Mr. Thostrup.
+He is patriotic. He lays out his money in an estate. It is a good
+bargain which you have made, and in a while will be beautiful; there is
+hill and dale.”
+
+“There my old Rosalie shall live with me,” said Otto; “there she will
+find her Switzerland. The cows shall have bells on their necks.”
+
+“Lord God! shall they also be made fools of?” exclaimed Jakoba: “that is
+just exactly as if it were Sophie.”
+
+They went through the avenue where Otto two years before had wept, and
+had related all his troubles to Louise. He recollected it, and a gentle
+sigh passed his lips whilst his eyes rested on Louise.
+
+“Now, do you feel yourself happy at home?” asked she; “a lovelier
+summer’s day than this you certainly have not abroad.”
+
+“Every country has its own beauties,” replied Otto. “Our Denmark is not
+a step child of Nature. The people here are dearest to me, for I am
+best acquainted with them. They, and not Nature, it is that makes a
+land charming. Denmark is a good land; and here also will I look for my
+happiness.” He seized Louise’s hand; she blushed, and was silent. Happy
+hours succeeded.
+
+This circle assembled every Sunday; on the third, their delight was
+greater, was more festal than on any former occasion.
+
+Nature herself had the same expression. The evening was most beautiful;
+the full moon shone, magnificent dark-blue clouds raised themselves like
+mountains on the other side the Belt. Afar off sailed the ships, with
+every sail set to catch the breeze.
+
+Below the moon floated a coal-black cloud, which foretold a squall.
+
+A little yacht went calmly over the water. At the helm sat a boy--half
+a child he seemed: it was Jonas, the little singing-bird, as Wilhelm had
+once called him. Last Whitsuntide he had been confirmed, and with his
+Confirmation all his singer-dreams were at an end: but that did not
+trouble him; on the contrary, it had lain very heavy upon his heart that
+he was not to be a fifer. His highest wish had been to see himself as
+a regimental fifer, and then he should have gone to his Confirmation in
+his red uniform, with a sabre at his side, and a feather in his hat half
+as tall as himself. Thus adorned, he might have gone with the girls
+into the King’s Garden and upon the Round Tower, the usual walk for poor
+children in Copenhagen. On Confirmation-day they ascend the high tower,
+just as if it were to gain from it a free view over the world. Little
+Jonas, however, was confirmed as a sailor, and he now sat at the helm on
+this quiet night.
+
+Upon the deck lay two persons and slept; a third went tranquilly up
+and down. Suddenly he shook one of the sleepers, and caught hold on
+the sail. A squall had arisen with such rapidity and strength, that the
+vessel in a moment was thrown on her side. Mast and sail were below the
+water. Little Jonas uttered a shriek. Not a vessel was within sight.
+The two sleepers had woke in time to cling to the mast. With great
+force they seized the ropes, but in vain; the sail hung like lead in the
+water. The ship did not right herself.
+
+“Joseph, Maria!” exclaimed one of them, a man with gray hairs and
+unpleasing features. “We sink! the water is in the hold!”
+
+All three clambered now toward the hinder part of the vessel, where a
+little boat floated after. One of them sprang into it.
+
+“My daughter!” cried the elder, and bent himself toward the narrow
+entrance into the cabin. “Sidsel, save thy life!” and so saying, he
+sprang into the boat.
+
+“We must have my daughter out,” cried he. One of the ship’s cabin
+windows was under water; he burst in the other window.
+
+“We are sinking!” cried he, and a horrible scream was heard within.
+
+The old man was German Heinrich, who was about to come with this vessel
+from Copenhagen to Jutland: Sidsel was his daughter, and therefore he
+wished now to save her life a second time.
+
+The water rushed more and more into the ship. Heinrich thrust his arm
+through the cabin-window, he grasped about in the water within; suddenly
+he caught hold on a garment, he drew it toward him; but it was only the
+captain’s coat, and not his daughter, as he had hoped.
+
+“The ship sinks!” shrieked the other, and grasped wildly on the rope
+which held the boat fast: in vain he attempted to divide it with his
+pocket-knife. The ship whirled round with the boat and all. Air and
+water boiled within it, and, as if in a whirlpool, the whole sunk into
+the deep. The sea agitated itself into strong surges over the place, and
+then was again still. The moon shone tranquilly over the surface of the
+water as before. No wreck remained to tell any one of the struggle which
+there had been with death.
+
+The bell tolled a quarter past twelve; and at that moment the last light
+at the hall was extinguished.
+
+“I will go to Paris,” said Wilhelm, “to my glorious Switzerland; here
+at home one is heavy-hearted; the gillyflowers on the grave have an odor
+full of melancholy recollections. I must breathe the mountain air;
+I must mingle in the tumult of men, and it is quite the best in the
+world.”
+
+Otto closed his eyes; he folded his hands.
+
+“Louise loves me,” said he. “I am so happy that I fear some great
+misfortune may soon meet me; thus it used always to be. Whilst German
+Heinrich lives I cannot assure myself of good! If he were away, I should
+be perfectly tranquil, perfectly happy!”
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of O. T., by Hans Christian Andersen
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of O. T., by Hans Christian Andersen
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: O. T.
+       A Danish Romance
+
+Author: Hans Christian Andersen
+
+Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7513]
+Posting Date: August 3, 2009
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK O. T. ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nicole Apostola
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+O. T.
+
+A Danish Romance
+
+by Hans Christian Andersen
+
+Author of the "Improvisatore" and the "Two Baronesses"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+     "Quod felix faustumque sit!"
+
+There is a happiness which no poet has yet properly sung, which no
+lady-reader, let her be ever so amiable, has experienced or ever will
+experience in this world. This is a condition of happiness which alone
+belongs to the male sex, and even then alone to the elect. It is a
+moment of life which seizes upon our feelings, our minds, our whole
+being. Tears have been shed by the innocent, sleepless nights been
+passed, during which the pious mother, the loving sister, have put up
+prayers to God for this critical moment in the life of the son or the
+brother.
+
+Happy moment, which no woman, let her be ever so good, so beautiful,
+or intellectual, can experience--that of becoming a student, or, to
+describe it by a more usual term, the passing of the first examination!
+
+The cadet who becomes an officer, the scholar who becomes an academical
+burgher, the apprentice who becomes a journeyman, all know, in a greater
+or less degree, this loosening of the wings, this bounding over the
+limits of maturity into the lists of philosophy. We all strive after
+a wider field, and rush thither like the stream which at length loses
+itself in the ocean.
+
+Then for the first time does the youthful soul rightly feel her freedom,
+and, therefore, feels it doubly; the soul struggles for activity, she
+comprehends her individuality; it has been proved and not found too
+light; she is still in possession of the dreams of childhood, which have
+not yet proved delusive. Not even the joy of love, not the enthusiasm
+for art and science, so thrills through all the nerves as the words,
+"Now am I a student!"
+
+This spring-day of life, on which the ice-covering of the school is
+broken, when the tree of Hope puts forth its buds and the sun of Freedom
+shines, falls with us, as is well known, in the month of October, just
+when Nature loses her foliage, when the evenings begin to grow darker,
+and when heavy winter-clouds draw together, as though they would say
+to youth,--"Your spring, the birth of the examination, is only a dream!
+even now does your life become earnest!" But our happy youths think not
+of these things, neither will we be joyous with the gay, and pay a visit
+to their circle. In such a one our story takes its commencement.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+     "At last we separate:
+     To Jutland one, to F�nen others go;
+     And still the quick thought comes,
+     --A day so bright, so full of fun,
+     Never again on us shall rise."--CARL BAGGER.
+
+It was in October of the year 1829. Examen artium had been passed
+through. Several young students were assembled in the evening at the
+abode of one of their comrades, a young Copenhagener of eighteen, whose
+parents were giving him and his new friends a banquet in honor of the
+examination. The mother and sister had arranged everything in the nicest
+manner, the father had given excellent wine out of the cellar, and the
+student himself, here the rex convivii, had provided tobacco, genuine
+Oronoko-canaster. With regard to Latin, the invitation--which was, of
+course, composed in Latin--informed the guests that each should bring
+his own.
+
+The company, consisting of one and twenty persons--and these were only
+the most intimate friends--was already assembled. About one third of the
+friends were from the provinces, the remainder out of Copenhagen.
+
+"Old Father Homer shall stand in the middle of the table!" said one of
+the liveliest guests, whilst he took down from the stove a plaster bust
+and placed it upon the covered table.
+
+"Yes, certainly, he will have drunk as much as the other poets!" said
+an older one. "Give me one of thy exercise-books, Ludwig! I will cut him
+out a wreath of vine-leaves, since we have no roses and since I cannot
+cut out any."
+
+"I have no libation!" cried a third,--"Favete linguis." And he sprinkled
+a small quantity of salt, from the point of a knife, upon the bust, at
+the same time raising his glass to moisten it with a few drops of wine.
+
+"Do not use my Homer as you would an ox!" cried the host. "Homer shall
+have the place of honor, between the bowl and the garland-cake! He is
+especially my poet! It was he who in Greek assisted me to laudabilis
+et quidem egregie. Now we will mutually drink healths! J�rgen shall be
+magister bibendi, and then we will sing 'Gaudeamus igitur,' and 'Integer
+vitae.'"
+
+"The Sexton with the cardinal's hat shall be the precentor!" cried
+one of the youths from the provinces, pointing toward a rosy-cheeked
+companion.
+
+"O, now I am no longer sexton!" returned the other laughing. "If thou
+bringest old histories up again, thou wilt receive thy old school-name,
+'the Smoke-squirter.'"
+
+"But that is a very nice little history!" said the other. "We called him
+'Sexton,' from the office his father held; but that, after all, is not
+particularly witty. It was better with the hat, for it did, indeed,
+resemble a cardinal's hat. I, in the mean time, got my name in a more
+amusing manner."
+
+"He lived near the school," pursued the other; "he could always slip
+home when we had out free quarters of an hour: and then one day he
+had filled his mouth with tobacco smoke, intending to blow it into
+our faces; but when he entered the passage with his filled cheeks the
+quarter of an hour was over, and we were again in class: the rector was
+still standing in the doorway; he could not, therefore, blow the smoke
+out of his mouth, and so wished to slip in as he was. 'What have you
+there in your mouth?' asked the rector; but Philip could answer nothing,
+without at the same time losing the smoke. 'Now, cannot you speak?'
+cried the rector, and gave him a box on the ear, so that the smoke burst
+through nose and mouth. This looked quite exquisite; the affair caused
+the rector such pleasure, that he presented the poor sinner with the
+nota bene."
+
+"Integer vitae!" broke in the Precentor, and harmoniously followed the
+other voices. After this, a young Copenhagener exhibited his dramatic
+talent by mimicking most illusively the professors of the Academy, and
+giving their peculiarities, yet in such a good-natured manner that it
+must have amused even the offended parties themselves. Now followed the
+healths--"Vivant omnes hi et hae!"
+
+"A health to the prettiest girl!" boldly cried one of the merriest
+brothers. "The prettiest girl!" repeated a pair of the younger ones, and
+pushed their glasses toward each other, whilst the blood rushed to their
+cheeks at this their boldness, for they had never thought of a beloved
+being, which, nevertheless, belonged to their new life. The roundelay
+now commenced, in which each one must give the Christian name of his
+lady-love, and assuredly every second youth caught a name out of the
+air; some, however, repeated a name with a certain palpitation of the
+heart. The discourse became more animated; the approaching military
+exercises, the handsome uniform, the reception in the students' club,
+and its pleasures, were all matters of the highest interest. But there
+was the future philologicum and philosophicum--yes, that also was
+discussed; there they must exhibit their knowledge of Latin.
+
+"What do you think," said one of the party, "if once a week we
+alternately met at each other's rooms, and held disputations? No Danish
+word must be spoken. This might be an excellent scheme."
+
+"I agree to that!" cried several.
+
+"Regular laws must be drawn up."
+
+"Yes, and we must have our best Latin scholar, the Jutlander, Otto
+Thostrup, with us! He wrote his themes in hexameters."
+
+"He is not invited here this evening," remarked the neighbor, the young
+Baron Wilhelm of Funen, the only nobleman in the company.
+
+"Otto Thostrup!" answered the host. "Yes, truly he's a clever fellow,
+but he seems to me so haughty. There is something about him that does
+not please me at all. We are still no dunces, although he did receive
+nine prae caeteris!"
+
+"Yet it was very provoking," cried another, "that he received the only
+Non in mathematics. Otherwise he would have been called in. Now he will
+only have to vex himself about his many brilliant characters."
+
+"Yes, and he is well versed in mathematics!" added Wilhelm "There was
+something incorrect in the writing; the inspector was to blame for
+that, but how I know not. Thostrup is terribly vehement, and can set
+all respect at defiance; he became angry, and went out. There was only
+a piece of unwritten paper presented from him, and this brought him a
+cipher, which the verbal examination could not bring higher than non.
+Thostrup is certainly a glorious fellow. We have made a tour together
+in the steamboat from Helsing�er to Copenhagen, and in the written
+examination we sat beside each other until the day when we had
+mathematics, and then I sat below him. I like him very much, his pride
+excepted; and of that we must break him."
+
+"Herr Baron," said his neighbor, "I am of your opinion. Shall not we
+drink the Thou-brotherhood?"
+
+"To-night we will all of us drink the Thou!" said the host; "it is
+nothing if comrades and good friends call each other _you_."
+
+"Evoe Bacchus!" they joyously shouted. The glasses were filled, one arm
+was thrown round that of the neighbor, and the glasses were emptied,
+whilst several commenced singing "dulce cum sodalibus!"
+
+"Tell me what thou art called?" demanded one of the younger guests of
+his new Thou-brother.
+
+"What am I called?" replied he. "With the exception of one letter, the
+same as the Baron."
+
+"The Baron!" cried a third; "yes, where is he?"
+
+"There he stands talking at the door; take your glasses! now have all of
+us drank the Thou-brotherhood?"
+
+The glasses were again raised; the young Baron laughed, clinked his
+glass, and shouted in the circle, "Thou, Thou!" But in his whole bearing
+there lay something constrained, which, however, none of the young
+men remarked, far less allowed themselves to imagine that his sudden
+retreat, during the first drinking, perhaps occurred from the
+sole object of avoiding it. But soon was he again one of the most
+extravagant; promised each youth who would study theology a living on
+his estate when he should once get it into his own hands; and proposed
+that the Latin disputations should commence with him, and on the
+following Friday. Otto Thostrup, however, should be of the party--if he
+chose, of course being understood; for he was a capital student, and his
+friend they had made a journey together and had been neighbors at the
+green table.
+
+Among those who were the earliest to make their valete amici was the
+Baron. Several were not yet inclined to quit this joyous circle. The
+deepest silence reigned in the streets; it was the most beautiful
+moonlight. In most houses all had retired to rest--only here and there
+was a light still seen, most persons slept, even those whose sense
+of duty should leave banished the god of sleep: thus sat a poor
+hackney-coachman, aloft upon his coach-box, before the house where he
+awaited his party, and enjoyed, the reins wound about his hand, the
+much-desired rest. Wilhelm (henceforth we will only call the young Baron
+by his Christian name) walked alone through the street. The wine had
+heated his northern blood--besides which it never flowed slowly; his
+youthful spirits, his jovial mood, and the gayety occasioned by the
+merry company he had just quitted did not permit him quietly to pass
+by this sleeping Endymion. Suddenly it occurred to him to open the
+coach-door and leap in; which having done, he let the glass fall and
+called out with a loud voice, "Drive on!" The coachman started up out
+of his blessed sleep and asked, quite confused, "Where to?" Without
+reflecting about the matter, Wilhelm cried, "To the Ship in West
+Street." The coachman drove on; about half-way, Wilhelm again opened the
+coach-door, a bold spring helped him out, and the coach rolled on.
+It stopped at the public-house of the Ship. The coachman got down
+and opened the door; there was no one within; he thrust his head
+in thoroughly to convince himself; but no, the carriage was empty!
+"Extraordinary!" said the fellow; "can I have dreamed it? But still
+I heard, quite distinctly, how I was told to drive to the Ship! Lord
+preserve us! now they are waiting for me!" He leaped upon the box and
+drove rapidly back again.
+
+In the mean time Wilhelm had reached his abode in Vineyard Street; he
+opened a window to enjoy the beautiful night, and gazed out upon the
+desolate church-yard which is shut in by shops. He had no inclination
+for sleep, although everything in the street, even the watchmen not
+excepted, appeared to rejoice the gift of God. Wilhelm thought upon the
+merry evening party, upon his adventure with the poor hackney-coachman,
+then took down his violin from the wall and began to play certain
+variations.
+
+The last remaining guests from the honorable carousal, merrier than when
+Wilhelm left them, now came wandering up the street. One of them jodeled
+sweetly, and no watchman showed himself as a disturbing principle. They
+heard Wilhelm violin and recognized the musician.
+
+"Play us a Fran�aise, thou up there!" cried they.
+
+"But the watchman?" whispered one of the less courageous.
+
+"Zounds, there he sits!" cried a third, and pointed toward a sleeping
+object which leaned its head upon a large wooden chest before a closed
+booth.
+
+"He is happy!" said the first speaker. "If we had only the strong
+Icelander here, he would soon hang him up by his bandelier upon one of
+the iron hooks. He has done that before now; he has the strength of a
+bear. He seized such a lazy fellow as this right daintily by his girdle
+on one of the hooks at the weighing-booth. There hung the watchman
+and whistled to the others; the first who hastened to the spot was
+immediately hung up beside him, and away ran the Icelander whilst the
+two blew a duet."
+
+"Here, take hold!" cried one of the merry brothers, quickly opening the
+chest, the lid of which was fastened by a peg. "Let us put the watchman
+into the chest; he sleeps indeed like a horse!" In a moment, the four
+had seized the sleeper, who certainly awoke during the operation, but
+he already lay in the chest. The lid flew down, and two or three of the
+friends sprang upon it whilst the peg was stuck in again. The watchman
+immediately seized his whistle and drew the most heart-rending tones
+from it. Quickly the tormenting spirits withdrew themselves; yet not so
+far but that they could still hear the whistle and observe what would
+take place.
+
+The watchmen now came up.
+
+"The deuce! where art thou?" cried they, and then discovered the place.
+
+"Ah, God help me!" cried the prisoner. "Let me out, let me out! I must
+call!"
+
+"Thou hast drunk more than thy thirst required, comrade!" said the
+others. "If thou hast fallen into the chest, remain lying there, thou
+swine!" And laughing they left him.
+
+"O, the rascals!" sighed he, and worked in vain at opening the lid.
+Through all his powerful exertions the box fell over. The young men now
+stepped forth, and, as though they were highly astonished at the whole
+history which he related to them, they let themselves be prevailed upon
+to open the box, but only upon condition that he should keep street
+free from the interference of the other watchmen whilst they danced a
+Fran�aise to Wilhelm's violin.
+
+The poor man was delivered from his captivity, and must obligingly play
+the sentinel whilst they arranged them for the dance. Wilhelm was called
+upon to play, and the dance commenced; a partner, however, was wanting.
+Just then a quiet citizen passed by. The gentleman who had no partner
+approached the citizen with comic respect, and besought him to take part
+in the amusement.
+
+"I never dance!" said the man, laughing, and wished to pursue his way.
+
+"Yes," replied the cavalier, "yet you must still do me this pleasure,
+or else I shall have no dance." Saying this he took hold of him by the
+waist and the dance commenced, whether the good man would or no.
+
+"The watchman should receive a present from every one!" said they, when
+the Fran�aise was at an end. "He is an excellent man who thus keeps
+order in the street, so that one can enjoy a little dance."
+
+"These are honest people's children!" said the watchman to himself,
+whilst he with much pleasure thrust the money into his leathern purse.
+
+All was again quiet in the street; the violin was also silent.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+     "Who looks into the shadowy realm of my heart?"
+                                    A. V. CHAMISSO.
+
+In the former chapter we heard mention made of a young student, Otto
+Thostrup, a clever fellow, with nine prae caeteris, as his comrades
+said, but also of a proud spirit, of which he must be broken. Not at
+the disputations, which have been already mentioned, will we make his
+acquaintance, although there we must be filled with respect for the good
+Latin scholar; not in large companies, where his handsome exterior and
+his speaking, melancholy glance must make him interesting; as little in
+the pit of the Opera although his few yet striking observations there
+would show him to be a very intellectual young man; but we will seek
+him out for the first time at the house of his friend, the young Baron
+Wilhelm. It is the beginning of November: we find them both with their
+pipes in their mouths; upon the table lie Tibullus and Anacreon, which
+they are reading together for the approaching philologicum.
+
+In the room stands a piano-forte, with a number of music-books; upon the
+walls hang the portraits of Weyse and Beethoven, for our young Baron is
+musical, nay a composer himself.
+
+"See, here we have again this lovely, clinging mist!" said Wilhelm. "Out
+of doors one can fairly taste it; at home it would be a real plague to
+me, here it only Londonizes the city."
+
+"I like it!" said Otto. "To me it is like an old acquaintance from
+Vestervovov. It is as though the mist brought me greetings from the sea
+and sand-hills."
+
+"I should like to see the North Sea, but the devil might live there!
+What town lies nearest to your grandfather's estate?"
+
+"Lernvig," answered Otto. "If any one wish to see the North Sea
+properly, they ought to go up as far as Thisted and Hj�rring. I have
+travelled there, have visited the family in B�rglum-Kloster; and,
+besides this, have made other small journeys. Never shall I forget one
+evening; yes, it was a storm of which people in the interior of the
+country can form no conception. I rode--I was then a mere boy, and a
+very wild lad--with one of our men. When the storm commenced we found
+ourselves among the sand-hills. Ah! that you should have seen! The sand
+forms along the strand high banks, which serve as dikes against the sea;
+these are overgrown with sea-grass, but, if the storm bursts a single
+hole, the whole is carried away. This spectacle we chanced to witness.
+It is a true Arabian sand-storm, and the North Sea bellowed so that
+it might be heard at the distance of many miles. The salt foam flew
+together with the sand into our faces."
+
+"That must have been splendid!" exclaimed Wilhelm, and his eyes
+sparkled. "Jutland is certainly the most romantic part of Denmark.
+Since I read Steen-Blicher's novels I have felt a real interest for that
+country. It seems to me that it must greatly resemble the Lowlands of
+Scotland. And gypsies are also found there, are they not?"
+
+"Vagabonds, we call them," said Otto, with an involuntary motion of the
+mouth. "They correspond to the name!"
+
+"The fishermen, also, on the coast are not much better! Do they
+still from the pulpit pray for wrecks? Do they still slay shipwrecked
+mariners?"
+
+"I have heard our preacher, who is an old man, relate how, in the first
+years after he had obtained his office and dignity, he was obliged to
+pray in the church that, if ships stranded, they might strand in his
+district; but this I have never heard myself. But with regard to what
+is related of murdering, why, the fishermen--sea-geese, as they are
+called--are by no means a tender-hearted people; but it is not as bad
+as that in our days. A peasant died in the neighborhood, of whom it was
+certainly related that in bad weather he had bound a lantern under
+his horse's belly and let it wander up and down the beach, so that the
+strange mariner who was sailing in those seas might imagine it some
+cruising ship, and thus fancy himself still a considerable way from
+land. By this means many a ship is said to have been destroyed. But
+observe, these are stories out of the district of Thisted, and of an
+elder age, before my power of observation had developed itself; this was
+that golden age when in tumble-down fishers' huts, after one of these
+good shipwrecks, valuable shawls, but little damaged by the sea, might
+be found employed as bed-hangings. Boots and shoes were smeared with the
+finest pomatum. If such things now reach their hands, they know better
+how to turn them into money. The Strand-commissioners are now on the
+watch; now it is said to be a real age of copper."
+
+"Have you seen a vessel stranded?" inquired Wilhelm, with increasing
+interest.
+
+"Our estate lies only half a mile from the sea. Every year about this
+time, when the mist spreads itself out as it does to-day and the storms
+begin to rage, then was it most animated. In my wild spirits, when I
+was a boy, and especially in the midst of our monotonous life, I truly
+yearned after it. Once, upon a journey to B�rglum-Kloster, I experienced
+a storm. In the early morning; it was quite calm, but gray, and we
+witnessed a kind of Fata Morgana. A ship, which had not yet risen above
+the horizon, showed itself in the distance, but the rigging was turned
+upside down; the masts were below, the hull above. This is called the
+ship of death, and when it is seen people are sure of bad weather and
+shipwreck. Later, about midday, it began to blow, and in an hour's time
+we had a regular tempest. The sea growled quite charmingly; we travelled
+on between sand-hills--they resemble hills and dales in winter time, but
+here it is not snow which melts away; here never grows a single green
+blade; a black stake stands up here and there, and these are rudders
+from wrecks, the histories of which are unknown. In the afternoon arose
+a storm such as I had experienced when riding with the man between
+the sand-hills. We could not proceed farther, and were obliged on this
+account to seek shelter in one of the huts which the fishermen hail
+erected among the white sand-hills. There we remained, and I saw the
+stranding of a vessel: I shall never forget it! An American ship lay not
+a musket-shot from land. They cut the mast; six or seven men clung fast
+to it in the waters. O, how they rocked backward and forward in the
+dashing spray! The mast took a direction toward the shore; at length
+only three men were left clinging to the mast; it was dashed upon land,
+but the returning waves again bore it away; it had crushed the arms and
+legs of the clinging wretches--ground them like worms! I dreamed of this
+for many nights. The waves flung the hull of the vessel up high on the
+shore, and drove it into the sand, where it was afterward found. Later,
+as we retraced our steps, were the stem and sternpost gone: you saw two
+strong wooden walls, between which the road took its course. You even
+still travel through the wreck!"
+
+"Up in your country every poetical mind must become a Byron," said
+Wilhelm. "On my parents' estate we have only idyls; the whole of Funen
+is a garden. We mutually visit each other upon our different estates,
+where we lead most merry lives, dance with the peasant-girls at the
+brewing-feast, hunt in the woods, and fish in the lakes. The only
+melancholy object which presents itself with us is a funeral, and the
+only romantic characters we possess are a little hump-backed musician,
+a wise woman, and an honest schoolmaster, who still firmly believes, as
+Jeronimus did, that the earth is flat, and that, were it to turn round,
+we should fall, the devil knows where!"
+
+"I love nature in Jutland!" exclaimed Otto. "The open sea, the
+brown heath, and the bushy moorland. You should see the wild moor in
+Vendsyssel--that is an extent! Almost always wet mists float over its
+unapproachable interior, which is known to no one. It is not yet fifty
+years since it served as an abode for wolves. Often it bursts into
+flames, for it is impregnated with sulphuric gas,--one can see the fire
+for miles."
+
+"My sister Sophie ought to hear all this!" said Wilhelm. "You would make
+your fortune with her! The dear girl! she has the best head at home, but
+she loves effect. Hoffman and Victor Hugo are her favorites. Byron rests
+every night under her pillow. If you related such things of the west
+coast of Jutland, and of heaths and moors, you might persuade her to
+make a journey thither. One really would not believe that we possessed
+in our own country such romantic situations!"
+
+"Is she your only sister?" inquired Otto.
+
+"No," returned Wilhelm, "I have two--the other is named Louise; she
+is of quite an opposite character: I do not know of which one ought to
+think most. Have you no brothers or sisters?" he asked of Otto.
+
+"No!" returned the latter, with his former involuntary, half-melancholy
+expression. "I am an only child. In my house it is solitary and silent.
+My grandfather alone is left alive. He is an active, strong man,
+but very grave. He instructed me in mathematics, which he thoroughly
+understands. The preacher taught me Latin, Greek, and history: two
+persons, however, occupied themselves with my religious education--the
+preacher and my old Rosalie. She is a good soul. How often have I teased
+her, been petulant, and almost angry with her! She thought so much of
+me, she was both mother and sister to me, and instructed me in religion
+as well as the preacher, although she is a Catholic. Since my father's
+childhood she has been a sort of governante in the house. You should
+have seen her melancholy smile when she heard my geography lesson, and
+we read of her dear Switzerland, where she was born, and of the south
+of France, where she had travelled as a child. The west coast of Jutland
+may also appear very barren in comparison with these countries!"
+
+"She might have made you a Catholic! But surely nothing of this still
+clings to you?"
+
+"Rosalie was a prudent old creature; Luther himself need not have been
+ashamed of her doctrine. Whatever is holy to the heart of man, remains
+also holy in every religion!"
+
+"But then, to erect altars to the Madonna!" exclaimed Wilhelm; "to pray
+to a being; whom the Bible does not make a saint!--that is rather too
+much. And their tricks with burning of incense and ringing of bells!
+Yes, indeed, it would give me no little pleasure to cut off the heads of
+the Pope and of the whole clerical body! To purchase indulgence!--Those
+must, indeed, be curious people who can place thorough faith in such
+things! I will never once take off my hat before the Madonna!"
+
+"But that will I do, and in my heart bow myself before her!" answered
+Otto, gravely.
+
+"Did I not think so? she has made you a Catholic!"
+
+"No such thing! I am as good a Protestant as you yourself: but
+wherefore should we not respect the mother of Christ? With regard to the
+ceremonials of Catholicism, indulgence, and all these additions of the
+priesthood, I agree with you in wishing to strike off the heads of all
+who, in such a manner, degrade God and the human understanding. But in
+many respects we are unjust: we so easily forget the first and greatest
+commandment, 'Love thy neighbor as thyself!' We are not tolerant.
+Among our festivals we have still one for the Three Kings--it is yet
+celebrated by the common people; but what have these three kings done?
+They knelt before the manger in which Christ lay, and on this account we
+honor them. On the contrary, the mother of God has no festival-day; nay,
+the multitude even smile at her name! If you will only quietly listen to
+my simple argument, we shall soon agree. You will take off your hat and
+bow before the Madonna. Only two things are to be considered--either
+Christ was entirely human, or He was, as the Bible teaches us, a divine
+being. I will now admit the latter. He is God Himself, who in some
+inexplicable manner, is born to us of the Virgin Mary. She must
+therefore be the purest, the most perfect feminine being, since God
+found her worthy to bring into the world the Son, the only one; through
+this she becomes as holy as any human being can, and low we must bow
+ourselves before the pure, the exalted one. Take it for granted that
+Christ was human, like ourselves, otherwise He cannot, according to my
+belief, call upon us to imitate Him; neither would it be great, as God,
+to meet a corporeal death, from which He could remove each pain. Were He
+only a man, born of Mary, we must doubly admire Him; we must bow in the
+dust before His mighty spirit, His enlightening and consoling doctrine.
+But can we then forget how much the mother has must have influenced the
+child, how sublime and profound the soul must have been which spoke to
+His heart? We must reverence and honor her! Everywhere in the Scriptures
+where she appears we see an example of care and love; with her whole
+soul she adheres to her Son. Think how uneasy she became, and sought for
+Him in the temple--think of her gentle reproaches! The words of the Son
+always sounded harsh in my ears. 'Those are the powerful expressions of
+the East!' said my old preacher. The Saviour was severe, severe as
+He must be! Already there seemed to me severity in His words! She
+was completely the mother; she was it then, even as when she wept at
+Golgotha. Honor and reverence she deserves from us!"
+
+"These she also receives!" returned Wilhelm; and striking him upon
+the shoulder he added, with a smile, "you are, according to the Roman
+Catholic manner, near exalting the mother above the Son! Old Rosalie has
+made a proselyte; after all, you are half a Catholic!"
+
+"That am I not!" answered Otto, "and that will I not be!"
+
+          "See! the thunder-cloud advances!"
+
+resounded below in the court: the sweet Neapolitan song reached the
+ears of the friends. They stepped into the adjoining room and opened the
+window. Three poor boys stood below in the wind and rain, and commenced
+the song. The tallest was, perhaps, fourteen or fifteen years old, his
+deep, rough voice seemed to have attained its strength and depth more
+through rain and bad weather than through age. The dirty wet clothes
+hung in rags about his body; the shoes upon the wet feet, and the hat
+held together with white threads, were articles of luxury. The other two
+boys had neither hat nor shoes, but their clothes were whole and clean.
+The youngest appeared six or seven years old; his silvery white hair
+formed a contrast with his brown face, his dark eyes and long brown
+eyelashes. His voice sounded like the voice of a little girl, as fine
+and soft, beside the voices of the others, as the breeze of an autumnal
+evening beside that of rude November weather.
+
+"That is a handsome boy!" exclaimed the two friends at the same time.
+
+"And a lovely melody!" added Otto.
+
+"Yes, but they sing falsely!" answered Wilhelm: "one sings half a tone
+too low, the other half a tone too high!"
+
+"Now, thank God that I cannot hear that!" said Otto. "It sounds sweetly,
+and the little one might become a singer. Poor child!" added he gravely:
+"bare feet, wet to the very skin; and then the elder one will certainly
+lead him to brandy drinking! Within a month, perhaps, the voice will
+be gone! Then is the nightingale dead!" He quickly threw down some
+skillings, wrapped in paper.
+
+"Come up!" cried Wilhelm, and beckoned. The eldest of the boys flew up
+like an arrow; Wilhelm, however, said it was the youngest who was meant.
+The others remained standing before the door; the youngest stepped in.
+
+"Whose son art thou?" asked Wilhelm. The boy was silent, and cast down
+his eyes in an embarrassed manner. "Now, don't be bashful! Thou art of
+a good family--that one can see from thy appearance! Art not thou thy
+mother's son? I will give thee stockings and--the deuce! here is a pair
+of boots which are too small for me; if thou dost not get drowned in
+them they shall be thy property: but now thou must sing." And he seated
+himself at the piano-forte and struck the keys. "Now, where art thou?"
+he cried, rather displeased. The little one gazed upon the ground.
+
+"How! dost thou weep; or is it the rain which hangs in thy black
+eyelashes?" said Otto, and raised his head: "we only wish to do thee a
+kindness. There--thou hast another skilling from me."
+
+The little one still remained somewhat laconic. All that they learned
+was that he was named Jonas, and that his grandmother thought so much of
+him.
+
+"Here thou hast the stockings!" said Wilhelm; "and see here! a coat with
+a velvet collar, a much-to-be-prized keepsake! The boots! Thou canst
+certainly stick both legs into one boot! See! that is as good as having
+two pairs to change about with! Let us see!"
+
+The boy's eyes sparkled with joy; the boots he drew on, the stockings
+went into his pocket, and the bundle he took under his arm.
+
+"But thou must sing us a little song!" said Wilhelm, and the little one
+commenced the old song out of the "Woman-hater," "Cupid never can be
+trusted!"
+
+The lively expression in the dark eyes, the boy himself in his wet,
+wretched clothes and big boots, with the bundle under his arm; nay, the
+whole had something so characteristic in it, that had it been painted,
+and had the painter called the picture "Cupid on his Wanderings," every
+one would have found the little god strikingly excellent, although he
+were not blind.
+
+"Something might be made of the boy and of his voice!" said Wilhelm,
+when little Jonas, in a joyous mood, had left the house with the other
+lads.
+
+"The poor child!" sighed Otto. "I have fairly lost my good spirits
+through all this. It seizes upon me so strangely when I see misery and
+genius mated. Once there came to our estate in Jutland a man who played
+the Pandean-pipes, and at the same time beat the drum and cymbals: near
+him stood a little girl, and struck the triangle. I was forced to weep
+over this spectacle; without understanding how it was, I felt the misery
+of the poor child. I was myself yet a mere boy."
+
+"He looked so comic in the big boots that I became quite merry, and not
+grave," said Wilhelm. "Nevertheless what a pity it is that such gentle
+blood, which at the first glance one perceives he is, that such a pretty
+child should become a rude fellow, and his beautiful voice change into
+a howl, like that with which the other tall Laban saluted us. Who knows
+whether little Jonas might not become the first singer on the Danish
+stage? Yes, if he received education of mind and voice, who knows? I
+could really have, pleasure in attempting it, and help every one on in
+the world, before I myself am rightly in the way!"
+
+"If he is born to a beggar's estate," said Otto, "let him as beggar live
+and die, and learn nothing higher. That is better, that is more to be
+desired!"
+
+Wilhelm seated himself at the piano-forte, and played some of his own
+compositions. "That is difficult," said he; "every one cannot play
+that."
+
+"The simpler the sweeter!" replied Otto.
+
+"You must not speak about music!" returned the friend "upon that you
+know not how to pass judgment. Light Italian operas are not difficult to
+write."
+
+In the evening the friends separated. Whilst Otto took his hat, there
+was a low knock at the door. Wilhelm opened it. Without stood a poor old
+woman, with pale sharp features; by the hand she led a little boy--it
+was Jonas: thus then it was a visit from him and his grandmother.
+
+The other boys had sold the boots and shoes which had been given him.
+They ought to have a share, they maintained. This atrocious injustice
+had induced the old grandmother to go immediately with little Jonas to
+the two good gentlemen, and relate how little the poor lad had received
+of flint which they had assigned to him alone.
+
+Wilhelm spoke of the boy's sweet voice, and thought that by might make
+his fortune at the theatre; but then he ought not now to be left running
+about with bare feet in the wind and rain.
+
+"But by this means he brings a skilling home," said the old woman.
+"That's what his father and mother look to, and the skilling they can
+always employ. Nevertheless she had herself already thought of bringing
+him out at the theatre,--but that was to have been in dancing, for they
+got shoes and stockings to dance in, and with these they might also run
+home; and that would be an advantage."
+
+"I will teach the boy music!" said Wilhelm; "he can come to me
+sometimes."
+
+"And then he will, perhaps, get a little cast-off clothing, good sir,"
+said the grandmother; "a shirt, or a waistcoat, just as it happens?"
+
+"Become a tailor, or shoemaker," said Otto, gravely, and laid his hand
+upon the boy's head.
+
+"He shall be a genius!" said Wilhelm.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+                         "Christmas-tide,
+     When in the wood the snow shines bright."
+                             OEHLENSCHL�GER'S Helge
+
+We again let several weeks pass by; it was Christmas Eve, which brings
+us the beautiful Christmas festival. We find the two friends taking a
+walk.
+
+Describe to an inhabitant of the south a country where the earth appears
+covered with the purest Carrara marble, where the tree twigs resemble
+white branches of coral sprinkled with diamonds, and above a sky as blue
+as that belonging to the south, and he will say that is a fairy land.
+Couldst thou suddenly remove him from his dark cypresses and olive-trees
+to the north, where the fresh snow lies upon the earth, where the white
+hoar-frost has powdered the trees over, and the sun shines down from the
+blue heaven, then would he recognize the description and call the north
+a fairy land.
+
+This was the splendor which the friends admired. The large trees upon
+the fortification-walls appeared crystallized when seen against the blue
+sky. The Sound was not yet frozen over; vessels, illuminated by the red
+evening sun, glided past with spread sails. The Swedish coast seemed to
+have approached nearer; one might see individual houses in Landskrona.
+It was lovely, and on this account there were many promenaders upon the
+walls and the Langelinie.
+
+"Sweden seems so near that one might swim over to it!" said Wilhelm.
+
+"The distance would be too far," answered Otto; "but I should love to
+plunge among the deep blue waters yonder."
+
+"How refreshing it is," said Wilhelm, "when the water plays about one's
+cheeks! Whilst I was at home, I always swam in the Great Belt. Yes, you
+are certainly half a fish when you come into the water."
+
+"I!" repeated Otto, and was silent; but immediately added, with a kind
+of embarrassment which was at other times quite foreign to him, and from
+which one might infer how unpleasant confessing any imperfection was to
+him, "I do not swim."
+
+"That must be learned in summer!" said Wilhelm.
+
+"There is so much to learn," answered Otto; "swimming will certainly be
+the last thing." He now suddenly turned toward the fortress, and
+stood still. "Only see how melancholy and quiet!" said he, and led the
+conversation again to the surrounding scenery. "The sentinel before the
+prison paces so quietly up and down, the sun shines upon his bayonet!
+How this reminds me of a sweet little poem of Heine's; it is just as
+though he described this fortress and this soldier, but in the warmth
+of summer: one sees the picture livingly before one, as here; the weapon
+glances in the sun, and the part ends so touchingly,--'Ich wollt', er
+sch�sse mich todt!' It is here so romantically beautiful! on the right
+the animated promenade, and the view over the Sund; on the left, the
+desolate square, where the military criminals are shot, and close upon
+it the prison with its beam-fence. The sun scarcely shines through those
+windows. Yet, without doubt, the prisoner can see us walking here upon
+the wall."
+
+"And envy our golden freedom!" said Wilhelm.
+
+"Perhaps he derides it," answered Otto. "He is confined to his chamber
+and the small courts behind the beam-lattice; we are confined to the
+coast; we cannot fly forth with the ships into the mighty, glorious
+world. We are also fastened with a chain, only ours is somewhat longer
+than that of the prisoner. But we will not think of this; let us go down
+to where the beautiful ladies are walking."
+
+"To see and to be seen," cried Wilhelm. "'Spectatum veniunt; veniunt
+spectentur ut ipsae,' as Ovid says."
+
+The friends quitted the wall.
+
+"There comes my scholar, little Jonas!" cried Wilhelm. "The boy was
+better dressed than at his last appearance; quickly he pulled his little
+cap off and stood still: a young girl in a wretched garb held him by the
+hand.
+
+"Good day, my clever lad!" said Wilhelm, and his glance rested on the
+girl: she was of a singularly elegant form; had she only carried herself
+better she would have been a perfect beauty. It was Psyche herself who
+stood beside Cupid. She smiled in a friendly manner; the little lad had
+certainly told her who the gentlemen were; but she became crimson, and
+cast down her eyes when Wilhelm looked back after her: he beckoned to
+Jonas, who immediately came to him. The girl was his sister, he said,
+and was called Eva. Wilhelm nodded to her, and the friends went on.
+
+"That was a beautiful girl!" said Wilhelm, and looked back once more. "A
+rosebud that one could kiss until it became a full blown rose!"
+
+"During the experiment the rosebud might easily be broken!" answered
+Otto; "at least such is the case with the real flower. But do not look
+back again, that is a sin!"
+
+"Sin?" repeated Wilhelm; "no, then it is a very innocent sin! Believe
+me, it flatters the little creature that we should admire her beauty.
+I can well imagine how enchanting a loving look from a rich young
+gentleman may be for a weak, feminine mind. The sweet words which one
+can say are as poison which enters the blood. I have still a clear
+conscience. Not ONE innocent soul have I poisoned!"
+
+"And yet you are rich and young enough to do so," returned Otto, not
+without bitterness. "Our friends precede us with a good example: here
+come some of our own age; they are acquainted with the roses!"
+
+"Good evening, thou good fellow!" was the greeting Wilhelm received from
+three or four of the young men.
+
+"Are you on Thou-terms with all these?" inquired Otto.
+
+"Yes," answered Wilhelm; "we became so at a carouse. There all drank the
+Thou-brotherhood. I could not draw myself back. At other times I do
+not willingly give my 'thou' to any but my nearest friends. _Thou_ has
+something to my mind affectionate and holy. Many people fling it to the
+first person with whom they drink a glass. At the carouse I could not
+say no."
+
+"And wherefore not?" returned Otto; "that would never have troubled me."
+
+The friends now wandered on, arm-in-arm. Later in the evening we again
+meet with them together, and that at the house of a noble family, whose
+name and rank are to be found in the "Danish Court Calendar;" on which
+account it would be wanting in delicacy to mention the same, even in a
+story the events of which lie so near our hearts.
+
+Large companies are most wearisome. In these there are two kinds of
+rank. Either you are riveted to a card-table, or placed against the
+wall where you must stand with your hat in your hand, or, later in the
+evening, with it at your feet, nay, even must stand during supper. But
+this house was one of the most intellectual. Thou who dost recognize the
+house wilt also recognize that it is not to be reckoned with those,--
+
+               "Where each day's gossiping stale fish
+                Is served up daily for thy dish."
+
+This evening we do not become acquainted with the family, but only with
+their beautiful Christmas festival.
+
+The company was assembled in a large apartment; the shaded lamp burned
+dimly, but this was with the intention of increasing the effect when
+the drawing-room doors should open and the children joyfully press in
+together.
+
+Wilhelm now stepped to the piano-forte; a few chords produced stillness
+and attention. To the sounds of low music there stepped forth from
+the side-doors three maidens arrayed in white; each wore a long veil
+depending from the back of her head,--one blue, the other red, and the
+third white. Each carried in her arms an urn, and thus they represented
+fortune-tellers from the East. They brought good or ill luck, which each
+related in a little verse. People were to draw a number, and according
+to this would he receive his gift from the Christmas-tree. One of the
+maidens brought blanks--but which of them? now it was proved whether you
+were a child of fortune. All, even the children, drew their uncertain
+numbers: exception was only made with the family physician and a few
+elderly ladies of the family; these had a particular number stuck into
+their hands--their presents had been settled beforehand.
+
+"Who brings me good luck?" inquired Otto, as the three pretty young
+girls approached him. The one with a white veil was Wilhelm's eldest
+sister, Miss Sophie, who was this winter paying a visit to the family.
+She resembled her brother. The white drapery about her head increased
+the expression of her countenance. She rested her gaze firmly upon Otto,
+and, perhaps, because he was the friend of her brother, she raised her
+finger. Did she wish to warn or to challenge him? Otto regarded it as
+a challenge, thrust his hand into the urn, and drew out number 33. All
+were now provided. The girls disappeared, and the folding-doors of the
+drawing-room were opened.
+
+A dazzling light streamed toward the guests. A splendid fir-tree,
+covered with burning tapers, and hung over with tinsel-gold, gilt eggs
+and apples, almonds and grapes, dazzled the eye. On either side of the
+tree were grottoes of fir-trees and moss, hung with red and blue paper
+lamps. In each grotto was an altar; upon one stood John of Bologna's
+floating Mercury; upon the other, a reduced cast in plaster of
+Thorwaldsen's Shepherd-boy. The steps were covered with presents, to
+which were attached the different numbers.
+
+"Superbe! lovely!" resounded from all sides; and the happy children
+shouted for joy. People arranged themselves in a half-circle, one row
+behind the other. One of the cousins of the family now stepped forth,
+a young poet, who, if we mistake not, has since then appeared among the
+Anonymouses in "The New Year's Gift of Danish Poets." He was appareled
+this evening as one of the Magi, and recited a little poem which
+declared that, as each one had himself drawn out of the urn of Fate,
+no one could be angry, let him have procured for himself honor or
+derision--Fate, and not Merit, being here the ruler. Two little boys,
+with huge butterfly wings and in flowing garments, bore the presents to
+the guests. A number, which had been purposely given to one of the elder
+ladies, was now called out, and the boys brought forward a large, heavy,
+brown earthen jug. To the same hung a direction the length of two sheets
+of paper, upon which was written, "A remedy against frost." The jug was
+opened, and a very nice boa taken out and presented to the lady.
+
+"What number have you?" inquired Otto of Wilhelm's sister, who, freed
+from her long veil, now entered the room and took her place near him.
+
+"Number 34," she answered. "I was to keep the number which remained over
+when the others had drawn."
+
+"We are, then, neighbors in the chain of Fate," returned Otto; "I have
+number 33."
+
+"Then one of us will receive something very bad!" said Sophie. "For, as
+much as I know, only every other number is good." At this moment their
+numbers were called out. The accompanying poem declared that only a
+poetical, noble mind deserved this gift. It consisted of an illuminated
+French print, the subject a simple but touching idea. You saw a frozen
+lake, nothing but one expanse of ice as far as the horizon. The ice was
+broken, and near to the opening lay a hat with a red lining, and beside
+it sat a dog with grave eyes, still and expectant. Around the broken
+opening in the ice were seen traces of the dog having scratched into the
+hard crust of ice. "Il attend toujours" was the simple motto.
+
+"That is glorious!" exclaimed Otto. "An affecting thought! His master
+has sunk in the depth, and the faithful log yet awaits him. Had that
+picture only fallen to my lot!"
+
+"It is lovely!" said Sophie, and a melancholy glance made the young girl
+still more beautiful.
+
+Soon after Wilhelm's turn came.
+
+           "Open the packet, thou shalt see
+            The very fairest gaze on thee!"
+
+ran the verse. He opened the packet, and found within a small mirror.
+"Yes, that was intended for a lady," said he; "in that case it would
+have spoken the truth! in my hands it makes a fool of me.
+
+"For me nothing certainly remains but my number!" said Otto to his
+neighbor, as all the gifts appeared to be distributed.
+
+"The last is number 33," said the cousin, and drew forth a roll of
+paper, which had been hidden among the moss. It was unrolled. It was an
+old pedigree of an extinct race. Quite at the bottom lay the knight with
+shield and armor, and out of his breast grew the many-branched tree with
+its shields and names. Probably it had been bought, with other rubbish,
+at some auction, and now at Christmas, when every hole and corner was
+rummaged for whatever could be converted into fun or earnest, it had
+been brought out for the Christmas tree. The cousin read the following
+verse:--
+
+         "Art thou not noble?--then it in far better;
+          This tree unto thy father is not debtor;
+          Thyself alone is thy ancestral crown.
+          From thee shall spring forth branches of renown,
+          And if thou come where blood gives honor's place,
+          This tree shall prove thee first of all thy race!
+          From this hour forth thy soul high rank hath won her,
+          Not will forget thy knighthood and thy honor."
+
+"I congratulate you," said Wilhelm, laughing. "Now you will have to pay
+the nobility-tax!"
+
+Several of the ladies who stood near him, smiling, also offered a
+kind of congratulation. Sophie alone remained silent, and examined
+the present of another lady--a pretty pincushion in the form of a gay
+butterfly.
+
+The first row now rose to examine more nearly how beautifully the
+Christmas tree was adorned. Sophie drew one of the ladies away with her.
+
+"Let us look at the beautiful statues," said she; "the Shepherd-boy and
+the Mercury."
+
+"That is not proper," whispered the lady; "but look there at the
+splendid large raisins on the tree!"
+
+Sophie stepped before Thorwaldsen's Shepherd-boy. The lady whispered to
+a friend, "It looks so odd that she should examine the figures!"
+
+"Ah!" replied the other, "she is a lover of the fine arts, as you well
+know. Only think! at the last exhibition she went with her brother
+into the great hall where all the plaster-casts stand, and looked at
+them!--the Hercules, as well as the other indecent figures! they were
+excellent, she said. That is being so natural; otherwise she is a nice
+girl."
+
+"It is a pity she is a little awry."
+
+Sophie approached them; both ladies made room for her, and invited
+her most lovingly to sit clown beside them. "Thou sweet girl!" they
+flatteringly exclaimed.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+     "Hark to trumpets and beaten gongs,
+     Squeaking fiddles, shouts and songs.
+          Hurra! hurra!
+          The Doctor is here;
+     And here the hills where fun belongs."
+                             J. L. HEIBERG.
+
+We will not follow the principal characters of our story step for step,
+but merely present the prominent moments of their lives to our readers,
+be these great or small; we seize on them, if they in any way contribute
+to make the whole picture more worthy of contemplation.
+
+The winter was over, the birds of passage had long since returned; the
+woods and fields shone in the freshest green, and, what to the friends
+was equally interesting, they had happily passed through their examen
+philologicum. Wilhelm, who, immediately after its termination, had
+accompanied his sister home, was again returned, sang with little Jonas,
+reflected upon the philosophicum, and also how he would thoroughly
+enjoy the summer,--the summer which in the north is so beautiful, but
+so short. It was St. John's Day. Families had removed from Copenhagen to
+their pretty country-seats on the coast, where people on horseback
+and in carriages rushed past, and where the highway was crowded with
+foot-passengers. The whole road presented a picture of life upon the
+Paris Boulevard. The sun was burning, the dust flew up high into the
+air; on which account many persons preferred the pleasanter excursion
+with the steamboat along the coast, from whence could be seen the
+traffic on the high-road without enduring the annoyance of dust and
+heat. Boats skimmed past; brisk sailors, by the help of vigorous strokes
+of the oar, strove to compete with the steam-packet, the dark smoke from
+which, like some demon, partly rested upon the vessel, partly floated
+away in the air.
+
+Various young students, among whom were also Wilhelm and Otto, landed
+at Charlottenlund, the most frequented place of resort near Copenhagen.
+Otto was here for the first time; for the first time he should see the
+park.
+
+A summer's afternoon in Linken's Bad, near Dresden, bears a certain
+resemblance to Charlottenlund, only that the Danish wood is larger; that
+instead of the Elbe we have the Sound, which is here three miles broad,
+and where often more than a hundred vessels, bearing flags of all the
+European nations, glide past. A band of musicians played airs out of
+"Preciosa;" the white tents glanced like snow or swans through the green
+beech-trees. Here and there was a fire-place raised of turf, over which
+people boiled and cooked, so that the smoke rose up among the trees.
+Outside the wood, waiting in long rows, were the peasants' vehicles,
+called "coffee-mills," completely answering ho the couricolo of the
+Neapolitan and the coucou of the Parisian, equally cheap, and overladen
+in the same manner with passengers, therefore forming highly picturesque
+groups. This scene has been humorously treated in a picture by
+Marstrand. Between fields and meadows, the road leads pleasantly toward
+the park; the friends pursued the foot-path.
+
+"Shall I brush the gentlemen?" cried five or six boys, at the same time
+pressing upon the friends as they approached the entrance to the park.
+Without waiting for an answer, the boys commenced at once brushing the
+dust from their clothes and boots.
+
+"These are Kirsten Piil's pages," said Wilhelm, laughing; "they take
+care that people show themselves tolerably smart. But now we are brushed
+enough!" A six-skilling-piece rejoiced these little Savoyards.
+
+The Champs Elys�es of the Parisians on a great festival day, when
+the theatres are opened, the swings are flying, trumpets and drums
+overpowering the softer music, and when the whole mass of people, like
+one body, moves itself between the booths and tents, present a companion
+piece to the spectacle which the so-called Park-hill affords. It
+is Naples' "Largo dei Castello," with its dancing apes, shrieking
+Bajazzoes, the whole deafening jubilee which has been transported to a
+northern wood. Here also, in the wooden booths, large, tawdry pictures
+show what delicious plays you may enjoy within. The beautiful female
+horse-rider stands upon the wooden balcony and cracks with her whip,
+whilst Harlequin blows the trumpet. Fastened to a perch, large, gay
+parrots nod over the heads of the multitude. Here stands a miner in his
+black costume, and exhibits the interior of a mine. He turns his
+box, and during the music dolls ascend and descend. Another shows the
+splendid fortress of Frederiksteen: "The whole cavalry and infantry who
+have endured an unspeakable deal; here a man without a weapon, there a
+weapon without a man; here a fellow without a bayonet, here a bayonet
+without a fellow; and yet they are merry and contented, for they have
+conquered the victory." [Note: Literal translation of the real words of
+a showman.] Dutch wafer-cake booths, where the handsome Dutch women,
+in their national costume, wait on the customers, entice old and young.
+Here a telescope, there a rare Danish ox, and so forth. High up, between
+the fresh tree boughs, the swings fly. Are those two lovers floating up
+there? A current of air seizes the girl's dress and shawl, the young
+man flings his arm round her waist; it is for safety: there is then less
+danger. At the foot of the hill there is cooking and roasting going on;
+it seems a complete gypsy-camp. Under the tree sits the old Jew--this is
+precisely his fiftieth jubilee; through a whole half-century has he sung
+here his comical Doctor's song. Now that we are reading this he is dead;
+that characteristic countenance is dust, those speaking eyes are closed,
+his song forgotten tones. Oehlenschl�ger, in his "St. John's Eve," has
+preserved his portrait for us, and it will continue to live, as Master
+Jakel (Punch), our Danish Thespis, will continue to live. The play and
+the puppets were transferred from father to son, and every quarter of an
+hour in the day the piece is repeated. Free nature is the place for the
+spectators, and after every representation the director himself goes
+round with the plate.
+
+This was the first spectacle which exhibited itself to the friends.
+Not far off stood a juggler in peasant's clothes, somewhat advanced in
+years, with a common ugly countenance. His short sleeves were rolled
+up, and exhibited a pair of hairy, muscular arms. The crowd, withdrawing
+from Master Jakel when the plate commenced its wanderings, pushed Otto
+and Wilhelm forward toward the low fence before the juggler's table.
+
+"Step nearer, my gracious gentlemen, my noble masters!" said the
+juggler, with an accentuation which betrayed his German birth. He opened
+the fence; both friends were fairly pushed in and took their places upon
+the bench, where they, at all events, found themselves out of the crowd.
+
+"Will the noble gentleman hold this goblet?" said the juggler, and
+handed Otto one from his apparatus. Otto glanced at the man: he was
+occupied with his art; but Otto's cheek and forehead were colored with a
+sudden crimson, which was immediately afterward supplanted by a deathly
+paleness: his hand trembled, but this lasted only a moment; he gathered
+all his strength of mind together and appeared the same as before.
+
+"That was a very good trick!" said Wilhelm.
+
+"Yes, certainly!" answered Otto; but he had seen nothing whatsoever. His
+soul was strangely affected. The man exhibited several other tricks, and
+then approached with the plate. Otto laid down a mark, and then rose to
+depart. The juggler remarked the piece of money: a smile played about
+his mouth; he glanced at Otto, and a strange malicious expression lay in
+the spiteful look which accompanied his loudly spoken thanks: "Mr. Otto
+Thostrup is always so gracious and good!"
+
+"Does he know you?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"He has the honor!" grinned the juggler, and proceeded.
+
+"He has exhibited his tricks in the Jutland villages, and upon my
+father's estate," whispered Otto.
+
+"Therefore an acquaintance of your childhood?" said Wilhelm.
+
+"Of my childhood," repeated Otto, and they made themselves a way through
+the tumult.
+
+They met with several young noblemen, relatives of Wilhelm, with the
+cousin who had written the verses for the Christmas tree; also several
+friends from the carouse, and the company increased. They intended, like
+many others, to pass the night in the wood, and at midnight drink out of
+Kirsten Piil's well. "Only with the increasing darkness will it become
+thoroughly merry here," thought they: but Otto had appointed to be in
+the city again toward evening. "Nothing will come out of that!" said the
+poet; "if you wish to escape, we shall bind you fast to one of us."
+
+"Then I carry him away with me on my back," replied Otto; "and still run
+toward the city. What shall I do here at night in the wood?"
+
+"Be merry!" answered Wilhelm. "Come, give us no follies, or I shall grow
+restive."
+
+Hand-organs, drums, and trumpets, roared against each other; Bajazzo
+growled; a couple of hoarse girls sang and twanged upon the guitar:
+it was comic or affecting, just as one was disposed. The evening
+approached, and now the crowd became greater, the joy more noisy.
+
+"But where is Otto?" inquired Wilhelm. Otto had vanished in the crowd.
+Search after him would help nothing, chance must bring them together
+again. Had he designedly withdrawn himself? no one knew wherefore, no
+one could dream what had passed within his soul. It became evening.
+The highway and the foot-path before the park resembled two moving gay
+ribbons.
+
+In the park itself the crowd perceptibly diminished. It was now the
+high-road which was become the Park-hill. The carriages dashed by each
+other as at a race; the people shouted and sung, if not as melodiously
+as the barcarole of the fisher men below Lido, still with the thorough
+carnival joy of the south. The steamboat moved along the coasts. From
+the gardens surrounding the pretty country-houses arose rockets into the
+blue sky, the Moccoli of the north above the Carnival of the Park.
+
+Wilhelm remained with his young friends in the wood, and there they
+intended, with the stroke of twelve, to drink out of Kirsten's well.
+Men and women, girls and boys of the lower class, and jovial young men,
+meet, after this manner, to enjoy St. John's Eve. Still sounded the
+music, the swings were in motion, lamps hung out, whilst the new moon
+shone through the thick tree boughs. Toward midnight the noise died
+away; only a blind peasant still scratched upon the three strings which
+were left on his violin; some servant-girls wandered, arm-in-arm, with
+their sweethearts, and sang. At twelve o'clock all assembled about
+the well, and drank the clear, ice-cold water. From no great distance
+resounded, through the still night, a chorus of four manly voices. It
+was as if the wood gods sang in praise of the nymph of the well.
+
+Upon the hill all was now deserted and quiet. Bajazzo and il Padrone
+slept behind the thin linen partition, under a coverlid. The moon set,
+but the night was clear; no clear, frosty winter night has a snore
+beautiful starry heaven to exhibit. Wilhelm's party was merry, quickly
+flew the hours away; singing in chorus, the party wandered through the
+wood, and down toward the strand. The day already dawned; a red streak
+along the horizon announced its approach.
+
+Nature sang to them the mythos of the creation of the world, even as she
+had sung it to Moses, who wrote down this voice from God, interpreted
+by Nature. Light banished the darkness, heaven and earth were parted; at
+first birds showed themselves in the clear air; later rose the beasts of
+the field; and, last of all, appeared man.
+
+"The morning is fairly sultry," said Wilhelm; "the sea resembles a
+mirror: shall we not bathe?"
+
+The proposal was accepted.
+
+"There we have the Naiades already!" said one of the party, as a
+swarm of fishermen's wives and daughters, with naked feet, their green
+petticoats tucked up, and baskets upon their backs, in which they
+carried fish to Copenhagen, came along the road. The gay young fellows
+cast toward the prettiest glances as warm and glowing as that cast by
+the sun himself, who, at this moment, came forth and shone over the
+Sound, where a splendid three-masted vessel had spread all her sails to
+catch each breeze. The company reached the strand.
+
+"There is some one already swimming out yonder," said Wilhelm. "He
+stands it bravely. That is an excellent swimmer!"
+
+"Here lie his clothes," remarked another.
+
+"How!" exclaimed Wilhelm: "this is Otto Thostrup's coat! But Otto cannot
+swim; I have never been able to persuade him to bathe. Now, we will out
+and make a nearer acquaintance."
+
+"Yes, certainly it is he," said another; "he is now showing his skill."
+
+"Then he must have been all night in the wood," exclaimed Wilhelm. "Yes,
+indeed, he's a fine bird. Does he fly us? He shall pay for this. Good
+night in the water, or in any other improper place? To quit friends
+without saying a word does not appertain to the customs of civilized
+people. Since you, therefore, show yourself such a man of nature, we
+will carry away your garments; it cannot annoy you in puris naturalibus
+to seek us out in the wood."
+
+Otto raised his head, but was silent.
+
+"Now, will you not come forth?" cried Wilhelm. "Only kneeling before
+each of us can you receive the separate articles of your dress, so
+that you may again appear as a civilized European." And saying this he
+divided the clothes among the others; each one held an article in his
+hand.
+
+"Leave such jokes!" cried Otto with singular earnestness. "Lay down the
+clothes, and retire!"
+
+"Aye, that we will, presently," returned Wilhelm. "You are a fine
+fellow! You cannot swim, you say. Now, if you should not kneel"--
+
+"Retire!" cried Otto, "or I will swim out into the stream, and not
+return again!"
+
+"That might be original enough," answered Wilhelm. "Swim forth, or come
+and kneel here!"
+
+"Wilhelm!" cried Otto, with an affecting sigh, and in a moment swam
+forth with quick strokes.
+
+"There he shoots away," said one of the party. "How he cuts the waves!
+He is a splendid swimmer!"
+
+Smiling they gazed over the expanse; Otto swam even farther out.
+
+"But where will he swim to?" exclaimed, somewhat gravely, one of the
+spectators. "He will certainly lose his strength before he returns the
+same distance."
+
+They unmoored the boat. Otto swam far out at sea; with quick strokes of
+the oars they rowed after him.
+
+"Where is he now?" cried Wilhelm shortly afterwards; "I see him no
+longer."
+
+"Yes, there he comes up again," said another; "but his strength is
+leaving him."
+
+"On! on!" cried Wilhelm; "he will be drowned if we do not come to his
+help. Only see--he sinks!"
+
+Otto had lost all power; his head disappeared beneath the water. The
+friends had nearly reached him; Wilhelm and several of the best swimmers
+flung from themselves boots and coats, sprang into the sea, and dived
+under the water. A short and noiseless moment passed. One of the
+swimmers appeared above water. "He is dead!" were the first words heard.
+Wilhelm and the three others now appeared with Otto; the boat was near
+oversetting as they brought him into it. Deathly pale lay he there,
+a beautifully formed marble statue, the picture of a young gladiator
+fallen in the arena.
+
+The friends busied themselves about him, rubbing his breast and hands,
+whilst two others rowel toward the land.
+
+"He breathes!" said Wilhelm.
+
+Otto opened his eyes; his lips moved; his gaze became firmer; a deep
+crimson spread itself over his breast and countenance; he raised himself
+and Wilhelm supported him. Suddenly a deep sigh burst from his breast;
+he thrust Wilhelm from him, and, like a madman, seized an article of
+dress to cover himself with; then, with a convulsive trembling of the
+lips, he said to Wilhelm, who held his hand, "I HATE YOU!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+     --"Art thou Prometheus, pierced with wounds?
+     The Vulture thou that tugs at his heart?"
+                   J. CHR. V. ZEDLITZ'S Todtenkr�nze.
+
+Not half an hour after this adventure a carriage rolled toward the
+city--a large carriage, containing three seats, but, beside the
+coachman, there was only one person within. This was Otto; his lips were
+pale; death, it is true, had touched them. Alone he dashed forward; his
+last words to Wilhelm had been his only ones.
+
+"He has lost his wits," said one of the friends.
+
+"It is a fit of madness," answered another, "such as he was seized with
+at the examination, when he only sent in a scrap of white paper for
+the mathematical examination, because he felt himself offended by the
+inspector."
+
+"I could quite vex myself about my stupid joke," said Wilhelm. "I ought
+to have known him better; he is of a strange, unhappy character. Give me
+your hands! We will mention to no one what has occurred; it would only
+give occasion to a deal of gossip, and wound him deeply, and he is an
+excellent, glorious fellow."
+
+They gave their hands upon it, and drove toward the city.
+
+The same day, toward evening, we again seek Otto. We find him in his
+chamber. Silent, with crossed arms, he stands before a print, a copy of
+Horace Vernet's representation of Mazeppa, who, naked and bound upon a
+wild horse, rushes through the forest. Wolves thrust forth their heads
+and exhibit their sharp teeth.
+
+"My own life!" sighed Otto. "I also am bound to this careering wild
+horse. And no friend, not a single one! Wilhelm, I could kill thee! I
+could see you all lying in your blood! O, Almighty God!" He pressed his
+hands before his face and threw himself into a seat; his eyes, however,
+again directed themselves toward the picture; it exhibited a moment
+similar to the condition of his own mind.
+
+The door now opened, and Wilhelm stood before him.
+
+"How do you find yourself, Thostrup?" he inquired. "We are still friends
+as before?" and he wished to give his hand. Otto drew back his. "I have
+done nothing which could so much offend you," said Wilhelm; "the whole
+was merely a joke! Give me your hand, and we will speak no more of the
+affair!"
+
+"To the man whom I hate, I never reach my hand," replied Otto and his
+lips were white like his cheeks.
+
+"A second time to-day you speak these words to me," said Wilhelm, and
+the blood rushed to his face. "We were friends, wherefore cannot we be
+so still? Have people slandered me to you? Have they told lies about me?
+Only tell me faithfully, and I shall be able to defend myself."
+
+"You must fight with me!" said Otto; and his glance became more gloomy.
+Wilhelm was silent; there reigned a momentary stillness. Otto suppressed
+a deep sigh. At length Wilhelm broke silence, and said, with a grave
+and agitated voice,--"I am so thoughtless, I joke so often, and regard
+everything from the ridiculous side. But for all that I have both heart
+and feeling. You must have known how much dearer you were to me than
+most other people. You are so still, although you offend me. At this
+moment your blood is in a fever; not now, but after a few days, you
+yourself will best see which of us is the offended party. You demand
+that I fight with you; I will if your honor requires this satisfaction:
+but you must lay before me an acceptable reason. I will know wherefore
+we risk our lives. Let some days pass by; weigh all with your
+understanding and your heart! It will still depend upon yourself whether
+we remain friends as before. Farewell!" And Wilhelm went.
+
+Each of his words had penetrated to Otto's heart. A moment he stood
+silent and undecided, then his limbs trembled involuntarily, tears
+streamed from his eyes--it was a convulsive fit of weeping; he pressed
+his head back. "God, how unfortunate I am!" were his only words.
+
+So passed some minutes; he had ceased to weep, and was calm; suddenly he
+sprang up, shot the bolt in the door, drew down the blinds, lighted his
+candle, and once more looked searchingly around: the key-hole was also
+stopped up. He then flung his coat away from him and uncovered the upper
+part of his body.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+     "The towers pass by, even before we perceive them."
+                    OEHLENSCHL�ER'S Journey to F�nen.
+
+Early the following morning, whilst Wilhelm still slept and dreamed of
+his beloved sisters, well-known footsteps sounded on the stairs, the
+door opened, and Otto stepped into the sleeping-room. Wilhelm opened his
+eyes. Otto was pale; a sleepless night and sorrow of heart had breathed
+upon his brow and eyes.
+
+"Thostrup!" cried Wilhelm, with joyous surprise, and stretched forth
+his hand toward him, but it again sank; Otto seized it, and pressed it
+firmly in his own, adding at the same time, with gravity,--"You have
+humbled me! Is that sufficient satisfaction for you?"
+
+"We are then friends!" said Wilhelm. "Friends must be very indulgent
+toward each other. Yesterday you were a little strange, to-morrow I may
+be so; that is the way in which one retaliates."
+
+Otto pressed his hand. "We will never speak again of the occurrence of
+yesterday!"
+
+"Never!" repeated Wilhelm, affected by the strange gravity of his
+friend.
+
+"You are a noble, a good creature!" said Otto, and bent over him; his
+lips touched Wilhelm's forehead.
+
+Wilhelm seized his hand, and gazed frankly into his eye. "You are not
+happy!" exclaimed he. "If I cannot assist you, I can, at least, dear
+Otto, honestly share the grief of a friend!"
+
+"Even on that very point we may never speak!" replied Otto. "Farewell!
+I have determined on travelling home; we have only vacation for a few
+weeks, and I have not been in Jutland since I became a student. Even a
+month's sojourn there cannot throw me back; I am well prepared for the
+philosophicum."
+
+"And when will you set out?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"To-morrow, with the steamboat. It is hot and sultry here in the city:
+my blood becomes heated: it will, also, soon be a year since I saw my
+family."
+
+"Thostrup!" exclaimed Wilhelm, through whom a thought suddenly flashed,
+"I should also like to see my family; they have written to me to come.
+Listen: make your journey through Funen, and only remain three or four
+days with us. My mother's carriage shall convey you then to Middelfart.
+Say 'Yes,' and we will set out this evening."
+
+"That cannot be done!" replied Otto; but half an hour later, as both
+sat together over the tea-table, and Wilhelm repeated his wish, Otto
+consented, but certainly more through a feeling of obligation than
+through any pleasure of his own. Toward evening, therefore, they set out
+in the beautiful summer night to travel through Zealand.
+
+Smartly dressed families wandered pleasantly through the city gate
+toward the summer theatre and Fredericksberg. The evening sun shone
+upon the column of Liberty; the beautiful obelisk, around which stand
+Wiedewelt's statues, one of which still weeps,
+
+             "In white marble clothing,
+                Hand upon the breast,
+                Ever grief-oppressed,
+              Looking down upon the gloomy sea,"
+
+where were closed the eyes of the artist. Was it the remembrance which
+here clouded Otto's glance, as his eye rested upon the statues as they
+drove past, or did his own soul, perhaps, mirror itself in his eyes?
+
+"Here it is gay and animated!" said Wilhelm, wishing to commence a
+conversation. "Vesterbro is certainly your most brilliant suburb. It
+forms a city by itself,--a little state! There upon the hill lies the
+King's Castle, and there on the left, between the willows, the poet's
+dwelling, where old Rahbek lived with his Kamma!"
+
+"Castle and poet's dwelling!" repeated Otto; "the time will be when they
+will inspire equal interest!"
+
+"That old place will soon be pulled down!" said Wilhelm; "in such a
+beautiful situation, so near the city, a splendid villa will be raised,
+and nothing more remind one of Philemon and Baucis!"
+
+"The old trees in the park will be spared!" said Otto; "in the garden
+the flowers will scent the air, and remind one of Kamma's flowers.
+Rahbek was no great poet, but he possessed a true poet's soul, labored
+faithfully in the great vineyard, and loved flowers as Kamma loved
+them."
+
+The friends hail left Fredericksberg behind them. The white walls of the
+castle glanced through the green boughs; behind S�ndermark, the large,
+wealthy village stretched itself out. The sun had set before they
+reached the Dam-house, where the wild swans, coming from the ocean,
+build in the fresh water fake. This is the last point of beauty; nothing
+but lonely fields, with here and there a cairn, extend to the horizon.
+
+The clear summer's night attracted their gaze upward; the postilion blew
+his horn, and the carriage rolled toward the town of Roeskilde, the St.
+Denis of Denmark, where kings turn to dust; where Hroar's spring still
+flows, and its waters mingle with those of Issefjords.
+
+They drove to a public-house to change horses. A young girl conducted
+the friends into the public room; she lighted the way for them. Her
+slender figure and her floating gait drew Wilhelm's attention toward
+her; his hand touched her shoulder, she sprang aside and fixed her
+beautiful grave eyes upon him; but their expression became milder, she
+smiled and colored at the same time.
+
+"You are the sister of little Jonas!" cried Wilhelm, recognizing the
+young girl he had seen with him at Christmas.
+
+"I must also thank you," said she, "for your kindness toward the poor
+boy!" She quickly placed the lights on the table, and left the room with
+a gentle glance.
+
+"She is beautiful, very beautiful!" exclaimed Wilhelm. "That was really
+quite a pleasant meeting."
+
+"Is it then you, Herr Baron, who honor me thus?" cried the host,
+stepping in--an elderly man with a jovial countenance. "Yes, the Baron
+will doubtless visit his dear relations in hunch? It is now some little
+time since you were there."
+
+"This is our host!" said Wilhelm to Otto. "He and his wife were born
+upon my parent's estate."
+
+"Yes," said the host, "in my youth I have shot many a snipe and wild
+duck with the Herr Baron's father. But Eva should spread the table; the
+gentlemen will certainly take supper, and a glass of good punch the Herr
+Baron will certainly not despise, if he is like his blessed father."
+
+The young girl spread the cloth in an adjoining room.
+
+"She is pretty!" Wilhelm whispered to the old man.
+
+"And just as pious and innocent as she is pretty!" returned he; "and
+that is saying much, as she is a poor girl, and from Copenhagen. She is
+of good service to us, and my wife says Eva shall not leave us until she
+is well married."
+
+Wilhelm invited the host to join them at a glass. The old man became
+more animated, and now confided to him, half mysteriously, what made Eva
+so honorable in the eyes of his wife, and what was, indeed, really very
+nice of her. "My old woman," said he, "was in Copenhagen, in search of a
+waiting-girl. Yes, there are enough to be had, and they are fine girls;
+but mother has her own thoughts and opinions: she has good eyes--that
+she has! Now, there came many, and among others Eva; but, good Lord! she
+was very poorly clad, and she looked feeble and weak, and what service
+could one get out of her! But she had a good countenance, and the poor
+girl wept and besought mother to take her, for she was not comfortable
+at home, and would not remain at Copenhagen. Now, mother knows how
+to make use of her words: it is unfortunate that she is not at home
+to-night; how pleased she would have been to see the Herr Baron! Yes,
+what I would say is, she so twisted her words about, that Eva confessed
+to her why she wished to leave home. You see the girl is petty; and the
+young gallant gentlemen of Copenhagen had remarked her smooth face,--and
+not alone the young, but the old ones also! So an old gentleman--I could
+easily name him, but that has nothing to do with the affair--a very
+distinguished man in the city, who has, besides, a wife and children,
+had said all sorts of things to her parents; and, as eight hundred
+dollars is a deal of money to poor people, one can excuse them: but
+Eva wept, and said she would rather spring into the castle-ditch. They
+represented all sorts of things to the poor girl; she heard of the
+service out here with us. She wept, kissed my old woman's hand, and thus
+came to us; and since then we have had a deal of service from Eva, and
+joy also!"
+
+Some minutes after Eva stepped in, Otto's eye rested with a melancholy
+expression upon the beautiful form: never had he before so gazed upon a
+woman. Her countenance was extraordinarily fine, her nose and forehead
+nobly formed, the eyebrows dark, and in the dark-blue eyes lay something
+pensive, yet happy: one might employ the Homeric expression, "smiling
+through tears," to describe this look. She announced that the carriage
+was ready.
+
+A keen observer would soon have remarked what a change the host's
+relation had worked in the two friends. Wilhelm was no longer so free
+toward poor Eva. Otto, on the contrary, approached her more,--and at
+their leave-taking they offered her a greater present than they would
+otherwise have given.
+
+She stood with Otto at the door, and assisted him on with his travelling
+cloak.
+
+"Preserve your heart pure!" said he, gravely; "that is more than
+beauty!"
+
+The young girl blushed, and gazed at him with astonishment; in such a
+manner had no one of his age ever before spoken to her.
+
+"The poor girl!" said Otto; "but I think she is come to good people."
+
+"She has a strange glance!" said Wilhelm. "Do you know that there
+is really a certain affinity between you and her? It was to me quite
+striking."
+
+"That is a compliment which I cannot accept," returned Otto, smiling.
+"Yet, perhaps, I might resemble her."
+
+It was not yet three o'clock when the friends reached Ringsted.
+
+"I have never before been so far in Zealand," said Otto.
+
+"Shall I be your guide?" returned Wilhelm. "Ringsted has a street and an
+inn, and one is very badly served there, as you will soon both see and
+experience yourself. Meanwhile, one can think of Hagbarth and Signe;
+not far from here, at Sigersted, he hung his mantle on the oak, and
+Signelil's abode stood in flames. Now only remain fields and meadows, a
+cairn, and the old popular song. Then we rush past the friendly Soroe,
+that mirrors itself with the wood in the lake, which forms itself
+into so many bays; but we do not see much of it. We have here another
+romantic spot, an old castle converted into a church, high up on the
+hill near the lake, and close to it the dismal place of execution.
+We then reach Slagelse, an animated little town; with the Antvorskov
+convent, the poet Frankenau's grave, and a Latin school, celebrated on
+account of its poets. It was there Baggesen and Ingemann learned their
+Latin. When I once questioned the hostess regarding the lions of the
+town, she would only acknowledge two,--Bastholm's library, and the
+English fire-engine. The curtain in the theatre represents an alley
+with a fountain, the jets of which are painted as if spouting out of
+the prompter's box; or is this, perhaps, the English fire-engine? I
+know not. The scene-decoration for towns represents the market-place of
+Slagelse itself, so that the pieces thus acquire a home-feeling. This is
+the modern history of the little town; and, with regard to its older
+and romantic history, learn that the holy Anders was preacher here! Yes,
+indeed, that was a man! He has been also sung of by our first poets. We
+end with Kors�er, where Baggesen was born and Birckner lies buried. In
+the more modern history of this town, King Solomon and J�rgen the hatter
+play a considerable r�le. Besides this, I know that the town is said
+once to have possessed a private theatre; but this soon was done for,
+and the decorations were sold; a miller bought them, and patched his
+windmill sails with them. Upon one sail was a piece of a wood, upon
+another a shred of a room, or a street; and so they rushed round one
+after the other. Perhaps this is mere slander, for I have my information
+from Slagelse; and neighboring towns never speak well of each other."
+
+In this manner Wilhelm gossiped on, and the friends travelled over the
+way he had described. Slagelse, and the peasant village of Landsgrav,
+they had already behind them, when Wilhelm ordered the coachman to
+diverge from the high-road toward the right.
+
+"Where will you take us to?" asked Otto.
+
+"I will give you a pleasure!" returned Wilhelm. "We shall reach the
+weariful Kors�er early enough: the steamboat leaves at ten, and it is
+not yet seven. You shall be surprised--I know well that you are half a
+Catholic; I will conduct you where you may believe yourself carried back
+several centuries, and may imagine yourself in a Catholic country. That
+is right pleasant, is it not?"
+
+Otto smiled. The friends alighted from the coach and walked over a
+corn-field. They found themselves upon a hill, the whole landscape
+spread itself out before them--they saw the Belt, with Sprog�e and
+Funen. The surrounding country was certainly flat, but the variety of
+greens, the near meadow, the dark stretch of wood in the neighborhood
+of Kors�er, the bay itself, and all this seen in a warm morning light,
+produced effect. The friends diverged to the right; and before them,
+upon a hill, stood a large wooden cross, with the figure of the
+Crucified One. Above the cross was built a small roof to carry off the
+rain,--such as one may yet find in Bavaria. The figure of the Redeemer
+was of wood, painted with strong, tawdry colors; a withered garland of
+corn-flowers still hung around his bowed head.
+
+"It is extraordinary," said Otto, "to find in our time, in the year
+1830, such a Catholic symbol in Lutheran Denmark! And yet--yes, you will
+laugh at me, but I find it lovely: it affects me, moves me to worship."
+
+"That tawdry, tasteless figure!" cried Wilhelm. "Only see how coarse!
+the hair is covered with tar to keep off the rain! The peasants here
+have their peculiar superstition. If they allow the cross to fall they
+have no luck with their lands. It was upon this hill that the holy
+Anders, the celebrated preacher of Slagelse, awoke. He visited the
+sepulchre of Christ, but through praying there too long the ship sailed
+without him, and he was forced to stay behind. Then came a man and took
+him upon his horse, and they would ride to Joppa: the holy Anders fell
+asleep; but when he awoke he lay here, and heard the bells ringing in
+Slagelse. Upon a foal, only one night old, he rode round the extensive
+city lands, whilst King Waldemar lay in his bath. He could hang his
+glove upon the beams of the sun. This hill, where he awoke, was called
+Rest-hill; and the cross, with the figure of the Redeemer erected
+upon it, which still stands here, reminds us of the legend of the holy
+Anders."
+
+A little peasant girl at this moment mounted the hill, but paused when
+she perceived the strangers.
+
+"Don't be afraid, my child!" said Wilhelm. "What hast thou there? a
+garland! shall it hang here upon the cross? Only come, we will help
+thee."
+
+"It should hang over our Lord," said the little one, holding, in an
+embarrassed manner, the garland of pretty blue cornflowers in her hand.
+Otto took the garland, and hung it up in place of the faded one.
+
+"That was our morning adventure!" said Wilhelm, and soon they were
+rolling in the deep sand toward Kors�er, toward the hill where the poet
+watched the sun and moon sink into the sea, and wished that he had wings
+that he might catch them.
+
+Melancholy and silent lies the town on the flat coast, the old castle
+turned into a farm-house--high grass grows upon the walls. In a storm,
+when the wind blows against the city, the surf beats against the
+outermost houses. High upon the church stands a telegraph; the black
+wooden plates resemble mourning-flags hung above the sinking town. Here
+is nothing for the stranger to see, nothing except a grave--that of the
+thinker Birckner. The friends drove to the public-house on the
+strand. No human being met them in the street except a boy, who rung a
+hand-bell.
+
+"That calls to church," said Wilhelm. "Because there are no bells in the
+tower, they have here such a wandering bell-ringer as this. Holla! there
+lies the inn!"
+
+"Baron Wilhelm!" cried a strong voice, and a man in a green jacket with
+pockets in the breast, the mighty riding-boots splashed above the tops,
+and with whip in hand, approached them, pulled his horse-hair cap, and
+extended his hand to Wilhelm.
+
+"The Kammerjunker from Funen!" said Wilhelm; "my mother's neighbor, one
+of the most industrious and rich noblemen in all Funen."
+
+"You will come one of the first days to me!" said the Kammerjunker; "you
+shall try my Russian steam-bath: I have erected one upon my estate. All
+who visit me, ladies and gentlemen without any exception, must try it!"
+
+"And do the cherry-trees bear well this year?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"No, no," answered the Kammerjunker, "they are good for nothing; but
+the apples are good! All the old trees in the hill-garden stand in full
+splendor: I've brought them into condition! Two years ago there was not,
+on all the trees together, a bushel of fruit. But I had all the horses
+which had to be bled led under the trees, and had the warm blood
+sprinkled upon the roots; this happened several times, and it has been a
+real inoculation for life."
+
+"The wind is certainly favorable," said Otto, whom this conversation
+began to weary.
+
+"No, just the contrary!" said the Kammerjunker. "The vane upon the
+little house yonder lies; it points always to Nyborg, always shows a
+good wind for us when we want to leave. In Nyborg is also a vane, which
+stands even as firmly as this, and prates to the folk there of good
+wind. I regard both vanes as a kind of guide-post, which merely says,
+There goes the way! No, if we had had a wind I should have gone with the
+boat, and not with the little splashing thing, as the seamen call the
+steamboat. The carriage is doubtless awaiting the young gentleman in
+Nyborg?" pursued he. "I will join company with you--my brown horse
+waits for me at Schalburg. You should see him! He has sinews like steel
+springs, and legs like a dancing-master! He is my own brown."
+
+"No one knows that we are coming," answered Wilhelm. "We shall,
+therefore, take a carriage from Nyborg."
+
+"We will join company," said the Kammerjunker, "and then you will pay me
+a visit with the young gentleman. You shall sleep in the black chamber!
+Yes, you will give me the pleasure?" said he to Otto. "If you are a
+lover of the antique, my estate will afford you pleasure; you find there
+moats, towers, guard-rooms, ghosts, and hobgoblins, such as belong to an
+old estate. The black chamber! after all, it is not quite secure there;
+is it, Herr Baron?"
+
+"No, the deuce remain a night with you!" said Wilhelm; "one gets to bed
+late, and even then it is not permitted one to close one's eyes. You,
+your sister, and the Mamsell,--yes, you are a pretty clover-leaf!
+Yes, Thostrup, you cannot believe what pranks are hatched upon the
+Kammerjunker's estate! One must be prepared for it! It is said to be
+haunted, but if the dead will not take that trouble the living do. The
+Kammerjunker is in the plot with his women-folk. They sewed me lately
+live cockchafers into my pillow, and they crawled and scrambled about
+till I did not know what the deuce it could be! A live cock they had
+also placed under my bed, and just in the morning, when I would go to
+sleep, the creature began to crow!"
+
+"The women-folk had done that," said the Kammerjunker. "Did they not
+the very same night fasten a door-bell to the head of my bed? I never
+thought of it; fat Laender slept in the same room, and had fastened
+along the wall a string to the bell. I awoke with the ringing. 'What the
+devil is that bell?' said I, and glanced about the room, for I could not
+conceive what it was. 'Bell?' asked Laender--'there is no bell here!'
+The ringing also ceased. I thought I must have dreamed, or that our
+merry evening must have left some buzzing in my ears. Again it began to
+ring. Laender looked so innocent all the time, I could not comprehend
+myself; I thought it must be my imagination. I became quite
+fainthearted, I denied my own hearing, and said, 'No, I have only
+dreamed!' and commenced reckoning and counting to employ my mind; but
+that did no good, and it nearly drove me mad! I sprang out of bed, and
+then I found out the trick: but how Laender grinned! he was swollen and
+red in the face with his mirth."
+
+"Do you play such jokes on your estate?" inquired Otto, addressing
+himself to Wilhelm.
+
+"No, not such refined ones!" returned the Kammerjunker; "perhaps a piece
+of wood, or a silly mask, is laid in your bed. Miss Sophie gives us
+other clever things for amusement--tableaux and the magic-lantern. I was
+once of the party. Yes, what was it I represented? Ah, I played, Heaven
+help me! King Cyrus: had a paper crown on my head, and Miss Sophie's
+cloak about me, the wrong side turned outward, for it is lined with
+sable. I looked like Satan!"
+
+The steamboat passengers were summoned on board, the company went down
+to the vessel, and soon it was cutting through the waves of the Belt.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+     "See now, F�nen signifieth _fine_,
+       And much in that word lies;
+     For F�nen is the garden fine,
+       Where Denmark glads its eyes."
+
+The nakedness which the last aspect of Zealand presents occasions one
+to be doubly struck by the affluent abundance and luxuriance with which
+Funen steps forth. Green woods, rich corn-fields, and, wherever the eye
+rests, noblemen's seats and churches. Nyborg itself appears a lively
+capital in comparison with the still melancholy Kors�er. One now
+perceives people upon the great bridge of boats, on the ramparts, and
+in the broad streets with their high houses; one sees soldiers, hears
+music, and, what is especially animating upon a journey, one comes to
+an excellent inn. The drive out through the arched gateway is an
+astonishment; it is the same length and breadth as one of the gates of
+Copenhagen. Villages and peasants' houses here assume a more well-to-do
+aspect than in Zealand, where one often on the way-side imagines one
+sees a manure-heap heaped upon four poles, which upon nearer examination
+one finds is the abode of a family. On the highroads in Funen one
+perceives only clean houses; the window-frames are painted; before the
+doors are little flower-gardens, and wherever flowers are grown,
+as Bulwer strikingly remarks, the peasant is in a higher state of
+civilization; he thinks of the beautiful. In the ditches along the
+highway one sees lilac with their white and lilac flowers. Nature
+herself has here adorned the country with a multitude of wild poppies,
+which for splendor of color might vie with the most admired and
+beautiful in a botanic garden. Especially in the neighborhood of Nyborg
+do they grow in exceeding abundance.
+
+"What a dazzling color!" exclaimed Otto, as the friends rolled past
+these beautiful red flowers.
+
+"That is a proud color!" said the Kammerjunker, who rode near them upon
+his brown steed, "a proud color! but they are manured with the blood
+of Andalusian horses. It was just here where the battle between these
+beasts took place. You know that sit the year 1808 the Spaniards lay
+in Funen; the English ships were cruising about in the Belt, and Romana
+fled with his whole army on board, but they could net take their horses
+with them. These were the most splendid Andalusian creatures that eyes
+ever saw. The Spaniards took off their bridles, and left them here to
+scamper about the fields like wild horses. The horses of Nyborg chanced
+also to graze here, and as soon as the Andalusian steeds became aware of
+ours they arranged themselves in a row, and fell upon the Danish horses:
+that was a combat! At length they fell upon each other, and fought until
+they fell bleeding to earth. Whilst still a boy I saw little skull of
+one of these beasts. This is the last adventure left us from the visit
+of the Spaniards to Denmark. In the village through which we shall
+now pass are some outer remembrances. Remark the young lads and
+lasses,--they are of a darker complexion than the inhabitants of other
+Funen valleys; that is Spanish blood, it is said. It was in this village
+that the story took its rise of the preacher's servant-girl, who wept
+and was so inconsolable at the departure of the Spaniards. But not on
+account of her bridegroom did she weep,--not over her own condition. The
+preacher consoled her, and then she said she only wept to think that
+if the innocent child resembled its father it certainly would speak
+Spanish, and then not a soul would understand it! Yes, such histories as
+this have we in Funen!" said he laughingly to Otto.
+
+With similar relations, and some agricultural observations, according as
+they were called forth by surrounding objects, did our excellent landed
+proprietor amuse our young gentlemen. They were already distant several
+miles from Nyborg, when he suddenly broke off in the midst of a very
+interesting discourse upon a characteristic of a true inhabitant of
+Funen, which is, that whenever he passes a field of buckwheat he moves
+his mouth as if chewing, and made Wilhelm observe a Viennese carriage,
+which approached them by a neighboring road. To judge from the coachman
+and the horses, it must be the family from the hall.
+
+This was the case--they returned from paying a visit. Where the roads
+crossed they met each other. Otto immediately recognized Miss Sophie,
+and near to her sat an elderly lady, with a gentle, good-humored
+countenance; this was the mother. Now there was surprise and joy. Sophie
+blushed--this blush could not have reference to the brother; was it
+then the Kammerjunker? No: that appeared impossible! therefore, it must
+concern Otto. The mother extended her hand to him with a welcome, whilst
+at the same time she invited the Kammerjunker to spend the afternoon
+with them. There lay, in the manner with which she proposed this, so
+much attention and consideration, that Otto felt the man was here held
+in greater esteem, and was otherwise regarded than he, during their
+short acquaintance, had imagined possible.
+
+Sophie added, smiling, "You must stay!" To which the Kammerjunker
+replied with an apology for his travelling-dress.
+
+"We are not strangers!" said the mother; "it is only a family meal!
+You see the usual circle. You, Mr. Thostrup," added she, with a most
+obliging manner, "I know so well from Wilhelm's letters, that we are no
+strangers. The gentlemen are acquainted with each other!"
+
+"I accept the invitation," said the Kammerjunker, "and I will now
+show you into what a gallop I can put my steed! It is Carl Rise,
+[Translator's Note: Name of one of the heroes in Waldemar the Conqueror,
+a romance by Ingemann.] as you see, young lady--you called him so
+yourself!"
+
+"Yes, ride forward," said Sophie, smiling. "By that means you will
+oblige my sister. She might otherwise be quite frightened, did she
+see such a mighty caravan approach the house, did she had not properly
+prepared the dinner-table."
+
+"As my gracious young lady commands!" said the rider, and sprang
+forward.
+
+The country became more woody; the road passed various small lakes,
+almost overgrown with water-lilies and shaded by old trees; the
+old-fashioned, indented gable-ends of the hall now peeped forth. They
+drove through an avenue of wild chestnut-trees; the stone pavement here
+threatened to smash the carriage axles. On the right lay the forge,
+through the open door of which flew the sparks. A little girl, with bare
+feet, opened a gate, and they now found themselves in a large open space
+before the red-painted out-buildings. The ground was covered with straw,
+and all the cows of the farm were collected here for milking. Here they
+were obliged to drive, step by step, until by the gateway they reached
+the larger courtyard, which was inclosed by the barns and the principal
+building itself. This was surrounded by broad ditches, almost grown over
+with reeds. Over a solid bridge, resting upon pillars of masonry, and
+through a principal wing which bore the armorial bearings and initials
+of the old possessor, they arrived in the innermost court, which was
+shut in by three wings, the antique one already mentioned, and two
+others: the fourth side was inclosed by a low trellis-work which
+adjoined the garden, where the canals lost themselves in a small lake.
+
+"That is an interesting old court!" exclaimed Otto.
+
+"O, that is not to be compared with the Kammerjunker's!" returned
+Wilhelm: "you should first see his!"
+
+"Yes, you must come over some of these days," said the Kammerjunker.
+"Silence, Fingal! Silence, Valdine!" cried he to the barking dogs. A
+couple of turkey-cocks spread their feathers out, and gobbled with all
+their might. Men and women servants stood at the door: that was their
+reception!
+
+"Thostrup will have the red room, will he not?" said Wilhelm, and the
+friends ascended the stairs together.
+
+A pale young girl, not free from freckles, but with eyes full of soul,
+hastened toward them; this was Wilhelm's youngest sister. She pressed
+her brother to her breast, and took Otto's hand with kindness. She is
+not beautiful! was the first impression she made upon him. His chamber
+was vaulted, and the walls painted in the style of Gobelin tapestry;
+they represented the whole of Olympus. On the left was an old
+fire-place, with decorations and a gilt inscription; on the right
+stood an antiquated canopy-bed, with red damask hangings. The view was
+confined to the moat and the interior court. But a few minutes and Otto
+and Wilhelm were summoned to table. A long gallery through two wings of
+the hall, on one side windows, on the other entrances to the rooms,
+led to the dining-room. The whole long passage was a picture-gallery.
+Portraits the size of life, representing noble knights and ladies
+shining forth in red powdered periwigs, children adorned like their
+elders, with tulips in their hands, and great hounds by their sides,
+together with some historical pieces, decorated the walls.
+
+"Have we no garland on the table?" asked Sophie, as she entered the
+dining-room with the others.
+
+"Only a weak attempt to imitate my sister!" said Louise, smiling.
+
+"But there is not a single flower in the garland! What economy! And yet
+it is sweet!"
+
+"How tasteful!" exclaimed Otto, examining the garland which Louise had
+laid.
+
+All kinds of green leaves, with their innumerable shades, a few yellow
+linden-leaves, and some from the copper-beech, formed, through their
+varied forms and colors, a tasteful garland upon the white table-cloth.
+
+"You receive a thistle and a withered leaf!" whispered Wilhelm, as Otto
+seated himself.
+
+"But yet the most beautiful!" answered he. "The copper beech contrasts
+so sweetly with the whitish-green thistle and the yellow leaf."
+
+"My sister Sophie," said Louise, "lays us each day a different
+garland;--it is such a pretty decoration! If she is not here we get
+none; that would have been the case to-day, but when I learned that
+Wilhelm was coming, and that we," she added, with a friendly glance,
+"should have two other guests, I in great haste, made an attempt, and"--
+
+"And wished to show how nicely it could be made without robbing your
+flowers!" interrupted Sophie, laughing. "In reality, I am very cruel! I
+cut all the heads of her favorites off. To-morrow, as a parody upon her
+garland of to-day, will I make one of green cabbage and pea-shells!"
+
+"Madeira or port wine?" asked the Kammerjunker, and led the conversation
+from flowers to articles of food and drink.
+
+"One feels one's self comfortable here at the hall! Miss Louise cares
+for the body, and Miss Sophie for the soul!"
+
+"And mamma bestows a good cup of coffee," said the mother; "you must
+also praise me a little!"
+
+"I give music after dinner!" cried Wilhelm; "and thus the whole family
+will have shown their activity!"
+
+"But no voluntaries!" said the Kammerjunker; "no voluntaries, dear
+friend! No, a brisk song, so that one can hear what it is! but none
+of your artificial things!" A right proper blow on the shoulders was
+intended to soften his expression.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+     "She sees if the cloth is clean and white
+     --If the bed has pillows and sheets;
+     If the candle fits in the candlestick....
+
+     "Modest she is, although you know
+       She makes the whole of the place;
+     And in she slips in the evening glow,
+       To light the room with her merry face "--OEHLENSCHL�GER
+
+A quiet, busy house-fairy was Louise; the beautiful, fragrant flowers
+were her favorites. Good-humoredly she smiled at the raillery of her
+sister, quietly listened to each thoughtless jest; but if any one, in
+joke, touched upon what was holy to her soul, she was aroused from her
+calmness and attained a certain eloquence.
+
+We will now become more nearly acquainted with the sisters, and on this
+account pass over to one of the following days.
+
+An abode together of a week, at a country-seat, will often bring about
+a greater intimacy than if, throughout a whole winter, people had met
+in large companies in cities. Otto soon felt himself at home; he was
+treated as a near relative. Wilhelm related all he knew of the beautiful
+Eva, and Sophie discovered that she was a romantic character. Mamma
+pitied the poor child, and Louise wished she had her on the estate: an
+inn was, after all, no proper place for a respectable girl. They then
+spoke of the winter enjoyments in Copenhagen, of art, and the theatre.
+Louise could not speak much with them upon these subjects, although
+she had seen one play, "Dyveke:" the amiable nature of the actress had
+spoken deeply to her heart.
+
+Several days had passed; the sky was gray; the young people assembled
+round the table; they were at no loss for a subject of conversation. All
+those who have brothers or sons who study well, have remarked how much
+they are especially fascinated by the lectures on natural philosophy and
+astronomy; the world, as it were, expands itself before the intellectual
+eye. We know that the friends, during the past summer, had participated
+in these lectures, and, like the greater number, were full of
+these subjects, from the contemplation of a drop of water, with its
+innumerable animalculae, to the distance and magnitude of stars and
+planets.
+
+To most of us these are well-known doctrines; to the ladies, also, this
+was nothing entirely new: nevertheless, it interested them; perhaps
+partly owing to Otto's beautiful eloquence. The gray, rainy weather led
+the conversation to the physical explanation of the origin of our globe,
+as the friends, from Orsted's lectures, conceived it to have been.
+
+"The Northern and Grecian myths agree also with it!" sail Otto. "We must
+imagine, that in infinite space there floated an eternal, unending mist,
+in which lay a power of attraction. The mist condensed itself now to
+one drop--our globe was one enormous egg-shaped drop; light and warmth
+operated upon this huge world egg, and hatched, not alone ONE creature,
+but millions. These must die and give way to new ones, but their corpses
+fell as dust to the centre: this grew; the water itself condensed, and
+soon arose a point above the expanse of ocean. The warmth of the sun
+developed moss and plants; fresh islands presented themselves;
+for centuries did a more powerful development and improvement show
+themselves, until the perfection was attained which we now perceive!"
+
+"But the Bible does not teach us thus!" said Louise.
+
+"Moses invented his account of the creation," answered Otto; "we keep to
+Nature, who has greater revelations than man."
+
+"But the Bible is to you a holy book?" asked Louise, and colored.
+
+"A venerable book!" returned Otto. "It contains the profoundest
+doctrines, the most interesting histories, but also much which belongs
+not at all to a holy book."
+
+"How can you say such things?" exclaimed Louise.
+
+"Do not touch upon religion in her presence," said Sophie; "she is a
+pious soul, and believes, without desiring to know wherefore."
+
+"Yes," said Wilhelm, "this winter she became quite angry, and, as I
+believe, for the first time angry with me, because I maintained that
+Christ was a man."
+
+"Wilhelm!" interrupted the young girl, "do not speak of that; I feel
+myself unhappy at this thought; I can and will not see the Holy brought
+down to my level, and to that of every-day life. It lies in my nature
+that I commit a sin if I think otherwise than I have learned and than my
+heart allows me. It is profane, and if you speak longer of religion in
+this strain I shall leave the room."
+
+At this moment the mother entered. "The festival has commenced," said
+she; "I have been forced to give my brightest silver skilling. Does Mr.
+Thostrup know the old custom which is observed here in the country, when
+beer is brewed for the mowing-feast?"
+
+A piercing cry, as from a horde of savages, at this moment reached the
+ears of the party.
+
+The friends descended.
+
+In the middle of the brew-house stood a tub, around which danced all the
+female servants of the estate, from the dairymaids down to the girl
+who tended the swine; their iron-bound wooden shoes dashed against the
+uneven flag-stones. The greater number of the dancers were without their
+jackets, but with their long chemise-sleeves and narrow bodices. Some
+screamed, others laughed, the whole was blended together in a howl,
+whilst they danced hand in hand around the tub in which the beer should
+be brewed. The brewing-maid now flung into it the silver skilling, upon
+which the girls, like wild Maenades, tore off each other's caps, and
+with bacchanalian wildness whirled round the tub. By this means
+should the beer become stronger, and work more intoxicatingly at the
+approaching mowing-feast.
+
+Among the girls, one especially distinguished herself by her Strong
+frame of body, and her long black hair, which, now that her cap was torn
+off, hung in disorder over her red face. The dark eyebrows were grown
+together. All seemed to rage most violently within her, and in truth she
+assumed something wild, nay almost brutal. Both arms she raised high in
+the air, and with outstretched fingers she whirled around.
+
+"That is disgusting!" whispered Otto: "they all look like crazy people."
+
+Wilhelm laughed at it. The wild merriment was lost in a joyous burst of
+laughter. The girl with the grown-together eyebrows let fall her arms;
+but still there lay in her glance that wild expression, which the loose
+hair and uncovered shoulders made still more striking. Either one of the
+others had had the misfortune to scratch her lip, or else she herself
+had bitten it in bacchanalian wildness until it bled: she accidentally
+glanced toward the open door where stood the friends. Otto's countenance
+became clouded, as was ever the case when anything unpleasant affected
+him. She seemed to guess his thoughts, and laughed aloud. Otto stepped
+aside; it was as though he in anticipation felt the shadow which this
+form would one day cast across his life.
+
+When he and Wilhelm immediately afterward returned to Sophie and Louise,
+he related the unpleasant impression which the girl had made upon him.
+
+"O, that is my Meg Merrilies!" exclaimed Sophie. "Yes, spite of her
+youth, do you not find that she has something of Sir Walter Scott's
+witch about her? When she grows older, she will be excellent. She has
+the appearance of being thirty, whereas she is said not to be more than
+twenty years old: she is a true giantess."
+
+"The poor thing!" said Louise; "every one judges from the exterior. All
+who are around her hate her, I believe, because her eyebrows are grown
+together, and that is said to be a sign that she is a nightmare:
+
+     [Note: This superstition of the people is mentioned in
+     Thieles's Danish traditions: "When a girl at midnight
+     stretches between four sticks the membrane in which the foal
+     lies when it is born, and then creeps naked through it, she
+     will bear her child without pains; but all the boys she
+     conceives will become were-wolves, and all the girls
+     nightmares. You will know them in the daytime by their
+     eyebrows grown together over the nose. In the night she
+     creeps in through the key-hole, and places herself upon the
+     sleeper's bosom. The same superstition is also found in
+     German Grimm speaks thus about it: If you say to the
+     nightmare,--
+
+         Old hag, come to-morrow,
+         And I from you will borrow,
+
+     it retreats directly, and comes the next morning in the
+     shape of a man to borrow something."]
+
+they are angry with her, and how could one expect, from the class to
+which she belongs, that she should return scorn with kindness? She is
+become savage, that she may not feel their neglect. In a few days, when
+we have the mowing-feast, you yourself will see how every girl gets a
+partner; but poor Sidsel may adorn herself as much as she likes, she
+still stands alone. It is truly hard to be born such a being!"
+
+"The unfortunate girl!" sighed Otto.
+
+"O, she does not feel it!" said Wilhelm: "she cannot feel it; for that
+she is too rude, too much of an animal."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+     "Were the pease not tender, and the vegetables fresh and
+     sweet as sugar What was the matter with the hams, the smoked
+     goose-breasts, and the herrings? What with the roasted lamb,
+     and the refreshing red-sprinkled head-lettuce? Was not the
+     vinegar sharp, and the nut-oil balmy? Was not the butter as
+     sweet as a nut, the red radishes tender? What?"--VOSS'S
+     Louise.
+
+"Mr. Thostrup shall see the Kammerjunker's old country-seat; to-morrow
+we must go over."
+
+Louise could not go with them, a hundred small duties chained her to the
+house. The most important of them all was ironing.
+
+"But that the house-maid can do," said Sophie. "Do come with us."
+
+"When thou seest thy linen nice and neat in thy drawers," returned
+Louise, "thou wilt certainly pardon me for remaining at home."
+
+"Yes, thou art a glorious girl!" said Sophie; "thou dost deserve to have
+been known by Jean Paul, and made immortal in one of his books. Thou
+dost deserve the good fortune of being sung of by such a poet."
+
+"Dost thou call it good fortune," answered the sister, "when the whole
+world directs its attention to one person?--that must be painful!
+unhappy! No, it is much better not to be remarked at all. Take my
+greetings with you, and ask for my Claudius back; they have had it now a
+whole half year."
+
+"There, they have kept half my sister's library," said Sophie, smiling
+to Otto. "You must know she has only two books: Mynster's Sermons, and
+the 'Wandsbecker Boten.'"
+
+The carriage rolled away through the chestnut avenue. "There upon the
+hill, close by the wood, did I act the elf-maiden," said Sophie. "I was
+not yet confirmed; there were strangers staying with us at the hall,
+and we wandered in the beautiful moonlight through the wood. Two of my
+friends and I hastened toward the hill, took hold of each other's hands
+and danced in a ring. The day after, two persons of the congregation
+told the preacher about three elfin-maidens, clad in white, who had
+danced upon the hill in the moonlight. The elfin-maidens were we; but
+that our backs were hollow as baking-troughs, and that the hill glanced
+like silver, was their own invention."
+
+"And in this oak," exclaimed Wilhelm, "when a boy, I killed the first
+bird which fell from my shot. It was a crow, and was very honorably
+interred."
+
+"Yes, beneath my sister's weeping-willow," said Sophie. "We buried it
+in an old chapeaubras, adorned with white bows; the grave was decorated
+with peony-leaves and yellow lilies. Wilhelm, who was then a big boy,
+made an oration, and Louise strewed flowers."
+
+"You were little fools!" said the mother. "But see, who comes here?"
+
+"O, my little Dickie, my dwarf of Kenilworth!" exclaimed Sophie, as a
+little hump-backed man, with thin legs and an old face, approached. He
+was dressed as a peasant, and bore upon his back a little knapsack of
+red calfskin, the hairy side turned outward: in this he carried his
+violin.
+
+"Is he called Dickie?" asked Otto.
+
+"No, that is only a joke of Sophie's," pursued Wilhelm; "she must always
+make suitable people romantic. He is called commonly 'Musikanti.' The
+inhabitant of Funen Italianizes most names; otherwise he is called Peter
+Cripple."
+
+"You will hear his tones," said Sophie. "The day after to-morrow, when
+we have the mowing-feast, he will he number one. He understands
+music with which you are scarcely acquainted; he will play you the
+'Shoemaker's Dance' as well as 'Cherry-soup:' such dances as these have
+people here in the country."
+
+"We are now beyond my lands, and upon our neighbor's," said the old
+lady. "You will see a thorough old mansion."
+
+"Now, I should like to know how the inhabitants will please Mr.
+Thostrup," said Sophie. "The Kammerjunker you know; he is an excellent
+country gentleman. His sister, on the contrary, is a little peculiar:
+she belongs to that class of people who always, even wily the best
+intentions, say unpleasant things. She has for this quite a rare
+talent--you will soon experience this; but she does not intend anything
+so bad. She can also joke! Thank God that you will not remain there
+over night, otherwise you would experience what she and the Mamsell can
+invent!"
+
+"Yes, the Mamsell is my friend!" said Wilhelm. "You will see her
+work-box with all the curiosities. That little box plays a great part:
+it is always taken out with her when she pays a visit--for the sake of
+conversation it is brought out; all is then looked through, and every
+article goes the round of the company. Yes, there are beautiful things
+to be seen: a little wheelbarrow with a pincushion, a silver fish, and
+the little yard-measure of silk ribbon."
+
+"Yes, and the amber heart!" said Sophie; "the little Napoleon of cast
+iron, and the officer who is pasted fast to the bottom of the box: that
+is a good friend in Odense, she lately told to me in confidence."
+
+"See what beautiful stone fences the Kammerjunker has made!" said the
+mother. "And how beautifully the cherry-trees grow! He is an industrious
+man!"
+
+They approached the garden. It was laid out in the old French style,
+with straight walks, pyramids of box, and white painted stone figures:
+satyrs and goddesses peeped through the green foliage. You now caught
+sight of a high tower with a spire; and soon the whole of the old
+mansion presented itself to view. The water was conveyed away from the
+broad moats, where the weeping willows with bowed heads and uncovered
+roots stood in the warm sunshine. A number of work-people were busily
+employed in clearing the moats of mud, which was wheeled in barrows on
+both sides.
+
+They soon reached the principal court-yard. The barns and the
+out-buildings lay on the opposite side. A crowd of dogs rushed forth
+barking toward the carriage--all possible races, from the large Danish
+hound, which is known to the Parisian, down to the steward's little
+pug-dog, which had mixed with this company. Here stood the greyhound,
+with his long legs, beside the turnspit. You saw all varieties, and each
+had its peculiar and melodious bark. A couple of peacocks, with bright
+outspread tails, raised at the same time a cry, which must have made an
+impression. The whole court-yard had a striking air of cleanliness. The
+grass was weeded from between the stones; all was swept and arranged
+in its appointed order. Before the principal flight of steps grew four
+large lime-trees; their tops, from youth bent together and then clipped
+short, formed in spring and summer two large green triumphal arches. On
+the right stood upon an upright beam, which was carved and formed into
+a pillar, a prettily painted dove-cot; and its gay inhabitants fluttered
+and cooed around. The peacock-pigeon emulated the peacock in spreading
+its tail; and the cropper-pigeon elevated itself upon its long legs, and
+drew itself up, as though it would welcome the strangers with the air of
+a grand gentleman. The reddish-brown tiles and the bright window-panes
+were the only things which had a modern air. The building itself, from
+the stone window-seats to the old-fashioned tower through which you
+entered, proclaimed its antiquity. In the vaulted entrance-hall stood
+two immense presses: the quantity of wood which formed them, and the
+artistical carving, testified to their great age. Above the door were
+fastened a couple of antlers.
+
+The Kammerjunker's sister, Miss Jakoba, a young lady of about thirty,
+neither stout nor thin, but with a strange mixture of joviality and
+indolence, approached them. She appeared to rejoice very much in the
+visit.
+
+"Well, you are come over, then!" said she to Wilhelm. "I thought you had
+enough to do with your examination."
+
+Wilhelm smiled, and assured her that after so much study people required
+relaxation.
+
+"Yes, you doubtless study in handsome boots!" said the young lady, and
+in a friendly manner turned toward Sophie. "Good heavens, miss!" she
+exclaimed, "how the sun has burnt your nose! That looks horrible! Don't
+you ever wear a veil? you, who otherwise look so well!"
+
+Otto was a stranger to her. He escaped such unpleasant remarks. "They
+should spend the whole day there," insisted Miss Jakoba; but mamma spoke
+of being at home by noon.
+
+"Nothing will come of that!" said Jakoba. "I have expected you; and we
+have cooked a dinner, and made preparations, and I will not have had
+all this trouble in vain. There are some especial dishes for you, and of
+these you shall eat." This was all said in such a good-humored tone that
+even a stranger could not have felt himself offended. The Kammerjunker
+was in the fields looking after his flax; he would soon be back. Squire
+Wilhelm could in the mean time conduct Mr. Thostrup about the premises:
+"he would otherwise have nothing to do," said she.
+
+No one must remain in the sitting-room; it was so gloomy there! The
+walls were still, as in by-gone days, covered with black leather, upon
+which were impressed gold flowers. No, they should go to the hall--that
+had been modernized since the Baroness was last there. The old
+chimney-piece with carved ornaments was removed, and a pretty porcelain
+stove had taken its place. The walls were covered with new paper from
+Paris. You could there contemplate all the public buildings of that
+city,--Notre Dame, Saint Sulpice, and the Tuileries. Long red curtains,
+thrown over gilt rods, hung above the high windows. All this splendor
+was admired.
+
+"I prefer the antique sitting-room, after all," said Sophie; "the old
+chimney-piece and the leather hangings. One fairly lives again in the
+days of chivalry!"
+
+"Yes, you have always been a little foolish!" said Jakoba, but softened
+her words by a smile and a pressure of the hand. "No, the hall is more
+lively. Ah!" she suddenly exclaimed; "Tine has placed her work-box in
+the window! That is disorder!"
+
+"O, is that the celebrated work-box, with its many fool's tricks?"
+inquired Wilhelm, as he laughingly took it up.
+
+"There are neither fools nor tricks in the box," said Jakoba. "But only
+look in the mirror in the lid, and then you will perhaps see one of the
+two."
+
+"No rude speeches, my young lady!" said Wilhelm; "I am an academical
+burgher!"
+
+The Kammerjunker now entered, attired in the same riding dress in which
+we made his acquaintance. He had visited his hay and oats, had seen
+after the people who were working at the fences, and had been also in
+the plantation. It had been a warm forenoon.
+
+"Now, Miss Sophie," said he, "do you see how I am clearing out the
+court? It costs me above five hundred dollars; and still they are
+the peasants of the estate who clear away the mud. But I shall get a
+delicate manure-heap, so fit and rich that it's quite a pleasure. But,
+Jakoba, where is the coffee?"
+
+"Only let it come in through the door," said Jakoba, somewhat angrily.
+"You certainly ate something before you went from home. Let me attend to
+the affairs of the ladies, and do thou attend to the gentlemen, so that
+they may not stand and get weary."
+
+The Kammerjunker conducted the friends up the winding stone stairs into
+the old tower.
+
+"All solid and good!" said he. "We no longer build in this manner. The
+loop-holes here, close under the roof, were walled up already in my
+father's time. But only notice this timber!"
+
+The whole loft appeared a gigantic skeleton composed of beams, one
+crossing the other. On either side of the loft was a small vaulted
+chamber, with a brick fire-place. Probably these chambers had been used
+as guard-rooms; a kind of warder's walk led from these, between the
+beam-palisade and the broad wall.
+
+"Yes, here," said the Kammerjunker, "they could have had a good lookout
+toward the enemy. Look through my telescope. You have here the whole
+country from Vissenberg to Munkebobanke, the Belt, and the heights
+of Svendborg. Only see! The air is clear. We see both Langeland and
+Zealand. Here one could, in 1807, have well observed the English fleet."
+
+The three climbed up the narrow ladder and came past the great clock,
+the leaden weights of which, had they fallen, would have dashed through
+the stone steps, and soon the gentlemen sat on the highest point. The
+Kammerjunker requested the telescope, placed it and exclaimed:--
+
+"Did I not think so? If one has not them always under one's eyes they
+begin playing pranks! Yes, I see it very well! There, now, the fellows
+who are working at the fences have begun to romp with the girls! they do
+nothing! Yes, they don't believe that I am sitting here in the tower and
+looking at them!"
+
+"Then a telescope is, after all, a dangerous weapon!" exclaimed Wilhelm.
+"You can look at people when they least expect it. Fortunately, our seat
+lies hidden behind the wood: we are, at all events, safe."
+
+"Yes, that it is, my friend," returned the other; "the outer sides of
+the garden are still bare. Did I not, last autumn, see Miss Sophie quite
+distinctly, when she was gathering service-berries in her little basket?
+And then, what tricks did she not play? She certainly did not think that
+I sat here and watched tier pretty gambols!"
+
+They quitted the tower, and passed through the so-called Knight's Hall,
+where immense beams, laid one on the other, supported the roof. At
+either end of the hall was a huge fireplace, with armorial bearings
+painted above: the hall was now used as a granary; they were obliged to
+step over a heap of corn before reaching the family pew in the little
+chapel, which was no longer used for divine service.
+
+"This might become a pretty little room," said the Kammerjunker, "but we
+have enough, and therefore we let this, for curiosity's sake, remain in
+its old state. The moon is worth its money!" and he pointed toward the
+vaulted ceiling, where the moon was represented as a white disk, in
+which the painter, with much na�vet�, had introduced a man bearing a
+load of coals upon his back; in faithful representation of the popular
+belief regarding the black spot in the moon, which supposes this to be
+a man whom the Lord has sent up there because he stole his neighbor's
+coal. "That great picture on the right, there," pursued he, "is Mrs.
+Ellen Marsviin; I purchased it at an auction. One of the peasants put
+up for it; I asked him what he would do with this big piece of
+furniture--he could never get it in through his door. But do you know
+what a speculation he had? It was not such a bad one, after all. See!
+the rain runs so beautifully off the painted canvas, he would have a
+pair of breeches made out of it, to wear in rainy weather behind the
+plough; they would keep the rain off! I thought, however, I ought to
+prevent the portrait of the highly honorable Mrs. Ellen Marsviin being
+so profaned. I bought it: now she hangs there, and looks tolerably
+well pleased. The peasant got a knight instead--perhaps one of my own
+ancestors, who was now cut up into breeches. See, that is what one gets
+by being painted!"
+
+"But the cupboard in the pillar there?" inquired Otto.
+
+"There, certainly, were Bibles and Prayer-books kept. Now I have in it
+what I call sweetmeats for the Chancery-counselor Thomsen: old knives of
+sacrifice, coins and rings, which I have found in the horse-pond and up
+yonder in the cairns: not a quarter of a yard below the turf we found
+one pot upon another; round each a little inclosure of stones--a flat
+stone as covering, and underneath stood the pot, with burnt giants'
+bones, and a little button or the blade of a knife. The best things are
+already gone away to Copenhagen, and should the Counselor come, he will,
+God help me! carry away the rest. That may be, then, willingly, for I
+cannot use the stuff, after all."
+
+After coffee, the guests wandered through the old garden: the clearing
+away of the mud was more closely observed, the dairy and pig-sty
+visited, the new threshing-machine inspected. But now the Russian bath
+should be also essayed; "it was heated!" But the end of the affair was,
+that only the Kammerjunker himself made use of it. The dinner-table
+was prepared, and then he returned. "But here something is wanting!"
+exclaimed he; left the room, and returned immediately with two large
+bouquets, which he stuck into an ale-glass which he placed upon the
+table. "Where Miss Sophie dines, the table must be ornamented with
+flowers: certainly we cannot lay garlands, as you do!" He seated himself
+at the end of the table, and wished, as he himself said, to represent
+the President Lars: they had had the "Wandsbecker Boten" half a year in
+the house, and it would certainly please Miss Sophie if they betrayed
+some acquaintance with books. This Lars and the flowers, here, meant
+quite as much as in the south a serenade under the windows of the fair
+one.
+
+When, toward evening, the carriage for their return drew up before the
+door, Otto still stood contemplating some old inscriptions which were
+built into the tower-wall.
+
+"That you can look at another time," said Jakoba; "now you must be of
+use a little!" And she reached him the ladies' cloaks.
+
+Amidst promises of a return visit and the parting yelping of the dogs
+the carriage rolled away.
+
+"I have fairly fallen in love with the old place!" said Sophie.
+
+"The Kaminerjunker gains much upon nearer acquaintance," said Otto.
+
+They bad now reached the furthest extremity of the garden. A flower-rain
+showered itself over them and the carriage. The Kammerjunker, Jakoba,
+and the Mamsell, had taken a shorter way, and now waved an adieu to the
+travellers, whilst at the same time they scattered hyacinths and stocks
+over them. With a practiced hand Jakoba threw, as a mark of friendship,
+a great pink straight into Otto's face. "Farewell, farewell!" sounded
+from both sides, and, accompanied by the sound of the evening-bell from
+the near village, for it was sunset, the carriage rolled away.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+     "Dance and stamp
+     Till the shoe-soles drop!"
+                      --Danish Popular Song.
+
+On the following day should the much-talked-of mowing-festival take
+place. It was the hay-harvest which occasioned all this merriment.
+[Author's Note: It is true that serfdom is abolished, but the peasant
+is still not quite free; neither can he be so. For his house and land he
+must pay a tribute, and this consists in labor. His own work must give
+way to that of his lord. His wagon, which he has had prepared to bring
+home his own harvest, must, if such be commanded, go to the nobleman's
+land, and there render service. This is, therefore, a kind of tax which
+he pays, and for the faithful payment of which he is rewarded by a
+harvest and mowing-feast; at the latter he receives a certain quantity
+of brandy, and as much ale as he can drink. The dance generally takes
+place in the middle of the court-yard, and the dancers themselves must
+pay their musicians.]
+
+During three afternoons in succession, in the inner court and under free
+heaven, should a ball be held. Along the walls, rough planks, laid upon
+logs of wood, formed a row of benches. At both ends of the court lay
+two barrels of the newly brewed ale, which had received more malt than
+usual, and which, besides, through the silver skilling, and the magic
+dance of the maidens round the tub, had acquired extraordinary strength.
+A large wooden tankard, containing several measures of brandy, stood
+upon a table; the man who watched the bleaching-ground was placed as
+a kind of butler to preside at this sideboard. A bread-woman, with new
+white bread from Nyborg upon her barrow, wheeled into the court, and
+there established her stall for every one; for it was only liquors the
+guests received gratis.
+
+The guests now entered the court by pairs; the men, part in jackets,
+part in long coats which hung down to their ankles. Out of the
+waistcoat-pocket protruded a little nosegay of sweet-williams and musk.
+The girls carried their "posies," as they called them, in their neatly
+folded pocket-handkerchiefs. Two musicians--one quite a young blade,
+in a laced coat with a stiff cravat, mid the other the well-known Peter
+Cripple, "Musikanti" as he was called--led the procession. They both
+played one and the same piece, but each according to his own manner. It
+was both good and old.
+
+They now began to draw lots, who should dance before the door of the
+family and who before that of the steward; after which the two parties
+drew lots for the musicians. The girls seated themselves in a row upon
+the bench, from whence they were chosen. The gallantry accorded with the
+ball-room,--the hard stone pavement. Not even had the grass been pulled
+up, but that would be all right after dancing there the first day. "Nay,
+why art thou sitting there?" spoken with a kind of morose friendliness,
+was the invitation to dance; and this served for seven dances. "Only
+don't be melancholy!" resounded from the company, and now the greater
+portion moved phlegmatically along, as if in sleep or in a forced dance:
+the girl with her eyes staring at her own feet, her partner with his
+head bent toward one side, and his eyes in a direct line with the girl's
+head-dress. A few of the most active exhibited, it is true, a kind of
+animation, by stamping so lustily upon the stone pavement that the dust
+whirled up around them. That was a joy! a joy which had occupied them
+many weeks, but as yet the joy had not reached its height; "but that
+will soon come!" said Wilhelm, who, with his sister and Otto, had taken
+his place at an open window.
+
+The old people meanwhile kept to the ale-barrels, and the brandy. The
+latter was offered to the girls, and they were obliged, at least, to
+sip. Wilhelm soon discovered the prettiest, and threw them roses. The
+girls immediately sprang to the spot to collect the flowers: but the
+cavaliers also wished to have them, and they were the stronger;
+they, therefore, boldly pushed the ladies aside, so that some seated
+themselves on the stone pavement and got no roses: that was a merry bit
+of fun! "Thou art a foolish thing! It fell upon thy shoulder and thou
+couldst not catch it!" said the first lover to his lady, and stuck the
+rose into his waistcoat-pocket.
+
+All got partners--all the girls; even the children, they leaped about to
+their own singing out upon the bridge. Only ONE stood forlorn,--Sidsel,
+with the grown-together eyebrows; she smiled, laughed aloud; no one
+would become her partner. Peter Cripple handed his violin to one of the
+young men and asked him to play, for he himself wished to stretch his
+legs a little. The girls drew back and talked with each other; but Peter
+Cripple stepped quietly forward toward Sidsel, flung his arms around
+her, and they danced a whirling dance. Sophie laughed aloud at it, but
+Sidsel directed her extraordinary glance maliciously and piercingly
+toward her. Otto saw it, and the girl was doubly revolting and frightful
+in his eyes. With the increasing darkness the assembly became more
+animated; the two parties of dancers were resolved into one. At length,
+when it was grown quite dark, the ale barrels become empty, the tankard
+again filled and once more emptied, the company withdrew in pairs,
+singing. Now commenced the first joy, the powerful operation of the ale.
+They now wandered through the wood, accompanying each other home, as
+they termed it; but this was a wandering until the bright morning.
+
+Otto and Wilhelm were gone out into the avenue, and the peasants shouted
+to them a grateful "Good night!" for the merry afternoon.
+
+"Now works the witchcraft!" said Wilhelm; "the magical power of the ale!
+Now begins the bacchand! Give your hand to the prettiest girl, and she
+will immediately give you her heart!"
+
+"Pity," answered Otto, "that the Maenades of the north possess only that
+which is brutal in common with those of the south!"
+
+"See, there goes the smith's pretty daughter, to whom I threw the best
+rose!" cried Wilhelm. "She has got two lovers, one under either arm!"
+
+"Yes, there she goes!" simpered a female voice close to them. It was
+Sidsel, who sat upon the steps of a stile almost concealed in the
+darkness, which the trees and the hedge increased still more.
+
+"Has Sidsel no lover?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"Hi, hi, hi," simpered she; "the Herr Baron and the other gentleman
+seek, doubtless, for a little bride. Am I beautiful enough? At night all
+cats are gray!"
+
+"Come!" whispered Otto, and drew Wilhelm away from her. "She sits like
+some bird of ill omen there in the hedge."
+
+"What a difference!" exclaimed Wilhelm, as he followed; "yes, what a
+difference between this monster, nay, between the other girls and Eva!
+She was, doubtless, born in the same poverty, in similar circumstances,
+and yet they are like day and night. What a soul has been given to Eva!
+what inborn nobility! It must be, really, more than a mere freak of
+Nature!"
+
+"Only do not let Nature play her freaks with you!" said Otto, smiling,
+and raised his hand. "You speak often of Eva."
+
+"Here it was association of ideas," answered Wilhelm. "The contrast
+awoke remembrance."
+
+Otto entered his chamber--he opened the window; it was a moonlight
+night. From the near wood resounded laughter and song. They came from
+the young men and girls, who, on their wandering, gave themselves up
+to merriment. Otto stood silent and full of thought in the open window.
+Perhaps it was the moon which lent her paleness to his countenance.
+On what did he reflect? Upon his departure, perhaps? Only one more day
+would he remain here, where he felt himself so much at home; but then
+the journey was toward his own house, to his grandfather, to Rosalie,
+and the old preacher, who all thought so much of him. Otto stood
+listening and silent. The wind bore the song more distinctly over from
+the wood.
+
+"That is their joy, their happiness!" said he. "It might have been my
+joy also, my happiness!" lay in the sigh which he heaved. His lips did
+not move, his thoughts alone spoke their silent language. "I might have
+stood on a level with these; my soul might have been chained to the
+dust, and yet it would have been the same which I now possess, with
+which I long to compass all worlds! the same, endowed with this
+sentiment of pride, which drives me on to active exertion. My fate
+wavered whether I should become one such as these or whether I should
+rise into that circle which the world calls the higher. The mist-form
+did not sink down into the mire, but rose above into the high refreshing
+air. And am I become happy through this?" His eye stared upon the bright
+disk of the moon. Two large tears rolled over his pale cheeks. "Infinite
+Omnipotence! I acknowledge Thy existence! Thou dost direct all; upon
+Thee will I depend!"
+
+A melancholy smile passed over his lips; he stepped back into the
+chamber, folded his hands, prayed, and felt rest and peace.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+     "The travellers roll through the world of men,
+     Like rose leaves in a stream.
+     The past will ne'er come back again,
+     But fade into a dream."--B. S. INGEMANN.
+
+The following day, the last before Otto's departure, whilst he and
+Wilhelm were walking in the garden, Sophie approached them with a
+garland made of oak-leaves: this was intended for Otto; they were now
+really to lose him.
+
+"Sophie will scarcely be up so early to-morrow morning," said Louise;
+"she is, therefore, obliged to present her garland to-day. I am never
+missing at the breakfast-table, as you well know; and I shall then bring
+my bouquet."
+
+"I shall preserve both until we meet again," returned Otto; "they are
+vignettes to my beautiful summer-dream. When I again sit in Copenhagen,
+when the rain patters and the winter approaches with cold and a joyless
+sky, I shall still see before me Funen with its green woods, flowers,
+and sunshine; it will appear to me that it must still be so there, and
+that the garland and bouquet are only withered because they are with me
+in the winter cold."
+
+"In Copenhagen we shall meet again!" said Sophie.
+
+"And I shall see you again with the swallows!" said Louise, "when my
+flowers spring up again, when we have again warm summer days! As far
+as I am concerned, you belong to the summer, and not to the cold, calm
+winter."
+
+Early on the following morning was Sophie, after all, at the breakfast
+table. That was to honor Otto. Mamma showed herself as the carriage
+was at the door. Wilhelm would accompany him as far as Odense. It was,
+therefore, a double leave taking, here and there.
+
+"We will always remain friends, faithful friends!" said Wilhelm, when
+they parted.
+
+"Faithful friends!" repeated Otto, and they rolled away toward
+Middelfart; thus far should mamma's own carriage convey the excellent
+Otto. Wilhelm remained behind in Odense; his coachman drove Otto, and
+they discoursed upon the way. They passed Vissenberg: the high, wooded
+hills there have received the name of the Funen Alps. The legend relates
+of robbers who had here deep passages underneath the high-road, where
+they hung bells which rang when any one passed above. The inhabitants
+are still looked upon with suspicion. Vissenberg appears a kind of Itri,
+between Copenhagen and Hamburg. [Author's Note: "Itri," Fra Diavolo's
+birthplace, lies in the Neapolitan States, on the highway between
+Rome and Naples. The inhabitants are not, without reason, suspected of
+carrying on the robber's trade.] Near the church there formerly lay a
+stone, on which Knud, the saint, is said to have rested himself when
+flying from the rebellious Jutlanders. In the stone remained the
+impression of where he had sat; the hard stone had been softer than the
+hearts of the rebellious people.
+
+This, and similar legends, the coachman knew how to relate; he was born
+in this neighborhood, but not in Vissenberg itself, where they make the
+false notes. [Author's Note: A number of years ago a band of men were
+seized in Vissenberg who had forged bank-notes.] Every legend gains
+in interest when one hears it in the place with which it is connected.
+Funen is especially rich in such relations.
+
+"That cairn elevates itself at Christmas upon four red posts, and one
+can then see the dance and merriment of the goblins within. Through that
+peasant's farm there drives every night a glowing coach, drawn by four
+coal-black horses. Where we now see a pond overgrown with reeds and
+roots there once stood a church, but it sank as the godless desecrated
+it; at midnight we still hear their sighs, and hymns of repentance."
+
+It is true that the narrator mixed up together certain leg-ends which
+related to other places in the country--that he took little springs, and
+mingled his own thoughts with his relations; but Otto listened to him
+with great interest. The discourse turned also upon the family at the
+hall.
+
+"Yes, they are very much liked!" said the coachman; "the gentleman may
+believe we know how to value them."
+
+"And now, which of the young ladies is the best?" asked Otto.
+
+"Yes, every one is best served by Miss Louise," returned the fellow.
+
+"Miss Sophie is the prettiest," said Otto.
+
+"Yes, she is also very good,--she belongs to the learned ones! She knows
+German, that she does! she can act comedy very excellently! I once
+got permission with the rest of the people to be up-stairs in the
+sitting-room--we stood behind the family; she did not manage her affairs
+at all badly."
+
+However much the old legends interested Otto, it seemed as though he
+listened with more pleasure to the simple reasonings of the coachman
+upon the family who were become so dear to him. Words and thoughts were
+busied about the objects there. Wilhelm, however, was and still remained
+the dearest; he recollected with what mildness Wilhelm had stretched
+forth his hand in reconciliation, when he himself had thrust him
+from him. Already the happy summer days which he had spent at the
+country-seat, the whole visit, appeared a beautiful but short dream.
+
+Otto felt an inward impulse to express his gratitude; his pride even,
+which was a fundamental feature of his character, commanded him to do
+this. Wilhelm's affection, his desire for a continued friendship, Otto
+thought he must reward; and on this account he added the following words
+to the few lines which he gave the coachman before his passage over the
+Little Belt:--
+
+"Wilhelm, in future we will say thou to each other; that is more
+confidential!" "He is the first to whom I have given my thou," said
+Otto, when the letter was dispatched. "This will rejoice him: now,
+however, I myself have for once made an advance, but he deserves it."
+
+A few moments later it troubled him. "I am a fool like the rest!" said
+he, and wished he could annihilate the paper. He was summoned on board.
+The Little Belt is only a river between the two countries; he soon found
+himself upon Jutland ground; the whip cracked, the wheels turned round,
+like the wheels of fortune, up and down, yet ever onward.
+
+Late in the evening he arrived at an inn. From his solitary chamber
+his thoughts flew in opposite directions; now toward the solitary
+country-seat of his grandfather, among the sand-hills; now toward the
+animated mansion in Funen, where the new friends resided. He had
+opened his box and taken out what lay quite at the top, the garland of
+oak-leaves and the beautiful bouquet of flowers of this morning.
+
+Most people maintain that one dreams at night of that which one has
+thought much about. According to this, Otto must have thought a deal
+about the North Sea, for of it he dreamed the whole night,--not of the
+young ladies.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+     "The heat-lark warbles forth his sepulchral melodies."
+                                            S. S. BLICHER.
+
+The peninsula of Jutland possesses nothing of the natural beauty
+which Zealand and Funen present--splendid beeches and odoriferous
+clover-fields in the neighborhood of the salt sea; it possesses at
+once a wild and desolate nature, in the heath-covered expanses and the
+far-stretching moors. East and west are different; like the green, sappy
+leaf, and grayish white sea-weed on the sea shore. From the Woods of
+Marselisborg to the woods south of Coldinger Fjord, is the land rich
+and blooming; it is the Danish Nature in her greatness. Here rises the
+Heaven Mountain, with its wilderness of coppice and heather; from here
+you gaze over the rich landscape, with its woods and lakes, as far down
+as the roaring Cattegat.
+
+The western coast, on the contrary, lies without a tree, without bushes,
+with nothing but white sand-hills stretching along the roaring ocean,
+which scourges the melancholy coast with sand-storms and sharp winds.
+Between these contrasts, which the east and west coasts present, the
+Hesperides and Siberia, lies the vast heath which stretches itself from
+the Lyneborg sand to the Skagen's reef. No hedge shows here the limits
+of possession. Among the crossing tracks of carriage wheels must thou
+seek thy way. Crippled oaks, with whitish-green moss overgrown to the
+outermost branches, twist themselves along the ground, as if fearing
+storms and the sea-mist. Here, like a nomadic people, but without
+flocks, do the so-called Tartar bands wander up and down, with their
+peculiar language and peculiar ceremonies. Suddenly there shows itself
+in the interior of the heathy wilderness a colony--another, a strange
+people, German emigrants, who through industry compel the meagre country
+to fruitfulness.
+
+From Veile, Otto wished to take the road through Viborg, as the most
+direct and the shortest to his grandfather's estate, which lay between
+Nisumfjord and Lemvig.
+
+The first heath-bushes accosted him as dear friends of his childhood.
+The beautiful beech-woods lay behind him, the expanse of heath began;
+but the heath was dear to him: it was this landscape which formed the
+basis of many dear recollections.
+
+The country became ever higher with brown heights, beyond which nothing
+was visible; houses and farms became more rare, the cherry orchards
+transformed themselves into cabbage-gardens. Only single spots were free
+from heather, and here grew grass, but short, and like moss or duckweed
+which grows upon ponds: here birds congregated by hundreds, and
+fluttered twittering into the air as the carriage drove past.
+
+"You know where to find the green spot in the heath, and how to become
+happy through it," sighed Otto. "Could I only follow your example!"
+
+At a greater distance rose bare hills, without ling or ploughed land;
+the prickly heath looked brown and yellow on the sharp declivities. A
+little boy and girl herded sheep by the way-side; the boy played the
+Pandean pipe, the little girl sang a psalm,--it was the best song which
+she knew how to sing to the traveller, in order to win a little present
+from him.
+
+The day was warm and beautiful, but the evening brought the cold mist
+from the sea, which, however, in the interior of the country loses
+something of its power.
+
+"That is a kiss of welcome from my home," said Otto; "the death-kiss of
+the mermaid! In Funen they call it the elf maiden."
+
+Within the last few years a number of children have been sent from the
+Orphan Asylum to the heath, in order that, instead of Copenhagen
+rogues, they may become honest Jutland peasants. Otto had a boy of this
+description for his coachman. The lad was very contented, and yet Otto
+became low-spirited from his relation. Recollections from his own life
+stirred within his breast. "Return thanks to God," said he, and gave the
+lad a considerable present; "on the heath thou hast shelter and a home;
+in Copenhagen, perhaps, the sandy beach would have been thy nightly
+resting-place, hunger and cold the gifts which the day would bring
+thee."
+
+The nearer he approached the west, the more serious became his frame of
+mind; it was as if the desolate scenery and cold sea-mist entered his
+soul. The pictures of the gay country-seat at Funen were supplanted by
+recollections of his home with his grandfather. He became more and more
+low-spirited. It was only when a single mile separated him from his
+home that the thought of surprising his dear friends conquered his
+melancholy.
+
+He caught sight of the red roof of the house, saw the willow
+plantations, and heard the bark of the yard-dog. Upon the hillock before
+the gate stood a group of children. Otto could no longer endure the slow
+driving through the deep ruts. He sprang out of the carriage, and ran
+more than he walked. The children on the hillock became aware of him,
+and all looked toward the side from whence he came.
+
+The slow driving, and his being absorbed in melancholy fancies, had
+relaxed his powerful frame; but now in one moment all his elasticity
+returned: his cheeks glowed, and his heart beat loudly.
+
+From the court resounded singing--it was the singing of a psalm. He
+stepped through the gateway. A crowd of peasants stood with bared heads:
+before the door stood a carriage, some peasants were just raising a
+coffin into it. In the doorway stood the old preacher, and spoke with a
+man clad in black.
+
+"Lord Jesus! who is dead?" were Otto's first words, and his countenance
+became pale like that of a corpse.
+
+"Otto!" all exclaimed.
+
+"Otto!" exclaimed also the old preacher, astonished; then seized his
+hand, and said gravely, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away;
+blessed be the name of the Lord!"
+
+"Let me see the face of the dead!" said Otto. Not a tear came to his
+eye; surprise and sorrow were too great.
+
+"Shall I take out the screws?" inquired the man who had just screwed up
+the coffin.
+
+"Let him sleep the eternal rest!" said the preacher.
+
+Otto stared at the black coffin in which his grandfather lay. The
+carriage drove away with it. Otto followed after with the preacher,
+heard him throw earth upon it, heard words which he did not comprehend,
+saw the last corner of the coffin, and it was then removed from his
+sight. All was as a dream to him.
+
+They returned back to the preacher's abode; a pale figure approached
+him: it was Rosalie--old Rosalie.
+
+"We have here no abiding-place, we all hasten toward futurity!" said
+the old preacher. "Strengthen yourself now with meat and drink! The body
+cannot suffer like the soul. We have accompanied him to His sleeping
+chamber; his bed was well prepared! I have prayed the evening prayer; he
+sleeps in God, and will awaken to behold His glory. Amen!"
+
+"Otto! thou dear Otto!" said Rosalie. "The bitterest day brings me this
+joy! How have I thought of thee! Amongst strangers shouldst thou receive
+the tidings of his death! with no one who could feel for thy sorrow!
+where thou shouldst see no eye weep for what thou hast lost! Now thou
+art here! now, when I believed thee so far distant--it is a miracle!
+Thou couldst only have received the letter to-day which carried the
+intelligence of thy grandfather's death to thee!"
+
+"I wished to surprise you," said Otto. "A melancholy surprise awaited
+me!"
+
+"Sit down, my child!" said the preacher, and drew him toward the covered
+table. "When the tree falls which gave us shade and fruit, from which
+we, in our own little garden, have planted shoots and sown seeds, we may
+well look on with sadness and feel our loss: but we must not forget our
+own garden, must not forget to cherish that which we have won from the
+fallen tree: we must not cease to live for the living! I miss, like you,
+the proud tree, which rejoiced my soul and my heart, but I know that it
+is planted in a better garden, where Christ is the gardener."
+
+The preacher's invitation to remain with him, during his stay, in his
+house, Otto declined. Already this first night he wished to establish
+himself in his own little chamber in the house of mourning. Rosalie also
+would return.
+
+"We have a deal to say to each other," said the old preacher, and laid
+his hand upon Otto's shoulder. "Next summer you will hardly press my
+hand, it will be pressed by the turf."
+
+"To-morrow I will come to you," said Otto, and drove back with the old
+Rosalie to the house.
+
+The domestics kissed the hand and coat of the young master--he wished to
+prevent this; the old woman wept. Otto stepped into the room; here had
+stood the corpse, on account of which the furniture had been removed,
+and the void was all the more affecting. The long white mourning
+curtains fluttered in tire wind before the open window. Rosalie led
+him by the hand into the little sleeping-room where the grandfather had
+died. Here everything yet stood as formerly--the large book case, with
+the glass doors, behind which the intellectual treasure was preserved:
+Wieland and Fielding, Millot's "History of the World," and Von der
+Hagen's "Narrenbuch," occupied the principal place: these books had
+been those most read by the old gentleman. Here was also Otto's earliest
+intellectual food, Albertus Julius, the English "Spectator," and Evald's
+writings. Upon the wall hung pikes and pistols, and a large old sabre,
+which the grandfather had once worn. Upon the table beneath the mirror
+stood an hour-glass; the sand had run out. Rosalie pointed toward the
+bed. "There he died," said she, "between six and seven o'clock in the
+evening. He was only ill three days; the two last he passed in delirium:
+he raised himself in bed, and shook the bed posts; I was obliged to let
+two strong men watch beside him. 'To horse! to horse!' said he; 'the
+cannons forward!' His brain dreamed of war and battles. He also spoke of
+your blessed father severely and bitterly! Every word was like the stab
+of a knife; he was as severe toward him as ever!"
+
+"And did the people understand his words?" asked Otto with a wrinkled
+brow.
+
+"No, for the uninitiated they were dark words; and even had they
+possessed any meaning, the men would have believed it was the sickness
+which spoke out of him. 'There stands the mother with the two children!
+The one shall fall upon the flank of the enemy and bring me honor and
+joy. The mother and daughter I know not!' That was all which I heard him
+say about you and your mother and sister. By noon on the third day the
+fever had spent itself; the strong, gloomy man was become as weak and
+gentle as a child; I sat beside his bed. 'If I had only Otto here!' said
+he. 'I have been severely attacked, Rosalie, but I am now much better:
+I will go to sleep; that strengthens one.' Smilingly he closed his eyes
+and lay quite still: I read my prayers, withdrew gently so as not to
+wake him; he lay there unchanged when I returned. I sat a little while
+beside his bed; his hands lay upon the coverlid; I touched them, they
+were ice-cold. I was frightened, touched his brow, his face--he was
+dead! he had died without a death-struggle!"
+
+For a long time did they converse about the dead man; it was near
+midnight when Otto ascended the narrow stairs which led to the little
+chamber in the roof, where as child and boy he had slept. All stood here
+as it had done the year before, only in nicer order. Upon the wall hung
+the black painted target, near to the centre of which he had once shot.
+His skates lay upon the chest of drawers, near to the nodding plaster
+figure. The long journey, and the overpowering surprise which awaited
+him on his return, had strongly affected him: he opened the window;
+a large white sand-hill rose like a wall straight up before it, and
+deprived him of all view. How often, when a child, had the furrows
+made by rain in the sand, and the detached pieces, presented to him
+pictures,--towns, towers, and whole marching armies. Now it was only a
+white wall, which reminded him of a winding-sheet. A small streak of the
+blue sky was visible between the house and the steep slope of the hill.
+Never before had Otto felt, never before reflected, what it was to stand
+alone in the world, to be lovingly bound to no one with the band of
+consanguinity.
+
+"Solitary, as in this silent night do I stand in the world! solitary in
+the mighty crowd of human beings! Only ONE being can I call mine! only
+ONE being press as kindred to my heart! And I shudder at the thought of
+meeting with this being--I should bless the thought that she was dead!
+Father! thou didst ruin one being and make three miserable. I have
+never loved thee; bitterness germinated within my breast when I
+became acquainted with thee! Mother! thy features have died out of my
+recollection; I revere thee! Thou wast all love; to love didst thou
+offer up thy life--more than life! Pray for me with thy God! Pray for
+me, ye dead! if there is immortality; if the flesh is not alone born
+again in grass and the worm; if the soul is not lost in floods of air!
+We shall be unconscious of it: eternally shall we sleep! eternally!"
+Otto supported his forehead upon the window-frame, his arm sank
+languidly, "Mother! poor mother! thou didst gain by death, even if it
+be merely an eternal sleep,--asleep without dreams! We have only a short
+time to live, and yet we divide our days of life with sleep! My body
+yearns after this short death! I will sleep--sleep like all my beloved
+ones! They do not awaken!" He threw himself upon the bed. The cold air
+from the sea blew through the open window. The wearied body conquered;
+he sank into the death-like sleep, whilst his doubting soul, ever
+active, presented him with living dreams.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+     "Man seems to me a foolish being; he drives along over the
+     waves of time, endlessly thrown up and down, and descrying a
+     little verdant spot, formed of mud and stagnant moor and of
+     putrid green mouldiness, he cries out, Land! He rows
+     thither, ascends--and sinks and sinks--and is no more to be
+     seen."--The Golden Fleece of GRILLPARZER.
+
+Old Rosalie was pouring out coffee when Otto came down the next morning.
+Peace and resignation to the will of God lay in her soft countenance.
+Otto was pale, paler than usual, but handsomer than Rosalie had seen him
+before: a year had rendered him older and more manly; a handsome, crisp
+beard curled over his chin; manly gravity lay in his eyes, in which,
+at his departure, she had only remarked their inborn melancholy glance.
+With a kind of satisfaction she looked upon this beautiful, melancholy
+countenance, and with cordial affection she stretched forth her hand
+toward him.
+
+"Here stands thy chair, Otto; and here thy cup. I will drink to thy
+welcome. It seems to me long since I saw thee, and yet it is, now I have
+thee again, only a short time. Were that place only not empty!" and
+she pointed to the place at the table which the grandfather had used to
+occupy.
+
+"If I had only seen him!" said Otto.
+
+"His countenance was so gentle in death," said Rosalie. "The severity
+and gravity which had settled in his eyes were softened away. I was
+myself present when he was dressed. He had his uniform on, which he
+always wore upon occasions of ceremony, the sabre by his side and the
+great hat upon his head. I knew that this was his wish!" Quietly she
+made the sign of the cross.
+
+"Are all my grandfather's papers sealed?" inquired Otto.
+
+"The most important--those which have the greatest interest for thee,"
+said Rosalie, "are in the hands of the preacher. Last year, the day
+after thy departure, he gave them to the preacher; thy father's last
+letter I know is amongst them."
+
+"My father!" said Otto, and glanced toward the ground. "Yes," continued
+he, "there is truth in the words of Scripture,--the sins of the fathers
+are visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generation!"
+
+"Otto!" said Rosalie, with a beseeching and reproachful look, "thy
+grandfather was a severe man. Thou last known him, hast seen his darkest
+moments, and yet then age and cares had softened him: his love to thee
+calmed every outbreak. Had he only loved thy father as he loved thee,
+things would, perhaps, have ended better: but we may not judge!"
+
+"And what have I done?" said Otto. "Thou, Rosalie, knowest the
+history of my life. Is it not as if a curse rested upon me? I was a
+high-spirited boy, I often occasioned thee tears; yet didst thou always
+place thyself between me and punishment. It was my evil blood, the blood
+of my birth in which the curse lay, that drove me on!"
+
+"But thou didst become good and full of love, as thou art now!" said
+Rosalie.
+
+"Only when I became acquainted with myself and my destiny. In the
+thoughtlessness of childhood, unacquainted with myself and the world,
+did I myself have that sign of my misery, which now presses down my
+soul, cut into my flesh. Yes, Rosalie! I remember this very well,
+and have clearly preserved this, my earliest recollection before
+my grandfather took me, and I came here a boy. I remember the great
+building from whence I was brought, the number of people who there
+worked, sang, and laughed, and who told me extraordinary stories of how
+badly people were treated in the beautiful world. This was my parents'
+home, thought I, when I began to ponder upon parents and their
+connection with children. It was a large manufactory which they
+possessed, thought I; I remembered the number of work-people. All played
+and romped with me. I was wild and full of boisterous spirits a boy of
+only six years old, but with the perseverance and will of one of ten.
+Rosalie, thou sawest many proofs of the evil which lay in my blood; it
+bordered upon insolence. I remembered well the strong, merry Heinrich,
+who always sang at his loom; he showed me and the others his tattooed
+breast, upon which he had his whole mournful history imprinted. Upon
+his arm were his own and his bride's names. That pleased me; I wished to
+have my name also on my arm. 'It is painful!' said he; 'then thou wilt
+pipe, my lad!' That was spur enough to make me desire it. I allowed him
+to puncture my skin, to puncture an O and a T upon my shoulder, and
+did not cry,--no, not once whilst the powder burnt into it; but I was
+praised, and was proud to bear the initials--proud of them until three
+years ago, when I met Heinrich here. I recognized him, but he did not
+recognize me. I showed him my shoulder, and besought him to read the
+name, this O and T: but he did not say Otto Thostrup; he named a name
+which destroyed the happiness of my childhood, and has made me miserable
+forever!"
+
+"It was a fearful day!" said Rosalie. "Thou didst demand from me an
+explanation, thy grandfather gave it thee, and thou wast no longer the
+Otto thou hadst formerly been. Yet wherefore speak of it? Thou art good
+and wise, noble and innocent. Do not fill thy heart with sorrow from a
+time which is past, and which, for thy sake, shall be forgotten."
+
+"But Heinrich still lives!" said Otto; "I have met with him, have spoken
+with him: it was as if all presence of mind forsook me."
+
+"When and where?" asked Rosalie.
+
+Otto related of his walk with Wilhelm in the park, and of the juggler,
+in whom he had recognized Heinrich. "I tore myself from my friends,
+I wandered the whole night alone in the wood. O Rosalie, I thought
+of death! I thought of death as no Christian ought to do. A beautiful
+morning followed, I wandered beside the sea which I love, and in which
+I have so often dived. Since that explanation of the initials on my
+shoulder was suggested, that explanation which reminded me of my unhappy
+birth, I have never uncovered them before any one. O, I have rubbed
+thorn with a stone, until they were bloody! The letters are gone, but
+still I imagine I can read them in the deep scar--that in it I see a
+Cain's mark! That morning the desire to bathe came upon me. The fresh
+current infused life once more into my soul. Just then Wilhelm and
+several acquaintance came down; they called to me and carried off my
+clothes; my blood boiled; all my unhappiness, which this night had
+stirred within my soul, again overwhelmed me: it was as though the
+obliterated initials on my shoulder would reveal themselves in the scar
+and betray the secret of my grief. Disgust of life seized upon me. I
+no longer knew what I shouted to them, but it seemed to me as if I must
+swim out into the stream and never return. I swam until it became night
+before my eyes. I sank, and Wilhelm rescued me! Never since then have
+we spoken of this hour! O Rosalie! long is it since I have been able to
+open my heart as before thee at this moment. What use is it to have a
+friend if one cannot lay before him one's whole thoughts? To no one
+have I been able to unfold them but to thee, who already knowest them. I
+suffer, as a criminal and yet am I innocent,--just as the misshapen, the
+deformed man, is innocent of his ugliness!"
+
+"I do not possess thy knowledge, Otto," said Rosalie, and pressed his
+hand; "have never rejoiced in such a clear head as thine; but I have
+that which thou canst not as yet possess--experience. In trouble,
+as well as in joy, youth transforms the light cobweb into the cable.
+Self-deception has changed the blood in thy veins, the thoughts in thy
+soul; but do not forever cling to this one black spot! Neither wilt
+thou! it will spur thee on to activity, will enervate thy soul, not
+depress thee! The melancholy surprise of thy grandfather's death, whom
+thou didst believe active and well, has now made thee dejected, and thy
+thoughts so desponding. But there will come better days! happy days!
+Thou art young, and youth brings health for the soul and body!"
+
+She led Otto into the garden, where the willow plantations protected the
+other trees from the sharp west wind. The gooseberry-bushes bore fruit,
+but it was not yet ripe: one bush Otto had planted when a cutting; it
+was now large. Rosalie had tied the twigs to a palisade, so that, as an
+espalier, it could thoroughly drink in the sun's rays. Otto regarded the
+fetters more than the good intention.
+
+"Let it grow free!" said he; "if that brittle palisade should tumble
+down, the twigs would be broken." And he cut the bands.
+
+"Thou art still the old Otto," said Rosalie.
+
+They went into her little room, where the crucifix, and before it a
+small vase of flowers, adorned the table. Above the cross hung a garland
+of withered heather.
+
+"Two years ago didst thou give me that, Otto!" said Rosalie. "There
+were no more flowers, there was nothing green but the heath, and thou
+twinedst a garland of it for me. Afterward I would not take it down from
+the crucifix."
+
+They were interrupted by a visit. It was from the old preacher.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+     "His coal was coarse, its fashion old;
+       He asked no dress of greater worth
+     Than that which kept from storm and cold
+       The Baptist when he preached on earth."
+                               C. J. BORE.
+
+Not alone of Otto's affairs, but also of "the city yonder," as the
+preacher called Copenhagen, would he speak. Only once a week came the
+"Viborg Collector" to hint, and the Copenhagen papers were a whole month
+going their round. "One would willingly advance with the time," said he.
+Yesterday, at the interment, he had not found it seemly to gratify his
+desire of hearing dear Otto talk about the city, but to-day he thought
+it might well be done, and therefore he would not await Otto's visit but
+come over to pay one himself.
+
+"Thou hast certainly seen our good king?" was his first question. "Lord
+help the anointed one! he is then as vigorous and active as ever--my
+good King Frederik!" And now he must relate a trait which had touched
+his heart, and which, in his opinion, deserved a place in the annals of
+history. This event occurred the last time that the king was in Jutland;
+he had visited the interior of the country and the western coast also.
+When he was leaving a public-house the old hostess ran after him, and
+besought that the Father would, as a remembrance, write his name with
+chalk upon a beam. The grand gentlemen wished to deter her, but she
+pulled at the king's coat; and when he had learned her wish he nodded in
+a friendly manner, and said, "Very willingly!" and then turned back and
+wrote his name on the beam. Tears came into the old man's eyes; he wept,
+and prayed for his king. He now inquired whether the old tree was still
+standing in the Regent's Court, and then spoke of Nyerup and Abrahamson,
+whom he had known in his student days.
+
+In fact, after all, he was himself the narrator; each of his questions
+related to this or that event in his own life, and he always returned
+to this source--his student-days. There was then another life, another
+activity, he maintained. His royal idea of beauty had been Queen
+Matilda. [Translator's Note: The unhappy wife of Christian VII. and
+daughter of our George III.] "I saw her often on horseback," said he.
+"It was not then the custom in our country for ladies to ride. In her
+country it was the fashion; here it gave rise to scandal. God gave
+her beauty, a king's crown, and a heart full of love; the world gave
+her--what it can give--a grave near to the bare heath!"
+
+Whilst he so perpetually returned to his own recollections, his share of
+news was truly not new, but he was satisfied. Copenhagen appeared to him
+a whole world--a royal city; but Sodom and Gomorrah had more than one
+street there.
+
+Otto smiled at the earnestness with which he said this.
+
+"Yes, that I know better than thou, my young friend!" continued the old
+preacher. "True, the devil does not go about like a roaring lion, but
+there he has his greatest works! He is well-dressed, and conceals his
+claws and his tail! Do not rely upon thy strength! He goes about, like
+the cat in the fable, 'pede suspenso,' sneakingly and cautiously! It is,
+after all, with the devil as it is with a Jutland peasant. This fellow
+comes to the city, has nothing, runs about, and cleans shoes and boots
+for the young gentlemen, and by this means he wins a small sum of money.
+He knows how to spare. He can now hire the cellar of the house in
+which thou livest, and there commence some small trade. The trade is
+successful, very successful. It goes on so well that he can hire the
+lower story; then he gains more profit, and before thou canst look about
+thee he buys the whole house. See, that is the way with the Jutland
+peasant, and just the same with the devil. At first he gets the cellar,
+then the lower story, and at last the whole house!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+     "Sure 'tis fair in foreign land,
+         But not so fair as home;
+
+     Let me but see thy mountains grand
+         Glaciers and snowy dome!
+
+     Let me but hear the sound that tells
+     Of climbing cattle, dressed with bells."
+                               The Switzer's Homesickness.
+
+Not until after breakfast did the preacher pass over to Otto's affairs.
+His grandfather's will made him the sole heir to the large property; a
+man in Copenhagen, the merchant Berger, should be his guardian, since
+the preacher did not wish to undertake the office. Rosalie was not
+forgotten: her devotion and fidelity had won for her a relative's right.
+Her last days should be free from care: she had truly striven to remove
+all care from the dead whilst yet he lived. An old age free from care
+awaited her; but Otto wished that she should also have a happy old age.
+He imparted his plan to the preacher; but the latter shook his head,
+thought it was not practicable, and regarded it as a mere fancy--a whim.
+But such it was not.
+
+Some days passed by. One afternoon Rosalie sat upon a small wooden bench
+under the cherry-trees, and was making mourning for the winter.
+
+"This is the last summer that we shall sit here," said she; "the last
+summer that this is our home. Now I am become equally rooted to this
+spot; it grieves me that I must leave it."
+
+"Thou wast forced to leave thy dear Switzerland," said Otto; "that was
+still harder!"
+
+"I was then young," answered she. "The young tree may be easily
+transplanted, but the old one has shot forth deeper roots. Denmark is a
+good land--a beautiful land!"
+
+"But not the west coast of Jutland!" exclaimed Otto. "For thy green
+pasture hast thou here heath; for thy mountains, low sand-hills."
+
+"Upon the Jura Mountains there is also heath," said Rosalie. "The heath
+here often reminds me of my home on the Jura. There also is it cold, and
+snow can fall already in August. The fir-trees then stand as if powdered
+over."
+
+"I love Switzerland, which I have never seen," pursued Otto. "Thy
+relation has given me a conception of the picturesque magnificence of
+this mountain-land. I have a plan, Rosalie. I know that in the heart
+of a mountaineer homesickness never dies. I remember well how thy eyes
+sparkled when thou toldest of the walk toward Le Locle and Neufch�tel;
+even as a boy I felt at thy words the light mountain air. I rode with
+thee upon the dizzy height, where the woods lay below us like potato
+fields. What below arose, like the smoke from a charcoal-burner's kiln,
+was a cloud in the air. I saw the Alpine chain, like floating cloud
+mountains; below mist, above dark shapes with glancing glaciers."
+
+"Yes, Otto," said Rosalie, and her eyes sparkled with youthful fire; "so
+looks the Alpine chain when one goes from Le Locle to Neulfch�tel: so
+did I see it when I descended the Jura for the list time. It was in
+August. The trees, with their autumnal foliage, stood yellow and red
+between the dark firs; barberries and hips grew among the tall fern.
+The Alps lay in such a beautiful light, their feet blue as heaven, their
+peaks snow-white in the clear sunshine. I was in a sorrowful mood; I
+was leaving my mountains! Then I wrote in my book--O, I remember it so
+well!--The high Alps appear to me the folded wings of the earth: how
+if she should raise them! how if the immense wings should unfold, with
+their gay images of dark woods, glaciers, and clouds! What a picture! At
+the Last Judgment will the earth doubtless unfold these pinions, soar
+up to God, and in the rays of His sunlight disappear! I also have been
+young, Otto," pursued she, with a melancholy smile. "Thou wouldst have
+felt still more deeply at the sight of this splendor of nature. The lake
+at the foot of the mountains was smooth as a mirror; a little boat with
+white sails swam, like a swan, upon its expanse. On the road along which
+we drove were the peasants beating down chestnuts; the grapes hung in
+large black bunches. How an impression such as this can root itself in
+the memory! It is five and thirty years since, and yet I still see that
+boat with the white sail, the high Alps, and the black grapes."
+
+"Thou shalt see thy Switzerland again, Rosalie," exclaimed Otto; "again
+hear the bells of the cows upon the green pastures! Thou shalt go once
+more to the chapel in Franche Compt�, shalt visit thy friends at Le
+Locle, see the subterranean mill, and the Doub fall."
+
+"The mill wheel yet goes round, the water dashes down as in my youth;
+but the friends are gone, my relatives dispersed! I should appear
+a stranger there; and when one has reached my age, nature cannot
+satisfy--one must have people!"
+
+"Thou knowest, Rosalie, my grandfather has settled a sum upon thee so
+long as thou livest. Now I have thought thou couldst spend thy latter
+days with thy beloved ones at home, in the glorious Switzerland. In
+October I take my philosophicum; the following summer I would then
+accompany thee. I must also see that splendid mountain-land,--know
+something more of the world than I have yet known. I know how thy
+thoughts always dwell upon Switzerland. Thither will I reconduct thee;
+thou wilt feel thyself less lonely there than here in Denmark."
+
+"Thou art carried away by the thoughts of youth, as thou shouldst and
+must be, thou dear, sweet soul!" said Rosalie, smiling. "At my age it is
+not so easy."
+
+"We will make short days' journeys," said Otto, "go with the steamboat
+up the Rhine--that is not fatiguing; and from Basel one is soon in
+Franche Compt� on the Jura."
+
+"No, upon the heath, near Vestervovov, as it is called here, will old
+Rosalie die; here I have felt myself at home, here I have two or three
+friends. The family at Lemvig have invited me, have for me a place at
+table, a little room, and friendly faces. Switzerland would be no
+longer that Switzerland which I quitted. Nature would greet me as an old
+acquaintance; it would be to me music, once more to hear the ringing of
+the cows' bells; it would affect me deeply, once again to kneel in the
+little chapel on the mountain: but I should soon feel myself a greater
+stranger there than here. Had it been fifteen years ago, my sister would
+still have been living, the dear, pious Ad�le! She dwelt with my uncle
+close on the confines of Neufch�tel, as thou knowest, scarcely a quarter
+of a mile from Le Locle--_the town_, as we called it, because it was the
+largest place in the neighborhood. Now there are only distant relations
+of mine living, who have forgotten me. I am a stranger there. Denmark
+gave me bread, it will also give me a grave!"
+
+"I thought of giving thee a pleasure!" said Otto.
+
+"That thou dost by thy love to me!" returned she.
+
+"I thought thou wouldst have shown me thy mountains, thy home, of which
+thou hast so often spoken!"
+
+"That can I still do. I remember every spot, every tree--all remains so
+clear in my recollection. Then we ascend together the Jura higher and
+higher; here are no more vineyards to be found, no maize, no chestnuts
+only dark pines, huge cliffs, here and there a beech, as green and large
+as in Denmark. Now we have the wood behind us, we are many feet
+above the sea; thou canst perceive this by the freshness of the air.
+Everywhere are green meadows; uninterruptedly reaches our ear the
+ringing of the cow-bells. Thou as yet seest no town, and yet we are
+close upon Le Locle. Suddenly the road turns; in the midst of the
+mountain-level we perceive a small valley, and in this lies the town,
+with its red roofs, its churches, and large gardens. Close beneath the
+windows rises the mountain-side, with its grass and flowers; it looks
+as though the cattle must be precipitated upon the houses. We go through
+the long street, past the church; the inhabitants are Protestants--it
+is a complete town of watchmakers. My uncle and Ad�le also sat the whole
+day, and worked at wheels and chains. That was for Monsieur Houriet,
+in Le Locle. His daughters I know; one is called Rosalie, like myself.
+Rosalie and Lydia, they will certainly have forgotten me! But it is true
+that we are upon our own journey! Now, thou seest, at the end of the
+town we do not follow the broad road--that leads to Besan�on; we remain
+in the lesser one, here in the valley where the town lies. The beautiful
+valley! The green mountain-sides we keep to our right; on it are
+scattered houses, with large stones upon their steep wooden roofs, and
+with little gardens tilled with plum-trees. Steep cliff-walls shut in
+the valley; there stands up a crag; if thou climbest it thou canst look
+straight into France: one sees a plain, flat like the Danish plains. In
+the valley where we are, close under the rock, lies a little house; O, I
+see it distinctly! white-washed and with blue painted window-frames: at
+the gate a great chained dog. I hear him bark! We step into that quiet,
+friendly little house! The children are playing about on the ground.
+O, my little Henry-Numa-Robert! Ah, it is true that now he is older and
+taller than thou! We descend the steps toward the cellar. Here stand
+sacks and chests of flour; under the floor one hears a strange roaring;
+still a few steps lower, and we must light the lamp, for here it is
+dark. We find ourselves in a great water-mill, a subterranean mill. Deep
+below in the earth rushes a river--above no one dreams of it; the water
+dashes down several fathoms over the rushing wheel, which threatens to
+seize our clothes and whirl us away into the circle. The steps on which
+we stand are slippery: the stone walls drip with water, and only a step
+beyond the depth appears bottomless! O, thou wilt love this mill as I
+love it! Again having reached the light of day, and under free heaven,
+one only perceives the quiet, friendly little house. Dost thou know,
+Otto, often as thou hast sat quiet and dreaming, silent as a statue,
+have I thought of my mill, and the repose which it presented? and yet
+how wildly the stream roared in its bosom, how the wheels rushed round,
+and how gloomy it was in the depth!"
+
+"We will leave the mill!" said Otto, and sought to lead her from her
+reflections back to her own relation. "We find ourselves in the wood,
+where the ringing of the evening-bell reaches our ear from the little
+chapel in Franche Compt�."
+
+"There stands my father's house!" said Rosalie. "From the corner-window
+one looks over the wood toward Aubernez, [Author's Note: A village in
+the canton Neufch�tel, lying close upon the river Doub, where it forms
+the boundary between Switzerland and France.] where the ridge leads over
+the Doub. The sun shines upon the river, which, far below, winds along,
+gleaming like the clearest silver."
+
+"And the whole of France spreads itself out before us!" said Otto.
+
+"How beautiful! O, how beautiful!" exclaimed Rosalie, and her eyes
+sparkled as she gazed before her; but soon her glance became sad, and
+she pressed Otto's hand. "No one will welcome me to my home! I know
+neither their joys nor their sorrows--they are not my own family! In
+Denmark--I am at home. When the cold sea-mist spreads itself over the
+heath I often fancy I am living among my mountains, where the heather
+grows. The mist seems to me then to be a snow-cloud which rests over
+the mountains, and thus, when other people are complaining of the bad
+weather, I am up among my mountains!"
+
+"Thou wilt then remove to the family at Lemvig?" asked Otto.
+
+"There I am welcome!" returned she.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+     "Look at the calming sea. The waves still tremble in the
+     depths, and stem to fear the gale.--Over my head is hovering
+     the shadowy mist.--My curls are wet with the filling dew."
+     --OSSIAN.
+
+Otto had not as yet visited the sand-hills on the strand, the fishermen,
+or the peasants, among whom formerly he had spent all his spare time.
+
+The beautiful summer's day drove him forth, his heart yearned to drink
+in the summer warmth.
+
+Only the roads between the larger towns are here tolerable, or rather
+as tolerable as the country will allow. The by-ways were only to be
+discerned by the traces of cart-wheels, which ran on beside each other;
+at certain places, to prevent the wheels sinking into the deep sand,
+ling had been spread; where this is not the case, and the tracks cross
+each other, a stranger would scarcely find the way. Here the landmark
+places its unseen boundary between neighboring possessions.
+
+Every farm, every cottage, every hill, was an old acquaintance to Otto.
+He directed his steps toward Harbooere, a parish which, one may say,
+consists of sand and water, but which, nevertheless, is not to be
+called unfruitful. A few of the inhabitants pursue agriculture, but the
+majority consists of fishermen, who dwell in small houses and have no
+land.
+
+His first encounter upon his wandering was with one of those large
+covered wagons with which the so-called eelmen, between the days of St.
+John and St. Bartholomew, go with eels toward the small towns lying
+to the south and east, and then, laden with apples and garden produce,
+return home--articles which are rapidly consumed by the common people.
+The eelman stopped when he saw and recognized Otto.
+
+"Welcome, Mr. Otto!" said he. "Yes, you are come over abut a sad affair!
+That Major Thostrup should have gone off so! But there was nothing else
+to be expected from him he was old enough."
+
+"Death demands his right!" replied Otto, and pressed the man's hand.
+"Things go, doubtless, well with you, Morten Chraenseu?"
+
+"The whole cart full of eels, and some smoked carp! It is also good to
+meet with you, Mr. Otto. Upon the land a preacher is very good, but
+not upon the sea, as they say at home. Yes, you are certainly now a
+preacher, or will become one?"
+
+"No, I am not studying to become a preacher!" answered Otto.
+
+"No! will you then become a lawyer? It strikes me you are clever
+enough--you have no need to study any more! You will just go and say
+a few words to them at home? The grandmother sits and spins yarn for
+eel-nets. She has now the cataract on the other eye, but her mouth is as
+well as ever; she does not let herself grow dumb, although she does sit
+in the dark. Mother provides the baits; she has also enough to do with
+the hooks."
+
+"But Maria, the lively little Maria?" said Otto.
+
+"The girl? She has gone this year with the other fishergirls to
+Ringkjoebing, to be hired for the hay and corn harvest; we thought we
+could do without her at home. But now, God willing! I must travel on."
+Cordially he shook Otto's hand, and pursued his slow journey.
+
+The brothers of the eelman were active fishermen, as their father
+had been before them; and although they were all married they lived
+together. The swarm of children was not insignificant; young and old
+formed one family, in which the old grandmother had the first voice.
+
+Otto approached the dwelling; before it lay a little plot of land,
+planted with potatoes and carrots, and also beds of onions and thyme.
+Two large bull-dogs, with sharp teeth and wicked eyes, rushed toward
+Otto. "Tyv! Grumsling!" shrieked a voice, and the dogs let fall their
+tails and drew back, with a low growl, toward the house. Here at the
+threshold sat an old woman in a red woolen jacket, with a handkerchief
+of the same material and same color about her neck, and upon her head
+a man's black felt hat. She spun. Otto immediately recognized the old
+blind grandmother.
+
+"God's peace be in the house!" said he.
+
+"That voice I have not heard for a year and a day!" replied the old
+woman, and raised her head, as if she would see him with her dead eyes.
+"Are not you Major Thostrup's Otto? You resemble him in the voice. I
+thought, truly, that if you came here you would pay us a visit. Ide
+shall leave the baits and put on the kettle, that you may have a cup of
+coffee. Formerly you did not use to despise our entertainment. You have
+not grown proud with your journey, have you? The coffee-vetch [Author's
+Note: Astragalus baeticus is used as a substitute for coffee, and is
+principally grown upon the sand-hills west of Holmsland. It is first
+freed from the husk, and then dried and roasted a little.] is good; it
+is from Holmsland, and tastes better than the merchant's beans." The
+dogs still growled at Otto. "Cannot you stupid beasts, who have still
+eyes in your heads to see with, recognize that this is the Major's
+Otto?" cried she wrathfully, and gave them several good blows with her
+hand.
+
+Otto's arrival created a great stir in the little household that he was
+welcome, you might see by every countenance.
+
+"Yes," said the grandmother, "now you are grown much wiser in the town,
+could, very likely, were it needful, write an almanac! You will very
+likely have found for yourself a little bride there, or will you fetch
+one out of Lemvig? for no doubt she must be from a town! Yes, I have
+known him ever since he was a little fellow; yonder, on the wall, he
+made, out of herrings' heads, the living devil, just as he lives and
+breathes. He thrust our sucking-pig into the eel-cart, between the
+casks. We sought a whole day after the sucking-pig without finding him,
+and he was forced to make the journey with them to Holstebro. Yes,
+he was a wild fellow! Later, when he was obliged to learn so much, he
+became sad. Yes, yes, within the last years his books have overdone
+him!"
+
+"Yes, many a time has he put out to sea with my husband!" pursued one of
+the daughters-in-law. "One night he remained out with him. How anxious
+the French Mamsell at the hall was about him!"
+
+"He was never haughtty," said the grandmother. "He nibbled his dried
+fish with the fresh fish, and drank a little cup of water, although he
+was used to better things at home. But to-day we have white bread, fresh
+and good; it came yesterday from Lemvig."
+
+The brandy-glass, with its wooden, red-painted foot, was placed before
+Otto. Under the bed there was an anker of brandy,--"a little stock," as
+all stranded goods are here called.
+
+Otto inquired after the married sons. They were with their men on the
+shore, ready to embark on their fishing expedition, The grandmother
+would accompany him thither; they were not yet departed: she should
+first take them provisions.
+
+The old woman took her stick, the dog sprang forward, and now commenced
+their wandering among the sand-hills, where their huts or booths, built
+with rafters and smeared with earth, stood. Around lay the refuse of
+fish,--heads and entrails, thrown about. The men were just then busied
+in carrying the trough and fishing-tackle [Author's Note: A "Bakke"
+consists of three lines, each of 200 Danish ells, or about 135 yards,
+and of 200 fishing-hooks; the stretched "Bakke" is thus about 200 yards,
+with 600 hooks; these are attached to the line with strings half an
+ell long and as thick as fine twine. To each "Bakke" belongs a square
+trough, on which it is carried on board. To a larger fishing-boat are
+reckoned six lots of hooks; each lot has eight to nine "Bakkes."] on
+board.
+
+The open sea lay before them, almost as bright as a mirror, for the wind
+was easterly. Near to them paused a horseman; he was partly dressed
+like a peasant, with riding-breeches on, which were buttoned down at the
+sides.
+
+"Have you heard the news?" he cried to Otto. "I come from Ringkjoebing.
+At Merchant Cohen's I have read the German paper; there is a revolution
+in France! Charles X. is fled with the whole royal family. Yes, in
+Paris, there is fine work!"
+
+"The French are a wild people!" said the grandmother. "A king and a
+queen they have beheaded in my time; now they will do the same with
+these. Will our dear Lord suffer that such things be done to His
+anointed?"
+
+"There will be war again!" said one of the fishermen.
+
+"Then more horses will go out of the country," said the stranger,
+pressed Otto's hand, and vanished behind the sandhills.
+
+"Was not that the horse-dealer from Varde?" inquired Otto.
+
+"Yes, he understands languages," said the fisherman; "and thus he
+is acquainted with foreign affairs sooner than we. Then they are now
+fighting in France! Blood flows in the streets; it will not be so in
+Denmark before the Turk binds his horse to the bush in the Viborg Lake.
+And then, according to the prophecy of the sibyl, it will be near the
+end of the world."
+
+Meanwhile, everything was prepared for their embarkation. If Mr. Otto
+would take the further oar, and was inclined to pass the night on the
+sea, there was a place for him in the boat. But he had promised Rosalie
+to be back before evening. The grandmother now prayed, kneeling with the
+others, and immediately after quick strokes of the oars the flat boat
+rowed away from the shore. The fate of France was forgotten; their
+calling occupied the fishermen.
+
+The old woman seemed to listen to the strokes of the oars; her dead
+eyes rested immovably on the sea. A sea-mew passed close to her in
+its flight. "That was a bird!" said she. "Is there no one here beside
+ourselves?"
+
+"No; no one at all," answered Otto, carelessly.
+
+"Is no one in the hut, no one behind the sand-hills?" again asked
+the grandmother. "It was not on account of the dried meat that I came
+here--it was not to wet my face on the shore; I speak with you alone,
+which I could not do in the house. Give me your hand! Now that the old
+man rests in the grave, you yourself will guide the rudder; the estate
+will be sold, and you will not come again to the west coast. Our Lord
+has made it dark before my eyes before He has closed my ears and given
+me leave to go. I can no longer see you, but I have you in my thought
+as you looked before you left our land. That you are handsomer now I
+can easily imagine; but gayer you are not! Talk you certainly can, and I
+have heard you laugh; but that was little better than the two last years
+you were here. Once it was different with you--no fairy could be wilder
+than you!"
+
+"With years one becomes more quiet," said Otto, and gazed with
+astonishment at the blind woman, who did not leave go his hand. "As a
+boy I was far too merry--that could not continue; and that I should now
+be grave, I have, as you will see, sufficient reason--I have lost my
+last support."
+
+"Yes, truly, truly!" repeated she slowly, and as if pondering; then
+shook her head. "That is not the reason. Do you not believe in the power
+of the devil? our Lord Christ forgive me! do not you believe in the
+power of wicked men? There is no greater difference between the human
+child and the changeling brat which the underground spirits lay in his
+stead in the cradle, than there is between you when you were a boy and
+you as you became during the last year of your stay here. 'That comes
+from books, from so much learning,' said I to other people. Could I only
+have said so to myself! But you shall become gay; the trouble of your
+heart shall wither like a poisonous weed. I know whence it sprung, and
+will, with God's help, heal it. Will you solemnly promise, that no soul
+in the world shall learn what we speak of in this hour?"
+
+"What have you to say to me?" asked Otto, affected by the extraordinary
+earnestness of the old woman.
+
+"The German Heinrich, the player! You remember him well? He is to blame
+for your grief! Yes, his name drives the blood more quickly through your
+pulse. I feel it, even if I cannot see your face."
+
+"The German Heinrich!" repeated Otto, and his hand really trembled.
+Had Heinrich, then, when he was here three years ago, told her and the
+fishermen that which no human being must know,--that which had destroyed
+the gayety of his youth? "What have I to do with the German Heinrich?"
+
+"Nothing more than a pious Christian has to do with the devil!" replied
+she, and made the sign of the cross. "But Heinrich has whispered an evil
+word in your ear; he has banished your joyous humor, as one banishes a
+serpent."
+
+"Has he told you this?" exclaimed Otto, and breathed more quickly. "Tell
+me all that he has said!"
+
+"You will not make me suffer for it!" said she. "I am innocent, and yet
+I have cooperated in it: it was only a word but a very unseemly word,
+and for it one must account at the day of judgment!"
+
+"I do not understand you!" said Otto, and his eyes glanced around to see
+whether any one heard. They were quite alone. In the far distance the
+boat with the fishermen showed itself like a dark speck.
+
+"Do you remember how wild you were as a boy? How you fastened bladders
+to the cat's legs and tail, and flung her out of the loft-window that
+she might fly? I do not say this in anger, for I thought a deal of you;
+but when you became too insolent one might wall say, 'Can no one, then,
+curb this lad?' See, these words I said!--that is my whole fault, but
+since then have lain heavy on my heart. Three years ago came the German
+Heinrich, and stayed two nights in our house; God forgive it us! Tricks
+he could play, and he understood more than the Lord's Prayer--more than
+is useful to a man. With one trick you were to assist him, but when
+he gave you the goblet you played your own tricks, and he could make
+nothing succeed. You would also be clever. Then he cast an evil eye upon
+you, although he was still so friendly and submissive, because you
+were a gentleman's child. Do you remember--no, you will certainly have
+forgotten--how you once took the baits of the hooks off and hung my
+wooden shoes on instead? Then I said in anger, and the anger of man
+is never good, 'Can no one, then, tame this boy for me? He was making
+downright fun of you to your own face,' said I to the player. 'Do you
+not know some art by which you can tame this wild-cat?' Then he laughed
+maliciously, but I thought no more of the matter. The following day,
+however, he said, 'Now I have curbed the lad! You should only see how
+tame he is become; and should he ever again turn unruly, only ask him
+what word the German Heinrich whispered in his ear, and you shall. Then
+see how quiet he will become. He shall not mock this trick!' My heart
+was filled with horror, but I thought afterward it really meant
+nothing. Ei! ei! from the hour he was here you are no longer the same as
+formerly; that springs from the magical word he whispered in your ear.
+You cannot pronounce the word, he told me; but by it you have been
+enchanted: this, and not book-learning, has worked the change. But you
+shall be delivered! If you have faith, and that you must have, you shall
+again become gay, and I, spite of the evil words which I spoke, be able
+to sleep peacefully in my grave. If you will only lay this upon your
+heart, now that the moon is in its wane, the trouble will vanish out of
+your heart as the disk of the moon decreases!" And saying this she drew
+out of her pocket a little leather purse, opened it and took out a
+piece of folded paper. "In this is a bit of the wood out of which our
+Saviour's cross was made. This will draw forth the sorrow from your
+heart, and bear it, as it bore Him who took upon Himself the sorrow of
+the whole world!" She kissed it with pious devotion, and then handed it
+to Otto.
+
+The whole became clear to him. He recollected how in his boyish
+wantonness he had caused Heinrich's tricks to miscarry, which occasioned
+much pleasure to the spectators, but in Heinrich displeasure: they soon
+again became friends, and Otto recognized in him the merry weaver of the
+manufactory, as he called his former abode. They were alone, Otto asked
+whether he did not remember his name: Heinrich shook his head. Then Otto
+uncovered his shoulder, bade him read the branded letters, and heard the
+unhappy interpretation which gave the death-blow to his gayety. Heinrich
+must have seen what an impression his words made upon the boy: he gained
+through them an opportunity of avenging himself, and at the same time
+of bringing himself again into repute: as a sorcerer. He had tamed him,
+whispered he to the old woman,--he had tamed the boy with a single word.
+At any future wantonness of Otto's, gravity and terror would immediately
+return should any one ask him, What word did the German Heinrich whisper
+into thy ear? "Only ask him," had Heinrich said.
+
+In a perfectly natural manner there lay, truly, enchantment in
+Heinrich's words, even although it were not that enchantment which the
+superstition of the old woman would have signified. A revelation of
+the connection of affairs would have removed her doubts, but here an
+explanation was impossible to Otto. He pressed her hand, besought her to
+be calm; no sorrow lay heavy on his heart, except the loss of his dear
+grandfather.
+
+"Every evening have I named your name it my prayers," said the old
+grandmother. "Each time when the harbingers of bad weather showed
+themselves, and my sons were on the sea, so that we hung out flags or
+lighted beacons as signals, did I think of the words which had escaped
+my lips, and which the wicked Heinrich had caught up; I feared lest our
+Lord might cause my children to suffer for my injustice."
+
+"Be calm, my dear old woman!" said Otto. "Keep for yourself the holy
+cross, on the virtue of which you rely; may it remove each sorrow from
+your own heart!"
+
+"No, I am guilty of my own sorrow! yours has a stranger laid upon your
+heart! Only the sorrow of the guiltless will the cross bear."
+
+The beautiful sentiment which, unconsciously to her, lay in these words,
+affected Otto. He accepted the present, preserved it, sought to calm
+the old woman, and once more at parting glanced toward the splendid sea
+expanse which formed its own boundary.
+
+It was almost evening before he reached the house where Rosalie awaited
+him. His last scene with the blind fisher-woman had again thrown him
+into his gloomy mood. "After all, she really knows nothing!" said he to
+himself. "This Heinrich is my evil angel! might he only die soon!" It
+was in Otto's soul as if he could shoot a ball through Heinrich's heart.
+"Did he only lie buried under the heather, and with him my secret! I
+will have blood! yes, there is something devilish in man! Were Heinrich
+only dead! But others live who know my birth,--my sister! my poor,
+neglected sister, she who had the same right to intellectual development
+as myself! How I fear this meeting! it will be bitter! I must away. I
+will hence--here will my life-germ be stifled! I have indeed fortune--I
+will travel! This animated France will drive away these whims, and--I
+am away, far removed from my home. In the coming spring I shall be
+a stranger among strangers!" And his thoughts melted into a quiet
+melancholy. In this manner he reached the hall.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+     "L'Angleterre jalouse et la Gr�ce hom�rique,
+     Toute l'Europe admire, et la jeune Am�rique
+     Se l�ve et bat des mains du bord des oc�ans.
+     Trois jours vous ont suffi pour briser vos entraves.
+     Vous �tes les a�n�s d'une race de braves,
+     Vous �tes les fits des g�ans!"
+                                 V. HUGO, Chants du Cr�puscule.
+
+                  "Politiken, mine Herrer!"
+                      MORTONS' Lystspil: den Hjemkomne Nabob
+
+"In France there is revolution!" was the first piece of information
+which Otto related. "Charles X. has flown with his family. This, they
+say, is in the German papers."
+
+"Revolution?" repeated Rosalie, and folded her hands. "Unhappy France!
+Blood has flowed there, and it again flows. There I lost my father and
+my brother. I became a refugee--must seek for myself a new father-land."
+She wiped away a tear from her cheek, and sunk into deep meditation.
+She knew the horrors of a revolution, and only saw in this new one a
+repetition of those scenes of terror which she had experienced, and
+which had driven her out into the world, up into the north, where
+she struggled on, until at length she found a home with Otto's
+grandfather--a resting abode.
+
+Everything great and beautiful powerfully affected Otto's soul; only in
+one direction had he shown no interest--in the political direction, and
+it was precisely politics which had most occupied the grandfather in
+his seclusion. But Otto's soul was too vivacious, too easily moved, too
+easily carried away by what lay nearest him. "One must first thoroughly
+enter into life, before the affairs of the world can seize upon us!"
+said he. "With the greater number of those who in their early youth
+occupy themselves with politics, it is merely affectation. It is with
+them like the boy who forces himself to smoke tobacco so as to appear
+older than he really is." Beyond his own country, France was the
+only land which really interested Otto. Here Napoleon had ruled, and
+Napoleon's name had reached his heart--he had grown up whilst this name
+passed from mouth to mouth; the name and the deeds of the hero sounded
+to him, yet a boy, like a great world adventure. How often had he heard
+his grandfather, shaking his head, say, "Yes, now newspaper writers have
+little to tell since Napoleon is quiet." And then he had related to
+him of the hero at Arcole and among the Pyramids, of the great campaign
+against Europe, of the conflagration at Moscow, and the return from
+Elba.
+
+Who has not written a play in his childhood? Otto's sole subject was
+Napoleon; the whole history of the hero, from the snow-batteries at
+Brienne to the rocky island in the ocean. True, this poem was a wild
+shoot; but it had sprung from an enthusiastic heart. At that time he
+preserved it as a treasure. A little incident which is connected with
+it, and is characteristic of Otto's wild outbreaks of temper when a boy,
+we will here introduce.
+
+A child of one of the domestics, a little merry boy with whom Otto
+associated a good deal, was playing with him in his garret. Otto was
+then writing his play. The boy bantered him, pulling the paper at the
+same time. Otto forbade him with the threat,--"If thou dost that again I
+will throw thee out of the window!" The boy again immediately pulled at
+the paper. In a moment Otto seized him by the waist, swung him toward
+the open window, and would certainly have thrown him out, had not
+Rosalie fortunately entered the room, and, with an exclamation of
+horror, seized Otto's arm, who now stood pale as death and trembling in
+every limb.
+
+In this manner had Napoleon awoke Otto's interest for France. Rosalie
+also spoke, next to her Switzerland, with most pleasure of this country.
+The Revolution had livingly affected her, and therefore her discourse
+regarding it was living. It even seemed to the old preacher as though
+the Revolution were an event which he had witnessed. The Revolution and
+Napoleon had often fed his thoughts and his discourse toward this land.
+Otto had thus, without troubling himself the least about politics, grown
+up with a kind of interest about France. The mere intelligence of this
+struggle of the July days was therefore not indifferent to him. He
+still only knew what the horse-dealer had related; nothing of the
+congregation, or of Polignac's ministry: but France was to him the
+mighty world-crater, which glowed with its splendid eruptions, and which
+he admired from a distance.
+
+The old preacher shook his head when Otto imparted this political
+intelligence to him. A king, so long as he lived, was in his eyes holy,
+let him be whatever sort of a man he might. The actions of a king,
+according to his opinion, resembled the words of the Bible, which man
+ought not to weigh; they should be taken as they were. "All authority is
+from God!" said he. "The anointed one is holy; God gives to him wisdom;
+he is a light to whom we must all look up!"
+
+"He is a man like ourselves!" answered Otto. "He is the first magistrate
+of the land, and as such we owe him the highest reverence and obedience.
+Birth, and not worth, gives him the high post which he fills. He ought
+only to will that which is good; to exercise justice. His duties are
+equally great with those of his subjects."
+
+"But more difficult, my son!" said the old man. "It is nothing, as a
+flower, to adorn the garland; more difficult is it to be the hand which
+weaves the garland. The ribbon must be tight as well as gently tied; it
+must not cut into the stems, and yet it must not be too loose. Yes, you
+young men talk according to your wisdom! Yes, you are wise! quite as
+wise as the woman who kept a roasted chicken for supper. She placed it
+upon a pewter plate upon the glowing coals, and went out to attend to
+her affairs. When she returned the plate was melted, and the chicken lay
+among the ashes. 'What a wise cat I have!' said she; 'she has eaten
+I the plate and left the chicken!' See, you talk just so, and regard
+things from the same foolish point of view. Do not speak like the rest
+of them in the city! 'Fear God, and honor the king!' We have nothing
+to argue with these two; they transact their business between them! The
+French resemble young students; when these have made their examen artium
+they imagine they are equal to the whole world: they grow restive, and
+give student-feasts! The French must have a Napoleon, who can give
+their something to do! If they be left to themselves they will play mad
+pranks!"
+
+"Let us first see what the papers really say," replied Otto.
+
+The following day a large letter arrived; it was from Wilhelm:--
+
+"My excellent Otto,--We have all drunk to Otto Thostrup's health. I
+raised the glass, and drank the health. The friendship's dissonance YOU
+has dissolved itself into a harmonious THOU, and thou thyself hast given
+the accord. All at home speak of thee; even the Kammerjunker's Mamsell
+chose lately thee, and not her work-box, as a subject of conversation.
+The evening as thou drovest over the Jutland heaths I seated myself at
+the piano, and played thy whole journey to my sisters. The journey over
+the heath I gave them in a monotonous piece, composed of three tones,
+quite dissimilar to that composed by Rousseau. My sisters were near
+despair; but I told them it was not more uninteresting than the heath.
+Sometimes I made a little flight, a quaver; that was the heath-larks
+which flew up into the air. The introduction to the gypsy-chorus in
+'Preciosa' signified the German gypsy-flock. Then came the thema out of
+'Jeannot and Collin'--'O, joyous days of childhood!'--and then thou wast
+at home. I thundered powerfully down in the bass; that was the North
+Sea, the chorus in thy present grand' op�ra. Thou canst well imagine
+that it was quite original.
+
+"For the rest, everything at home remains in its old state. I have been
+in Svendborg, and have set to music that sweet poem, 'The Wishes,' by
+Carl Bagger. His verses seem to me a little rough; but something will
+certainly come out of the fellow! Thy own wishes are they which he has
+expressed. Besides this, the astonishing tidings out of France have
+given us, and all good people here, an electrical shock. Yes, thou in
+thy solitude hast certainly heard nothing of the brilliant July days.
+The Parisians have deposed Charles X. If the former Revolution was
+a blood-fruit, this one is a true passionflower, suddenly sprung up,
+exciting astonishment through its beauty, and as soon as the work
+is ended rolling together its leaves. My cousin Joachim, who as thou
+knowest is just now at Paris, has lived through these extraordinary
+days. The day before yesterday we received a long, interesting letter
+from him, which gave us--of the particulars as well as of the whole--a
+more complete idea than the papers can give us. People assemble in
+groups round the post-houses to receive the papers as they arrive. I
+have extracted from my cousin's letter what has struck me most, and send
+thee these extracts in a supplement. Thou canst thus in thy retirement
+still live in the world. A thousand greetings from all here. Thou hast a
+place in mamma's heart, but not less so in mine.
+
+          "Thy friend and brother,
+
+                       "WILHELM.
+
+"P. S.--It is true! My sister Sophie begs thee to bring her a stone from
+the North Sea. Perhaps thou wilt bring for me a bucket of water; but it
+must not incommode thee!"
+
+This hearty letter transported Otto into the midst of the friendly
+circle in Funen. The corner of the paper where Wilhelm's name stood he
+pressed to his lips. His heart was full of noble friendship.
+
+The extract which Wilhelm had made from his cousin's letter was short
+and descriptive. It might be compared with a beautiful poem translated
+into good prose.
+
+In the theatre we interest ourselves for struggling innocence; but we
+are still more affected when the destiny of a whole nation is to be
+decided. It is on this account that "Wilhelm Tell" possesses so much
+interest. Not of the single individual is here the question, but of all.
+Here is flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bone. Greater than the play
+created by the poet was the effect which this description of the July
+days produced upon Otto. This was the reality itself in which he lived.
+His heart was filled with admiration for France, who fought for Liberty
+the holy fight, and who, with the language of the sword, had pronounced
+the anathema of the age on the enemies of enlightenment and improvement.
+
+The old preacher folded his hands as he heard it; his eyes sparkled: but
+soon he shook his head. "May men so judge the anointed ones of God? 'He
+who taketh the sword shall perish by the sword!'"
+
+"The king is for the people," said Otto; "not the people for the king!"
+
+"Louis XVIth's unhappy daughter!" sighed Rosalie; "for the third time
+is she driven from her father-land. Her parents and brothers killed! her
+husband dishonored! She herself has a mind and heart. 'She is the only
+man among the Bourbons,'" said Napoleon.
+
+The preacher, with his old-fashioned honesty, and a royalist from his
+whole heart, regarded the affair with wavering opinion, and with fear
+for the future. Rosalie thought most of those who were made unhappy of
+the royal ladies and the poor children. Each followed the impulse of
+their own nature, and the instinctive feeling of their age; thus did
+Otto also, and therefore was his soul filled with enthusiasm. Enthusiasm
+belongs to youth. His thoughts were busied with dreams of Paris; thither
+flew his wishes. "Yes, I will travel!" exclaimed he; "that will give
+my whole character a more decided bias: I will and must," added he
+in thought. "My sorrow will be extinguished, the recollections of my
+childhood be forgotten. Abroad, no terrific figures, as here, will
+present themselves to me. My father is dead, foreign earth lies upon his
+coffin!"
+
+"But the office--examination!" said the old preacher, "pass that first.
+It is always good to have this in reserve, even if thou dost make no use
+of it. Only make this year thy philosophicum."
+
+"And in the spring I shall travel," said Otto.
+
+"That depends upon thy guardian, my son!" said the preacher.
+
+Several days passed, and Otto began to feel it solitary in his home--all
+moved here in such a confined circle. His mind was accustomed to a wider
+sphere of action. He began to grow weary, and then the hours travel with
+the snail's pace.
+
+           "...minutterna ligesom r�cka og str�rka sig.
+   Man k�nner behof at g�re sa med." [Note: Sketches of Every-day Life.]
+
+He thought of his departure.
+
+"Thou must take the road through Lemvig," said Rosalie. "I will then
+visit the family there for a few days; it will make them quite happy to
+see thee, and I shall then be so much longer with thee. That thou wilt
+do, wilt thou not?"
+
+The day was fixed when they should travel.
+
+The evening previous, Otto paid his last visit to the preacher. They
+spoke together a long time about the deceased grandfather. The preacher
+gave up several papers to Otto; among them also his father's last
+letter.
+
+In honor of Otto, a bottle of wine was placed upon the table.
+
+"To thy health, my son!" said the preacher, raising his glass. "We shall
+hardly spend another evening together. Thou wilt have much to learn
+before thou comest as far as I. The world has more thorn-bushes than
+gold-mountains. The times look unsettled. France commences a new
+description of campaign in Europe, and certainly will draw along with
+it all young men: formerly it was the conquerer Napoleon who led to the
+field; now it is the idea of liberty! May the Lord preserve our good
+king, and then it will remain well with us! Thou, Otto, wilt fly out
+into the wide world--hadst thou only first passed thy examination
+for office! But when and where-ever thou mayest fly, remember on all
+occasions the words of Scripture.
+
+"We all desire to rule. Phaeton wished to drive the chariot of the
+sun, but not understanding how to guide the reins, he set fire to the
+countries, precipitated himself from the chariot, and broke his neck. I
+have no one in the city of Copenhagen whom I can ask thee to greet for
+me. All the friends of my youth are scattered to the east and to the
+west. If any of them still be in the city, they will certainly have
+forgotten me. But shouldst thou ever go to the Regent's Court, and smoke
+with the others a pipe under the tree, think of me. I have also sat
+there when I was young like thee; when the French Revolution drove also
+the blood quicker through my veins, and thoughts of freedom caused me to
+carry my head more high. The dear old tree! [Author's Note: At the end
+of the last century it was felled, and two younger ones, which are now
+in full growth, planted in its stead.] Yes, but one does not perceive in
+it, as in me, how many years have passed since then!"
+
+He pressed a kiss on Otto's forehead, gave him his blessing, and they
+parted.
+
+Otto was in a melancholy mood; he felt that he had certainly seen the
+old man for the last time. When he arrived at home he found Rosalie busy
+hacking. The following morning, by earliest dawn, they were to travel
+toward Lemvig. Otto had not been there within these two last years. In
+old times the journey thither had always been to him a festival, now it
+was almost indifferent to him.
+
+He entered his little chamber; for the last time in his life he should
+now sleep there. From the next morning commenced, so it seemed to him, a
+new chapter in his life. Byron's "Farewell" sounded in his ears like an
+old melody:--
+
+     "Fare thee well, and if forever,
+                Still for ever fare thee well."
+
+At break of day the carriage rolled away with him and old Rosalie. Both
+were silent; the carriage moved slowly along the deep ruts. Otto looked
+back once more. A lark rose, singing above him.
+
+"It will be a beautiful day!" said the coachman; his words and the song
+of the lark Rosalie regarded as a good omen for Otto's whole journey.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+   "Geske.--Have you put syrup in the coffee?
+   Henrich.--Yes, I have.
+   Geske.--Be so good, dear madams, be so kind as to be contented."
+                                     HOLBERG'S Political Pewterer.
+
+Lemvig lies, as is well known, on an arm of the Limfjord. The legend
+relates, that in the Swedish war a troop of the enemy's cavalry
+compelled a peasant here to mount his horse and serve as a guide.
+Darkness came on; they found themselves already upon the high
+sand-banks. The peasant guided his horse toward a steep precipice; in a
+farm-house on the other side of the fjord they perceived a light. "That
+is Lemvig," said the peasant; "let us hasten!" He set spurs to his
+horse, the Swedes followed his example, and they were precipitated into
+the depth: the following morning their corpses were found. The monument
+of this bold Lemvig peasant consists of this legend and in the songs of
+the poets; and these are the monuments which endure the longest. Through
+this legend the bare precipice receives an intellectual beauty, which
+may truly compare itself with the naturally beautiful view over the city
+and the bay.
+
+Rosalie and Otto drove into the town. It was two years since he had
+been here; everything seemed to him, during this time, to have shrunk
+together: wherever he looked everything was narrow and small. In his
+recollection, Lemvig was very much larger.
+
+They now drew up before the merchant's house. The entrance was through
+the shop, which was decorated with wooden shoes, woolen gloves, and
+iron ware. Close within the door stood two large casks of tea. Over the
+counter hung an extraordinary stuffed fish, and a whole bunch of felt
+hats, for the use of both sexes. It was a business en gros and en
+d�tail, which the son of the house managed. The father himself was
+number one in Lemvig; he had ships at sea, and kept open house, as they
+call it, in the neighborhood.
+
+The sitting-room door opened, and the wife herself, a stout, square
+woman, with an honest, contented countenance, stepped out and
+received the guests with kisses and embraces. Alas! her good Jutland
+pronunciation cannot be given in writing.
+
+"O, how glorious that the Mamsell comes and brings Mr. Thostrup with
+her! How handsome he is become! and how grown! Yes, we have his mark
+still on the door." She drew Otto along with her. "He has shot up more
+than a quarter of a yard!"
+
+He looked at the objects which surrounded him.
+
+"Yes," said she, "that instrument we have had since you were last
+here; it is a present to Maren from her brother. She will now sing; you
+something. It is astonishing what a voice she has! Last Whitsuntide she
+sang in the church with the musical people; she sang louder than the
+organ!"
+
+Otto approached the sofa, over which a large piece of needlework hung,
+in a splendid gold frame. "That is Maren's name-sampler," said the
+mistress of the house. "It is very pretty. See! there stand all our
+names! Can Mr. Thostrup guess who this is? Here are all the figures
+worked in open stitch. That ship, there, is the Mariane, which was
+called after me. There you see the Lemvig Arms--a tower which stands on
+the waves; and here in the corner, in regular and irregular stitches,
+is her name, 'Maren, October the 24th, 1828.' Yes, that is now two years
+since. She has now worked a cushion for the sofa, with a Turk upon
+it. It went the round of the city--every one wished to see it; it is
+astonishing how Maren can use her hands!"
+
+Rosalie inquired after the excellent girl.
+
+"She is preparing the table," said the lady. "Some good friends are
+coming to us this evening. The secretary will also come; he will then
+play with Maren. You will doubtless, in Copenhagen, have heard much more
+beautiful music; ours is quite simple, but they sing from notes: and I
+think, most likely the secretary will bring his musical-box with him.
+That is splendid! Only lately he sang a little song to the box, that was
+much better than to the larger instrument; for I must say he has not the
+strong chest which Maren has."
+
+The whole family assembled themselves for the first time at the
+dinner-table. The two persons who took the lowest places at table
+appeared the most original; these were the shopman and the aunt. Both
+of them had only at dinner the honor of being with the family; they were
+quite shut out from the evening parties.
+
+The shopman, who in the shop was the first person, and who could there
+speak a few words, sat here like a quiet, constrained creature; his hair
+combed toward one side, and exhibiting two red, swollen hands: no sound
+escaped his lips; kissing the hand of the lady of the house, at coming
+and going, was all he did beside eat.
+
+The aunt, who was not alone called so by the family, but by the whole
+of Lemvig, was equally sparing of her words, but her face was constantly
+laughing. A flowered, red cotton cap fitted close to the thin face,
+giving something characteristic to the high cheek-bones and hanging
+lip. "She assisted in the household, but could take no part in genteel
+company," as the lady expressed herself. She could never forget how, at
+the Reformation Festival, when only the singers sang in the church, aunt
+began singing with them out of her book, so that the churchwarden was
+forced to beg her to be silent; but this she took very ill, and declared
+she had as notch right as the others to praise God, and then sang in
+defiance. Had she not been "aunt," and not belonged to the family to
+which she did, she would certainly have been turned out.
+
+She was now the last person who entered and took her place at table.
+Half an hour had she been sought after before she was found. She had
+stood at the end of the garden, before the wooden trellis. Grass had
+been mown in the field behind the garden, and made into a rick; to see
+this she had gone to the trellis, the odor had agreeably affected
+her; she had pressed her face against the trellis-work, and from
+contemplation of it had fallen into thought, or rather out of thought.
+There she was found, and the dreamer was shaken into motion. She was
+again right lively, and laughed each time that Otto looked at her. He
+had his seat between Maren and the lady of the house, at the upper end
+of the table. Maren was a very pretty girl--little, somewhat round,
+white and red, and well-dressed. A vast number of bows, and a great
+variety of colors, were her weak side. She was reading at this time
+"Cabal and Love."
+
+"Thou art reading it in German!" said the mother.
+
+"Yes, it must be a beautiful piece. I speak German very well, but when I
+wish to read it I get on too slowly with it: I like to get to the end of
+a book!"
+
+The husband had his place at the head of the table. A little black cap
+sat smoothly on his gray hair, and a pair of clever eyes sparkled in his
+countenance. With folded hands he prayed a silent prayer, and then bowed
+his head, before he allowed the dinner to be served. Rosalie sat beside
+him. Her neighbor on the right seemed very talkative. He was an old
+soldier, who in his fortieth year had gone as lieutenant with the land's
+troops, and had permission to wear the uniform, and therefore sat there
+in a kind of military coat, and with a stiff cravat. He was already deep
+in Polignac's ministry and the triumph of the July days; but he had the
+misfortune to confound Lafitte and Lafayette together. The son of the
+house only spoke of bull-calves. The lady at the table was a little
+mamsell from Holstebro, who sat beside him, dressed like a girl for
+Confirmation, in a black silk dress and long red shawl. She was in grand
+array, for she was on a visit. This young lady understood dress-making,
+and could play upon the flute; which, however, she never did without
+a certain bashfulness: besides this, she spoke well, especially upon
+melancholy events. The bottle of wine only circulated at the upper
+end of the table; the shopman and aunt only drank ale, but it foamed
+gloriously: it had been made upon raisin-stalks.
+
+"He is an excellent man, the merchant, whom you have received as
+guardian, Mr. Thostrup," said the master of the house. "I am in
+connection with him."
+
+"But it is strange," interrupted the lady, "that only one out of his
+five daughters is engaged. If the young ladies in Copenhagen do not go
+off better than that, what shall we say here?"
+
+"Now Mr. Thostrup can take one of them," said the husband. "There is
+money, and you have fortune also; if you get an office, you can live in
+floribus!"
+
+Maren colored, although there was no occasion for coloring; she even
+cast down her eyes.
+
+"What should Mr. Thostrup do with one of them?" pursued the wife. "He
+shall have a Jutland maiden! There are pretty young ladies enough here
+in the country-seats," added she, and laid the best piece of meat upon
+his plate.
+
+"Do the royal company give pretty operas?" asked Maren, and gave another
+direction to the conversation.
+
+Otto named several, among others Der Freisch�tz.
+
+"That must be horrible!" said the lieutenant. "They say the wolf-glen
+is so natural, with a waterfall, and an owl which flutters its wings.
+Burgomaster Mimi has had a letter from a young lady in Aarhuus, who has
+been in Copenhagen, and has seen this piece. It was so horrible that she
+held her hand before her face, and almost fainted. They have a splendid
+theatre!"
+
+"Yes, but our little theatre was very pretty!" said the lady of the
+house. "It was quite stupid that the dramatic company should have been
+unlucky. The last piece we gave is still clear in my recollection; it
+was the 'Sandsesl�se.' I was then ill; but because I wished so much to
+see it, the whole company was so obliging as to act it once more, and
+that, too, in our sitting-room, where I lay on the sofa and could
+look on. That was an extraordinary mark of attention from them! Only
+think--the burgomaster himself acted with them!"
+
+In honor of the strangers, coffee was taken after dinner in the garden,
+where, under the plum-trees, a swing was fixed. Somewhat later a sailing
+party was arranged. A small yacht belonging to the merchant lay, just
+unladen, near the bridge of boats.
+
+Otto found Maren and the young lady from Holstebro sitting in the arbor.
+Somewhat startled, they concealed something at his entrance.
+
+"The ladies have secrets! May one not be initiated?"
+
+"No, not at all!" replied Maren.
+
+"You have manuscript poems in the little book!" said Otto, and boldly
+approached. "Perhaps of your own composition?"
+
+"O, it is only a memorandum-book," said Maren, blushing. "When I read
+anything pretty I copy it, for we cannot keep the books."
+
+"Then I may see it!" said Otto. His eye fell upon the written sheet:--
+
+             "So fliessen nun zwei Wasser
+              Wohl zwischen mir und Dir
+              Das eine sind die Thr�nen,
+              Das andre ist der See!"
+              [Note: Des Knaben Wunderhorn.]
+
+he read. "That is very pretty! 'Der verlorne Schwimmer,' the poem is
+called, is it not?"
+
+"Yes, I have copied it out of the secretary's memorandum-book; he has so
+many pretty pieces."
+
+"The secretary has many splendid things!" said Otto, smiling.
+"Memorandum-book, musical snuff-box"--
+
+"And a collection of seals!" added the young lady from Holstebro.
+
+"I must read more!" said Otto; but the ladies fled with glowing cheeks.
+
+"Are you already at your tricks, Mr. Thostrup?" said the mother, who
+now entered the garden. "Yes, you do not know how Maren has thought of
+you--how much she has spoken of you. You never wrote to us; we never
+heard anything of you, except when Miss Rosalie related us something
+out of your letters. That was not nice of you! You and Maren were always
+called bride and bridegroom. You were a pair of pretty children, and
+your growth has not been disadvantageous to either of you."
+
+At four o'clock the evening party assembled--a whole swarm of young
+ladies, a few old ones, and the secretary, who distinguished himself by
+a collection of seals hanging to a long watch-chain, and everlastingly
+knocking against his body; a white shirt-frill, stiff collar, and a
+cock's comb, in which each hair seemed to take an affected position.
+They all walked down to the bay. Otto had some business and came
+somewhat later. Whilst he was crossing, alone, the court-yard, he heard,
+proceeding from the back of the house, a fearful, wild cry, which ended
+in violent sobbing. Terrified, he went nearer, and perceived the aunt
+sitting in the middle of a large heap of turf. The priestess at Delphi
+could not have looked more agitated! Her close cap she had torn from her
+head; her long, gray hair floated over her shoulders; and with her feet
+she stamped upon the turf, like a willful child, until the pieces flew
+in various directions. When she perceived Otto she became calm in a
+moment, but soon she pressed her thin hands before her face and sobbed
+aloud. To learn from her what was the matter was not to be thought of.
+
+"O, she is only quarrelsome!" said the girl, to whom Otto had turned for
+an explanation. "Aunt is angry because she was not invited to sail with
+the company. She always does so,--she can be quite wicked! Just lately,
+when she should have helped me to wring out the sheets, she always
+twisted them the same way that I did, so that we could never get done,
+and my hands hurt me very much!"
+
+Otto walked down to the bay. The sail was unfurled, the secretary
+brought out his musical-box, and, accompanied by its tones, they glided
+in the burning sunshine over the water.
+
+On the other side tea was to be drunk, and then Maren was to sing. Her
+mother asked her to sing the song with the strong tones, so that Otto
+might hear what a voice she had.
+
+She sang "Dannevang." Her voice had uncommon power, but no style, no
+grace.
+
+"Such a voice, I fancy, you have not heard in the theatre at
+Copenhagen?" said the secretary, with dogmatical gravity.
+
+"You might wish yourself such a chest!" said the lieutenant.
+
+The secretary should now sing; but he had a little cold, which he had
+always.
+
+"You must sing to the musical-box!" said the lady, and her wish was
+fulfilled. If Maren had only commenced, one might have believed it a
+trial of skill between Boreas and Zephyr.
+
+They now walked about, drank tea, and after this they were to return
+to the house, there to partake of fish and roast meat, a piece of boxed
+ham, and other good things.
+
+Otto could by no means be permitted to think of leaving them the
+following morning; he must remain a few days, and gather strength, so
+that in Copenhagen he might apply himself well to work. But only one
+day would he enjoy all the good things which they heaped upon him. He
+yearned for other people, for a more intellectual circle. Two
+years before he had agreed splendidly with them all, had found them
+interesting and intellectual; now he felt that Lemvig was a little town,
+and that the people were good, excellent people.
+
+The following play again brought capital cookery, good foul, and good
+wine--that was to honor Mr. Thostrup. His health was drunk, Maren was
+more confidential, the aunt had forgotten her trouble, and again sat
+with a laughing face beside the constrained shopman. They must, it is
+true, make a little haste over their dinner, for the fire-engine was to
+be tried; and this splendor, they maintained, Otto must see, since he so
+fortunately chanced to lie there.
+
+"How can my mother think that this will give Mr. Thostrup pleasure?"
+said Maren. "There is nothing to see in it."
+
+"That has given him pleasure formerly!" answered the mother. "It is,
+also, laughable when the boys run underneath the engine-rain, and the
+stream comes just in their necks."
+
+She spoke of the former Otto and of the present one--he was become so
+Copenhagenish, so refined and nice, as well in the cut of his clothes
+as in his manners; yet she still found an opportunity of giving him a
+little hint to further refinement. Only think! he took the sugar for his
+coffee with his fingers!
+
+"But where are the sugar-tongs, the massive silver sugar-tongs?" asked
+she. "Maren, dost thou allow him to take the sugar with his fingers?"
+
+"That is more convenient!" answered Otto. "I do that always."
+
+"Yes, but if strangers had been here," said the hostess, in a friendly
+but teaching tone, "we must, like that grand lady you know of, have
+thrown the sugar out of the window."
+
+"In the higher circles, where people have clean fingers, they make use
+of them!" said Otto. "There would be no end of it if one were to take it
+with the sugar-tongs."
+
+"They are of massive silver!" said the lady, and weighed them in her
+hand.
+
+Toward evening Rosalie went into the garden under the plum trees.
+
+"These, also, remind me of my mountains," said she; "this is the only
+fruit which will properly flourish there. Lemvig lies, like La Locle, in
+a valley," and she pointed, smiling, to the surrounding sand-hills.
+"How entirely different it is here from what it is at home on thy
+grandfather's estate! There I have been so accustomed to solitude, that
+it is almost too lively for me here. One diversion follows another."
+
+It was precisely this which Otto did not like. These amusements of the
+small towns wearied him, and he could not delight himself with them, no
+longer mingle in this life.
+
+He wished to set out early the following morning. It would be too
+exhausting to drive along the dry road in the sun's heat, they all
+declared; he must wait until the afternoon, then it would be cooler;
+it was, also, far pleasanter to travel in the night. Rosalie's prayers
+decided him. Thus, after dinner and coffee, the horses should be put
+into the carriage.
+
+It was the last day. Maren was somewhat in a grave mood. Otto must
+write in her album. "He would never come to Lemvig again," said she. As
+children they had played with each other. Since he went to Copenhagen
+she had, many an evening, seated herself in the swing near the
+summer-house and thought of him. Who knows whether she must not have
+done so when she copied out of the secretary's memorandum-book, the
+verses,--
+
+             "So fliessen nun zwei Wasser
+              Wohl zwischen mir and Dir?"
+
+The sea certainly flows between Aarhuus and Copenhagen.
+
+"Maren will perhaps go over for the winter," said the mother; "but we
+dare not speak too much about it, for it is not yet quite settled. It
+will really make her gayer! lately she has been very much inclined to
+melancholy, although God knows that we have denied her no pleasure!"
+
+There now arrived a quantity of letters from different acquaintance, and
+from their acquaintance: if Mr. Thostrup would have the goodness to
+take care of this to Viborg, these to Aarhuus, and the others as far as
+Copenhagen. It was a complete freight, such as one gets in little towns,
+just as though no post went through the country.
+
+The carriage stopped before the door.
+
+Rosalie melted into tears. "Write to me!" said she. "Thee I shall never
+see again! Greet my Switzerland when thou comest there!"
+
+The others were merry. The lady sang,--
+
+                "O could I, like a cloud, but fly!"
+
+The young lady from Holstebro bowed herself before him with an
+Album-leaf its her hand, upon which she must beg Mr. Thostrup to write
+her something. Maren gave him her hand, blushed and drew back: but as
+the carriage rolled away she waved her while handkerchief through the
+open window: "Farewell! Farewell!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+     "Stop! cried Patroclus, with mighty, thundering voice."
+     --WILSTER'S Iliad.
+
+The parting with Rosalie, the hospitality of the family, and their
+sincere sympathy, touched Otto; he thought upon the last days, upon his
+whole sojourn in his home. The death of his grandfather made this an
+important era in his life. The quiet evening and the solitary road
+inclined him still more to meditation.
+
+How cheering and interesting had been a visit to Lemvig in former times!
+Then it furnished matter for conversation with Rosalie for many weeks;
+it now lay before him a subject of indifference. The people were
+certainly the same, therefore the change must have taken place in
+himself. He thought of Copenhagen, which stood so high, and of the
+people there.
+
+"After all, the difference is not so great!" said he. "In Copenhagen
+the social foci are more numerous, the interests more varied; each day
+brings a fresh topic of conversation, and one can choose one's society.
+The multitude, on the contrary, has something citizenish; it obtrudes
+itself even from beneath the ball-dress which shows itself at court; it
+is seen in the rich saloon of the wholesale merchant, as well as in the
+house of the brandy distiller, whose possessions give to him and his two
+brewers the right of election. It is the same food which is presented
+to us; in the small towns one has it on earthenware, in Copenhagen on
+china. If one had only the courage, in the so-called higher classes,
+to break through the gloss which life in a greater circle, which
+participation in the customs of the world, has called forth, one should
+soon find in many a lady of rank, in many a nobleman who sits not
+alone in the theatre, on the first bench, merely that empty common
+earthenware; and that, as with the merchant's wife in Lemvig, a d�jeuner
+or a soir�e, like some public event, will occupy the mind before and
+after its occurrence. A court-ball, at which either the son or daughter
+has figured, resembles the most brilliant success in an examination for
+office. We laugh at the authorities of Lemvig, and yet with us the crowd
+runs after nothing but authorities and newspapers. This is a certain
+state of innocence. How many a poor officer or student must play the
+subordinate part of the shopman at the table of the rich, and gratefully
+kiss the hand of the lady of the house because she has the right of
+demanding gratitude? And in the theatre, with the multitude, what does
+not 'an astonishing chest' do? A strength of voice which can penetrate
+right through the leather of the mind gains stormy applause, whilst
+taste and execution can only be appreciated by the few. The actor can
+be certain of applause if he only thunder forth his parting reply. The
+comedian is sure of a shout of bravo if he puts forth an insipidity, and
+rubs his legs together as if replying with spirit and humor. The massive
+plate in the house gives many a lady the boldness to teach that in which
+she herself might perhaps have been instructed. Many a lady, like the
+Mamsell from Holstebro, dresses always in silk and a long shawl, and
+if one asks after her profession one finds it consists at most in
+dress-making; perhaps she does not even possess the little accompanying
+talent of playing the flute. How many people do not copy, like Maren,
+out of other people's memorandum-books, and do not excel musical-boxes!
+still one hears a deal of musical snuff-box music, and is waited upon by
+voices which are equally as insignificant as the secretary's."
+
+These were pretty much Otto's reflections, and certainly it was a good
+feeling which lay at the bottom of them. Let us remember in our judgment
+that he was so young, and that he had only known Copenhagen _one_ year;
+otherwise he would most certainly have thought _quite differently_.
+
+Night spread itself over the heath, the heavens were clear. Slowly the
+carriage wound along through the deep sand. The monotonous sound, the
+unchanging motion, all rendered Otto sleepy. A falling star shot like
+a fire column across the sky--this woke him for a moment; he soon again
+bowed his head and slept, fast and deep. It was an hour past midnight,
+when he was awoke by a loud cry. He started up--the fire burnt before
+them; and between it and the horse stood two figures, who had taken
+hold of the leather reins. Close beside them was a cart, under which was
+placed a sort of bed, on which slept a woman and some children.
+
+"Will you drive into the soup-kettle?" asked a rough voice, whilst
+another scolded in a gibberish which was unintelligible to Otto.
+
+It had happened to the coachman as to him, only that the coachman had
+fallen asleep somewhat later; the horses had lost their track,
+and uncertain, as they had long been, they were now traversing the
+impassable heath. A troop of the so-called Scavengers, who wander
+through these districts a nomadic race, had here taken up their quarters
+for the night, had made a fire and hung the kettle over it, to cook some
+pieces of a lamb they had stolen on their journey.
+
+"They were about half a mile from the highway," said an elderly woman
+who was laying some bushes of heath under the kettle.
+
+"Half a mile?" replied a voice from the other side of the cart, and Otto
+remarked a man who, wrapped in a large gray riding-cloak, had stretched
+himself out among the heather. "It is not a quarter of a mile to the
+highway if people know how to direct their course properly!"
+
+The pronunciation of the man was somewhat foreign, but pure, and free
+from the gibberish which the others employed in their speech. The voice
+seemed familiar to Otto, his ear weighed each syllable, and his blood
+ran quicker through his veins: "It is the German Heinrich, the evil
+angel of my life!" he felt, and wrapt himself closer in his mantle, so
+that his countenance was concealed.
+
+A half-grown lad came forward and offered himself as a guide.
+
+"But the lad must have two marks!" said the woman.
+
+Otto nodded assent, and glanced once more toward the man in whom he
+believed he recognized the German Heinrich; the man had again carelessly
+stretched himself among the heath, and did not seem inclined to enter
+into farther discourse.
+
+The woman desired the payment in advance, and received it. The boy led
+the horses toward one side; at the moment the fire flare up between the
+turf-sods, a great dog, with a loose cord about his neck, sprang forward
+and ran barking after the carriage, which now travelled on over the
+heath in the gloomy night.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+     "Poetry does not always express sorrow; the rainbow can also
+     arch across a cloudless blue firmament."--JEAN PAUL.
+
+We again find ourselves in Copenhagen, where we meet with Otto, and may
+every day expect Wilhelm, Miss Sophie, and the excellent mamma; they
+would only stay a few weeks. To learn tidings of their arrival, Otto
+determined to pay a visit where they were expected; we know the house,
+we were present at the Christmas festival: it was here that Otto
+received his noble pedigree.
+
+We will now become somewhat better acquainted with the family. The
+husband had a good head, as people sat, had an excellent wine-cellar,
+and was, as one of the friends maintained, a good l'hombre player. But
+the soul of the house, the animating genius, which drew into this circle
+all that possessed life and youth, was the wife. Beautiful one could by
+no means call her, but, enchanted by her natural loveliness, her
+mind, and her unaffectedness, you forgot this in a few moments. A rare
+facility in appreciating the comic of every-day life, and a good-humored
+originality in its representation, always afforded her rich material for
+conversation. It was as if Nature, in a moment of thoughtlessness, had
+formed an insipid countenance, but immediately afterward strove to make
+good her fault by breathing into it a soul, which, even through pale
+blue eyes, pale cheeks, and ordinary features, could make her beauty
+felt.
+
+When Otto entered the room he heard music. He listened: it must be
+either Weyse or Gerson.
+
+"It is the Professor Weyse," said the servant, and Otto opened the door
+softly, without knocking.
+
+The astral-lamp burnt upon the table; upon the sofa sat two young
+ladies. The mistress of the house nodded Otto a friendly welcome, but
+then smiling laid her finger on her lips, as a sign of silence, and
+pointed to a chair, on which he seated himself, and listened to the soft
+tones, which, like spirits, floated from the piano at which the musician
+sat. It was as if the slumbering thoughts and feelings of the soul,
+which in every breast find a response, even among the most opposite
+nations, had found a voice and language. The fantasies died away in a
+soft, spiritual piano. Thus lightly has Raphael breathed the Madonna
+di Foligno upon the clouds; she rests there as a soap-bubble rests upon
+velvet. That dying away of the tomes resembled the thoughts of the lover
+when his eye closes, and the living dream of his heart imperceptibly
+merges and vanishes in sleep. Reality is over.
+
+Here also the tones ceased.
+
+            "Der Bettelvogt von Ninive
+             Zog hinab zum Genfersee,
+                  Hm, hm!"
+             [Author's Note: An old popular German song.]
+
+commenced the musician once more, with an originality and spirit which
+influenced the whole company. Far too soon did he again break off,
+after he had enchanted all ears by his own treasures, as well as by the
+curiosities of the people's life in the world of sound. Only when he
+was gone did admiration find words; the fantasies still echoed in every
+heart.
+
+"His name deserves to be known throughout Europe!" said the gracious
+lady; "how few people in the world know Weyse and Kuhlau!"
+
+"That is the misfortune of a musician being born in a small country,"
+said Otto. "His works become only manuscript for friends; his auditory
+extends only from Skagen to Kiel: there the door is closed."
+
+"One must console one's self that everything great and good becomes at
+length known," said the cousin of the family, who is known to us by his
+verses for the Christmas-tree. "The nations will become acquainted with
+everything splendid in the kingdom of mind, let it bloom in a small or
+in a large country. Certainly during this time the artist may have died,
+but then he must receive compensation in another world."
+
+"I truly believe," returned the gracious lady, "that he would wish a
+little in advance here below, where it is so ordered that the immortal
+must bow himself before the mortal."
+
+"Certainly," replied Otto; "the great men of the age are like mountains;
+they it is which cause the land to be seen from afar, and give it
+importance, but in themselves they are bare and cold; their heights are
+never properly known."
+
+"Very beautiful," said the lady; "you speak like a Jean Paul."
+
+At this moment the door opened, and all were surprised by the entrance
+of Miss Sophie, Wilhelm, and the dear mamma. They were not expected
+before the following evening. They had travelled the whole day through
+Zealand.
+
+"We should have been here to dinner," said Sophie, "but my brother could
+not get his business finished in Roeskelde; then he had forgotten to
+order horses, and other little misadventures occurred: six whole hours
+we remained there. Mamma contracted quite a passion there--she fell
+fairly in love with a young girl, the pretty Eva."
+
+"Yes, she is a nice creature!" said the old lady. "Had I not reason, Mr.
+Thostrup? You and my Wilhelm had already made her interesting to me. She
+has something so noble, so refined, which one so rarely meets with in
+the lower class; she deserves to come among educated people."
+
+"Otto, what shall our hearts say," exclaimed Wilhelm, "when my good
+mother is thus affected?"
+
+They assembled round the tea-table. Wilhelm addressed Otto with the
+confidential "thou" which Otto himself had requested.
+
+"We will drink together in tea and renew our brotherhood."
+
+Otto smiled, but with such a strangely melancholy air, and spoke not a
+word.
+
+"He's thinking about the old grandfather," thought Wilhelm, and laid his
+hand upon his friend's shoulder. "The Kammerjunker and his ladies greet
+thee!" said he. "I believe the Mamsell would willingly lay thee in her
+own work-box, were that to be done."
+
+Otto remained quiet, but in his soul there was a strange commotion. It
+would be a difficult thing to explain this motive, which belonged to
+his peculiarity of mind; it entered among the mysteries of the soul. The
+multitude call it in individuals singularity, the psychologist finds a
+deeper meaning in it, which the understanding is unable to fathom. We
+have examples of men, whose strength of mind and body were well known,
+feeling faint at the scent of a rose; others have been thrown into a
+convulsive state by touching gray paper. This cannot be explained; it
+is one of the riddles of Nature. A similar relaxing sensation Otto
+experienced when he, for the first time, heard himself addressed as
+"thou" by Wilhelm. It seemed to him as though the spiritual band which
+encircled them loosened itself, and Wilhelm became a stranger. It was
+impossible for Otto to return the "thou," yet, at the same time, he
+felt the injustice of his behavior and the singularity, and wished to
+struggle against it; he mastered himself, attained a kind of eloquence,
+but no "thou" would pass his lips.
+
+"To thy health, Otto," said Wilhelm, and pushed his cup against Otto's.
+
+"Health!" said Otto, with a smile.
+
+"It is true," began the cousin, "I promised you the other day to bring
+my advertisements with me; the first volume is closed." And he drew
+from his pocket a book in which a collection of the most original
+Address-Gazette advertisements, such as one sees daily, was pasted.
+
+"I have one for you," said the lady; "I found it a little time since. 'A
+woman wishes for a little child to bottle.' Is not that capital?"
+
+"Here is also a good one," said Wilhelm, who had turned over the leaves
+of the book: "'A boy of the Mosaic belief may be apprenticed to a
+cabinet-maker, but he need not apply unless he will eat everything that
+happens to be in the house.' That is truly a hard condition for the poor
+lad."
+
+"Almost every day," said the cousin, "one may read, 'For the play of
+to-day or to-morrow is a good place to be had in the third story in the
+Christenbernikov Street.' The place is a considerable distance from the
+theatre."
+
+"Theatre!" exclaimed the master of the house, who now entered to take
+his place at the tea-table, "one can soon hear who has that word in
+his mouth; now is he again at the theatre! The man can speak of nothing
+else. There ought, ready, to be a fine imposed, which he should pay each
+time he pronounces the word theatre. I would only make it a fine of two
+skillings, and yet I dare promise that before a month was over he would
+be found to pay in fines his whole pocket-money, and his coat and boots
+besides. It is a real mania with the man! I know no one among my young
+friends," added he, with an ironical smile at Wilhelm,--"no, not one,
+who has such a hobby-horse as our good cousin."
+
+"Here thou art unjust to him!" interrupted his wife; "do not place a
+fine upon him, else I will place thee in a vaudeville! Thy life is in
+politics; our cousin's in theatrical life; Wilhelm's in thorough-bass;
+and Mr. Thostrup's in learned subjects. Each of you is thus a little
+nail in the different world-wheels; whoever despises others shows
+that he considers his wheel the first, or imagines that the world is
+a wheelbarrow, which goes upon one wheel! No, it is a more complicated
+machine."
+
+Later in the evening, when the company broke up, Otto and Wilhelm went
+together.
+
+"I do not think," said Wilhelm, "that thou hast yet said thou to me. Is
+it not agreeable to thee?"
+
+"It was my own wish, my own request," replied Otto. "I have not remarked
+what expressions I have employed." He remained silent. Wilhelm himself
+seemed occupied with unusual thoughts, when he suddenly exclaimed: "Life
+is, after all, a gift of blessings! One should never make one's self
+sorrows which do not really exist! 'Carpe diem,' said old Horace."
+
+"That will we!" replied Otto; "but now we must first think of our
+examination."
+
+They pressed each other's hands and parted.
+
+"But I have heard no thou!" said Wilhelm to himself "He is an oddity,
+and yet I love him! In this consists, perhaps, my own originality."
+
+He entered his room, where the hostess had been cleaning, and had
+arranged the books and papers in the nicest order. Wilhelm truly called
+it disorder; the papers in confusion and the books in a row. The lamp
+even had a new place; and this was called order!
+
+Smiling, he seated himself at the piano; it was so long since they had
+said "Good day" to each other! He ran over the keys several times, then
+lost himself in fantasies. "That is lovely!" he exclaimed. "But it is
+not my property! What does it belong to? It melts into my own feelings!"
+He played it again. It was a thema out of "Tancredi," therefore from
+Rossini, even the very composer whom our musical friends most looked
+down upon; how could he then guess who had created those tones which now
+spoke to his heart? His whole being he felt penetrated by a happiness, a
+love of life, the cause of which he knew not. He thought of Otto with a
+warmth which the latter's strange behavior did not deserve. All beloved
+beings floated so sweetly before his mind. This was one of those moments
+which all good people know; one feels one's self a member of the great
+chain of love which binds creation together.
+
+So long as the rose-bud remains folded together it seems to be without
+fragrance; yet only one morning is required, and the fine breath streams
+from the crimson mouth. It is only one moment; it is the commencement of
+a new existence, which already has lain long concealed in the bud: but
+one does not see the magic wand which works the change. This spiritual
+contrast, perhaps, took place in the past hour; perhaps the last evening
+rays which fell upon the leaves concealed this power! The roses of the
+garden must open; those of the heart follow the same laws. Was this
+love? Love is, as poets say, a pain; it resembles the disease of the
+mussel, through which pearls are formed. But Wilhelm was not sick; he
+felt himself particularly full of strength and enjoyment of life. The
+poet's simile of the mussel and the pearl sounds well, but it is false.
+Most poets are not very learned in natural history; and, therefore, they
+are guilty of many errors with regard to it. The pearl is formed on the
+mussel not through disease; when an enemy attacks her she sends forth
+drops in her defense, and these change into pearls. It is thus strength,
+and not weakness, which creates the beautiful. It would be unjust to
+call love a pain, a sickness; it is an energy of life which God has
+planted in the human breast; it fills our whole being like the fragrance
+which fills each leaf of the rose, and then reveals itself among the
+struggles of life as a pearl of worth.
+
+These were Wilhelm's thoughts; and yet it was not perfectly clear to him
+that he loved with his whole soul, as one can only love once.
+
+The following forenoon he paid a visit to Professor Weyse.
+
+"You are going to Roeskelde, are you not?" asked Wilhelm. "I have heard
+you so often play the organ here in Our Lady's church, I should very
+much like to hear you there, in the cathedral. If I were to make the
+journey, would you then play a voluntary for me?"
+
+"You will not come!" said the musician.
+
+"I shall come!" answered Wilhelm, and kept his word. Two days after this
+conversation he rolled through the streets of Roeskelde.
+
+"I am come for a wager! I shall hear Weyse play the organ!" said he to
+the host, although there was no need for an apology.
+
+Bulwer in his romance, "The Pilgrims of the Rhine," has with endless
+grace and tenderness called forth a fairy world. The little spirits
+float there as the breath of air floats around the material reality; one
+is forced to believe in their existence. With a genius powerful as that
+which inspired Bulwer, glorious as that which infused into Shakespeare
+the fragrance we find breathed over the "Midsummer-night's Dream," did
+Weyse's tones fill Wilhelm; the deep melodies of the organ in the
+old cathedral had indeed attracted him to the quiet little town! The
+powerful tones of the heart summoned him! Through them even every day
+things assumed a coloring, an expression of beauty, such as Byron shows
+us in words, Thorwaldsen in the hard stone, Correggio in colors.
+
+We have by Goethe a glorious poem, "Love a Landscape-painter." The poet
+sits upon a peak and gazes before him into the mist, which, like canvas
+spread upon the easel, conceals all heights and expanses; then comes
+the God of Love and teaches him how to paint a picture on the mist. The
+little one now sketches with his rosy fingers a picture such as only
+Nature and Goethe give us. Were the poet here, we could offer him no
+rock on which he might seat himself, but something, through legends and
+songs, equally beautiful. He would then sing,--I seated myself upon the
+mossy stone above the cairn; the mist resembled outstretched canvas. The
+God of Love commenced on this his sketch. High up he painted a glorious
+still, whose rays were dazzling! The edges of the clouds he made as of
+gold, and let the rays penetrate through them; then painted he the fine
+light boughs of fresh, fragrant trees; brought forth one hill after the
+other. Behind these, half-concealed, lay a little town, above which rose
+a mighty church; two tall towers with high spires rose into the air; and
+below the church, far out, where woods formed the horizon, drew he a
+bay so naturally! it seemed to play with the sunbeams as if the waves
+splashed up against the coast. Now appeared flowers; to the fields and
+meadows he gave the coloring of velvet and precious stones; and on the
+other side of the bay the dark woods melted away into a bluish mist. "I
+can paint!" said the little one; "but the most difficult still remains
+to do." And he drew with his delicate finger, just where the rays of the
+sun fell most glowingly, a maiden so gentle, so sweet, with dark
+blue eyes and cheeks as blooming as the rosy fingers which formed the
+picture. And see! a breeze arose; the leaves of the trees quivered;
+the expanse of water ruffled itself; the dress of the maiden was
+gently stirred; the maiden herself approached: the picture itself was a
+reality! And thus did the old royal city present itself before Wilhelm's
+eyes, the towers of the cathedral, she tay, the far woods, and--Eva!
+
+The first love of a pure heart is holy! This holiness may be indicated,
+but not described! We return to Otto.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+     "A man only gains importance by a poet's fancy, when his
+     genius vividly represents to our imagination a clearer, but
+     not an ennobled image of men and objects which have an
+     existence; then alone he understands how to idealize."--H.
+     HERTZ.
+
+We pass on several weeks. It was toward the end of September, the examen
+philosophicum was near. Preparations for this had been Otto's excuse for
+not yet having visited the family circle of his guardian, the merchant
+Berger. This was, however, brought about by Otto's finding one day, when
+he went to speak with his guardian, the mistress of the house in the
+same room. We know that there are five daughters in the house, and that
+only one is engaged, yet they are all well-educated girls--domestic
+girls, as their mother assured her friend upon more than one occasion.
+
+"So, then, I have at length the honor of making your acquaintance," said
+Mrs. Berger, "this visit, truly, is not intended either for me or the
+children, but still you must now drink a cup of coffee with us. Within
+it certainly looks rather disorderly; the girls are making cloaks for
+the winter. We will not put ourselves out of the way for you: you shall
+be regarded as a member of the family: but then you must come to us in a
+friendly way. Every Thursday our son-in-law dines with us, will you then
+be contented with our dinner? Now you shall become acquainted with my
+daughters."
+
+"And I must to my office," said the husband; "therefore let us consider
+Thursday as an appointment. We dine at three o'clock, and after coffee
+Laide gives us music."
+
+The lady now conducted Otto into the sitting-room, where he found the
+four daughters in full activity with a workwoman. The fifth daughter,
+Julle, was, as they had told him, gone to the shops for patterns:
+yesterday she had run all over the town, but the patterns she received
+were not good.
+
+The lady told him the name of each daughter; their characteristics he
+naturally learnt later.
+
+All the five sisters had the idea that they were so extremely different,
+and yet they resembled each other to a hair. Adelaide, or Laide, as she
+was also called, was certainly the prettiest; that she well knew also,
+therefore she would have a fur cape, and no cloak; her figure should be
+seen. Christiane was what one might call a practical girl; she knew how
+to make use of everything. Alvilde had always a little attack of the
+tooth-ache; Julle went shopping, and Miss Grethe was the bride. She was
+also musical, and was considered witty. Thus she said one evening when
+the house-door was closed, and groaned dreadfully on its hinges, "See
+now, we have port wine after dinner." [Translator's Note: A pun which it
+is impossible to translate. The Danish word Portviin according to sound,
+may mean either port wine or the creaking of a door.] The brother, the
+only son of the house, with whom we shall become better acquainted, had
+written down this conceit; "but that was only to be rude toward her,"
+said Miss Grethe. "Such good ideas as this I have every hour of the
+day!"
+
+We ought really to accuse these excellent girls of nothing foolish; they
+were very good and wise. The lover, Mr. Svane, was also a zealous wit;
+he was so lively, they said. Every one with whom he became a little
+familiar he called immediately Mr. Petersen, and that was so droll!
+
+"Now the father has invited Mr. Thostrup to come on Thursday!" said the
+lady. "I also think, if we were to squeeze ourselves a little together,
+he might find a place with us in the box; the room is, truly, very
+confined."
+
+Otto besought them not to incommode themselves.
+
+"O, it is a large box!" said the lady, but she did not say how many of
+them were already in it. Only eleven ladies went from the family itself.
+They were obliged to go to the theatre in three parties, so that
+people might not think; if they all went together, there was a mob.
+One evening, when the box had been occupied by eighteen persons, beside
+several twelve-year old children, who had sat in people's laps, or stood
+before them, and the whole party had returned home in one procession,
+and were standing before the house door to go in, people streamed
+together, imagining there was some alarm, or that some one had fallen
+into convulsions. "What is the matter?" they asked, and Miss Grethe
+immediately replied, "It is a select company!" [Translator's Note: A
+select or shut-out company. We regret that this pun, like the foregoing
+one, is untransferable into English.] Since that evening they returned
+home in separate divisions.
+
+"It is really a good box!" said Alvilde; "if we had only other
+neighbors! The doors are opening and shutting eternally, and make a
+draught which is not bearable for the teeth. And then they speak so
+loud! the other night I did not hear a single word of the pretty song
+about Denmark."
+
+"But did you lose much through that?" asked Otto, smiling, and soon they
+found themselves very much at variance, just as if they had been old
+acquaintances. "I do not think much of these patriotic scraps, where the
+poet, in his weakness, supports himself by this beautiful sentiment
+of patriotism in the people. You will certainly grant that here the
+multitude always applauds when it only hears the word 'Father-land,' or
+the name of 'Christian IV.' The poet must give something more; this is
+a left-handed kind of patriotism. One would really believe that Denmark
+were the only country in the world!"
+
+"Fie, Mr. Thostrup!" said the lady: "do you not then love your
+father-land?"
+
+"I believe I love it properly!" returned he: "and because it really
+possesses so much that is excellent do I desire that only what is
+genuine should be esteemed, only what is genuine be prized."
+
+"I agree in the main with Mr. Thostrup," said Miss Grethe, who was
+busied in unpicking and turning her cloak, in order, as she herself
+said, to spoil it on the other side. "I think he is right! If a poem is
+well spoken on the stage, it has always a kind of effect. It is just the
+same as with stuffs--they may be of a middling quality and may have an
+unfavorable pattern, but if they are worn by a pretty figure they look
+well after all!"
+
+"I am often vexed with the public!" said Otto. "It applauds at improper
+places, and sometimes exhibits an extraordinary innocence."
+
+"Those are 'the lords of the kingdom of mind,'" said Miss Grethe,
+smiling.
+
+   [Note: "We are the lords of the kingdom of mind!
+         We are the stem which can never decay!"
+         --Students' Song, by CHRISTIAN WINTHER.]
+
+"No, the _neighbors_!" replied Otto quickly.
+
+At this moment Miss Julle entered. She had been wandering from shop
+to shop, she said, until she could bear it no longer! She had had the
+stuffs down from all the shelves, and at length had succeeded so far
+as to become possessed of eight small pieces--beautiful patterns, she
+maintained. And now she knew very well where the different stuffs were
+to be had, how wide they were, and how much the yard. "And whom did I
+meet?" said she; "only think! down the middle of East Street came the
+actor--you know well! Our little passion! He is really charming off the
+stage."
+
+"Did you meet him?" said Laide. "That girl is always lucky!"
+
+"Mr. Thostrup," said the mother, presenting him, for the young lady
+seemed to forget him entirely, so much was she occupied with this
+encounter and her patterns.
+
+Julle bowed, and said she had seen him before: he had heard Mynster, and
+had stood near the chair where she sat; he was dressed in an olive-green
+coat.
+
+"Then you are acquainted with each other!" said the lady. "She is the
+most pious of all the children. When the others rave about Spindler and
+Johanne Schoppenhauer, she raves about the clergyman who confirmed her.
+You know my son? He became a student a year before you. He sees you in
+the club sometimes."
+
+"There you will have seen him more amiable than you will find him
+at home," said Adelaide. "Heaven knows he is not gallant toward his
+sisters!"
+
+"Sweet Laide, how can you say so!" cried the mother. "You are always so
+unjust toward Hans Peter! When you become better acquainted with him,
+Mr. Thostrup, you will like him; he is a really serious young man, of
+uncorrupted manners. Do you remember, Laide, how he hissed that evening
+in the theatre when they gave that immoral piece? And how angry he is
+with that 'Red Riding Hood?' O, the good youth! Besides, in our family,
+you will soon meet with an old acquaintance--in a fortnight a lady out
+of Jutland will come here. She remains the winter here. Do you not guess
+who it is? A little lady from Lemvig!"
+
+"Maren!" exclaimed Otto.
+
+"Yes, truly!" said the lady. "She is said to have such a beautiful
+voice!"
+
+"Yes, in Lemvig," remarked Adelaide. "And what a horrible name she has!
+We must christen her again, when she comes. She must be called Mara, or
+Massa."
+
+"We could call her Massa Carara!" said Grethe.
+
+"No; she shall be called Maja, as in the 'Every-day Tales,'" said
+Christiane.
+
+"I am of Jane's opinion!" said the mother. "We will christen her again,
+and call her Maja."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+     Men are not always what they seem.--LESSING.
+
+Our tale is no creation of fancy; it is the reality in which we live;
+bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh. Our own time and the men of
+our own age we shall see. But not alone will we occupy ourselves with
+every-day life, with the moss on the surface; the whole tree, from the
+roots to the fragrant leaves, will we observe. The heavy earth shall
+press the roots, the moss and bark of every-day life adhere to the
+stern, the strong boughs with flowers and leaves spread themselves out,
+whilst the sun of poetry shall shine among them, and show the colors,
+odor, and singing-birds. But the tree of reality cannot shoot up so soon
+as that of fancy, like the enchantment in Tieck's "Elves." We must seek
+our type in nature. Often may there be an appearance of cessation;
+but that is not the case. It is even so with our story; whilst
+our characters, by mutual discourse, make themselves worthy of
+contemplation, there arises, as with the individual branches of the
+tree, an unseen connection. The branch which shoots high up in the air,
+as though it would separate itself from the mother-stem, only presses
+forward to form the crown, to lend uniformity to the whole tree. The
+lines which diverge from the general centre are precisely those which
+produce the harmony.
+
+We shall, therefore, soon see, though these scenes out of every-day life
+are no digression from the principal events, nothing episodical which
+one may pass over. In order still sooner to arrive at a clear perception
+of this assertion, we will yet tarry a few moments in the house of Mr.
+Berger, the merchant; but in the mean time we have advanced three weeks.
+Wilhelm and Otto had happily passed their examen philosophicum. The
+latter had paid several visits, and was already regarded as an old
+friend of the family. The lover already addressed him with his droll
+"Good day, Mr. Petersen;" and Grethe was witty about his melancholy
+glance, which he was not always able to conquer. She called it "making
+faces," and besought him to appear so on the day of her funeral.
+
+The object of the five sisters' first Platonic love had been their
+brother. They had overwhelmed him with caresses and tenderness, had
+admired and worshipped him. "The dear little man!" they called him; they
+had no other. But Hans Peter was so impolite and teasing toward the dear
+sisters, that they were found to resign him so soon as one of them had
+a lover. Upon this lover they all clung. Each one seemed to have a piece
+of him. He was Grethe's bridegroom, would be their brother-in-law. They
+might address him with the confidential thou, and even give him a little
+kiss.
+
+Otto's appearance in the family caused these rays to change their
+direction. Otto was handsome, and possessed of fortune; either of which
+often suffices to bow a female heart. Beauty bribes the thoughtless;
+riches, the prudent.
+
+Maren, or as she was here called, Maja, had arrived. The young ladies
+had already pulled off some of her bows, arranged her hair differently,
+and made one of her silk handkerchiefs into an apron; but, spite of all
+this finesse, she still remained the lady from Lemvig. They could remove
+no bows from her pronunciation. She had been the first at home; here she
+could not take that rank. This evening she was to see in the theatre,
+for the first time, the ballet of the "Somnambule."
+
+"It is French!" said Hans Peter; "and frivolous, like everything that we
+have from them."
+
+"Yes, the scene in the second act, where she steps out of the window,"
+said the merchant; "that is very instructive for youth!"
+
+"But the last act is sweet!" cried the lady. "The second act is
+certainly, as Hans Peter very justly observed, somewhat French. Good
+heavens! he gets quite red, the sweet lad!" She extended her hand to
+him, and nodded, smiling, whereupon Hans Peter spoke very prettily
+about the immorality on the stage. The father also made some striking
+observation.
+
+"Yes," said the lady, "were all husbands like thee, and all young men
+like Hans Peter, they would speak in another tone on the stage, and
+dress in another manner. In dancing it is abominable; the dresses are so
+short and indecent, just as though they had nothing on! Yet, after all,
+we must say that the 'Somnambule' is beautiful. And, really, it is quite
+innocent!"
+
+They now entered still deeper into the moral: the conversation lasted
+till coffee came.
+
+Maren's heart beat even quicker, partly in expectation of the play,
+through hearing of the corruptions of this Copenhagen Sodom. She heard
+Otto defend this French piece; heard him speak of affectation. Was
+he then corrupted? How gladly would she have heard him discourse upon
+propriety, as Hans Peter had done. "Poor Otto!" thought she; "this
+is having no relations, but being forced to struggle on in the world
+alone."
+
+The merchant now rose. He could not go to the theatre. First, he had
+business to attend to; and then he must go to his club, where he had
+yesterday changed his hat.
+
+"Nay, then, it has happened to thee as to Hans Peter!" said the lady.
+"Yesterday, in the lecture-room, he also got a strange hat. But, there,
+thou hast his hat!" she suddenly exclaimed, as her eye fell upon the hat
+which her husband held in his hand. "That is Hans Peter's hat! Now, we
+shall certainly find that he has thine! You have exchanged them here at
+home. You do not know each other's hats, and therefore you fancy this
+occurred from home."
+
+One of the sisters now brought the hat which Hans Peter had got in
+mistake. Yes, it was certainly the father's. Thus an exchange in the
+house, a little intermezzo, which naturally, from its insignificance,
+was momentarily forgotten by all except the parties concerned, for to
+them it was an important moment in their lives; and to us also, as we
+shall see, an event of importance, which has occasioned us to linger
+thus long in this circle. In an adjoining room will we, unseen spirits,
+watch the father and son. They are alone; the family is already in the
+theatre. We may, indeed, watch them--they are true moralists. It is only
+a moral drawn from a hat.
+
+But the father's eyes rolled, his cheeks glowed, his words were
+sword-strokes, and must make an impression on any disposition as gentle
+as his son's; but the son stood quiet, with a firm look and with a
+smile on his lips, such as the moral bestows. "You were in the adjoining
+room!" said he. "Where it is proper for you to be there may I also
+come."
+
+"Boy!" cried the father, and named the place, but we know it not;
+neither know we its inhabitants. Victor Hugo includes them in his
+"Children's Prayer," in his beautiful poem, "La Pri�re pour Tous." The
+child prays for all, even "for those who sell the sweet name of love."
+
+     [Note: "Prie!... Pour les femmes �chevel�es Qui vendent
+      le doux nom d'amour!"]
+
+"Let us be silent with each other!" said the son. "I am acquainted with
+many histories. I know another of the pretty Eva!"--
+
+"Eva!" repeated the father.
+
+We will hear no more! It is not proper to listen. We see the father
+and son extend their hands. It appeared a scene of reconciliation. They
+parted: the father goes to his business, and Hans Peter to the
+theatre, to anger himself over the immorality in the second act of the
+"Somnambule."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+     "L'amour est pour les coeurs,
+     Ce que l'aurore est pour les fleurs,
+     Et le printemps pour la nature."--VIGUE.
+
+     "Love is a childish disease and like the small-pox. Some
+     die, some become deformed, others are more or less scarred,
+     while upon others the disease does not leave any visible
+     trace."--The Alchemist, by C. HAUCH.
+
+"Be candid, Otto!" said Wilhelm, as he one day visited his friend. "You
+cannot make up your mind to say thou to me; therefore let it be. We are,
+after all, good friends. It is only a form; although you must grant that
+in this respect you are really a great fool."
+
+Otto now explained what an extraordinary aversion he had felt, what a
+painful feeling had seized upon him, and made it impossible to him.
+
+"There you were playing the martyr!" said Wilhelm, laughing. "Could you
+not immediately tell me how you were constituted? So are most men. When
+they have no trouble, they generally hatch one themselves; they will
+rather stand in the cold shadow than in the warm sunshine, and yet the
+choice stands open to us. Dear friend, reflect; now we are both of us on
+the stream: we shall soon be put into the great business-bottles, where
+we shall, like little devils, stretch and strain ourselves without
+ever getting out, until life withdraws from us!" He laid his arm
+confidentially upon Otto's shoulder. "Often have I wished to speak with
+you upon one point! Yes, I do not desire that you should confess every
+word, every thought to me. I already know that I shall be able to prove
+to you that the thing lies in a region where it cannot have the power
+which you ascribe to it. In the cold zones a venomous bite does not
+operate as dangerously as in warmer ones; a sorrow in childhood cannot
+overpower us as it does in riper age. Whatever misfortune may have
+happened to you when a child, if in your wildness--you yourself say that
+you were wild--whatsoever you may have then done, it cannot, it ought
+not to influence your whole life: your understanding could tell you this
+better than I. At our age we find ourselves in the land of joy, or we
+never enter it!"
+
+"You are a happy man!" exclaimed Otto, and gazed sorrowfully before
+him. "Your childhood afforded you only joy and hope! Only think of the
+solitude in which mine was passed. Among the sand-hills of the west
+coast my days glided away: my grandfather was gloomy and passionate;
+our old preacher lived only in a past time which I knew not, and Rosalie
+regarded the world through the spectacles of sorrow. Such an environment
+might well cast a shadow upon my life-joy. Even in dress, one is
+strangely remarkable when one comes from afar province to the capital;
+first this receives another cut, and one gradually becomes like those
+around one. The same thing happens in a spiritual relation, but one's
+being and ideas one does not change so quickly as one's clothes. I have
+only been a short time among strangers, and who knows?" added he, with
+a melancholy smile, "perhaps I shall come into equilibrium when some
+really great misfortune happens to me and very much overpowers me,
+and then I may show the same carelessness, the same phlegm as the
+multitude."
+
+"A really great misfortune!" repeated Wilhelm. "You do, indeed, say
+something. That would be a very original means of cure, but you are an
+original being. Perhaps lay this means you might really be healed. 'Make
+no cable out of cobweb!' said a celebrated poet whose name does not
+occur to me at this moment. But the thought is good, you should have it
+embroidered upon your waistcoat, so that you might have it before your
+eyes when you droop your head. Do not look so grave; we are friends,
+are we not? Among all my young acquaintance you are the dearest to me,
+although there are moments when I know not how it stands with us. I
+could confide every secret to you, but I am not sure that you would be
+equally open with me. Do not be angry, my dear friend! There are secrets
+of so delicate a nature, that one may not confide them even to the
+dearest friend. So long as we preserve _our_ secret it is our prisoner;
+it is quite the contrary, however, so soon as we have let it escape us.
+And yet, Otto, you are so dear to me, that I believe in you as in my own
+heart. This, even now, bears a secret which penetrates me with joy and
+love of life! I must speak cut. But you must enter into my joy, partake
+in it, or say nothing about it; you have then heard nothing--nothing!
+Otto, I love! therefore am I happy, therefore is there sunshine in my
+heart, life joy in my veins! I love Eva, the beautiful lovely Eva!"
+
+Otto pressed his hand, but preserved silence.
+
+"No, not so!" cried Wilhelm. "Only speak a word! Do you I'm in a
+conception of the world which has opened before me?"
+
+"Eva is beautiful! very beautiful!" said Otto, slowly. "She is innocent
+and good. What can one wish for more? I can imagine how she fills your
+whole heart! But will she do so always? She will not always remain
+young, always lovely! Has she, then, mind sufficient to be everything
+to you? Will this momentary happiness which you prepare for her and
+yourself be great enough to outweigh--I will not say the sorrow, but the
+discontent which this union will bring forth in your family? For God's
+sake, think of everything!"
+
+"My dear fellow!" said Wilhelm, "your old preacher now really speaks
+out of you! But enough: I can bear the confession. I answer, 'Yes, yes!'
+with all my heart, 'yes!' Wherefore will you now bring me out of my
+sunshine into shade? Wherefore, in my joy over the beauty of the rose
+should I be reminded that the perfume and color will vanish, that the
+leaves will fall? It is the course of life! but must one, therefore,
+think of the grave, of the finale, when the act begins?"
+
+"Love is a kind of monomania," said Otto; "it may be combated: it
+depends merely upon our own will."
+
+"Ah, you know this not at all!" said Wilhelm. "But it will come in due
+time, and then you will be far more violent than others! Who knows?
+perhaps this is the sorrow of which you spoke, the misfortune which
+should bring your whole being into equipoise! That was also a kind of
+search after the sorrowful. I will sincerely wish that your heart may be
+filled with love as mine is; then will the influence of the sand-hills
+vanish, and you will speak with me as you ought to do, and as my
+confidence deserves!"
+
+"That will I!" replied Otto. "You make the poor girl miserable! Now you
+love Eva, but then you will no longer be able. The distance between
+you and her is too great, and I cannot conceive how the beauty of her
+countenance can thus fill your whole being. A waiting-girl! yes, I
+repeat the name which offends your ear: a waiting-girl! Everywhere
+will it be repeated. And you? No one can respect nobility less than I
+do--that nobility which is only conferred by birth; it is nothing, and a
+time will come when this will not be prized at all, when the nobility of
+the soul will be the only nobility. I openly say this to you, who are a
+nobleman yourself. The more development of mind, the more ancestors!
+But Eva has nothing, can have nothing, except a pretty face, and this
+is what has enchained you; you are become the servant of a servant, and
+that is degrading yourself and your nobility of mind!"
+
+"Mr. Thostrup!" exclaimed Wilhelm, "you wound me! This is truly not the
+first time, but now I am weary of it. I have shown too much good nature,
+and that is the most unfortunate failing a man can be cursed with!"
+
+He seated himself at the piano, and hammered away.
+
+Otto was silent a moment, his checks glowed, but he was soon again calm,
+and in a joking tone said: "Do not expend your anger upon that poor
+instrument because we disagree in our views. You are playing only
+dissonances, which offend my ear more than your anger!"
+
+"Dissonances!" repeated Wilhelm. "Cannot you hear that they are
+harmonies? There are many things for which you have a bad ear!"
+
+Otto knew how to lead his anger to different points regarding which
+they had formerly been at variance, but he spoke with such mildness that
+Wilhelm's anger rather abated than increased.
+
+They were again friends, but regarding Eva not one word more was said.
+
+"I should not be an honest and true friend to him, were I to let him
+be swallowed up by this whirlpool!" said Otto to himself, when he was
+alone. "At present he is innocent and good but at his age, with his gay
+disposition!--I must warn Eva! soon! soon! The snow which has once
+been trodden is no longer pure! Wilhelm will scarcely forgive me! But I
+must!"
+
+On the morrow it was impossible for him to travel to Roeskelde, but the
+following day he really would and must hasten thither.
+
+Still, in the early morning hour, Eva occupied his thoughts; she busied
+Wilhelm's also, but in a different way: but they agreed in the purity of
+their intentions. There was still a third, whose blood was put in motion
+at the mention of her name, who said: "The pretty Eva is a servant
+there! One must speak with her. The family can make an excursion there!"
+
+"You sweet children!" said the merchant's wife, "the autumn is charming,
+far pleasanter than the whole summer! The father, should the weather
+remain good, will make an excursion with us to Lethraborg the day after
+to-morrow. We will then walk in the beautiful valley of the Hertha, and
+pass the night at Roeskelde. Those will be two delightful days! What an
+excellent father you have! But shall we not invite Mr. Thostrup to go
+with us? We are so many ladies, and it looks well to have a few young
+gentlemen with us. Grethe, thou must write an invitation; thou canst
+write thy father's name underneath."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+     "These poetical letters are so similar to those of Baggesen,
+     that we could be almost tempted to consider the news of his
+     death as false, although so well affirmed that we must
+     acknowledge it."--Monthly Journal of Literature.
+
+     "She is as slender as the poplar-willow, as fleet as the
+     hastening waters. A Mayflower odorous and sweet."--H. P.
+     HOLST.
+
+     "Ah, where is the rose?"--Lulu, by GUNTELBURG.
+
+The evening before Otto was to travel with the merchant's family to
+Roeskelde he called upon the family where Miss Sophie was staying. Her
+dear mamma had left three days before. Wilhelm had wished to accompany
+him to Roeskelde, but the mother did not desire it.
+
+"We have had a pleasure to-day," said Sophie, "a pleasure from which we
+shall long have enjoyment. Have you seen the new book, the 'Letters of
+a Wandering Ghost?' It is Baggesen himself in his most perfect beauty,
+a music which I never believed could have been given in words. This is
+a poet! He has made July days in the poetry of Denmark. Natural thoughts
+are so strikingly, and yet so simply expressed; one has the idea that
+one could write such verses one's self, they fall so lightly."
+
+"They are like prose," said the lady, "and yet the most beautifully
+perfect verse I know. You must read the book, Mr. Thostrup!"
+
+"Perhaps you will read to us this evening?" said Sophie. "I should very
+much like to hear it again."
+
+"In a second reading one shall enter better into the individual
+beauties," said the lady of the house.
+
+"I will remain and listen," said the host.
+
+"This must be a masterpiece!" exclaimed Otto,"--a true masterpiece,
+since all are so delighted with it."
+
+"It is Baggesen himself; and truly as he must sing in that world where
+everything mortal is ennobled."
+
+      "'Meadows all fragrance, the strongholds of pleasure,
+        Heaven blue streamlets,
+
+That speed through the green woods in musical measure,'" began Otto, and
+the spiritual battle-piece with beauty and tone developed itself more
+and more; they found themselves in the midst of the winter camp of the
+Muses, where the poet with
+
+     ..."lyre on his shoulder and sword at....
+
+Hastened to fight with the foes of the Muses." Otto's gloomy look won
+during the perusal a more animated expression. "Excellent!" exclaimed
+he; "this is what I myself have thought and felt, but, alas! have been
+unable to express."
+
+"I am a strange girl," said Sophie; "whenever I read a new poet of
+distinguished talent, I consider that he is the greatest. It was so with
+Byron and Victor Hugo. 'Cain' overwhelmed me, 'Notre Dame' carried me
+away with it. Once I could imagine no greater poet than Walter Scott,
+and yet I forget him over Oehlenschl�ger; yes, I remember a time when
+Heiberg's vaudevilles took almost the first place among my chosen
+favorites. Thus I know myself and my changeable disposition, and yet
+I firmly believe that I shall make an exception with this work. Other
+poets showed me the objects of the outer world, this one shows me my own
+mind: my own thoughts, my own being he presents before me, and therefore
+I shall always take the same interest in the Ghost's Letters."
+
+"They are true food for the mind," said Otto; "they are as words in
+season; there must be movement in the lake, otherwise it will become a
+bog."
+
+"The author is severe toward those whom he has introduced," said the
+lady; "but he carries, so to say, a sweet knife. A wound from a sharp
+sword-blade is not so painful as that from a rusty, notched knife."
+
+"But who may the author be?" said Sophie.
+
+"May we never learn!" replied Otto. "Uncertainty gives the book
+something piquant. In such a small country as ours it is good for the
+author to be unknown. Here we almost tread upon each other, and look
+into each other's garments. Here the personal conditions of the author
+have much to do with success; and then there are the newspapers, where
+either friend or enemy has an assistant, whereas the being anonymous
+gives it the patent of nobility. It is well never to know an author.
+What does his person matter to us, if his book is only good?
+
+"'Crush and confound the rabble dissolute That desecrate thy poet's
+grave?'" read Otto, and the musical poem was at an end. All were
+enchanted with it. Otto alone made some small objections: "The Muses
+ought not to come with 'trumpets and drums,' and so many expressions
+similar to 'give a blow on the chaps,' etc., ought not to appear."
+
+"But if the poet will attack what is coarse," said Sophie, "he must
+call things by their proper names. He presents us with a specimen of the
+prosaic filth, but in a soap-bubble. We may see it, but not seize upon
+it. I consider that you are wrong!"
+
+"The conception of idea and form," said Otto, "does not seem to be
+sufficiently presented to one; both dissolve into one. Even prose is a
+form."
+
+"But the form itself is the most important," said the lady of the house;
+"with poetry as with sculpture, it is the form which gives the meaning."
+
+"No, pardon me!" said Otto; "poetry is like the tree which God allows
+to grow. The inward power expresses itself in the form; both are equally
+important, but I consider the internal as the most holy. This is here
+the poet's thought. The opinion which he expresses affects us as much as
+the beautiful dress in which he has presented it."
+
+Now commenced a contest upon form and material, such as was afterward
+maintained throughout the whole of Copenhagen.
+
+"I shall always admire the 'Letters of a Wandering Ghost,'" said
+Sophie,--"always rave about these poems. To-night I shall dream of
+nothing but this work of art."
+
+How little men can do that which they desire, did this very moment
+teach.
+
+When we regard the fixed star through a telescope and lose ourselves
+in contemplation, a little hair can conceal the mighty body, a grain of
+dust lead us from these sublime thoughts. A letter came for Miss Sophie;
+a traveller brought it from her mother: she was already in Funen, and
+announced her safe arrival.
+
+"And the news?" said the hostess.
+
+"Mamma has hired a new maid, or, rather, she has taken to be with her
+an amiable young girl--the pretty Eva in Roeskelde. Mr. Thostrup and
+Wilhelm related to us this summer several things about her which make
+her interesting. We saw her on our journey hither, when mamma was
+prepossessed by her well-bred appearance. Upon her return, the young
+girl has quite won her heart. It really were a pity if such a pretty,
+respectable girl remained in a public-house. She is very pretty; is she
+not, Mr. Thostrup?"
+
+"Very pretty!" answered Otto, becoming crimson, for Sophie said this
+with an emphasis which was not without meaning.
+
+The following day, at an early hour, Otto found himself at the
+merchant's.
+
+Spite of the changeable weather of our climate, all the ladies were in
+their best dresses. Three persons must sit upon each seat. Hans Peter
+and the lover had their place beside the coachman. It was a long time
+before the cold meat, the provision for several days, was packed up, and
+the whole company were seated. At length, when they had got out of the
+city, Christiane recollected that they had forgotten the umbrellas, and
+that, after all, it would be good to have them. The coachman must go
+back for them, and meantime the carriage drew up before the Column of
+Liberty. The poor sentinel must now become an object of Miss Grethe's
+interest. Several times the soldier glanced down upon his regimentals.
+He was a Kr�hwinkler, who had an eye to his own advantage. A man who
+rode past upon a load of straw occupied a high position. That was very
+interesting.
+
+Otto endeavored to give the conversation another direction. "Have
+not you seen the new poem which has just appeared, the 'Letters of a
+Wandering Ghost?'" asked he, and sketched out their beauty and tendency.
+
+"Doubtless, very heavy blows are dealt!" said Mr. Berger, "the man must
+be witty--Baggesen to the very letter."
+
+"The 'Copenhagen Post' is called the pump!" said Hans Peter.
+
+"That is superb!" cried Grethe. "Who does it attack besides?"
+
+"Folks in Soroe, and this 'Holy Andersen,' as they call him."
+
+"Does he get something?" said Laide. "That I will grant him for his milk
+and water. He was so impolite toward the ladies!"
+
+"I like them to quarrel in this way!" said the merchant's lady. "Heiberg
+will doubtless get his share also, and then he will reply in something
+merry."
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Berger, "he always knows how to twist things in such a
+manner that one must laugh, and then it is all one to us whether he is
+right or not."
+
+"This book is entirely for Heiberg," said Otto. "The author is
+anonymous, and a clever man."
+
+"Good Heavens! you are not the author, Mr. Thostrup?" cried Julle, and
+looked at him with a penetrating gaze. "You can manage such things
+so secretly! You think so highly of Heiberg: I remember well all the
+beautiful things you said of his 'Walter the Potter' and his 'Psyche.'"
+
+Otto assured her that he could not confess to this honor.
+
+They reached Roeskelde in the forenoon, but Eva did not receive them.
+The excursion to Lethraborg was arranged; toward evening they should
+again return to the inn, and then Eva would certainly appear.
+
+The company walked in the garden at Lethraborg: the prospect from the
+terrace was beautiful; they looked through the windows of the castle,
+and at length came to the conclusion that it would be best to go in.
+
+"There are such beautiful paintings, people say!" remarked the lover.
+
+"We must see them," cried all the ladies.
+
+"Do you often visit the picture-gallery of the Christiansborg?" inquired
+Otto.
+
+"I cannot say that we do!" returned Mrs. Berger. "You well know that
+what is near one seldom sees, unless one makes a downright earnest
+attempt, and that we have not yet done. Besides, not many people go up:
+that wandering about the great halls is so wearying."
+
+"There are splendid pieces by Ruysdal!" said Otto.
+
+"Salvator Rosa's glorious 'Jonas' is well worth looking at!"
+
+"Yes, we really must go at once, whilst our little Maja is here. It does
+not cost more than the Exhibition, and we were there three times last
+year. The view from the castle windows toward the canal, as well as
+toward the ramparts, is so beautiful, they say."
+
+The company now viewed the interior of Lethraborg, and then wandered
+through the garden and in the wood. The trees had their autumnal
+coloring, but the whole presented a variety of tints far richer than one
+finds in summer. The dark fir-trees, the yellow beeches and oaks, whose
+outermost branches had sent forth light green shoots, presented a most
+picturesque effect, and formed a splendid foreground to the view over
+old Leire, the royal city, now a small village, and across the bay to
+the splendid cathedral.
+
+"That resembles a scene in a theatre!" cried Mrs. Berger, and
+immediately the company were deep in dramatic affairs.
+
+"Such a decoration they should have in the royal theatre!" said Hans
+Peter.
+
+"Yes, they should have many such!" said Grethe. "They should have some
+other pieces than those they have. I know not how it is with our poets;
+they have no inventive power. Relate the droll idea which thou hadst
+the other day for a new piece!" said she to her lover, and stroked his
+cheeks.
+
+"O," said he, and affected a kind of indifference, "that was only an
+idea such as one has very often. But it might become a very nice piece.
+When the curtain is drawn up, one should see close upon the lamps the
+gable-ends of two houses. The steep roofs must go down to the stage, so
+that it is only half a yard wide, and this is to represent a watercourse
+between the two houses. In each garret a poor but interesting family
+should dwell, and these should step forth into the watercourse, and
+there the whole piece should be played."
+
+"But what should then happen?" asked Otto.
+
+"Yes," said the lover, "I have not thought about that; but see, there is
+the idea! I am no poet, and have too much to do at the counting-house,
+otherwise one might write a little piece."
+
+"Heavens! Heiberg ought to have the idea!" said Grethe.
+
+"No, then it would be a vaudeville," said the lover, "and I cannot bear
+them."
+
+"O, it might be made charming!" cried Grethe. "I see the whole piece!
+how they clamber about the roofs! The idea is original, thou sweet
+friend!"
+
+By evening the family were again in Roeskelde.
+
+The merchant sought for Eva. Otto inquired after her, so did Hans Peter
+also, and all three received the same answer.
+
+"She is no longer here."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+     "I wish I was air, that I could beat my wings, could chase
+     the clouds, and try to fly over the mountain summits: that
+     would be life."--F. R�CKERT.
+
+The first evening after Otto's return to Copenhagen he spent with
+Sophie, and the conversation turned upon his little journey. "The pretty
+Eva has vanished!" said he.
+
+"You had rejoiced in the prospect of this meeting, had you not?" asked
+Sophie.
+
+"No, not in the least!" answered Otto.
+
+"And you wish to make me believe that? She is really pretty, and has
+something so unspeakably refined, that a young gentleman might well
+be attracted by her. With my brother it is not all quite right in this
+respect; but, candidly speaking, I am in great fear on your account, Mr.
+Thostrup. Still waters--you know the proverb? I might have spared you
+the trouble. The letter which I received a few evenings ago informed me
+of her departure. Mamma has taken her with her. It seemed to her a
+sin to leave that sweet, innocent girl in a public-house. The host and
+hostess were born upon our estate, and look very much up to my mother;
+and as Eva will certainly gain by the change, the whole affair was soon
+settled. It is well that she is come under mamma's oversight."
+
+"The girl is almost indifferent to me!" said Otto.
+
+"Almost!" repeated Sophie. "But this almost, how many degrees of warmth
+does it contain? 'O V�rit�! O� sont les autels et tes pr�tres?'" added
+she, and smiling raised her finger.
+
+"Time will show how much you are in error!" answered Otto with much
+calmness.
+
+The lady of the house now entered, she had made various calls;
+everywhere the Ghost's Letters were the subject of conversation, and now
+the conversation took the same direction.
+
+It was often renewed. Otto was a very frequent guest at the house. The
+ladies sat at their embroidery frames and embroidered splendid pieces
+of work, and Otto must again read the "Letters of the Wandering Ghost;"
+after this they began "Calderon," in whom Sophie found something
+resembling the anonymous author. The world of poetry afforded subjects
+for discourse, and every-day life intermingled its light, gay scenes; if
+Wilhelm joined them, he must give them music, and all remarked that his
+fantasies were become far richer, far softer. He had gained his touch
+from Weyse, said they. No one thought how much one may learn from one's
+own heart. With this exception he was the same joyous youth as ever. No
+one thought of him and Eva together. Since that evening when the friends
+had almost quarreled, he had never mentioned her name; but Otto had
+remarked how when any female figure met them, Wilhelm's eyes flashed,
+and how, in society, he singled out the most beautiful. Otto said
+jokingly to him, that he was getting oriental thoughts. Oehlenschl�ger's
+"Helge," and Goethe's Italian sonnets were now Wilhelm's favorite
+reading. The voluptuous spirit of these poems agreed with the dreams
+which his warm feelings engendered. It was Eva's beauty--her beauty
+alone which had awoke this feeling in him; the modesty and poverty of
+the poor girl had captivated him still more, and caused him to forget
+rank and condition. At the moment when he would approach her, she was
+gone. The poison was now in his blood. If is gay and happy spirit did
+not meanwhile let him sink into melancholy and meditation; his feeling
+for beauty was excited, as he himself expressed it. In thought he
+pressed beauty to his heart, but only in thought--but even this is sin,
+says the Gospel.
+
+Otto, on the contrary, moved in the lists of philosophy and poetry. Here
+his soul conceived beauty--inspired, he expressed it; and Sophie's
+eyes flashed, and rested with pleasure on him. This flattered him and
+increased his inspirations. For many years no winter had been to him so
+pleasant, had passed away so rich in change as this; he caught at the
+fluttering joy and yet there were moments when the though pressed upon
+him--"Life is hastening away, and I do not enjoy it." In the midst
+of his greatest happiness he experienced a strange yearning after the
+changing life of travel. Paris glanced before his eyes like a star of
+fortune.
+
+"Out into the bustling world!" said he so often to Wilhelm, that the
+same thought was excited in him. "In the spring we will travel!" Now
+were plans formed; circumstances were favorable. Thus in the coming
+spring, in April, the still happier days should begin.
+
+"We will fly to Paris!" said Wilhelm; "to joy and pleasure!"
+
+Joy and pleasure were to be found at home, and were found: we will
+introduce the evening which brought them; perhaps we shall also find
+something more than joy and pleasure.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+     "A midsummer day's entertainment--but how? In February? Yea,
+     some here and behold it!"--DR. BALFUNGO.
+
+With us the students form no Burschenschafts, have no colors. The
+professors do not alone in the chair come into connection with them;
+the only difference is that which exists between young and old scholars.
+Thus they come in contact with each other, thus they participate in
+their mutual pleasures. We will spend an evening of this kind in the
+Students' Club, and then see for ourselves whether Miss Sophie were
+right when she wished she were a man, merely that she might be a student
+and member of this club. We choose one evening in particular, not only
+that we may seek a brilliant moment, but because this evening can afford
+us more than a description.
+
+An excursion to the park had often been discussed in the club. They
+wished to hire the Caledonia steam-packet. But during the summer months
+the number of members is less; the majority are gone to the provinces to
+visit their relations. Winter, on the contrary, assembles them all.
+This time, also, is the best for great undertakings. The long talked of
+excursion to the park was therefore fixed for Carnival Monday, the 14th
+of February, 1831. Thus ran the invitations to the professors and older
+members. "It will be too cold for me," replied one. "Must one take a
+carriage for one's self?" asked mother. No, the park was removed to
+Copenhagen. In the Students' Club itself, in the Boldhuus Street, No.
+225, was the park-hill with its green trees, its swings, and amusements.
+See, only the scholars of the Black School could have such ideas!
+
+The evening of the 114th of February drew near. The guests assembled in
+the rooms on the first floor. Meanwhile all was arranged in the second
+story. Those who represented jugglers were in their places. A thundering
+cracker was the steamboat signal, and now people hastened to the park,
+rushing up-stairs, where two large rooms had, with great taste and
+humor, been converted into the park-hill. Large fir-trees concealed the
+walls--you found yourself in a complete wood. The doors which connected
+the two rooms were decorated with sheets, so that it looked as if
+you were going through a tent. Hand-organs played, drums and trumpets
+roared, and from tents and stages the hawkers shouted one against the
+other. It was a noise such as is heard in the real park when the hubbub
+has reached its height. The most brilliant requisites of the real
+park were found here, and they were not imitated; they were the things
+themselves. Master Jakel's own puppets had been hired; a student,
+distinguished by his complete imitation of the first actors, represented
+them by the puppets. The fortress of Frederiksteen was the same which we
+have already seen in the park. "The whole cavalry and infantry,--here a
+fellow without a bayonet, there a bayonet without a fellow!" The old Jew
+sat under his tree where he announced his fiftieth park jubilee: here
+a student ate flax, there another exhibited a bear; Polignac stood as a
+wax figure outside a cabinet. The Magdalene convent exhibited its little
+boxes, the drum-major beat most lustily, and from a near booth came the
+real odor of warm wafer-cakes. The spring even, which presented itself
+in the outer room, was full of significance. Certainly it was only
+represented by a tea-urn concealed between moss and stones, but
+the water was real water, brought from the well in Christiansborg.
+Astounding and full of effect was the multitude of sweet young girls
+who showed themselves. Many of the youngest students who had feminine
+features were dressed as ladies; some of them might even be called
+pretty. Who that then saw the fair one with the tambourine can have
+forgotten her? The company crowded round the ladies. The professors paid
+court to them with all propriety, and, what was best of all, some ladies
+who were less successful became jealous of the others. Otto was much
+excited; the noise, the bustle, the variety of people, were almost
+strikingly given. Then came the master of the fire-engines, with his
+wife and little granddaughter; then three pretty peasant girls; then the
+whole Botanical Society, with their real professor at their head. Otto
+seated himself in a swing; an itinerant flute-player and a drummer
+deafened him with dissonances. A young lady, one of the beauties, in a
+white dress, and with a thin handkerchief over her shoulders, approached
+and threw herself into his arms. It was Wilhelm! but Otto found his
+likeness to Sophie stronger than he had ever before noticed it to be;
+and therefore the blood rushed to his cheeks when the fair one threw
+her arms around him, and laid her cheek upon his: he perceived more of
+Sophie than of Wilhelm in this form. Certainly Wilhelm's features were
+coarser--his whole figure larger than Sophie's; but still Otto fancied
+he saw Sophie, and therefore these marked gestures, this reeling about
+with the other students, offended his eyes. When Wilhelm seated himself
+on his knee, and pressed his cheek to his, Otto felt his heart beat
+as in fever; it sent a stream of fire through his blood: he thrust him
+away, but the fair one continued to overwhelm him with caresses.
+
+There now commenced, in a so-called Kr�hwinkel theatre, the comedy, in
+which were given the then popular witticisms of Kellerman.
+
+The lady clung fast to Otto, and flew dancing with him through the
+crowd. The heat, the noise, and, above all, the exaggerated lacing,
+affected Wilhelm; he felt unwell. Otto led him to a bench and would
+have unfastened his dress, but all the young ladies, true to their part,
+sprang forward, pushed Otto aside, surrounded their sick companion and
+concealed her, whilst they tore up the dress behind so that she might
+have air: but, God forbid! no gentleman might see it.
+
+Toward evening a song was commenced, a shot was heard, and the last
+verse announced:--
+
+     "The gun has been fired, the vessel must fly
+       To the town from the green wood shady.
+     Come, friends, now we to the table will hie,
+       A gentleman and a fair lady."
+
+And now all rushed with the speed of a steamboat downstairs, and soon
+sat in gay rows around the covered tables.
+
+Wilhelm was Otto's lady--the Baron was called the Baroness; the glasses
+resounded, and the song commenced:--
+
+     "These will drink our good king's health,
+       Will drink it here, his loyal students."
+
+And that patriotic song:--
+
+     "I know a land up in the North
+       Where it is good to be."
+
+It concluded with--
+
+                        "An hurrah
+     For the king and the rescript!"
+
+In joy one must embrace everything joyful, and that they did. Here was
+the joy of youth in youthful hearts.
+
+     "No condition's like the student's;
+       He has chosen the better way!"
+
+so ran the concluding verse of the following song, which ended with the
+toast,--
+
+     "For her of whom the heart dreams ever,
+       But whom the lips must never name!"
+
+It was then that Wilhelm seemed to glow with inward fire; he struck his
+glass so violently against Otto's that it broke, and the wine was spilt.
+
+"A health to the ladies!" cried one of the signors.
+
+"A health to the ladies!" resounded from the different rooms, which were
+all converted into the banquet-hall.
+
+The ladies rose, stood upon their chairs, some even upon the table,
+bowed, and returned thanks for the toast.
+
+"No, no," whispered Otto to Wilhelm, at the same time pulling him
+down. "In this dress you resemble your sister so much, that it is quite
+horrible to me to see you act a part so opposed to her character!"
+
+"And your eyes," Said Wilhelm, smiling, "resemble two eyes which have
+touched my heart. A health to first love!" cried he, and struck his
+glass against Otto's so that the half of his wine was again lost.
+
+The champagne foamed, and amidst noise and laughter, as during the
+carnival joy, a new song refreshed the image of the nark which they had
+just left:--     "Here if green trees were not growing
+       Fresh as on yon little hill,
+     Heard we not the fountains flowing,
+       We in sooth should see them still!
+     Tents were filled below, above,
+     Filled with everything but love!
+
+     ***
+
+     Here went gratis brushing-boys--     Graduated have they all!
+     Here stood, who would think it, sir?
+     A student as a trumpeter!"
+
+"A health to the one whose eyes mine resemble!" whispered Otto, carried
+along with the merriment.
+
+"That health we have already drunk!" answered Wilhelm, "but we cannot do
+a good thing too often."
+
+"Then you still think of Eva?"
+
+"She was beautiful! sweet! who knows what might have happened had she
+remained here? Her fate has fallen into mamma's hands, and she and the
+other exalted Nemesis must now conduct the affair: I wash my hands of
+it."
+
+"Are you recovered?" asked Otto. "But when you see Eva again in the
+summer?"
+
+"I hope that I shall not fall sick," replied Wilhelm; "I have a strong
+constitution. But we must now hasten up to the dance."
+
+All rushed from the tables, and up-stairs, where the park was arranged.
+There was now only the green wood to be seen. Theatres and booths had
+been removed. Gay paper-lamps hung among the branches, a large orchestra
+played, and a half-bacchanalian wood-ball commenced. Wilhelm was Otto's
+partner, but after the first dance the lady sought out for herself a
+more lively cavalier.
+
+Otto drew back toward the wall where the windows were concealed by the
+boughs of Fir-tree. His eye followed Wilhelm, whose great resemblance
+to Sophie made him melancholy; his hand accidentally glided through the
+branches and touched the window-seat; there lay a little bird--it was
+dead!
+
+To increase the illusion they had bought a number of birds, which should
+fly about during the park-scene, but the poor little creatures had died
+from fright at the wild uproar. In the windows and corners they lay
+dead. It was one of these birds that Otto found.
+
+"It is dead!" said he to Wilhelm, who approached him.
+
+"Now, that is capital!" returned the friend; "here you have something
+over which you may be sentimental!"
+
+Otto would not reply.
+
+"Shall we dance a Scotch waltz?" asked Wilhelm laughing, and the wine
+and his youthful blood glowed in his cheeks.
+
+"I wish you would put on your own dress!" said Otto. "You resemble, as I
+said before, your sister"--
+
+"And I am my sister," interrupted Wilhelm, in his wantonness. "And as
+a reward for your charming readings aloud, for your excellent
+conversation, and the whole of your piquant amiability, you shall now be
+paid with a little kiss!" He pressed his lips to Otto's forehead; Otto
+thrust him back and left the company.
+
+Several hours passed before he could sleep; at length he was forced to
+laugh over his anger: what mattered it if Wilhelm resembled his sister?
+
+The following morning Otto paid her a visit. All listened with lively
+interest to his description of the merry St. John's day in February.
+He also related how much Wilhelm had resembled his sister, and how
+unpleasant this had been to him; and they laughed. During the relation,
+however, Otto could not forbear drawing a comparison. How great a
+difference did he now find! Sophie's beauty was of quite another kind!
+Never before had he regarded her in this light. Of the kisses which
+Wilhelm had given him, of course, they did not speak; but Otto thought
+of them, thought of them quite differently to what he had done before,
+and--the ways of Cupid are strange! We will now see how affairs stand
+after advancing fourteen days.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+   "Huzza for Copenhagen and for Paris! may they both flourish!"
+                                    The Danes in Paris by HEIBERG.
+
+Wilhelm's cousin, Joachim, had arrived from Paris. We remember the young
+officer, out of whose letters Wilhelm had sent Otto a description of
+the struggle of the July days. As an inspired hero of liberty had he
+returned; struggling Poland had excited his lively interest, and he
+would willingly have combated in Warsaw's ranks. His mind and his
+eloquence made him doubly interesting. The combat of the July days,
+of which he had been an eye-witness, he described to them. Joachim was
+handsome; he had an elegant countenance with sharp features, and was
+certainly rather pale--one might perhaps have called him worn with
+dissipation, had it not been for the brightness of his eyes, which
+increased in conversation. The fine dark eyebrow, and even the little
+mustache, gave the countenance all expression which reminded one of fine
+English steel-engravings. His figure was small, almost slender, but the
+proportions were beautiful. The animation of the Frenchman expressed
+itself in every motion, but at the same time there was in him a certain
+determination which seemed to say: "I am aware of my own intellectual
+superiority!"
+
+He interested every one: Otto also listened with pleasure when Cousin
+Joachim related his experiences, but when all eyes were turned toward
+the narrator, Otto fixed his suddenly upon Sophie, and found that she
+could moderate his attentions. Joachim addressed his discourse to all,
+but at the points of interest his glance rested alone on the pretty
+cousin! "She interests him!" said Otto to himself. "And Cousin Joachim?"
+Yes, he relates well; but had we only traveled we should not be inferior
+to him!"
+
+"Charles X. was a Jesuit!" said Joachim; "he strove after an
+unrestrained despotism, and laid violent hands on the Charter. The
+expedition against Algiers was only a glittering fire-work arranged to
+flatter the national pride--all glitter and falseness! Like Peirronnet,
+through an embrace he would annihilate the Charter."
+
+The conversation now turned from the Jesuits to the Charter and
+Polignac. The minute particulars, which only an eyewitness can relate,
+brought the struggle livingly before their eyes. They saw the last
+night, the extraordinary activity in the squares where the balls
+were showered, and in the streets where the barricades were erected.
+Overturned wagons and carts, barrels and stones, were heaped upon each
+other--even the hundred year-old trees of the Boulevards were cut
+down to form barricades: the struggle began, Frenchman fought against
+Frenchman--for liberty and country they sacrificed their life.
+
+      [Note:
+     "Ceux qui pieusement sont morts pour la patrie
+     Ont droit qu'� leur cerceuil la foule vienne et prie:
+     Entre le plus beaux noms, leur nom est le plus beau.
+     Toute gloire, pr�s d'eux, passe et tombe �ph�mere
+     Et, comme ferait une m�re,
+     La voix d'un peuple entier les berce en leur tombeau!"
+     --VICTOR HUGO.]
+
+And he described the victory and Louis Philippe, whom he admired and
+loved.
+
+"That was a world event," said the man of business. "It electrified
+both king and people. They still feel the movement. Last year was an
+extraordinary year!"
+
+"For the Copenhageners also," said Otto, "there were three colors. These
+things occupied the multitude with equal interest: the July Revolution,
+the 'Letters of a Wandering Ghost,' and Kellermann's 'Berlin Wit.'"
+
+"Now you are bitter, Mr. Thostrup," said the lady of the house.
+"The really educated did not occupy themselves with these Berlin
+'Eckensteher' which the multitude have rendered national!"
+
+"But they hit the right mark!" said Otto; "they met with a reception
+from the citizens and people in office."
+
+"That I can easily believe," remarked Joachim; "that is like the people
+here!"
+
+"That is like the people abroad!" said the hostess. "In Paris they pass
+over still more easily from a revolution, in which they themselves have
+taken part, to a review by Jules Janin, or to a new step of Taglioni's,
+and from that to 'une histoire scandaleuse!'"
+
+"No, my gracious lady, of the last no one takes any notice--it belongs
+to the order of the day!"
+
+"That I can easily believe!" said Miss Sophie.
+
+The man of business now inquired after the Chamber. The cousin's answer
+was quite satisfactory. The lady of the house wished to hear of the
+flower-markets, and of the sweet little inclosed gardens in the Places.
+Sophie wished to hear of Victor Hugo. She received a description of him,
+of his abode in the Place Royale, and of the whole Europe litt�raire
+beside. Cousin Joachim was extremely interesting.
+
+Otto did not pay another visit for two days.
+
+"Where have you been for so long?" asked Sophie, when he came again.
+
+"With my books!" replied he: there lay a gloomy expression in his eyes.
+
+"O, you should have come half an hour earlier--our cousin was here!
+He was describing to me the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. O, quite
+excellently!"
+
+"He is an interesting young man!" said Otto.
+
+"The glorious garden!" pursued Sophie, without remarking the emphasis
+with which Otto had replied. "Do you not remember, Mr. Thostrup, how
+Barth�lemi has spoken of it? 'O� tout homme, qui r�ve � son pays absent,
+Retrouve ses parfums et son air caressant.' In it there is a whole
+avenue with cages, in which are wild beasts,--lions and tigers! In small
+court-yards, elephants and buffaloes wander about at liberty! Giraffes
+nibble the branches of high trees! In the middle of the garden are the
+courts for bears, only there is a sort of well in which the bears
+walk about; it is surrounded by no palisades, and you stand upon the
+precipitous edge! There our cousin stood!"
+
+"But he did not precipitate himself down!" said Otto, with indifference.
+
+"What is the matter?" asked Sophie. "Are you in your elegiac mood? You
+look as I imagine Victor Hugo when he has not made up his mind about the
+management of his tragic catastrophe!"
+
+"That is my innate singularity!" replied Otto. "I should have pleasure
+in springing down among the bears of which you relate!"
+
+"And in dying?" asked Sophie. "No, you must live. 'C'est le bonheur de
+vivre Qui fait la gloire de mourir.'"
+
+"You speak a deal of French to-day," said Otto, with a friendliness
+of manner intended to soften the bitterness of the tone. "Perhaps your
+conversation with the lieutenant was in that language?"
+
+"French interests me the most!" replied she. "I will ask our cousin to
+speak it often with me. His accent is excellent, and he is himself a
+very interesting man!"
+
+"No doubt of it!" answered Otto.
+
+"You will remain and dine with us?" said the lady of the house, who now
+entered.
+
+Otto did not feel well.
+
+"These are only whims," said Sophie.
+
+The ladies made merry, and Otto remained. Cousin Joachim came and was
+interesting--very interesting, said all. He related of Paris, spoke also
+of Copenhagen, and drew comparisons. The quietness of home had made an
+especial impression on him.
+
+"People here," said he, "go about as if they bore some heavy grief, or
+some joy, which they might not express. If one goes into a coffee-house,
+it is just as if one entered a house of mourning. Each one seats
+himself, a newspaper in his hand, in a corner. That strikes one when one
+comes from Paris! One naturally has the thought,--Can these few degrees
+further north bring so much cold into the blood? There is the same
+quiet in our theatre. Now I love this active life. The only boldness the
+public permits itself is hissing a poor author; but a wretched singer,
+who has neither tone nor manner, a miserable actress, will be endured,
+nay, applauded by good friends--an act of compassion. She is so fearful!
+she is so good! In Paris people hiss. The decoration master, the
+manager, every one there receives his share of applause or blame. Even
+the directors are there hissed, if they manage badly."
+
+"You are preaching a complete revolution in our theatrical kingdom!"
+said the lady of the house. "The Copenhageners cannot ever become
+Parisians, and neither should they."
+
+"The theatre is here, as well as there, the most powerful organ of the
+people's life. It has the greatest influence, and ours stands high, very
+high, when one reflects in what different directions it must extend its
+influence. Our only theatre must accommodate itself, and represent, at
+the same time, the Theatre Fran�ais, the grand Opera, the Vaudeville,
+and Saint-Martin; it must comprehend all kinds of theatrical
+entertainments. The same actors who to-day appear in tragedy, must
+to-morrow show themselves in a comedy or vaudeville. We have actors who
+might compare themselves with the best in Paris--only _one_ is above all
+ours, but, also, above all whom I have seen in Europe, and this one
+is Mademoiselle Mars. You will, doubtless, consider the reason
+extraordinary which gives this one, in my opinion, the first place. This
+is her age, which she so completely compels you to forget. She is still
+pretty; round, without being called fat. It is not through rouge, false
+hair, or false teeth, that she procures herself youth; it lies in her
+soul, and from thence it flows into every limb--every motion becomes
+charming! She fills you with astonishment! her eyes are full of
+expression, and her voice is the most sonorous which I know! It is
+indeed music! How can one think of age when one is affected by an
+immortal soul? I rave about L�ontine Fay, but the old Mars has my heart.
+There is also a third who stands high with the Parisians--Jenny Vertpr�,
+at the Gymnase Dramatique, but she would be soon eclipsed were the
+Parisians to see our Demoiselle P�tges. She possesses talent which will
+shine in every scene. Vertpr� has her loveliness, her whims, but not
+her Proteus-genius, her nobility. I saw Vertpr� in 'La Reine de Seize
+Ans,'--a piece which we have not yet; but she was only a saucy soubrette
+in royal splendor--a Pernille of Holberg's, as represented by a
+Parisian. We have Madame Wexschall, and we have Frydendal! Were Denmark
+only a larger country, these names would sound throughout Europe!"
+
+He now described the decorations in the "Sylphide," in "Natalia," and in
+various other ballets, the whole splendor, the whole magnificence.
+
+"But our orchestra is excellent!" said Miss Sophie.
+
+"It certainly contains several distinguished men," answered Joachim;
+"but must one speak of the whole? Yes, you know I am not musical, and
+cannot therefore express myself in an artistical manner about music,
+but certain it is that something lay in my ear, in my feeling, which, in
+Paris, whispered to me, 'That is excellent!' Here, on the contrary, it
+cries, 'With moderation! with moderation!' The voice is the first; she
+is the lady; the instruments, on the contrary, are the cavaliers who
+shall conduct the former before the public. Gently they should take her
+by the hand; she must stand quite foremost; but here the instruments
+thrust her aside, and it is to me as if each instrument would have the
+first place, and constantly shouted, 'Here am I! here am I!"
+
+"That sounds very well!" said Sophie; "but one may not believe you!
+You have fallen in love with foreign countries, and, therefore, at home
+everything must be slighted."
+
+"By no means! The Danish ladies, for instance, appear the prettiest, the
+most modest whom I have known."
+
+"Appear?" repeated Otto.
+
+"Joachim possesses eloquence," said the lady of the house.
+
+"That has developed itself abroad!" answered he: "here at home there are
+only two ways in which it can publicly develop itself--in the pulpit,
+and at a meeting in the shooting-house. Yet it is true that now we
+are going to have a Diet and a more political life. I feel already,
+in anticipation, the effect; we shall only live for this life, the
+newspapers will become merely political, the poets sing politics the
+painters choose scenes from political life. 'C'est un Uebergang!'
+as Madame La Fl�che says. [Author's Note: Holberg's Jean de France.]
+Copenhagen is too small to be a great, and too great to be a small city.
+See, there lies the fault!"
+
+Otto felt an irresistible desire to contradict him in most things which
+he said about home. But the cousin parried every bold blow with a joke.
+
+"Copenhagen must be the Paris of the North," said he, "and that it
+certainly would become in fifty, or twice that number of years. The
+situation was far more beautiful than that of the city of the Seine. The
+marble church must be elevated, and become a Pantheon, adorned with the
+works of Thorwaldsen and other artists; Christiansborg, a Louvre, whose
+gallery you visit; �ster Street and Pedermadsen's passage, arcades such
+as are in Paris, covered with glass roofs and flagged, shops on both
+sides, and in the evening, when thousands of gas-lamps burnt, here
+should be the promenade; the esplanades would be the Champs Elys�es,
+with swings and slides, music, and m�ts de cocagne. [Author's Note:
+High smooth poles, to the top of which victuals, clothes, or money are
+attached. People of the lower classes then try to climb up and seize the
+prizes. The best things are placed at the very top of the pole.] On
+the Peblinger Lake, as on the Seine, there should be festive water
+excursions made. Voil�!" exclaimed he, "that would be splendid!"
+
+"That might be divine!" said Sophie.
+
+Animation and thought lay in the cousin's countenance; his fine features
+became striking from their expression. Thus did his image stamp itself
+in Otto's soul, thus did it place itself beside Sophie's image as she
+stood there, with her large brown eyes, round which played thought and
+smiles, whilst they rested on the cousin. The beautifully formed white
+hand, with its taper fingers, played with the curls which fell over her
+cheeks. Otto would not think of it.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+     "And if I have wept alone, it is my own sorrow."--GOETHE
+
+Latterly Otto had been but seldom at Mr. Berger's. He had no interest
+about the merchant's home. The family showed him every politeness and
+mark of confidence; but his visits became every week more rare. Business
+matters, however, led him one day there.
+
+Chance or fate, as we call it, if the shadow of a consequence shows
+itself, caused Maren to pass through the anteroom when Otto was about
+taking his departure. She was the only one of the ladies at home. In
+three weeks she would return to Lemvig. She said that she could not
+boast of having enjoyed Mr. Thostrup's society too often.
+
+"Your old friends interest you no longer!" added she, somewhat gravely.
+With this exception she had amused herself very well in the city,
+had seen everything but the stuffed birds, and these she should see
+to-morrow. She had been seven times in the theatre, and had seen the
+"Somnambule" twice. However, she had not seen "Der Friesch�tz," and
+she had an especial desire to see this on account of the wolf-glen. At
+Aarhuus there was a place in the wood, said she, called the wolf-glen;
+this she knew, and now wished to see whether it resembled the one on the
+stage.
+
+"May I then greet Rosalie from you?" she asked at length.
+
+"You will still remain three weeks here," said Otto: "it is too soon to
+speak of leave-taking."
+
+"But you scarcely ever come here," returned she. "You have better places
+to go to! The Baron's sister certainly sees you oftener; she is said
+to be a pretty and very clever girl: perhaps one may soon offer one's
+congratulations?"
+
+Otto became crimson.
+
+"In spring you will travel abroad," pursued she; "we shall not then see
+you in Jutland: yes, perhaps you will never go there again! That will
+make old Rosalie sad: she thinks so incredibly much of you. In all the
+letters which I have received here there were greetings to Mr. Thostrup.
+Yes, I have quite a multitude of them for you; but you do not come to
+receive them, and I dare not pay a visit to such a young gentleman. For
+the sake of old friendship let me, at least, be the first who can relate
+at home of the betrothal!"
+
+"How can you have got such a thought?" replied Otto. "I go to so many
+houses where there are young ladies; if my heart had anything to do with
+it, I should have a bad prospect. I have great esteem for Miss Sophie;
+I speak with her as with you, that is all. I perceive that the air of
+Copenhagen has affected you; here in the city they are always betrothing
+people. This comes from the ladies in the house here. How could you
+believe such stories?"
+
+Maren also joked about it, but after they had parted she seated herself
+in a corner, drew her little apron over her head and wept; perhaps
+because she should soon leave the lively city, where she had been seven
+times to the theatre, and yet had not seen the wolf-glen.
+
+"Betrothed!" repeated Otto to himself, and thought of Sophie, of the
+cousin, and of his own childhood, which hung like a storm-cloud in
+his heaven. Many thoughts passed through his mind: he recollected the
+Christmas Eve on which he had seen Sophie for the first time, when she,
+as one of the Fates, gave him the number. He had 33, she 34; they were
+united by the numbers following each other. He received the pedigree,
+and was raised to her nobility. The whole joke had for him a
+signification. He read the verse again which had accompanied it. The
+conclusion sounded again and again in his ears:--"From this hour forth
+thy soul high rank hath won her, Nor will forget thy knighthood and thy
+honor!"
+
+"O Sophie!" he exclaimed aloud, and the fire which had long smouldered
+in his blood now burst forth in flames. "Sophie! thee must I press to my
+heart!" He lost himself in dreams. Dark shapes disturbed them. "Can she
+then be happy? Can I? The picture which she received where the covering
+of ice was broken and the faithful dog watched in vain, is also
+significant. That is the fulfillment of hopes. I sink, and shall never
+return!"
+
+The image of the cousin mingled in his dreams. That refined countenance
+with the little mustache looked forth saucily and loquaciously; and
+Sophie's eyes he saw rest upon the cousin, whilst her white hand played
+with the brown curls which fell over her cheek.
+
+"O Sophie!" sighed Otto, and fell asleep.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+           ..."We live through others,
+     We think we are others; we seem
+     Others to be... And so think others of us."
+                                      SCHEFER.
+
+When the buds burst forth we will burst forth also! had Otto and Wilhelm
+often said. Their plan was, in the spring to travel immediately to
+Paris, but on their way to visit the Rhine, and to sail from Cologne to
+Strasburg.
+
+"Yes, one must see the Rhine first!" said Cousin Joachim; "when one has
+seen Switzerland and Italy, it does not strike one nearly as much.
+That must be your first sight; but you should not see it in spring, but
+toward autumn. When the vines have their full variety of tint, and the
+heavy grapes hang from the stems, see, it is then the old ruins stand
+forth. These are the gardens of the Rhine! Another advantage which you
+have in going there in autumn is that you then enter Paris in winter,
+and that one must do; then one does not come post festum; then is the
+heyday of gayety--the theatre, the soir�es, and everything which can
+interest the beau monde."
+
+Although Otto did not generally consider the cousin's words of much
+weight, he this time entered wonderfully into his views. "It would
+certainly be the most prudent to commence their journey toward autumn,"
+he thought: "there could be no harm in preparing themselves a little
+more for it!"
+
+"That is always good!" said Joachim; "but, what is far more advantageous
+abroad than all the preparations you can make at home, is said in a few
+words--give up all intercourse with your own country-people! Nowadays
+every one travels! Paris is not now further from us than Hamburg was
+some thirty years ago. When I was in Paris I found there sixteen or
+seventeen of my countrymen. O, how they kept together! Eleven of
+them dwelt in the same h�tel: they drank coffee together, walked out
+together, went to the restaurateur's together, and took together half a
+bench in the theatre. That is the most foolish thing a person can do!
+I consider travelling useful for every one, from the prince to the
+travelling journeyman. But we allow too many people to travel! We are
+not rich, therefore restrictions should be made. The creative artist,
+the poet, the engineer, and the physician must travel; but God knows why
+theologians should go forth. They can become mad enough at home!
+They come into Catholic countries, and then there is an end of them!
+Wherefore should book-worms go forth? They shut themselves up in the
+diligence and in their chambers, rummage a little in the libraries, but
+not so much as a pinch of snuff do they do us any good when they return!
+Those who cost the most generally are of the least use, and bring the
+country the least honor! I, thank God! paid for my journey myself, and
+am therefore free to speak my opinion!"
+
+We will now hear what Miss Sophie said, and therefore advance a few
+days.
+
+"We keep you then with us till August!" said she, once when she was
+alone with Otto. "That is wise! You can spend some time with us in
+Funen, and gather strength for your journey. Yes, the journey will do
+you good!"
+
+"I hope so!" answered Otto. "I am perhaps able to become as interesting
+as your cousin, as amiable!"
+
+"That would be requiring too much from you!" said Sophie, bantering him.
+"You will never have his humor, his facility in catching up character.
+You will only preach against the depravity of the Parisians; you will
+only be able to appreciate the melancholy grandeur of Switzerland and
+the solitude of the Hungarian forests."
+
+"You would make a misanthrope of me, which I by no means am."
+
+"But you have an innate talent for this character!" answered Sophie.
+"Something will certainly be polished away by this journey, and it is on
+account of this change that I rejoice."
+
+"Must one, then, have a light, fickle mood to please you?" asked Otto.
+
+"Yes, certainly!" answered Sophie, ironically.
+
+"Then it is true what your cousin told me!" said Otto. "If one will be
+fortunate with the ladies, one must at least be somewhat frivolous, fond
+of pleasure, and fickle,--that makes one interesting. Yes, he has made
+himself acquainted with the world, he has experience in everything!"
+
+"Yes, perfectly!" said Sophie, and laughed aloud.
+
+Otto was silent, with contracted brow.
+
+"I wish you sunshine!" said Sophie, and smiling raised her finger. Otto
+remained unchanged--he wrinkled his brow.
+
+"You must change very much!" said she, half gravely; and danced out of
+the room.
+
+Three weeks passed by, rich in great events in the kingdom of the
+heart; it was still a diplomatic secret: the eyes betrayed it by their
+pantomimic language, the mouth alone was silent, and it is after all the
+deciding power.
+
+Otto visited the merchant's family. Maren had departed just the day
+before. In vain had she awaited his visit throughout the three weeks.
+
+"You quite forget your true friends!" said the ladies. "Believe us,
+Maja was a little angry with you, and yet we have messages. Now she is
+sailing over the salt sea."
+
+This was not precisely the case; she was already on land, and just at
+this moment was driving over the brown heath, thinking of Copenhagen
+and the pleasures there, and of the sorrow also--it is so sad to be
+forgotten by a friend of childhood! Otto was so handsome, so clever--she
+did not dream at all how handsome and clever she herself would appear at
+home. Beauty and cleverness they had discovered in her before she left;
+now she had been in the capital, and that gives relief.
+
+The little birds fluttered round the carriage; perhaps they sang to her
+what should happen in two years: "Thou wilt be a bride, the secretary's
+lovely little bride; thou shalt have both him and the musical-box!
+Thou wilt be the grandest lady in the town, and yet the most excellent
+mother. Thy first daughter shall be called Maja--that is a pretty name,
+and reminds thee of past days!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+     "The monastery is still called 'Andersskov' (the wood of
+     Anders) in memory of its being the habitation of the pious
+     Anders.
+
+     "The hill on which he awoke, comforted by sleep, is still
+     called 'Hvile h�i' (the hill of rest). A cross having a
+     Latin inscription, half-effaced, marks the spot."--J. L.
+     HEIBERG.
+
+It was spring, fresh, life-bearing spring! Only one day and one night,
+and the birds of passage were back again; the woods made themselves once
+more young with green, odorous leaves; the Sound had its swimming Venice
+of richly laden vessels; only one day and one night, and Sophie was
+removed from Otto--they were divided by the salt sea; but it was spring
+in his heart; from it flew his thoughts, like birds of passage, to the
+island of Funen, and there sang of summer. Hope gave him more "gold and
+green woods" than the ships bear through the Sound, more than Zealand's
+bays can show. Sophie at parting pressed his hand. In her eyes lay what
+his heart might hope and dream.
+
+He forgot that hope and dreams were the opposites of reality.
+
+Cousin Joachim had gone to Stockholm, and would not return either in the
+spring or summer to Funen. On the contrary, Otto intended to spend a
+few weeks at the country-seat; not before August would he and Wilhelm
+travel. There would at least be one happy moment, and many perhaps
+almost as happy. In his room stood a rose-bush, the first buds formed
+themselves, and opened their red lips--as pure and tender as these
+leaves was Sophie's cheek: he bent over the flower, smiled and read
+there sweet thoughts which were related to his love. A rose-bud is a
+sweet mystery.
+
+                   "The myriad leaves enmaze
+                    Small labyrinthine ways
+                    Where spicy odor flows,
+                    Thou lovelv bud o' the rose!"
+
+The day came on which Otto, after he had comfortably terminated his
+visits of leave-taking, at midday, in the company of three young
+students travelled away through Zealand. They had taken a carriage
+together as far as Slagelse, where, like Abraham's and Lot's shepherds,
+they should separate to the right and left. Otto remained alone, in
+order to travel post that night to Nyborg. It was only four o'clock in
+the afternoon, Otto had no acquaintance here, therefore it was but to
+take a walk.
+
+"There still exist remains of the old Antvorskov convent, [Author's
+Note: The convent was founded by Waldemar I., 1177.] do there not?"
+asked he.
+
+"Yes, but very little!" answered the host. "The convent became a castle,
+the castle a private house, and now within the last few years, on
+account of the stones, it has been still more pulled down. You will find
+nothing old remaining, except here and there in the garden a piece of a
+red wall standing out. But the situation is beautiful! If you will only
+take the road toward the large village called Landsgrav, you are on the
+way to Kors�er, and close to the cross of the holy Anders. It is a right
+pleasant excursion!"
+
+"Convent ruins and the holy cross!" said Otto; "that sounds quite
+romantic!" And he commenced his wanderings.
+
+A few scholars from the Latin school, with their books held together by
+a strait, and then a square built lancer, who greeted in military style
+an elderly-young lady, who was seated behind a barricade of geraniums
+and wall flowers, were the only individuals he met with on his way. Yet
+Otto remarked that the windows were opened as he passed; people wanted
+to see who the stranger might be who was going up the street.
+
+A long avenue led from the town to the castle. On either side the way
+lay detached houses, with little gardens. Otto soon reached the remains
+of old Antvorskov. The way was red from the stones which were flung
+about, and were now ground to dust. Huge pieces of wall, where the
+mortar and stone were united in one piece, lay almost concealed among
+the high nettles. Rather more distant stood a solitary house of two
+stories. It was narrow, and whitewashed. A thick pilaster, such as one
+sees in churches, supported the strong wall. This was half of the last
+wing of the castle,--a mingling of the ancient and incident, of ruin and
+dwelling-house.
+
+Otto went into the garden, which was laid out upon the hill itself, and
+its terraces. Here were only young trees; but the walks were everywhere
+overgrown. The view stretched itself far over the plain, toward the Belt
+and Funen. He descended from the terrace down to the lowest wall. In
+this there yet remained a piece of an old tombstone, of the age of the
+convent, on which you perceived the trace of a female form; and near
+to this the figure of a skeleton, round which was twined a snake. Otto
+stood sunk in contemplation, when an old man, with two water-buckets
+suspended from a yoke on his shoulders, approached a near well.
+
+The old man was very ready to commence a conversation. He told
+of excavations, and of an underground passage which had not been
+discovered, but which, according to his opinion, was certainly in
+existence. So far they had only found a few walled-round spaces, which
+had most probably been prisons. In one of these was an iron chain
+fastened into the wall. But with regard to the underground passage, they
+had only not yet discovered the right place, for it must exist. It led
+from here, deep under the lake and forest, toward Sor�e. There were
+large iron gates below. At Christmas one could hear how they were swung
+to and fro. "Whoever should have that which is concealed there," said
+the old man, "would be a made man, and need not neither slip nor slide."
+
+Otto looked at the solitary wing which rose up over the terrace. How
+splendid it had been here in former times!
+
+Close to the large wood, several miles in extent, which stretches itself
+on the other side of Sor�e, down to the shore of the King's Brook, lay
+the rich convent where Hans Tausen spoke what the Spirit inspired him
+with. Times changed; the convent vanished;
+
+                 "Halls of state
+      Tower upon that spot elate;
+      Where the narrow cell once stood;"
+     [Author's Note: Anders-skov, by Oehlenschl�ger.]
+
+where the monks sang psalms, knights and ladies danced to the sound of
+beating drums: but these tone's ceased; the blooming cheeks became dust.
+It was again quiet. Many a pleasant time did Holberg ride over from
+Sor�e, through the green wood, to visit the steward of Antvorskov. Otto
+recollected what one of his daughters, when an old woman, had related
+to a friend of his. She was a child, and lay in the cradle, when old
+Holberg came riding there, with a little wheaten loaf and a small pot of
+preserve in his pocket--his usual provision on such little excursions.
+The steward's young wife sat at her spinning-wheel. Holberg paced up
+and down the room with the husband; they were discussing politics. This
+interested the wife, and she joined in the conversation. Holberg turned
+round to her,--"I fancy the distaff speaks!" said he. This the wife
+could never forget. [Translator's Note: Rokkehoved, distaff, means also
+dunce in Danish.]
+
+Otto smiled at this recollection of the witty but ungallant poet,
+quitted the garden, and went through a winding hollow way, where the
+luxuriant briers hung in rich masses over the stone fence. Slagelse,
+with its high hills in the background, looked picturesque. He soon
+reached Landsgrav. The sun went down as he walked over the field where
+the wooden cross stands, with its figure of the Redeemer, in memory of
+the holy Anders. Near it he perceived a man, who appeared to kneel. One
+hand held fast by the cross; in the other was a sharp knife, with which
+he was probably cutting out his name. He did not observe Otto. Near
+the man lay a box covered with green oil-cloth; and in the grass lay a
+knapsack, a pair of boots, and a knotty stick. It must be a wandering
+journeyman, or else a pedlar.
+
+Otto was about to return, when the stranger rose and perceived him. Otto
+stood as if nailed to the earth. It was the German Heinrich whom he saw
+before him.
+
+"Is not that Mr. Thostrup?" said the man and that horrible grinning
+smile played around his mouth. "No, that I did not expect!"
+
+"Does it go well with you, Heinrich?" asked Otto.
+
+"There's room for things to mend!" replied Heinrich "It goes better with
+you! Good Lord, that you should become such a grand gentleman! Who would
+have thought it, when you rode on my knee, and I pricked you in the arm?
+Things go on strangely in this world! Have you heard of your sister? She
+was not so much spoiled as you! But she was a beautiful child!"
+
+"I have neither seen her nor my parents!" replied he, with a trembling
+which he strove to conquer. "Do you know where she is?"
+
+"I am always travelling!" said Heinrich; "but thus much I know, that
+she is still in Funen. Yes, she must take one of us, an unpretending
+husband! You can choose a genteel young lady for yourself. That's the
+way when people are lucky. You will become a landed proprietor. Old
+Heinrich will then no doubt obtain permission to exhibit his tricks on
+your estate? But none of its will speak of former times!--of the red
+house on the Odense water!" This last he whispered quite low. "I shall
+receive a few shillings from you?" he asked.
+
+"You shall have more!" said Otto, and gave to him. "But I wish us to
+remain strangers to each other, as we are!"
+
+"Yes, certainly, certainly!" said Heinrich, and nodded affirmatively
+with his head, whilst his eyes rested on the gift Otto had presented him
+with. "Then you are no longer angry with my joke in Jutland?" asked he
+with a simpering smile, and kissed Otto's hand. "I should not have known
+you then. Had you not shown me your shoulder, on which I saw the letters
+O and T which I myself had etched, it would never have occurred to
+me that we knew each other! But a light suddenly flashed across me. I
+should have said Otto Thostrup; but I said 'Odense Tugt-huus.' [Note:
+Odense house of correction.] That was not handsome of me, seeing you are
+such a good gentleman!"
+
+"Yes, now adieu!" said Otto, and extended to him unwillingly his hand.
+
+"There, our Saviour looks down upon us!" said the German Heinrich, and
+fixed his eyes upon the figure on the cross. "As certainly as He lives
+may you rely upon the silence of my mouth. He is my Redeemer, who hangs
+there on the cross, just as he is etched upon my skin, and as he stands
+along the high-roads in my father-land. Here is the only place in the
+whole country where the sign of the cross stands under the free heaven;
+here I worship: for you must know, Mr. Thostrup, I am not of your faith,
+but of the faith of the Virgin Mary. Here I have cut into the wood the
+holy sign, such as is placed over every door in my father-land,--an I,
+an H, and this S. In this is contained my own name; for H stands for
+Heinrich; I, for I myself; and S means Sinner; that is, I, Heinrich,
+Sinner. Now I have completed my worship, and you have given me a
+handsome skilling, I shall now go to my bed at the public-house; and if
+the girl is pretty, and lets one flatter her, I am still young enough,
+and shall fancy that I am Mr. Thostrup, and have won that most glorious,
+elegant young lady! Hurrah! it is a player's life which we lead!"
+
+Otto left him, but heard how Heinrich sang:
+
+           "Tri, ri, ro,
+   The summer comes once mo!
+     To beer, boys! to beer
+   The winter lies in bands, O!
+     And he who won't come here,
+   We'll trounce him with our wands, O!
+            Yo, yo, yo,
+   The summer comes once mo!"
+
+As, suddenly on a clear sunny day, a cloud can appear, extinguish the
+warm sunshine, conceal the green coast, and change everything into
+gray mist forms, so was it now with Otto, who had but just before felt
+himself so happy and full of youthful joy.
+
+"You can sleep quietly!" said the host, when Otto returned to Slagelse;
+"you shall be wakened early enough to leave with the mail."
+
+But his rest was like a delirium.
+
+The post-horn sounded in the empty street; they rolled away--it was at
+daybreak.
+
+"Is that a gallows?" inquired one of the travellers, and pointed toward
+the hill, where at this distance the cross looked like a stake.
+
+"That is the cross of the holy Anders!" replied Otto; and livingly stood
+before him the recollections of the evening before.
+
+"Does that really exist?" said the stranger. "I have read of it in the
+'Letters of a Wandering Ghost.'"
+
+This was a beautiful morning, the sun shone warmly, the sea was smooth
+as a mirror, and so much the faster did the steamboat glide away. The
+vessel with the mail, which had set sail two hours earlier, still lay
+not far from land. The sails hung down loosely; not a breeze stirred
+them.
+
+The steamboat glided close past her; the passengers in the mail-vessel,
+the greater portion coachmen, travelling journeymen, and peasants, stood
+on the deck to see it. They waved greetings. One of the foremost leaned
+on his knotty stick, pulled off his hat, and shouted, "Good morning,
+my noble gentlefolk!" It was the German Heinrich; he then was going to
+Funen. Otto's heart beat faster, he gazed down among the rushing waves
+which foamed round the paddle, where the sunbeams painted a glorious
+rainbow.
+
+"That is lovely!" said one of the strangers, close to him.
+
+"Very lovely!" returned Otto, and stilled the sigh which would burst
+forth from his breast.
+
+Scarcely two hours were fled--the cables were flung upon the Nyborg
+bridge of boats, and the steamboat made fast to the island of Funen.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+     "It is so sweet when friendly hands bid you a hearty
+     welcome, so dear to behold well-known features, wherever you
+     turn your eyes. Everything seems so home-like and quiet
+     about you and in your own breast."   HENRIETTE HAUCK.
+
+Otto immediately hired a carriage, and reached the hall just about
+dinner-time. In the interior court-yard stood two calashes and an
+Holstein carriage; two strange coachmen, with lace round their hats,
+stood in animated discourse when Otto drove in through the gate. The
+postilion blew his horn.
+
+"Be quiet there!" cried Otto.
+
+"There are strangers at the hall!" said the postilion; "I will only let
+them know that another is coming."
+
+Otto gazed at the garden, glanced up toward the windows, where mine of
+the ladies showed themselves only out of a side building a female
+head was stretched out, whose hair was put back underneath a cap. Otto
+recognized the grown-together eyebrows. "Is she the first person I am to
+see here?" sighed he; and the carriage rolled into the inner court. The
+dogs barked, the turkey-cocks gobbled, but not Wilhelm showed himself.
+The Kammerjunker came--the excellent neighbor! and immediately afterward
+Sophie; both exclaimed with smiles, "Welcome!"
+
+"See, here we have our man!" said the Kammerjunker; "we can make use of
+him in the play!"
+
+"It is glorious you are come!" cried Sophie. "We shall immediately put
+you under arrest." She extended her hand to him--he pressed it to his
+lips. "We will have tableaux vivants this evening!" said she: "the
+pastor has never seen any. We have no service from Wilhelm; he is in
+Svendborg, and will not return for two days. You must be the officer;
+the Kammerjunker will represent the Somnambulist, who comes with her
+light through the window. Will you?"
+
+"Everything you desire!" said Otto.
+
+"Do not speak of it!" returned Sophie, and laid her finger on her lips.
+The mother descended the steps.
+
+"Dear Thostrup!" said she, and pressed, with warm cordiality, both his
+hands. "I have really quite yearned after you. Now Wilhelm is away, you
+must for two whole days put up with us alone."
+
+Otto went through the long passage where hung the old portraits; it was
+as if these also wished welcome. It only seemed a night full of many
+dreams which had passed since he was here; a year in the lapse of time
+is also not so long as a winter's night in the life of man.
+
+Here it was so agreeable, so home-like; no one could have seen by the
+trees that since then they had stood stripped of leaves and covered with
+snow; luxuriantly green they waved themselves in the sun's warmth, just
+as when Otto last gazed out of this window.
+
+He had the red room as before. The dinner-bell rang.
+
+Louise met him in the passage.
+
+"Thostrup!" exclaimed she, with delight, and seized his hand. "Now, it
+is almost a year and a day since I saw you!"
+
+"Yes much has happened in this year!" said the Kammerjunker. "Come
+soon to me, and you shall see what I have had made for pastime--a
+bowling-green! Miss Sophie has tried her skill upon it."
+
+The Kammerjunker took the mother to dinner. Otto approached Sophie.
+
+"Will you not take the Kammerjunker's sister?" whispered she.
+
+Mechanically, Otto made his bow before Miss Jakoba.
+
+"Take one of the young ladies!" said she; "you would rather do that?"
+
+Otto bowed, cast a glance toward Sophie; she had the old pastor. Otto
+smiled, and conducted Jakoba to table.
+
+The Mamsell, renowned through her work-box, sat on his left hand.
+He observed the company who, beside those we have already mentioned,
+consisted of several ladies and gentlemen whom he did not know. One
+chair was empty, but it was soon occupied; a young girl, quiet in her
+attire, and dressed like Louise, entered.
+
+"Why do you come so late?" asked Sophie, smiling.
+
+"That is only known to Eva and me!" said Louise, and smiled at the young
+girl.
+
+Eva seated herself. It was, perhaps, the complete resemblance of their
+dress which induced Otto to observe both her and Louise so closely, and
+even against his own will to draw comparisons. Both wore a simple dark
+brown dress, a small sea-green handkerchief round the neck. Louise
+seemed to him enchanting--pretty one could not call her: Eva, on the
+contrary, was ideal; there lay something in her appearance which made
+him think of the pale pink hyacinth. Every human being has his invisible
+angel, says the mythos; both are different and yet resemble each other.
+Eva was the angel; Louise, on the contrary, the human being in all its
+purity. Otto's eyes encountered those of Sophie--they were both directed
+to the same point. "What power! what beauty!" thought he. Her mind is
+far above that of Louise, and in beauty she is a gorgeous flower, and
+not, like Eva, a fine, delicate hyacinth. He drew eloquence from these
+eyes, and became interesting like the cousin, although he had not been
+in Paris.
+
+The Kammerjunker spoke of sucking-pigs, but that also was interesting;
+perhaps be drew his inspiration out of the same source as Otto. He spoke
+of the power of green buckwheat, and how the swine which eat it become
+mad. From this doubtless originated the legend of the devil entering
+into the swine. It is only coal-black pigs which can digest green
+buckwheat; if they have a single white speck upon them, they become ill
+at eating. "This is extraordinary," exclaimed he.
+
+In his enthusiasm his discourse became almost a cry, which caused Miss
+Jakoba to say that one might almost think that he himself had eaten
+green buckwheat.
+
+Otto meantime cut out of the green melon-peel a man, and made him ride
+on the edge of his glass; that withdrew Sophie's attention from the
+Kammerjunker. The whole company found that this little cut-out figure
+was very pretty; and the Mamsell begged that she might have it--it
+should lie in her work-box.
+
+Toward evening all were in preparation for the approaching tableaux.
+
+Eva must represent Hero. With a torch in her hand she must kneel on a
+table, which was to be draped so as to represent a balcony. The poor
+girl felt quite unhappy at having to appear in this manner. Sophie
+laughed at her fear, and assured her that she would be admired, and that
+therefore she must and should.
+
+"Give way to my sister," said Louise, in a beseeching voice; and Eva was
+ready, let down her long brown hair, and allowed Sophie to arrange the
+drapery.
+
+Otto must put on an officer's uniform. He presented himself to the
+sisters.
+
+"That gold is not sewn fast on the collar," said Sophie, and undertook
+to rectify it. He could easily keep the uniform on whilst she did this,
+said she. Her soft hand touched Otto's cheek, it was like an electric
+shock to him; his blood burned; how much he longed to press the hand to
+his lips!
+
+They all burst out laughing when the Kammerjunker appeared in a white
+petticoat which only reached a little below the knee, and in a large
+white lady's dressing-jacket. Miss Sophie must arrange his hair. She did
+it charmingly; her hand stroked the hair away from his brow, and glided
+over his cheeks: he kissed it; she struck him in the face, and begged
+him not to forget himself! "We are ladies," said he, and rose in his
+full splendor. They all laughed except Otto; he could not--he felt a
+desire to beat him. The spectators arranged themselves in a dark room,
+the folding doors were opened.
+
+Eva as Hero, in a white linen robe, her hair hanging down on her
+shoulders, and a torch in her hand, gazed out over the sea. No painter
+could have imagined anything more beautiful; the large dark-blue eyes
+expressed tenderness and melancholy; it was Eva's natural glance,
+but here you saw her quiet. The fine black eyebrows increased the
+expression, the whole figure was as if breathed into the picture.
+
+Now followed a new picture--Faust and Margaret in the arbor; behind
+stood Mephistophiles, with his devilish smile. The Kammerjunker's
+Mamsell was Margaret. When the doors were opened she sent forth aloud
+cry, and ran away; she would not stay, she was so afraid. The group was
+disarranged, people laughed and found it amusing, but the Kammerjunker
+scolded aloud, and swore that she should come in again; at that the
+laughter of the spectators increased, and was not lessened when the
+Kammerjunker, forgetting his costume as the Somnambule, half stepped
+into the frame in which the pictures were represented, and seated the
+Mamsell on the bench. This group was only seen for one moment: the
+dorors were again closed; the spectators applauded, but a whistle was
+heard. Laughter, and the hum of conversation, resounded through the
+room; and it was impossible to obtain perfect quiet, although a new
+picture already shone in the frame. It was Sophie as Correggio's
+"Magdalene": her rich hair fell in waves over her shoulders and round
+arms; before her lay the skull and the holy book.
+
+Otto's blood flowed faster; never had he seen Sophie more beautiful. The
+audience, however, could not entirely forget the comic scene which they
+had just witnessed; there was heard a faint suppressed laughter.
+
+This at length was able to take its free course when the following
+picture presented itself, where the Kammerjunker, as the Somnambule, his
+hand half-concealing the extinguished light, showed himself at the open
+window.
+
+A most stormy burst of applause was awarded to the actors.
+
+"Miss Sophie has arranged the whole!" cried the Kammerjunker, and now
+her name sounded from the lips of all the audience.
+
+Not before two days did Wilhelm return. He and Otto slept in the same
+apartment. Otto told of the tableaux, and said how lovely Eva had been
+as Hero.
+
+"That I can well believe," replied Wilhelm, but did not enter further
+into the subject; he laughed about the Kammerjunker and the disarranged
+group.
+
+Otto again named Eva, but Wilhelm lightly passed over this subject in
+his replies. Otto could not fathom their connection.
+
+"Shall we not go to sleep?" said Wilhelm; they wished each other
+good-night, and it was quiet.
+
+The old man Sleep, as Tieck has described him, with the box out of
+which he brings his dream-puppets, now commenced his nightly dramatic
+adventures, which lasted until the sun shone in through the window.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+     "He draws nearer and nearer to her.
+     'O, give my hope an answer by this pink-flower.'
+     She sighs: 'O, I will--no--I will not.'"
+                             The Dancer, by PALUDAN-M�LLER
+
+"I shall get to know!" thought Otto. "This violent love cannot be
+evaporated." He paid attention to every little occurrence. Eva was the
+same quiet, modest creature as formerly--a house-fairy who exercised
+a friendly influence over all. Wilhelm spoke with her, but not with
+passion, neither with affected indifference. However, we cannot entirely
+rely upon Otto's power of observation: his glance was directed too often
+toward a dearer object--his attention was really directed to Sophie.
+
+They walked in the garden.
+
+"Once as you certainly know," said Otto, "your brother had a fancy for
+the pretty Eva. Is it not, therefore, somewhat dangerous her living
+here? Has your mother been prudent?"
+
+"For Wilhelm I am quite unconcerned!" answered Sophie. "Only take care
+of yourself! Eva is very amiable, and has very much changed for the
+better since she came here. My sister Louise quite raves about her, and
+my mother regards her almost as an adopted daughter. You have certainly
+remarked that she is not kept in the background. Yet she is weak; she
+resembles the tender mountain-flowers which grow in ice and snow, but
+which bow their heads in the soft mountain air, when it is warmed by
+the sun. It really seems to me that she is become weaker since she has
+enjoyed our care and happy days. When I saw her at Roeskelde she was far
+more blooming."
+
+"Perhaps she thinks of your brother--thinks of him with quiet sorrow?"
+
+"That I do not think is the case," replied Sophie; "otherwise Louise
+would have heard something of it. She possesses Eva's entire confidence.
+You may make yourself easy, if you are jealous!"
+
+"What make you conjecture this? My thoughts are directed above, and not
+beneath me!" said he, with a kind of pride, "I feel that I could never
+fall in love with Eva. Feel love toward her? no! Even when I think of
+it, I feel almost as though I had some prejudice against her. But you
+joke; you will rally me, as you have so often done. We shall soon part!
+Only two months longer shall I remain in Denmark! Two long years abroad!
+How much may occur in that time! Will you think of me--really think of
+me, Miss Sophie?" He bent, and kissed her hand.
+
+Sophie became crimson. Both were silent.
+
+"Are you here!" said the mother, who came out of a side walk.
+
+Otto stooped lower, and broke one of the beautiful stocks which hung
+over the border.
+
+"Are you taking Louise's favorite flowers?" said she, smiling. "This bed
+is declared to be inviolable."
+
+"I was so unfortunate as to break it!" said Otto, confused.
+
+"He wished to gather the dark-red pink for my table-garland!" said
+Sophie. "If he took it, my conscience would be clear!"
+
+And they all three walked along speaking of cherries, gooseberries, of
+the linen on the bleaching-ground, and of the warm summer's day.
+
+In the evening Eva and the two sisters sat at their work, Otto and
+Wilhelm had taken their seats beside them. They spoke of Copenhagen.
+
+Sophie knew how to introduce a number of little anecdotes, which she had
+gathered among the young ladies there. Otto entered into her ideas, and
+knew cleverly how to support what she said. What in reality interested
+young ladies was discussed.
+
+"When a girl is confirmed, all manner of fancies awake!" said Otto. "She
+experiences a kind of inclination for the heart of man; but this may
+not be acknowledged, except for two friends to the clergyman and the
+physician. For these she has quite a passion, especially for the
+former; she stands in a kind of spiritual rapport with him. His physical
+amiability melts into the spiritual. Thus her first love one may
+designate clergyman-love."
+
+"That is well said!" exclaimed Sophie.
+
+"He preaches himself so deeply into her heart!" pursued Otto. "She melts
+into tears, kisses his hand, and goes to church; but not for the sake of
+God, but on account of the sweet clergyman!"
+
+"O, I know that so well!" said Sophie, and laughed.
+
+"Fie! you do not mean so!" said Louise; "and I do not know how you can
+say such a thing Mr. Thostrup! That is frightful! You do not in the
+least know a young girl's soul! do not know the pure feeling with which
+she inclines herself to the man who has laid open before her the holy
+things of religion! Do not make sport of the innocent, the pure, which
+is so far removed from every earthly impression!"
+
+"I assure you," said Otto, smiling, "were I a poet, I would make the
+clergyman-love ridiculous in a hundred witty epigrams; and were I a
+teacher, I would protest against it from the chair."
+
+"That would be scattering poison into a well!" said Louise. "You, as a
+man, do not know the pure, the holy sentiment which exists in a young
+girl's bosom. Eva, thou art certainly of my opinion?"
+
+"Neither is this Mr. Thostrup's opinion?" answered she, and looked at
+him with a mild gravity.
+
+Wilhelm laughed aloud.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+
+     "Alas, I am no sturdy oak!
+     Alas, I'm but the flower
+       That wakes the kiss of May!
+     And when has fled its little hour,
+       Will voice of Death obey."--RUCKERT.
+
+The following afternoon came visitors--two young ladies from Nyborg,
+friends of Sophie and Louise. Before dinner they would take a walk
+through the wood to an inclosure where the flax was in bloom. Otto was
+to accompany them.
+
+"I am also of the party!" said the Kammerjunker, who just galloped into
+the court-yard as the ladies, with Otto, were about setting out on
+their excursion. Thus the whole company consisted of five ladies and two
+gentlemen.
+
+"The cows are not in the field over which we must go, are they?" asked
+Eva.
+
+"No, my good girl!" returned Sophie; "you may be quite easy! Besides, we
+have two gentlemen with us."
+
+"Yes; but they would not be able to protect us from the unruly
+bullocks!" said Louise. "But we have nothing to fear. Where we are
+going the cows do not go until after they are milked. I am no heroine!
+Besides, it is not long since one bullock nearly gored the cowherd to
+death. He also gored Sidsel a great hole in her arm just lately: you
+remember the girl with her eyebrows grown together?"
+
+"There is also in the wood a wild sow, with eleven sucking pigs!" said
+Sophie, in ironical gravity; "it would not be agree able to meet with
+her!"
+
+"She is almost as dangerous as the bullocks!" said the Kammerjunker, and
+laughed at Eva.
+
+The conversation took another turn.
+
+"Shall we not visit Peter Cripple?" asked Sophie. "The gentlemen can
+then see the smith's pretty daughter; she is really too beautiful to be
+his wife!"
+
+"Is Peter Cripple married?" inquired Otto.
+
+"No, the wedding will be held on Sunday!" replied the Kammerjunker; "but
+the bride is already in the house. The bans were published last Sunday,
+and they immediately commenced housekeeping together. This often takes
+place even earlier, when a man cannot do without a wife. She has taken
+him on account of his full money-bags!"
+
+"Yes, with the peasant it is seldom love which brings about the affair!"
+said Louise. "Last year there was quite a young girl who married a
+man who might have been her grandfather. She took him only, she said,
+because he had such a good set of earthenware."
+
+"These were very brittle things to marry upon!" remarked Otto.
+
+Meantime they were nearly come to the edge of the wood. Here stood a
+little house; hops hung luxuriantly over the hedge, the cat stood with
+bent back upon the crumbling edge of the well.
+
+Sophie, at the head of the whole company, stepped into the room, where
+Peter Cripple sat on the table sewing; but, light and active as an
+elf, he sprang down from the table to kiss her hand. The smith's pretty
+daughter was stirring something in an iron pot in the hearth. St. John's
+wort, stuck between the beams and the ceiling, shot forth in luxuriant
+growth, prophesying long life to the inhabitants of the house. On the
+sooty ceiling glittered herrings' souls, as a certain portion of the
+herring's entrails is called, and which Peter Cripple, following the
+popular belief, had flung up to the ceiling, convinced that so long as
+they hung there he should be freed from the ague.
+
+Otto took no part in the conversation, but turned over a quantity of
+songs which he found; they were stitched together in a piece of blue
+tobacco-paper. The principal contents were, "New, Melancholy Songs,"
+"Of the Horrible Murder," "The Audacious Criminal," "The Devil in Salmon
+Lane," "Boat's Fall," and such things; which have now supplanted, among
+the peasants, the better old popular songs.
+
+With Louise, Eva, and one of the ladies from Nyborg, Otto slowly
+preceded the others, who had still some pleasantries to say before
+leaving Peter Cripple and his bride.
+
+"Shall we not go over the inclosure to the cairn?" said Louise. "It is
+clear to-day; we shall see Zealand. The others will follow us; here,
+from the foot-path, they will immediately discover us."
+
+Otto opened the gate and they went through the inclosure. They had
+already advanced a considerable way, when the Kammerjunker and his
+ladies reached the foot-path from which they could see the others.
+
+"They are going to the cairn," said he.
+
+"Then they will have a little fright!" said Sophie. "Down in the corner
+of the inclosure lie the young cattle. They may easily mistake them for
+cows, and the wild bullocks!"
+
+"Had we not better call them back?" asked the other lady.
+
+"But we must frighten them a little," said Sophie. "Shout to them that
+there are the cows!"
+
+"Yes, that I can do with a clear conscience!" said the Kammerjunker;
+and he shouted as loud as he could, "There are the cows! Turn back! turn
+back!"
+
+Eva heard it the first. "O God!" said she, "hear what they are calling
+to us!"
+
+Otto glanced around, but saw no cows.
+
+"They are standing still!" said Sophie; "call once again!"
+
+The Kammerjunker shouted as before, and Sophie imitated the lowing of
+the cows. At this noise the young cattle arose.
+
+Louise now became aware of them. "O heavens!" exclaimed she; "there,
+down in the corner of the inclosure, are all the cows!"
+
+"Let us run!" cried Eva, and took to flight.
+
+"For God's sake, do not run!" cried Otto; "walk slowly and quietly,
+otherwise they may come!"
+
+"Come away, away!" resounded from the wood.
+
+"O Lord!" shrieked Eva, when she saw the creatures raise their tails in
+the air as soon as they perceived the fugitives.
+
+"Now they are coming!" cried the lady who accompanied them, and sent
+forth a loud scream.
+
+Eva fled first, as if borne by the wind; the lady followed her, and
+Louise ran on after them.
+
+Otto now really saw all the cattle, which, upon the ladies flight, had
+instinctively followed, chasing over the field after them in the same
+direction.
+
+Nothing now remained for him but, like the others, to reach the gate.
+This he opened, and had just closed again, when the cattle were close
+upon them, but no one had eyes to see whether the cattle were little or
+big.
+
+"Now there is no more danger!" cried Otto, as soon as he had well closed
+the gate; but the ladies still fled on, passing among the trees until
+they reached the spot where the Kammerjunker and his two ladies awaited
+them with ringing laughter.
+
+Sophie was obliged to support herself against a tree through all the
+amusement. It had been a most remarkable spectacle, this flight; Eva at
+the head, and Mr. Thostrup rushing past them to open the gate. Louise
+was pale as death, and her whole body trembled; the friend supported her
+arm and forehead on a tree, and drew a long breath.
+
+"Bah!" again cried Sophie, and laughed.
+
+"But where is Eva?" asked Otto, and shouted her name.
+
+"She ran here before me!" said Louise; "she is doubtless leaning against
+a tree, and recovering her strength."
+
+"Eva!" cried Sophie. "Where is my hero: 'I want a hero!'" [Author's
+Note: Byron's Don Juan.]
+
+Otto returned to seek her. At this moment Wilhelm arrived.
+
+The Kammerjunker regretted that he had not seen the race with them, and
+related the whole history to him.
+
+"O come! come!" they heard Otto shout. They found him kneeling in the
+high grass. Eva lay stretched out on the ground; she was as pale as
+death; her head rested in Otto's lap.
+
+"God in heaven!" cried Wilhelm, and flung himself down before her. "Eva!
+Eva! O, she is dead! and thou art to blame for it, Sophie! Thou hast
+killed her!" Reproachfully he fixed his eyes on his sister. She burst
+into tears, and concealed her face in her hands.
+
+Otto ran to the peasant's cottage and brought water. Peter Cripple
+himself hopped like a mountain-elf behind him through the high nettles
+and burdocks, which closed above and behind him again.
+
+The Kammerjunker took Eva in his strong arms and carried her to the
+cottage. Wilhelm did not leave hold of her hand. The others followed in
+silence.
+
+"Try and get her home," said Wilhelm; "I myself will fetch the
+physician!" He rushed forth, and hastened through the wood to the ball,
+where he ordered the men to bring out a sedan-chair for the invalid;
+then had horses put into one of the lightest carriages, seated himself
+in it as coachman, and drove away to Nyborg, the nearest town, which,
+however, was distant almost twenty miles.
+
+Sophie was inconsolable. "It is my fault!" she said, and wept.
+
+Otto found her sitting before the house, under an elder-tree. She could
+not endure to see Eva's paleness.
+
+"You are innocent," said Otto. "Believe me, to-morrow Eva will be
+completely restored! She herself," added he, in an assuaging tone,
+"behaved in an imprudent manner. I warned her not to run. Her own terror
+is to blame for all."
+
+"No, no," returned Sophie; "my folly, my extravagance, has caused the
+whole misfortune!"
+
+"Now it is much better," said the Kammerjunker, coming out of the house.
+"She must be devilish tender to fly before a few calves! I really must
+laugh when I think of it, although it did come to such an end!"
+
+The men now arrived whom Wilhelm had sent with the sedan-chair.
+
+Eva thought she could walk, if she might lean upon some one; but it
+would be better, her friends thought, if she were carried.
+
+"Dost thou feel any pain?" asked Louise, and gave her a sisterly kiss on
+the brow.
+
+"No, none at all," replied Eva. "Do not scold me for having frightened
+you so. I am so fearful, and the bullock were close behind us."
+
+"They were, God help me, only calves!" answered the Kammerjunker; "they
+wished to play, and only ran because you ran!"
+
+"It was a foolish joke of mine!" said Sophie, and seized Eva's hand. "I
+am very unhappy about it!"
+
+"O no!" said Eva, and smiled so pensively, yet happily. "To-morrow I
+shall be quite well again!" Her eye seemed to seek some one.
+
+Otto understood the glance. "The physician is sent for. Wilhelm has
+himself driven over for him."
+
+Toward the middle of the wood the mother herself approached them; she
+was almost as pale as Eva.
+
+All sought to calm her; Eva bowed her head to kiss the good lady's hand.
+The Kammerjunker told the story to her, and she shook her head. "What an
+imprudent, foolish joke!" said she; "here you see the consequences!"
+
+Not before late in the afternoon did Wilhelm return with the physician;
+he found his patient out of all danger, but prescribed what should still
+be done. Quiet and the warm summer air would do the most for her.
+
+"See," said Otto, when, toward evening he met Sophie in the garden,
+"to-day Wilhelm did not conceal his feelings!"
+
+"I fear that you are right!" returned Sophie. "He loves Eva, and that is
+very unfortunate. Tell me what you know about it."
+
+"I know almost nothing!" said Otto, and told about little Jonas and the
+first meeting with Eva.
+
+"Yes, that he has told us already himself! But do you know nothing
+more?" Her voice became soft, and her eyes gazed full of confidence into
+Otto's.
+
+He related to her the short conversation which he had had last autumn
+with Wilhelm, how angry he had been with his candid warning, and how
+since then they had never spoken about Eva.
+
+"I must confide my fear to our mother!" said Sophie. "I almost now am
+glad that he will travel in two months, although we shall then lose you
+also!"
+
+And Otto's heart beat; the secret of his heart pressed to his lips;
+every moment he would speak it. But Sophie had always still another
+question about her brother; they were already out of the garden, already
+in the court-yard, and yet Otto had said nothing.
+
+Therefore was he so quiet when, late in the evening, he and Wilhelm
+entered their chamber. Wilhelm also spoke no word, but his eye
+repeatedly rested expectantly on Otto, as if waiting for him to break
+the silence. Wilhelm stepped to the open window and drank in the fresh
+air, suddenly he turned round, flung his arms round Otto, and exclaimed,
+"I can no longer endure it! I must say it to some one! I love her, and
+will never give her up, let every one be opposed! I have now silently
+concealed my feelings for some months; I can do so no longer, or I shall
+become ill, and for that I am not made!"
+
+"Does she know this?" asked Otto.
+
+"No, and yes! I do not know what I should answer! Here at home I have
+never spoken alone with her. The last time when Weyse played on the
+organ at Roeskelde I had bought a pretty silk handkerchief, and this
+I took with me for her; I know not, but I wished to give her pleasure.
+There came a woman past with lovely stocks; I stood at the open window;
+she offered me a bouquet, and I bought it. 'Those are lovely flowers!'
+said Eva, when she entered. 'They will fade with me!' said I; 'put them
+in water and keep there for yourself!' She wished only to have a few,
+but I obliged her to take them all: she blushed, and her eyes gazed
+strangely down into my soul. I know not what sort of a creature I
+became, but it was impossible for me to give her the handkerchief; it
+seemed to me that this would almost be an offense. Eva went away with
+the flowers, but the next morning it seemed to me that she was uneasy; I
+fancied I saw her color come and go when I bade her adieu! She must have
+read the thoughts in my soul!"
+
+"And the handkerchief?" interrupted Otto.
+
+"I gave it to my sister Sophie," said Wilhelm.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV
+
+             "Tell me
+     What would my heart?
+       My heart's with thee,
+     With thee would have a part."
+               GOETHE'S West-�stlicher Divan.
+
+     "There stands the man again--
+     The man with gloomy mien."
+             Memories of Travel, by B. C. INGEMANN.
+
+Several days passed; the fine crimson again returned to Eva's cheeks.
+The first occasion of her going out with the others was to see the
+rape-stalks burned. These were piled together in two immense stacks. In
+the morning, at the appointed hour, which had been announced through
+the neighborhood that no one might mistake it for a conflagration, the
+stalks were set fire to. This took place in the nearest field, close
+beside the hall, where the rape-seed was threshed upon an out-spread
+sail.
+
+The landscape-painter, Dahl, has given us a picture of the burning
+Vesuvius, where the red lava pours down the side of the mountain; in the
+background one sees across the bay as far as Naples and Ischia: it is a
+piece full of great effect. Such a splendid landscape is not to be found
+in flat Denmark, where there are no great natural scenes, and yet this
+morning presented even there a picture with the same brilliant coloring.
+We will study it. In the foreground there is a hedge of hazels, the nuts
+hang in great clusters, and contrast strongly with their bright green
+against the dark leaves; the blue chicory-flower and the blood-red poppy
+grew on the side of the ditch, upon which are some tall rails, over
+which the ladies have to climb: the delicate sylph-like figure is Eva.
+In the field, where nothing remains but the yellow stubble, stand Otto
+and Wilhelm; two magnificent hounds wag their tails beside them. To the
+left is a little lake, thickly overgrown with reeds and water-lilies,
+with the yellow trollius for its border. In the front, where the wood
+retreats, lie, like a great stack, the piled-together rape-stalks: the
+man has struck fire, has kindled the outer side of them, and with a
+rapidity like that of the descending lava the red fire flashes up the
+gigantic pile. It crackles and roars within it. In a moment it is all a
+burning mound; the red flames flash aloft into the blue air, high above
+the wood which is now no longer visible. A thick black smoke ascends up
+into the clear air, where it rests like a cloud. Out of the flames,
+and even out of the smoke, the wind carries away large masses of fire,
+which, crackling and cracking, are borne on to the wood, and which fill
+the spectator with apprehension of their falling upon the nearest trees
+and burning up leaf and branch.
+
+"Let us go further off," said Sophie; "the heat is too great here."
+
+They withdrew to the ditch.
+
+"O, how many nuts!" exclaimed Wilhelm; "and I do not get one of them! I
+shall go after them if they be ripe."
+
+"But you have grapes and other beautiful fruit!" said Eva smiling. "We
+have our beautiful things at home!"
+
+"Yes, it is beautiful, very beautiful at home!" exclaimed Wilhelm;
+"glorious flowers, wild nuts; and there we have Vesuvius before us!" He
+pointed to the burning pile.
+
+"No," said Sophie; "it seems to me much more like the pile upon
+which the Hindoo widow lays herself alive to be burned! That must be
+horrible!"
+
+"One should certainly be very quickly dead!" said Eva.
+
+"Would you actually allow yourself to be burned to death, if you were a
+Hindoo widow--after, for instance, Mr. Thostrup, or after Wilhelm," said
+she, with a slight embarrassment, "if he lay dead in the fire?"
+
+"If it were the custom of the country, and I really had lost the only
+support which I had in the world--yes, so I would!"
+
+"O, no, no!" said Louise.
+
+"In fact it is brilliant!" exclaimed Sophie.
+
+"Burning is not, perhaps, the most painful of deaths!" said Otto, and
+plucked in an absent manner the nuts from the hedge. "I know a story
+about a true conflagration."
+
+"What is it like?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"Yet it is not a story to tell in a large company; it can only be heard
+when two and two are together. When I have an opportunity, I shall tell
+it!"
+
+"O, I know it!" said Wilhelm. "You can relate it to one of my sisters
+there, whichever you like best! Then I shall--yes, I must relate it to
+Eva!"
+
+"It is too early in the day to hear stories told!" said Louise; "let us
+rather sing a song!"
+
+"No, then we shall have to weep in the evening," replied Wilhelm. And
+they had neither the song nor the story.
+
+Mamma came wandering with Vasserine, the old, faithful hound: they
+two also wished to see how beautiful the burning looked. It succeeded
+excellently with the rape-stalks; but the other burning, of which the
+story was to be told, it did not yet arrive at an outbreak! It might be
+expected, however, any hour in the day.
+
+In the evening Otto walked alone through the great chestnut avenue.
+The moon shone brightly between the tree-branches. When he entered the
+interior court Wilhelm and Sophie skipped toward him, but softly, very
+softly. They lifted their hands as if to impress silence.
+
+"Come and see!" said Sophie; "it is a scene which might be painted! it
+goes on merrily in the servants' hall; one can see charmingly through
+the window!"
+
+"Yes, come!" said Wilhelm.
+
+Otto stole softly forward. The lights shone forth.
+
+Within there was laughter and loud talking; one struck upon the table,
+another sung,--
+
+        "And I will away to Prussia land,
+             Hurrah!
+         And when I am come to Prussia land,
+             Hurrah!"  [Note: People's song.]
+
+Otto looked in through the window.
+
+Several men and maids sat within at the long wooden table at the end
+of this stood Sidsel in a bent attitude, her countenance was of a deep
+crimson; she spoke a loud oath and laughed--no one imagined that they
+were observed. All eyes were riveted upon a great fellow who, with his
+shirt-sleeves rolled up, and a pewter tankard in his hand, was standing
+there. It was the German Heinrich, who was exhibiting to them his
+conjuring tricks. Otto turned pale; had the dead arisen from the bier
+before him it could not have shocked him more.
+
+"Hocus-pocus Larifari!" cried Heinrich within, and gave the tankard to a
+half-grown fellow, of the age between boy and man.
+
+"If thou hast already a sweetheart," said he; "then the corn which is
+within it will be turned to flour; but if thou art still only a young
+cuckoo, then it will remain only groats."
+
+"Nay, Anders Peersen!" said all the girls laughing, "now we shall see
+whether thou art a regular fellow!"
+
+Sophie stole away.
+
+The echoing laughter and clapping of hands announced the result.
+
+"Is it not the same person who was playing conjuring tricks in the
+park?" inquired Wilhelm.
+
+"Yes, certainly," replied Otto; "he is to me quite repulsive!" And so
+saying, he followed Sophie.
+
+Late in the evening, when all had betaken themselves to rest, Wilhelm
+proposed to Otto that they should make a little tour, as he called it.
+
+"I fancy Meg Merrilies, as my sister calls Sidsel," said he, "has made
+a conquest of the conjuror, although he might be her father. They have
+been walking together down the avenue; they have been whispering a deal
+together; probably he will to-night sleep in one of the barns. I must go
+and look after him; he will be lying there and smoking his pipe, and
+may set our whole place on fire. Shall we go down together? We can take
+Vasserine and Fingel with us."
+
+"Let him sleep!" said Otto; "he will not be so mad as to smoke tobacco
+in the straw! To speak candidly, I do not wish to be seen by him. He was
+several times at my grandfather's house. I have spoken with him, and now
+that I dislike him I do not wish to see him!"
+
+"Then I will go alone!" said Wilhelm.
+
+Otto's heart beat violently; he stood at the open window and looked out
+over the dark wood, which was lit up by the moon. Below in the court he
+heard Wilhelm enticing the dogs out. He heard yet another voice, it was
+that of the steward, and then all was again silent. Otto thought upon
+the German Heinrich and upon Sophie, his life's good and bad angels;
+and he pictured to himself how it would be if she extended to him
+her hand--was his bride! and Heinrich called forth before her the
+recollections which made his blood curdle.
+
+It seemed to him as if something evil impended over him this night. "I
+feel a forewarning of it!" said he aloud.
+
+Wilhelm came not yet back.
+
+Almost an hour passed thus. Wilhelm entered, both dogs were with him;
+they were miry to their very sides.
+
+"Did you meet any one?" inquired Otto.
+
+
+"Yes, there was some one," said Wilhelm, "but not in the barn. The
+stupid dogs seemed to lose their nature; it was as if there was a
+somebody stealing along the wall, and through the reeds in the moat. The
+hounds followed in there; you can see how they look!--but they came the
+next moment back again, whined, and hung down their ears and tails. I
+could not make them go in again. Then the steward was superstitious!
+But, however, it could only be either the juggler, or one of the
+servant-men who had stilts. How otherwise any one could go in among the
+reeds without getting up to their necks, I cannot conceive!"
+
+All was again perfectly still without. The two friends went to the open
+window, threw their arms over each other's shoulders, and looked out
+into the silent night.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+     "Bring' h�usliche H�lfe
+     Incubus! incubus.
+     Tritt herhor und mache den Schluss."
+                            GOETHE's Faust.
+
+     "Es giebt so bange Zeiten,
+     Es giebt so tr�ben Muth!"--NOVALIS.
+
+The next morning Wilhelm related his evening adventure at the
+breakfast-table; the sisters laughed at it. The mother, on the contrary,
+was silent, left the room, and after some time returned.
+
+"There have been thieves here!" said she, "and one might almost imagine
+that they were persons in the household itself. They have been at the
+press where the table-linen is kept, and have not been sparing in their
+levies. The beautiful old silver tankard, which I inherited from my
+grandmother, is also missing. I would much sooner have given the value
+of the silver than have lost that piece!"
+
+"Will not the lady let it be tried by the sieve?" asked the old servant:
+"that is a pretty sure way!"
+
+"That is nothing but superstition," answered she; "in that way the
+innocent may so easily be suspected."
+
+"As the lady pleases!" said the servant, and shook his head.
+
+In the mean time a search through the house was instituted. The boxes of
+the domestics were examined, but nothing was discovered.
+
+"If you would only let the sieve be tried!" said the old servant.
+
+In the afternoon Otto went into the garden; he fell into discourse with
+the gardener, and they spoke of the theft which had occurred.
+
+"It vexes every one of us," said he, "because we think much of the lady,
+and of the whole family. And some one must, nevertheless, be suspected.
+We believe that it was Sidsel, for she was a good-for-nothing person! We
+folks tried among ourselves with the sieve, but however, at the mention
+of her name, if it did not move out of its place. We had set it upon
+the point of a knife, and mentioned the name of every person about
+the place, but it stood as if it were nailed quite fast. But there was
+really something to see, which not one of us would have believed. I'll
+say no more about it, although we had every one of us our own thoughts.
+I would have taken my oath of it."
+
+Otto pressed him to mention the person who was suspected.
+
+"Yes, to you perhaps, I may mention it," replied he; "but you will not
+say anything about it? As we were standing today, at noon, around the
+sieve, and it did not move at Sidsel's name, she became angry, because
+a word bad been let fall which could not be agreeable to her if she were
+innocent. She drew herself up as if in a passion, and said to us, 'But
+there are also in the hall a many people besides us, who may slip and
+slide! There are strangers here, and the fine Mamsell, and the farmers.
+Yes, I suspect no one, but every one ought to be named!'
+
+"And so we did it. Yes, we mentioned even your name, Mr. Thostrup,
+although we knew very well that you were guiltless of the charge; but we
+would not excuse any one. The sieve stood quite entirely still until we
+mentioned Eva's name, and then it moved. Not one of us actually could
+believe it, and the servant Peter said also that it was because of the
+draught from the chimney. We mentioned yet once more all the names, and
+the sieve stood still until we came to Eva's, and then we perceived very
+plainly a movement. The servant Peter at the same moment gave a great
+blow to the sieve, so that it fell to the ground, and he swore that it
+was a lie, and that he would answer for Eva. I would have done so too;
+but yet it was very extraordinary with the sieve! Most of the folks,
+however, have their own thoughts, but no one venture to express them
+to the gentry who think so much of her. I cannot, however, rightly
+reconcile it to myself!"
+
+"She is innocent!" said Otto; and it amazed him that any one should
+cast the slightest suspicion on Eva. He thought of German Heinrich and
+Sidsel, who alone appeared to him suspicious. There then occurred to him
+an experiment of which he had heard from Rosalie. It now seemed to him
+available, and, physiologically considered, much more certain than that
+with the sieve.
+
+"Probably it may lead to a discovery," said he, after he had
+communicated his whole plan to Sophie and the steward.
+
+"Yes, we mast try it!" said she; "it is excellent! I also will be put to
+the proof, although I am initiated into the mystery."
+
+"Yes, you, your sister, Wilhelm, Eva, we all of us must," said Otto.
+"Only I will not do the speaking: that the steward must do."
+
+"That is proper, very proper!" replied she: "it shall be tried this
+evening when it is dark."
+
+The time came; the steward assembled the people.
+
+"Now I know," said he, "how we shall find the thief!"
+
+All were to remain in the first room: within a side-room, which was
+quite dark, there stood in a corner on the right hand a copper kettle;
+to this every person as they came in, one by one, were to go and lay
+their hand down on the flat bottom of the kettle. The hand of every one
+who was innocent would be brought out again white and pure, but the hand
+of the criminal would be severely burned, and would become black as a
+coal.
+
+"He who now," said the steward, addressing them, "has a good conscience,
+may go with this and our Lord into the innermost room, lay his hand upon
+the bottom of the kettle, and show it to me. Now I go to receive you
+all!"
+
+The daughters went, the friends, Eva, and all the household. The steward
+questioned them as they came in: "Answer me, upon thy conscience, did
+thy hand touch the flat bottom of the kettle?"
+
+All replied, "Yes!"
+
+"Then show me your hand!" said he; and they showed them, and all were
+black: Sidsel's alone was white.
+
+"Thou art the thief!" said the steward. "Thy evil conscience has
+condemned thee. Thou hast not touched the kettle; hast not laid thy hand
+upon it, or it would have become as black as that of the others. The
+kettle was blackened inside with turpentine smoke; they who came with a
+good conscience, knowing that their hands would remain pure like their
+consciences, touched the kettle fearlessly and their hands became black!
+Thou hast condemned thyself! Confess, or it will go worse with thee!"
+
+Sidsel, uttered a horrible cry and fell down upon her knees.
+
+"O God, help me!" said she, and confessed that she was the thief.
+
+A chamber high up in the roof was prepared as a prison; here the
+delinquent was secured until the affair, on the following day, should be
+announced to the magistrate.
+
+"Thou shalt be sent to Odense, and work upon the treadmill!" said
+Wilhelm: "to that thou belongest!"
+
+The family assembled at the tea-table. Sophie joked about the day's
+adventure.
+
+"Poor Sidsel!" said Eva.
+
+"In England she would be hanged," said Wilhelm; "that would be a fine
+thing to see!"
+
+"Horrible!" replied Louise; "they must die of terror in going to the
+gallows."
+
+"Nay, it is very merry," said Wilhelm. "Now you shall hear what glorious
+music has been set to it by Rossini!" And he played the march from
+"Gazza Ladra," where a young girl is led to the gallows.
+
+"Is it not merry?" asked he. "Yes, he is a composer!"
+
+"To me it seems precisely characteristic," answered Otto. "They are not
+the feelings of the girl which the composer wished to express; it is the
+joy of the rude rabble in witnessing an execution--to them a charming
+spectacle, which is expressed in these joyous tones: it is a tragic
+opera, and therefore he chose exactly this character of expression!"
+
+"It is difficult to say anything against that," replied Wilhelm; "yet
+what you assert I have not heard from any other person."
+
+"When a soldier is executed they play some lively air," said Otto; "the
+contrast in this case brings forth the strongest effect!"
+
+The servant now entered, and said with a smile that Peter Cripple, the
+"new-married man," as he called him, was without and wished to speak to
+the Baron Wilhelm.
+
+"It is about a waltz," said he, "which the Baron had promised to him!"
+
+"It is late for him to come into the court!" said Sophie "the peasants
+generally go to bed with the sun."
+
+In the lobby stood the announced Peter in his stocking-feet, with his
+hat in one hand and a great stick in the other. He knew, he said, that
+it was still daytime with the gentlefolks; he was just coming past the
+hall and thought that he could, perhaps, have that Copenhagen Waltz
+which the Baron had promised him: he should want it to-morrow night
+to play at a wedding, and, therefore, he wished to have it now that he
+might practice it first of all.
+
+Sophie inquired after his young wife, and said something merry. Louise
+gave him a cup of tea, which he drank in the lobby. Otto looked at him
+through the open door; he made comical grimaces, and looked almost as
+if he wished to speak with him. Otto approached him, and Peter thrust
+a piece of paper into his hand, making at the same time a significant
+gesture indicative of silence.
+
+Otto stepped aside and examined the dirty piece of paper, which was
+folded together like a powder and sealed with a lump of wax. On the
+outside stood, in scarcely legible characters,
+
+           "TotH' WeL-borne,
+               Mr. Odto Tustraab."
+
+He endeavored, in the first place, to read it in the moonlight; but that
+was scarcely possible.
+
+After considerable labor he made out the meaning of this letter,
+written, as it was in a half-German, half-Danish gibberish, of the
+orthography of which we have given a specimen in the direction. The
+letter was from the German Heinrich. He besought Otto to meet him this
+evening in the wood near Peter Cripple's house, and he would give to him
+an explanation which should be worth the trouble of the walk. It would
+occasion, he said, much trouble and much misery to Mr Thostrup if he did
+not go.
+
+A strange anxiety penetrated Otto. How could he steal away without being
+missed? and yet go he both must and should. An extraordinary anxiety
+drove him forth.
+
+"Yes, the sooner the better!" said he, hastening down the steps and
+leaping in haste over the low garden-fence lest the gate should,
+perhaps, make a noise. He was very soon in the wood: he heard the
+beating of his own heart.
+
+"Eternal Father!" said he, "strengthen my soul! Release me from this
+anxiety which overpowers me! Let all be for the best!"
+
+He had now reached Peter Cripple's house. A figure leaned against the
+wall; Otto paused, measured it with his eye to ascertain who it was, and
+recognized German Heinrich.
+
+"What do you want with me?" inquired Otto.
+
+Heinrich raised his hand in token of silence, beckoned him forward,
+and opened a little gate which led to the back of the house. Otto
+mechanically followed him.
+
+"It goes on badly at the hall," said Heinrich. "Sidsel is really put in
+prison, and will be taken to-morrow to Odense, to the red house by the
+river."
+
+"It is what she has deserved!" said Otto. "I did not bring it about."
+
+"O no!" answered Heinrich; "in a certain way we bring nothing about; but
+you can put in a good word for her. You must see that this punishment
+does not befall her."
+
+"But the punishment is merited!" replied Otto; "and how can I mix myself
+up in the affair? What is it that you have to say to me?"
+
+"Yet, the good gentleman must not get angry!" began Heinrich again; "but
+I am grieved about the girl. I can very well believe that he does not
+know her, and therefore it gives him no trouble; but if I were now to
+whisper a little word in his ear? She is your own sister, Mr. Thostrup!"
+
+All grew dark before Otto's eyes; a chill as of death went through his
+blood; his hands held firmly by the cold wall, or he must have sunk to
+the earth; not a sound escaped his lips.
+
+German Heinrich laid his hand in a confidential manner upon his
+shoulder, and continued in a jeering, agitated tone, "Yes, it is hard
+for you to hear! I also struggled a long time with myself before I could
+make up my mind to tell you. But a little trouble is preferable to a
+great one. I had some talk with her yesterday, but I did not mention
+you, although it seemed queer to me at my heart that the brother should
+sit at the first table with the young ladies, and the sister be farm
+swine-maiden. Now they have put her in prison! I am very sorry for her
+and you too, Mr. Thostrup, for it is disagreeable! If the magistrate
+come to-morrow morning, and she fall into the claws of the red angel,
+it will not be so easy to set her at liberty again! But yet you
+could, perhaps, help her; as, for instance, to-night! I could make an
+opportunity--I would be in the great avenue beyond the hall. If she
+could get thus far she would be safe; I would then conduct her out of
+this part of the country. I may as well tell you that we were yesterday
+half-betrothed! She goes with me; and you can persuade the gracious lady
+at the hall to let the bird fly!"
+
+"But how can I? how can I?" exclaimed Otto.
+
+"She is, however, always your sister!" said Heinrich, and they both
+remained silent for a moment. "Then I will," said Heinrich, "if all be
+still at the hall, wait in the avenue as the bell goes twelve."
+
+"I must!" exclaimed Otto; "I must! God help me!"
+
+"Jesu, Maria, help!" said Heinrich, and Otto left him.
+
+"She is my sister! she, the most horrible of all!" sighed he; his knees
+trembled, and he leaned against a tree for support: his countenance was
+like that of the dead; cold sweat-drops stood upon his brow. All around
+him lay the dark night-like wood; only to the left glimmered, between
+the bushes, the moonlight reflected from the lake.
+
+"Within its depths," sighed he, "all would be forgotten--my grief would
+be over! Yet, what is my sin? Had I an existence before I was born upon
+this globe? Must I here be punished for sins which I then committed?"
+
+His dark eye stared lifelessly out of his pale countenance. Thus sit the
+dead upon their graves in the silent night; thus gazes the somnambulist
+upon the living world around him.
+
+"I have felt this moment before--this moment which now is here; it was
+the well-spring whence poison was poured over my youthful days! She is
+my sister! She? unhappy one that I am!"
+
+Tears streamed from his eyes, it was a convulsive weeping; he cried
+aloud, it was impossible to him to suppress his voice; he sank half down
+by the tree and wept, for it was night in his soul: silent, bitter tears
+flowed, as the blood flows when the heart is transpierced. Who could
+breathe to him consolation? There lay no balsam in the gentle airs
+of the clear summer night, in the fragrance of the wood, in the holy,
+silent spirit of nature. Poor Otto!
+
+             "Weep, only weep! it gives repose,
+              A world is every tear that flows,--
+              A world of anguish and unrest,
+              That rolleth from the troubled breast.
+
+             "And hast thou wept whilst tears can flow,
+              A tranquil peace thy heart will know;
+              For sorrow, trivial or severe,
+              Hath had its seat in every tear.
+
+             "Think'st thou that He, whose love beholds
+              The worm the smallest leaf enfolds,--
+              That He, whose power sustains the whole
+              Forgets a world--thy human soul?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+
+     "Mourir! c'est un instant de supplice: mais vivre?"
+     --FR�D�RIC SOULIE.
+
+The physician from Nyborg, who had been on a visit to a sick person in
+the neighborhood, took this opportunity of calling on the family and
+inquiring after Eva's health. They had prayed him to stay over the night
+there, and rather to drive hone in the early morning than so late in the
+evening. He allowed himself to be persuaded. Otto, on his return,
+found him and the family in deep conversation. They were talking of the
+"Letters of a Wandering Ghost."
+
+"Where have you been?" asked Sophie, as Otto entered.
+
+"You look so pale!" said Louise; "are you ill?"
+
+"I do not feel well!" replied Otto; "I went therefore down into the
+garden a little. Now I am perfectly recovered." And he took part in the
+conversation.
+
+The overwhelming sorrow had dissolved itself in tears. His mind had
+raised itself up again from its stupefaction, and sought for a point of
+light on which to attach itself. They were talking of the immense caves
+of Maastricht, how they stretch themselves out into deep passages and
+vast squares, in which sound is lost, and where the light, which cannot
+reach the nearest object, only glimmers like a point of fire. In order
+to comprehend this vacuity and this darkness, the travellers let the
+guide extinguish his torch, and all is night; they are penetrated, as it
+were, with darkness; the hand feels after a wall, in order to have some
+restraint, some thought on which to repose itself: the eye sees nothing;
+the ear hears nothing. Horror seizes on the strongest mind: the same
+darkness, the same desolate emotion, had Heinrich's words breathed into
+Otto's soul; therefore he sank like the traveller to the earth: but as
+the traveller's whole soul rivets itself by the eye upon the first spark
+which glimmers, to kindle again the torch which is to lead him forth
+from this grave, so did Otto attach himself to the first awakening
+thought of help. "Wilhelm? his soul is noble and good, him will I
+initiate into my painful secret, which chance had once almost revealed
+to him."
+
+But this was again extinguished, as the first spark is extinguished
+which the steel gives birth to. He could not confide himself to Wilhelm;
+the understanding which this very confidence would give birth to between
+them, must separate them from each other. It was humiliating, it was
+annihilating. But for Sophie? No, how could he, after that, declare the
+love of his heart? how far below her should he be placed, as the child
+of poverty and shame! But the mother of the family? Yes, she was gentle
+and kind; with a maternal sentiment she extended to him her hand, and
+looked upon him as on a near relation. His thoughts raised themselves on
+high, his hands folded themselves to prayer; "The will of the Lord
+alone be done!" trembled involuntarily from his lips. Courage returned
+refreshingly to his heart. The help of man was like the spark which
+was soon extinguished; God was an eternal torch, which illumined the
+darkness and could guide him through it.
+
+"Almighty God! thou alone canst and willest!" said he; "to thou who
+knowest the heart, do thou alone help and lead me!"
+
+This determination was firmly taken; to no human being would he confide
+himself; alone would he release the prisoner, and give her up to
+Heinrich. He thought upon the future, and yet darker and heavier than
+hitherto it stood before him. But he who confides in God can never
+despair the only thing that was now to be done was to obtain the key of
+the chamber where Sidsel was confined, and then when all in the house
+were asleep he would dare that which must be done.
+
+Courage and tranquillity return into every powerful soul when it once
+sees the possibility of accomplishing its work. With a constrained
+vivacity Otto mingled in the conversation, no one imagining what a
+struggle his soul had passed through.
+
+The disputation continued. Wilhelm was in one of his eloquent moods. The
+doctor regarded the "Letters of the Wandering Ghost" as one of the most
+perfect books in the Danish literature. Once Sophie had been of the same
+opinion, now she preferred Cooper's novels to this and all other books.
+
+"People so easily forget the good for the new," said Wilhelm; "if the
+new is only somewhat astonishing, the many regard the author as the
+first of writers. The nation is, aesthetically considered, now in its
+period of development. Every really cultivated person, who stands among
+the best spirits of his age, obtains, whilst he observes his own advance
+in the intellectual kingdom, clearness with regard to the development
+of his nation. This has, like himself, its distinct periods; in him
+some important event in life, in it some agitating world convulsion,
+may advance them suddenly a great leap forward. The public favor is
+unsteady; to-day it strews palm-branches, to-morrow it cries, 'Crucify
+him!' But I regard that as a moment of development. You will permit
+me to make use of an image to elucidate my idea. The botanist goes
+wandering through field and wood, he collects flowers and plants; every
+one of these had, while he gathered it, his entire interest, his whole
+thought--but the impression which it made faded before that of its
+successor: nor is it till after a longer time that he is able to enjoy
+the whole of his treasures, and arrange them according to their worth
+and their rareness. The public seizes alike upon flowers and herbs; we
+hear its assiduous occupation with the object of the moment, but it is
+not yet come into possession of the whole. At one time, that which was
+sentimental was the foremost in favor, and that poet was called the
+greatest who best knew how to touch this string; then it passed over
+to the peppered style of writing, and nothing pleased but histories
+of knights and robbers. Now people find pleasure in prosaic life, and
+Schr�der and Iffland are the acknowledged idols. For us the strength
+of the North opened heroes and gods, a new and significant scene. Then
+tragedy stood uppermost with us. Latterly we have begun to feel
+that this is not the flesh and blood of the present times. Then the
+fluttering little bird, the vaudeville, came out to us from the dark
+wood, and enticed us into our own chambers, where all is warm and
+comfortable, where one has leave to laugh, and to laugh is now a
+necessity for the Danes. One must not, like the crowd, inconsiderately
+place that as foremost which swims upon the waters, but treasure the
+good of every time, and arrange them side by side, as the botanist
+arranges his plants. Every people must, under the poetical sunshine,
+have their sentimental period, their berserker rage, their enjoyment of
+domestic life, and their giddy flights beyond it; it must merge itself
+in individuality before it can embrace the beauty of the whole. It is
+unfortunate for the poet who believes himself to be the wheel of his
+age; and yet he, with his whole crowd of admirers, is, as Menzel says,
+only a single wheel in the great machine--a little link in the infinite
+chain of beauty."
+
+"You speak like a Plato!" said Sophie.
+
+"If we could accord as well in music as we do in poetry," said Otto,
+"then we should be entirely united in our estimation of the arts. I love
+that music best which goes through the ear to the heart, and carries
+me away with it; on the contrary, if it is to be admired by the
+understanding, it is foreign to me."
+
+"Yes, that is your false estimation of the subject, dear friend!" said
+Wilhelm: "in aesthetics you come at once to the pure and true; but in
+music you are far away in the outer court, where the crowd is dancing,
+with cymbals and trumpets, around the musical golden calf!"
+
+And now the aesthetic unity brought them into a musical disunity. On
+such occasions, Otto was not one to be driven back from his position; he
+very well knew how to bear down his assailant by striking and original
+observations: but Otto, this evening, although he was animated
+enough--excited, one might almost say--did not exhibit the calmness, the
+decision in his thoughts and words, which otherwise would have given him
+the victory.
+
+It was a long hour, and one yet longer and more full of anxiety, which
+commenced with supper. The conversation turned to the events of the day.
+Otto mingled in it, and endeavored therefrom to derive advantage; it was
+a martyrdom of the soul. Sophie praised highly his discovery.
+
+"If Mr. Thostrup had not been here," said she, "then we should hardly
+have discovered the thief. We must thank Mr. Thostrup for it, and really
+for a merry, amusing spectacle."
+
+They joked about it alai laughed, and Otto was obliged to laugh also.
+
+"And now she sits up there, like a captive, in the roof!" said he; "it
+must be an uncomfortable night to her!"
+
+"Oh, she sleeps, perhaps, better than some of us others!" said Wilhelm:
+"that will not annoy her!"
+
+"She is confined in the gable chamber, out in the court, is she not?"
+inquired Otto: "there she has not any moonlight."
+
+"Yes, surely she has!" answered Sophie; "it is in the gable to the
+right, hooking toward the wood, that she is confined. We have placed her
+as near to the moon as we could. The gable on the uppermost floor is our
+keep."
+
+"But is it securely locked?" inquired Otto.
+
+"There is a padlock and a great bar outside the door; those she cannot
+force, and no one about the place will do such a piece of service for
+her. They dislike her, every one of them."
+
+They rose up from the table; the bell was just on the stroke of eleven.
+
+"But the Baron must play us a little piece!" said the physician.
+
+"Then Mr. Thostrup will sing us the pretty Jutlandish song by
+Steen-Blicher!" exclaimed Louise.
+
+"O yes!" said the mother, and clapped Otto on the shoulder.
+
+Wilhelm played.
+
+"Do sing!" said Wilhelm; all besought him to do so, and Otto sang the
+Jutlandish song for them.
+
+"See, you sang that with the proper humor," said Sophie, and clapped her
+hands in applause. With that all arose, offered to him their hands,
+and Wilhelm whispered to him, yet so that the sisters heard it, "This
+evening you have been right amiable!"
+
+Otto and Wilhelm went to their sleeping-room.
+
+"But, my good friend," said Wilhelm, "what did you really go into the
+garden for? Be so good as to confess to me: you were not unwell! You did
+not go only into the garden! you went into the wood, and you remained a
+long time there! I saw it! You made a little visit to the handsome
+woman while the fiddler was here, did you not? I do not trust you so
+entirely!"
+
+"You are joking!" answered Otto.
+
+"Yes, yes," continued Wilhelm, "she is a pretty little woman. Do you not
+remember how, last year at the mowing-feast, I threw roses at her? Now
+she is Peter Cripple's wife. When she comes with her husband then we
+have, bodily, 'Beauty and the Beast.'"
+
+That which Otto desired was, that Wilhelm should now soon go to sleep,
+and, therefore, he would not contradict him; he confessed even that the
+young wife was handsome, but added that she, as Peter Cripple's wife,
+was to him like a beautiful flower upon which a toad had set itself,--it
+would be disgusting to him to press the flower to his lips.
+
+The friends were soon in bed. They bade each other good night, and
+seemed both of them to sleep; and with Wilhelm this was the case.
+
+Otto lay awake; his pulse throbbed violently.
+
+Now the great hall clock struck twelve. All was still, quite still; but
+Otto did not yet dare to raise himself. It struck a quarter past the
+hour. He raised himself slowly, and glanced toward the bed where Wilhelm
+lay. Otto arose and dressed himself, suppressing the while his very
+breathing. A hunting-knife which hung upon the wall, and which belonged
+to Wilhelm, he put in his pocket; and lifted up, to take with him, the
+fire-tongs, with which he intended to break the iron staple that held
+the padlock. Yet once more he looked toward Wilhelm, who slept soundly.
+He opened the door, and went out without his shoes.
+
+He looked out from the passage-windows to see if lights were visible
+from any part of the building. All was still; all was in repose. That
+which he now feared most was, that one of the dogs might be lying in the
+lobby, and should begin to bark. But there was not one. He mounted up
+the steps, and went into the upper story.
+
+Only once before had he been there; now all was in darkness. He felt
+with his hands before him as he went.
+
+At length he found a narrow flight of stairs which led into a yet higher
+story. The opening at the top was closed, and he was obliged to use his
+whole strength to open it. At length it gave way with a loud noise. This
+was not the proper entrance; that lay on the opposite side of the story,
+and had he gone there he would have found it open, whereas this one had
+not been opened for a long time.
+
+The violent efforts which he had made caused him great pain, both in
+his neck and shoulders; but he was now at the very top of the building,
+close before the door he sought, and the moonlight shone in through the
+opening in the roof.
+
+By the help of the hunting-knife and the fire-tongs he succeeded in
+forcing the door, and that without any very considerable noise. He
+looked into a small, low room, upon the floor of which some dirty
+coverlets were thrown.
+
+Sidsel slept deeply and soundly with open mouth. A thick mass of hair
+escaped from beneath her cap, upon her brow; the moonlight fell, through
+the window-pane in the roof, upon her face. Otto bowed himself over her
+and examined the coarse, unpleasing features. The thick, black eyebrows
+appeared only like one irregular streak.
+
+"She is my sister!" was the thought which penetrated him. "She lay upon
+the same bosom that I did! The blood in these limbs has kinship with
+that in mine! She was the repelled one, the rejected one!"
+
+He trembled with pain and anguish; but it was only for a short time.
+
+"Stand up!" cried he, and touched the sleeper.
+
+"Ih, jane dou! [Author's Note: An exclamation among the common people
+of Funen, expressive of terror.] what is it?" cried she, half terrified,
+and fixed her unpleasant eyes wildly upon him.
+
+"Come with me!" said Otto, and his voice trembled as he spoke. "German
+Heinrich waits in the avenue! I will help you out! Hence; to-morrow it
+will be too late!"
+
+"What do you say?" asked she, and still looked at him with a bewildered
+mien.
+
+Otto repeated his words.
+
+"Do you think that I can get away?" asked she, and seized him by the
+arm, as she hastily sprang up.
+
+"Only silently and circumspectly!" said Otto.
+
+"I should not have expected theft from you!" said she. "But tell me why
+you do it?"
+
+Otto trembled; it was impossible for him to tell her his reasons, or to
+express the word,--"Thou art my sister!"
+
+His lips were silent.
+
+"To many a fellow," said she, "have I been kinder than I ought to have
+been, but see whether any of them think about Sidsel! And you do it! You
+who are so fine and so genteel!"
+
+Otto pressed together his eyelids; he heard her speak; an animal
+coarseness mingled itself with a sort of confidential manner which was
+annihilating to him.
+
+"She is my sister!" resounded in his soul.
+
+"Come now! come now!" and, descending the steps, she followed after him.
+
+"I know a better way!" said she, as they came to the lowest story. She
+seized his arm and they again descended a flight of steps.
+
+Suddenly a door opened itself, and Louise, still dressed, stepped forth
+with a light. She uttered a faint cry, and her eye riveted itself upon
+the two forms before her.
+
+But still more terribly and more powerfully did this encounter operate
+upon Otto. His feet seemed to fail him, and, for a moment, every
+object moved before his eyes in bright colors. It was the moment of his
+severest suffering. He sprang forth toward Louise, seized her hand, and,
+pale as death, with lifeless, staring eyes, half kneeling, besought of
+her, with an agitated voice:--
+
+"For God's sake, tell no one of that which you have seen! I am compelled
+to serve her--she is my sister! If you betray my secret I am lost to
+this world--I must die! It was not until this evening that I knew this
+to be the case! I will tell you all, but do not betray me! And do you
+prevent tomorrow any pursuit after her! O Louise! by the happiness of
+your own soul feel for the misery of mine! I shall destroy myself if you
+betray me!"
+
+"O God!" stammered Louise. "I will do all--all! I will be silent!
+Conduct her hence, quick, that you may meet with no one!"
+
+She seized Otto's hand; he sank upon his knee before her, and looked
+like a marble image which expressed manly beauty and sorrow.
+
+Louise bent herself with sisterly affection over him; tears flowed down
+her cheeks; her voice trembled, but it was tranquillizing, like the
+consolation of a good angel. With a glance full of confidence in her,
+Otto tore himself away. Sidsel followed him and said not a word.
+
+He led her to the lowest story and opened for her, silently, a window,
+through which she could descend to the garden, and thence easily reach
+the avenue where German Heinrich waited for her. To have accompanied
+her any further was unnecessary; it would have been venturing too much
+without any adequate cause. She stood now upon the window-sill--Otto put
+a little money into her hand.
+
+"The Lord is above us!" said he, in a solemn voice. "Never forget Him
+and endeavor to amend your life! All may yet be well!" He involuntarily
+pressed her hand in his. "Have God always in your thoughts!" said he.
+
+"I shall get safely away, however," said she, and descended into the
+garden; she nodded, and vanished behind the hedge.
+
+Otto stood for a while and listened whether any noise was heard, or
+whether any dog barked. He feared for her safety. All was still.
+
+Just as sometimes an old melody will suddenly awake in our remembrance
+and sound in our ear, so awoke now a holy text to his thoughts. "Lord,
+if I should take the wings of the morning, and should fly to the
+uttermost parts of the sea, thither thou wouldst lead me, and thy right
+hand would hold me fast! Thou art near to us! Thou canst accomplish and
+thou willest our well-being! Thou alone canst help us!"
+
+In silence he breathed his prayer.
+
+He returned to his chamber more composed in mind. Wilhelm seemed to
+sleep; but as Otto approached his bed he suddenly raised himself, and
+looked, inquiringly, around him.
+
+"Who is there?" exclaimed he; "you are dressed! where have you been?" He
+was urgent in his inquiry.
+
+Otto gave a joking reason.
+
+"Let me have your hand!" said he. Otto gave it to him, he felt his pulse.
+
+"Yes, quite correct!" said he; "the blood is yet in commotion. One sees
+plain enough that there is no concealing things! Here was I sleeping in
+all innocence, and you were running after adventures. You wicked bird!"
+
+The thoughts worked rapidly in Otto's soul. If Louise would only be
+silent, no one would dream of the possibility of his having part in
+Sidsel's flight. He must allow Wilhelm quietly to have his joke.
+
+"Was not I right?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"And if now you were so," replied Otto, "will you tell it to any one?"
+
+"Do you think that I could do such a thing?" replied Wilhelm; "we are
+all of us only mortal creatures!"
+
+Otto gave him his hand. "Be silent!" he said.
+
+"Yes, certainly," said Wilhelm; and, according to his custom,
+strengthened it with an oath. "Now I have sworn it," said he; "but when
+there is an opportunity you must tell me more about it!"
+
+"Yes, certainly," said Otto, with a deep sigh. Before his friend he no
+longer stood pure and guiltless.
+
+They slept. Otto's sleep was only a hateful dream.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII
+
+     "...Wie entz�ckend
+     Und s�ss es ist, in einer sch�nen Seele,
+     Verherrlicht uns zu f�hlen, es zu wissen,
+     Das uns're Fruede fremde Wangen r�thet,
+     Und uns're Angst in fremdem Busen zittert,
+     Das uns're Leiden fremde Augen n�ssen."
+                                     SCHILLER.
+
+"How pale!" said Wilhelm the next morning to Otto. "Do you see, that is
+what people get by night-wandering?"
+
+"How so?" inquired Otto.
+
+Wilhelm made a jest of it.
+
+"You have been dreaming that!" said Otto.
+
+"How do you mean?" replied Wilhelm; "will you make me fancy that I have
+imagined it? I was really quite awake! we really talked about it; I
+was initiated in it. Actually I have a good mind to give you a moral
+lecture. If it had been me, how you would have preached!"
+
+They were summoned to breakfast. Otto's heart was ready to burst. What
+might he not have to hear? What must he say?
+
+Sophie was much excited.
+
+"Did you, gentlemen, hear anything last night?" she inquired. "Have you
+both slept?"
+
+"Yes, certainly," replied Wilhelm, and looked involuntarily at Otto.
+
+"The bird is flown, however!" said she; "it has made its escape out of
+the dove-cote."
+
+"What bird?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"Sidsel!" replied she; "and, what is oddest in the whole affair is, that
+Louise has loosed her wings. Louise is quite up to the romantic. Think
+only! she went up in the night to the topmost story, unlocked the
+prison-tower, gave a moral lecture to Sidsel, and after that let her go!
+Then in the morning comes Louise to mamma, relates the whole affair, and
+says a many affecting things!"
+
+"Yes, I do not understand it," said the mother, addressing Louise. "How
+you could have had the courage to go up so late at night, and go up to
+_her_! But it was very beautiful of you! Let her escape! it is, as you
+say, best that she should. We should all of us have thought of that last
+evening!"
+
+"I was so sorry for her!" said Louise; "and by chance it happened that I
+had a great many things to arrange after you were all in bed. Everything
+was so still in the house, it seemed to me as if I could hear Sidsel
+sigh; certainly it was only my own imagination, but I could do no other
+than pity her! she was so unfortunate! Thus I let her escape!"
+
+"Are you gone mad?" inquired Wilhelm; "what a history is this? Did you
+go in the night up to the top of the house? That is an unseasonable
+compassion!"
+
+"It was beautiful!" said Otto, bending himself involuntarily, and
+kissing Louise's hand.
+
+"Yes, that is water to his mill!" exclaimed Wilhelm. "I think nothing of
+such things!"
+
+"We will not talk about it to anyone," said the mother. "The steward
+shall not proceed any further in it. We have recovered the old silver
+tankard, and the losing that was my greatest trouble. We will thank God
+that we are well rid of her! Poor thing! she will come to an unfortunate
+end!"
+
+"Are you still unwell, Mr. Thostrup?" said Sophie, and looked at him.
+
+"I am a little feverish," replied he. "I will take a very long walk, and
+then I shall be better."
+
+"You should take a few drops," said the lady.
+
+"O, he will come to himself yet!" said Wilhelm; "he must take exercise!
+His is not a dangerous illness."
+
+Otto went into the wood. It was to him a temple of God; his heart poured
+forth a hymn of thanksgiving. Louise had been his good angel. He felt
+of a truth that she would never betray his secret. His thoughts clung to
+her with confidence. "Are you still unwell?" Sophie had said. The tones
+of her voice alone had been like the fragrance of healing herbs; in her
+eye he had felt sympathy and--love. "O Sophie!" sighed he. Both sisters
+were so dear to him.
+
+He entered the garden and went along the great avenue; here he met
+Louise. One might almost have imagined that she had sought for him:
+there was no one but her to be seen in the whole avenue.
+
+Otto pressed her hand to his lips. "You have saved my life!" said he.
+
+"Dear Thostrup!" answered she, "do not betray yourself. Yon have come
+happily out of the affair! Thank God! my little part in it has concealed
+the whole. For the rest I have a suspicion. Yes, I cannot avoid it. May
+not the whole be an error? It is possible that she is that which you
+said! Tell me all that you can let me know. From this seat we can see
+everybody who comes into the avenue. No one can hear us!"
+
+"Yes, to you alone I can confide it!" said Otto; "to you will I tell
+it."
+
+He now related that which we know about the manufactory, which he called
+the house, in which German Heinrich had first seen him, and had tattooed
+his initials upon his shoulder; their later meeting in the park, and
+afterwards by St. Ander's Cross.
+
+Louise trembled; her glance rested sympathizingly upon Otto's pale and
+handsome countenance. He showed her the letter which had been brought to
+him the last evening, and related to her what Heinrich had told him.
+
+"It may be so," said Louise; "but yet I have not been able to lose
+the idea all the morning that you have been deceived. Not one of her
+features resembles yours. Can brother and sister be so different as you
+and she? Yet, be the truth as it may, promise me not to think too much
+about it. There is a good Ruler above who can turn all things for the
+best."
+
+"These horrible circumstances," said Otto, "have robbed me of the
+cheerfulness of my youth. They thrust themselves disturbingly into my
+whole future. Not to Wilhelm--no, not to any one have I been able to
+confide them. You know all! God knows that you were compelled to learn
+them. I leave myself entirely in your hands!"
+
+He pressed her hand silently, and with the earnest glance of confidence
+and truth they looked at each other.
+
+"I shall speedily leave my native country," said Otto. "It may be
+forever. I should return with sorrow to a home where no happiness
+awaited me. I stand so entirely alone in the world!"
+
+"But you have friends," said Louise; "sincere friends. You must think
+with pleasure of returning home to Denmark. My mother loves you as if
+she were your own mother. Wilhelm and Sophie--yes, we will consider you
+as a brother."
+
+"And Sophie?" exclaimed Otto.
+
+"Yes, can you doubt it?" inquired Louise.
+
+"She knows me not as you know me; and if she did?"--He pressed his hands
+before his eyes and burst into tears. "You know all: you know more
+than I could tell her," sighed he. "I am more unfortunate than you can
+believe. Never can I forget her--never!"
+
+"For Heaven's sake compose yourself!" said Louise rising. "Some one
+might come, and you would not be able to conceal your emotion. All may
+yet be well! Confide only in God in heaven!"
+
+"Do not tell your sister that which I have told you. Do not tell any
+one. I have revealed to you every secret which my soul contains."
+
+"I will be to you a good sister," said Louise, and pressed his hand.
+
+They silently walked down the avenue.
+
+The sisters slept in the same room.
+
+At night, after Sophie had been an hour in bed, Louise entered the
+chamber.
+
+"Thou art become a spirit of the night," said Sophie. "Where hast thou
+been? Thou art not going up into the loft again to-night, thou strange
+girl? Had it been Wilhelm, Thostrup, or myself who had undertaken such a
+thing, it would have been quite natural; but thou"--
+
+"Am I, then, so very different to you all?" inquired Louise. "I should
+resemble my sister less than even Mr. Thostrup resembles her. You two
+are so very different!"
+
+"In our views, in our impulses, we very much resemble each other!" said
+Sophie.
+
+"He is certainly not happy," exclaimed Louise. "We can read it in his
+eyes."
+
+"Yes, but it is precisely that which makes him interesting!" said
+Sophie; "he is thus a handsome shadow-piece in everyday life."
+
+"Thou speakest about it so calmly," said Louise, and bent over her
+sister, "I would almost believe that it was love."
+
+"Love!" exclaimed Sophie, raising herself up in bed, for now Louise's
+words had become interesting to her; "whom dost thou think that he
+loves?"
+
+"Thyself," replied Louise, and seized her sister's hand.
+
+"Perhaps?" returned Sophie. "I also made fun of him! It certainly went
+on better when our cousin was here. Poor Thostrup!"
+
+"And thou, Sophie," inquired Louise, "dost thou return his love?"
+
+"It is a regular confession that thou desirest," replied she. "He is
+in love--that all young men are. Our cousin, I can tell thee, said many
+pretty things to me. Even the Kammerjunker flatters as well as he can,
+the good soul! I have now resolved with myself to be a reasonable girl.
+Believe me, however, Thostrup is in an ill humor!"
+
+"If the Kammerjunker were to pay his addresses to you, would you accept
+him?" asked Louise, and seated herself upon her sister's bed.
+
+"What can make you think of such a thing?" inquired she. "Hast thou
+heard anything?--Thou makest me anxious! O Louise! I joke, I talk a
+deal; but for all that, believe me, I am not happy!"
+
+They talked about the Kammerjunker, about Otto, and about the French
+cousin. It was late in the night. Large tears stood in Sophie's eyes,
+but she laughed for all that, and ended with a quotation from Jean Paul.
+
+Half an hour afterward she slept and dreamed; her round white arm lay
+upon the coverlet, and her lips moved with these words:
+
+           "With a smile as if an angel
+            Had just then kissed her mouth." [Note: Christian Winther.]
+
+Louise pressed her countenance on the soft pillow, and wept.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX
+
+      "A swarm of colors, noise and screaming,
+         Music and sights, past any dreaming,
+       The rattle of wheels going late and early,--
+         All draw the looker-on into the hurly-burly."
+                                        TH. OVERSKOU.
+
+A few days passed on. Otto heard nothing of German Heinrich or of his
+sister. Peter Cripple seemed not to be in their confidence. All that
+he knew was, that the letter which he had conveyed to Otto was to be
+unknown to any one beside. As regarded German Heinrich, he believed that
+he was now in another part of tire country; but that at St. Knud's fair,
+in Odense, he would certainly find him.
+
+In Otto's soul there was an extraordinary combating. Louise's words,
+that he had been deceived, gave birth to hopes, which, insignificant as
+the grain of mustard-seed, shot forth green leaves.
+
+"May not," thought he, "German Heinrich, to further his own plans, have
+made use of my fear? I must speak with him; he shall swear to me the
+truth."
+
+He compared in thought the unpleasing, coarse features of Sidsel, with
+the image which his memory faintly retained of his little sister.
+She seemed to him as a delicate creature with large eyes. He had not
+forgotten that the people about them had spoken of her as of "a kitten
+that they could hardly keep alive." How then could she now be this
+square-built, singularly plain being, with the eyebrows growing
+together? "I must speak with Heinrich," resolved he; "she cannot be my
+sister! so heavily as that God will not try me."
+
+By such thoughts as these his mind became much calmer. There were
+moments when the star of love mirrored itself in his life's sea.
+
+His love for Sophie was no longer a caged bird within his breast; its
+wings were at liberty; Louise saw its release; it was about to fly to
+its goal.
+
+St. Knud's fair was at hand, and on that account the family was about to
+set out for Odense. Eva was the only one who was to remain at home. It
+was her wish to do so.
+
+"Odense is not worth the trouble of thy going to see," said Sophie; "but
+in this way thou wilt never increase thy geographical knowledge. In the
+mean time, however, I shall bring thee a fairing--a husband of honey
+cake, ornamented with almonds."
+
+Wilhelm thought that she should enjoy the passing pleasure, and go with
+them; but Eva prayed to stay, and she had her will.
+
+"There is a deal of pleasure in the world," said Wilhelm, "if people
+will only enjoy it. If one day in Paris is a brilliant flower, a day at
+Odense fair is also a flower. It is a merry, charming world that we
+live in! I am almost ready to say with King Valdemar, that if I might
+keep--yes, I will say, the earth, then our Lord might willingly for
+me keep heaven: there it is much better than we deserve; and God knows
+whether we may not, in the other world, have longings after the old
+world down here!"
+
+"After Odense fair?" asked Sophie ironically.
+
+Otto stood wrapped in his own thoughts. This day, he felt, would be one
+of the most remarkable in his life. German Heinrich must give him
+an explanation. Sophie must do so likewise Could he indeed meet with
+success from them both? Would not sorrow and pain be his fairings?
+
+The carriage rolled away.
+
+From the various cross-roads came driving up the carriages of the gentry
+and the peasants; the one drove past the other; and as the French and
+English Channel collects ships from the Atlantic Ocean, so did the
+King's Road those who drove in carriages, those who rode on horseback,
+and those who went on foot.
+
+Behind most of the peasant-vehicles were tied a few horses, that went
+trotting on with them. Mamsells from the farms sat with large gloves on
+their red arms and hands. They held their umbrellas before their faces
+on account of the dust and the sun.
+
+"The Kammerjunker's people must have set off earlier than we," said
+Sophie, "otherwise they would have called for us."
+
+Otto looked inquiringly at her. She thought on the Kammerjunker!
+
+"We shall draw up by Faugde church," said Sophie. "Mr. Thostrup can
+see Kingo's [Author's Note: The Bishop of Funen, who died in 1703.]
+grave--can see where the sacred poet lies. Some true trumpeting angels,
+in whom one can rightly see how heavy the marble is, fly with the
+Bishop's staff and hat within the chapel."
+
+Otto smiled, and she thought also about giving him pleasure.
+
+The church was seen, the grave visited, and they rapidly rolled along
+the King's Road toward Odense, the lofty tower of whose cathedral had
+hailed them at some miles' distance.
+
+We do not require alone from the portrait-painter that he should
+represent the person, but that he should represent him in his happiest
+moment. To the plain as well as to the inexpressive countenance must
+the painter give every beauty which it possesses. Every human being
+has moments in which something intellectual or characteristic presents
+itself. Nature, too, when we are presented only with the most barren
+landscape, has the same moments; light and shadow produce these effects.
+The poet must be like the painter; he must seize upon these moments in
+human life as the other in nature.
+
+If the reader were a child who lived in Odense, it would require nothing
+more from him than that he should say the words, "St. Knud's fair;"
+and this, illumined by the beams of the imagination of childhood, would
+stand before him in the most brilliant colors. Our description will be
+only a shadow; it will be that, perhaps, which the many will find it to
+be.
+
+Already in the suburbs the crowd of people, and the outspread
+earthenware of the potters, which entirely covered the trottoir,
+announced that the fair was in full operation.
+
+The carriage drove down from the bridge across the Odense River.
+
+"See, how beautiful it is here!" exclaimed Wilhelm.
+
+Between the gardens of the city and a space occupied as a bleaching
+ground lay the river. The magnificent church of St. Knud, with its lofty
+tower, terminated the view.
+
+"What red house was that?" inquired Otto, when they had lost sight of
+it.
+
+"That is the nunnery!" replied Louise, knowing what thought it was which
+had arisen in his mind.
+
+"There stood in the ancient times the old bishop's palace, where
+Beldenak lived!" said Sophie. "Just opposite to the river is the
+bell-well, where a bell flew out of St. Albani's tower. The well is
+unfathomable. Whenever rich people in Odense die, it rings down below
+the water!"
+
+"It is not a pleasant thought," said Otto, "that it rings in the well
+when they must die."
+
+"One must not take it in that way now!" said Sophie, laughing, and
+turned the subject. "Odense has many lions," continued she, "from a
+king's garden with swans in it to a great theatre, which has this in
+common with La Scala and many Italian ones, that it is built upon the
+ruins of a convent. [Note: That of the Black Brothers.]
+
+"In Odense, aristocracy and democracy held out the longest," said
+Wilhelm, smiling; "yet I remember, in my childhood, that when the nobles
+and the citizens met on the king's birthday at the town-house ball, that
+we danced by ourselves."
+
+"Were not, then, the citizens strong enough to throw the giddy nobles
+out of the window?" inquired Otto.
+
+"You forget, Mr. Thostrup, that you yourself are noble!" said Sophie. "I
+was really the goddess of fate who gave to you your genealogical tree."
+
+"You still remember that evening?" said Otto, with a gentle voice, and
+the thoughts floated as gayly in his mind as the crowd of people floated
+up and down in the streets through which they drove.
+
+Somewhere about the middle of the city five streets met; and this
+point, which widens itself out into a little square, is called the Cross
+Street: here lay the hotel to which the family drove.
+
+"Two hours and a quarter too late!" said the Kammerjunker, who came out
+to meet them on the steps. "Good weather for the fair, and good
+horses! I have already been out at the West-gate, and have bought two
+magnificent mares. One of them kicked out behind, and had nearly given
+me a blow on the breast, so that I might have said I had had my fairing!
+Jakoba is paying visits, drinking chocolate, and eating biscuits.
+Mamsell is out taking a view of things. Now you know our story."
+
+The ladies went to their chamber, the gentlemen remained in the saloon.
+
+"Yes, here you shall see a city and a fair, Mr. Thostrup!" said the
+Kammerjunker, and slapped Otto on the shoulder.
+
+"Odense was at one time my principal chief-city," said Wilhelm; "and
+still St. Knud's Church is the most magnificent I know. God knows
+whether St. Peter's in Rome would make upon me, now that I am older, the
+impression which this made upon me as a child!"
+
+"In St. Knud's Church lies the Mamsell with the cats," said the
+Kammerjunker.
+
+"The bishop's lady, you should say," returned Wilhelm. "The legend
+relates, that there was a lady of a Bishop Mus who loved her cats to
+that degree that she left orders that they should be laid with her
+in the grave. [Author's Note: The remains of the body, as well as the
+skeletons of the cats, are still to be seen in a chapel on the western
+aisle of the church.] We will afterward go and see them."
+
+"Yes, both the bishop's lady and the cats," said the Kammerjunker, "look
+like dried fish! Then you must also see the nunnery and the military
+library."
+
+"The Hospital and the House of Correction!" added Wilhelm.
+
+The beating of a drum in the street drew them to the window. The city
+crier, in striped linsey-woolsey jacket and breeches, and with a
+yellow band across his shoulders, stood there, beat upon his drum, and
+proclaimed aloud from a written paper many wonderful things which were
+to be seen in the city.
+
+"He beats a good drum," said the Kammerjunker.
+
+"It would certainly delight Rossini and Spontini to hear the fellow!"
+said Wilhelm. "In fact Odense would be, at New Year's time, a city for
+these two composers. You must know that at that season drums and fifes
+are in their glory. They drum the New Year in. Seven or eight little
+drummers and fifers go from door to door, attended by children and old
+women; at that time they beat both the tattoo and the reveille. For this
+they get a few pence. When the New Year is drummed-in in the city they
+wander out into the country, and drum there for bacon and groats. The
+New Year's drumming in lasts until about Easter."
+
+"And then we have new pastimes," said the Kammerjunker.
+
+"Then come the fishers from Stige, [Author's Note: A fishing village
+in Odense Fjord.] with a complete band, and carrying a boat upon their
+shoulders ornamented with a variety of flags. After that they lay a
+board between two boats, and upon this two of the youngest and the
+strongest have a wrestling-match, until one of them falls into the
+water. The last years they both have allowed themselves to tumble in.
+And this has been done in consequence of one young man who fell in being
+so stung by the jeers which his fall had occasioned that he left, that
+same day, the fishing village, after which no one saw him. But all the
+fun is gone now! In my boyhood the merriment was quite another thing.
+It was a fine sight when the corporation paraded with their ensign
+and harlequin on the top! And at Easter, when the butchers led about a
+bullock ornamented with ribbons and Easter-twigs, on the back of which
+was seated a little winged boy in a shirt. They had Turkish music, and
+carried flagons with them! See! all that have I outlived, and yet I am
+not so old. Baron Wilhelm must have seen the ornamented ox. Now all that
+is past and gone; people are got so refined! Neither is St. Knud's fair
+that which it used to be."
+
+"For all that, I rejoice that it is not so!" said Wilhelm. "But we will
+go into the market and visit the Jutlanders, who are sitting there among
+the heath with their earthenware. You will stand a chance there, Mr.
+Thostrup, of meeting with an old acquaintance; only you must not have
+home-sickness when you smell the heather and hear the ringing of the
+clattering pots!"
+
+The ladies now entered. Before paying any visits they determined upon
+making the round of the market. The Kammerjunker offered his arm to the
+mother. Otto saw this with secret gladness, and approached Sophie. She
+accepted him willingly as an attendant; they must indeed get into the
+throng.
+
+As in the Middle Ages the various professions had their distinct streets
+and quarters, so had they also here. The street which led to the market
+place, and which in every-day life was called the "Shoemaker Street,"
+answered perfectly to its name. The shoemakers had ranged their tables
+side by side. These, and the rails which had been erected for the
+purpose, were hung over with all kinds of articles for the feet; the
+tables themselves were laden with heavy shoes and thick-soled boots.
+Behind these stood the skillful workman in his long Sunday coat, and
+with his well-brushed felt-hat upon his head.
+
+Where the shoemakers' quarter ended that of the hatters' began, and with
+this one was in the middle of the great market-place, where tents and
+booths formed many parallel streets. The booth of galanterie wares, the
+goldsmith's, and the confectioner's, most of them constructed of canvas,
+some few of them of wood, were points of great attraction. Round about
+fluttered ribbons and handkerchiefs; round about were noise and bustle.
+Peasant-girls out of the same village went always in a row, seven or
+eight inseparables, with their hands fast locked in each other; it was
+impossible to break the chain; and if people tried to press through
+them, the whole flock rolled together in a heap.
+
+Behind the booths there lay a great space filled with wooden shoes,
+coarse earthenware, turners' and saddlers' work. Upon tables were spread
+out toys, generally rudely made and coarsely painted. All around
+the children assayed their little trumpets, and turned about their
+playthings. The peasant-girls twirled and twisted both the work-boxes
+and themselves many a time before the bargain was completed. The air
+was heavy with all kinds of odors, and was spiced with the fragrance of
+honey-cake.
+
+Here acquaintances met each other-some peasant-maidens, perhaps, who had
+been born in the same village, but since then had been separated.
+
+"Good day!" exclaimed they, took each other by the hand, gave their arms
+a swing, and laughed.
+
+"Farewell!"
+
+That was the whole conversation: such a one went on in many places.
+
+"That is the heather!" exclaimed Otto, as he approached the quarter
+where the Jutland potters had their station; "how refreshing is the
+odor!" said he, and stooping down seized a twig fresh and green, as if
+it had been plucked only yesterday.
+
+"Aye, my Jesus though! is not that Mr. Otto!" exclaimed a female voice
+just beside him, and a young Jutland peasantwoman skipped across the
+pottery toward him. Otto knew her. It was the little Maria, the eelman's
+daughter, who, as we may remember at Otto's visit to the fisher's,
+had removed to Ringkjoebing, and had hired herself for the hay and
+cornharvest--the brisk Maria, "the girl," as her father called her. She
+had been betrothed in Ringkjoebing, and married to the rich earthenware
+dealer, and now had come across the salt-water to Odense fair, where she
+should meet with Mr. Otto.
+
+"Her parents lived on my grandfather's estate," said Otto to Sophie,
+who observed with a smile the young wife's delight in meeting with
+an acquaintance of her childhood. The husband was busily employed in
+selling his wares; he heard nothing of it.
+
+"Nay, but how elegant and handsome you are become!" said the young wife:
+"but see, I knew you again for all that! Grandmother, you may believe
+me, thinks a deal about you! The old body, she is so brisk and lively;
+it does not trouble her a bit that she cannot see! You are the second
+acquaintance that I have met with in the fair. It's wonderful how people
+come here from all parts of the world! The players are here too! You
+still remember the German Heinrich? Over there in the gray house, at the
+corner of the market, he is acting his comedy in the gateway."
+
+"I am glad that I have seen you!" said Otto, and nodded kindly. "Greet
+them at home, and the grandmother, for me!"
+
+"Greet them also from me!" said Sophie smiling. "You, Mr. Thostrup, must
+for old acquaintance sake buy something. You ought also to give me a
+fairing: I wish for that great jug there!"
+
+"Where are you staying!" cried Wilhelm, and came back, whilst the rest
+went forward.
+
+"We would buy some earthenware," said Sophie. "Souvenir de Jutland. The
+one there has a splendid picture on it!"
+
+"You shall have it!" said Otto. "But if I requested a fairing from you,
+I beseech of you, might I say"--
+
+"That it possibly might obtain its worth from my hand," said Sophie,
+smiling. "I understand you very well--a sprig of heather? I shall
+steal!" said she to the young wife, as she took a little sprig of heath
+and stuck it into his buttonhole. "Greet the grandmother for me!"
+
+Otto and Sophie went.
+
+"That's a very laughing body!" said the woman half aloud, as she looked
+after them; her glance followed Otto, she folded her hands--she was
+thinking, perhaps, on the days of her childhood.
+
+At St. Knud's church-yard Otto and Sophie overtook the others. They were
+going into the church. On the fair days this and all the tombs within it
+were open to the public.
+
+From whichever side this church is contemplated from without, the
+magnificent old building has, especially from its lofty tower and
+spire, something imposing about it; the interior produces the same, nay,
+perhaps a greater effect. But as the principal entrance is through the
+armory, and the lesser one is from the side of the church, its full
+impression is not felt on entering it; nor is it until you arrive at the
+end of the great aisle that you are aware rightly of its grandeur. All
+there is great, beautiful, and light. The whole interior is white with
+gilding. Aloft on the high-vaulted roof there shine, and that from the
+old time, many golden stars. On both sides, high up, higher than the
+side-aisles of the church, are large Gothic windows, from which the
+light streams down. The side-aisles are adorned with old paintings,
+which represent whole families, women and children, all clad in
+canonicals, in long robes and large ruffs. In an ordinary way, the
+figures are all ranged according to age, the oldest first, and then down
+to the very least child, and stand with folded hands, and look piously
+with downcast eyes and faces all in one direction, until by length of
+time the colors have all faded away.
+
+Just opposite to the entrance of the church may be seen, built into the
+wall, a stone, on which is a bas-relief, and before it a grave. This
+attracted Otto's attention.
+
+"It is the grave of King John and of Queen Christina, of Prince
+Francesco and of Christian the Second," said Wilhelm; "they lie together
+in a small vault!" [Author's Note: On the removal of the church of
+the Grey Brothers, the remains of these royal parents and two of their
+children were collected in a coffin and placed here in St. Knud's
+Church. The memorial stone, of which we have spoken, was erected
+afterwards.]
+
+"Christian the Second!" exclaimed Otto. "Denmark's wisest and dearest
+king!"
+
+"Christian the Bad!" said the Kammerjunker, amazed at the tone of
+enthusiasm in which Otto had spoken.
+
+"Christian the Bad!" repeated Otto; "yes, it is now the mode to speak of
+him thus, but we should not do so. We ought to remember how the Swedish
+and Danish nobles behaved themselves, what cruelties they perpetrated,
+and that we have the history of Christian the Second from one of the
+offended party. Writers flatter the reigning powers. A prince must
+have committed crimes, or have lost his power, if his errors are to be
+rightly presented to future generations. People forget that which was
+good in Christian, and have painted the dark side of his character, to
+the formation of which the age lent its part."
+
+The Kammerjunker could not forget the Swedish bloodbath, the execution
+of Torben Oxe, and all that can be said against the unfortunate king.
+
+Otto drove him completely out of the field, in part from his enthusiasm
+for Christian the Second, but still more because it was the Kammerjunker
+with whom he was contending. Sophie took Otto's side, her eye sparkled
+applause, and the victory could not be other than his.
+
+"What is it that the poet said of the fate of a king?" said Sophie.
+
+                              "Woe's me for him
+   Who to the world shows more of ill than good!
+   The good each man ascribes unto himself,
+   Whilst on him only rest the crimes o' th' age."
+
+"Had Christian been so fortunate as to have subdued the rebellious
+nobles," continued Otto, "could he have carried out his bold plans, then
+they would have called him Christian the Great: it is not the active
+mind, but the failure in any design, which the world condemns."
+
+Louise nevertheless took the side of the Kammerjunker, and therefore
+these two went together up the aisle toward the tomb of the Glorup
+family. Wilhelm and his mother were already gone out of the church.
+
+"I envy you your eloquence!" said Sophie, and looked with an expression
+of love into Otto's face; she bent herself over the railing around the
+tomb, and looked thoughtfully upon the stone. Thoughts of love were
+animated in Otto's soul.
+
+"Intellect and heart!" exclaimed he, "must admire that which is great:
+you possess both these!" He seized her hand.
+
+A faint crimson passed over Sophie's cheeks. "The others are gone out!"
+she said; "come, let us go up to the chancel."
+
+"Up to the altar!" said Otto; "that is a bold course for one's whole
+life!"
+
+Sophie looked jestingly at him. "Do you see the monument there within
+the pillars?" asked she after a short pause; "the lady with the crossed
+arms and the colored countenance? In one night she danced twelve knights
+to death, the thirteenth, whom she had invited for her partner, cut her
+girdle in two in the dance and she fell dead to the earth!" [Author's
+Note: In Thiele's Danish Popular Tradition it is related that she was
+one Margrethe Skofgaard of Sanderumgaard, and that she died at a ball,
+where she had danced to death twelve knights. The people relate it with
+a variation as above; it is probable that it is mingled with a second
+tradition, for example, that of the blood-spots at Koldinghuus, which
+relates that an old king was so angry with his daughter that he resolved
+to kill her, and ordered that his knights should dance with her one
+after another until the breath was out of her. Nine had danced with her,
+and then came up the king himself as the tenth, and when he became weary
+he cut her girdle in two, on which the blood streamed from her mouth and
+she died.]
+
+"She was a northern Turandot!" said Otto; "the stony heart itself was
+forced to break and bleed. There is really a jest in having the marble
+painted. She stands before future ages as if she lived--a stone image,
+white and red, only a mask of beauty. She is a warning to young ladies!"
+
+"Yes, against dancing!" said Sophie, smiling at Otto's extraordinary
+gravity.
+
+"And yet it must be a blessed thing," exclaimed he, "a very blessed
+thing, amid pealing music, arm-in-arm with one's beloved, to be able to
+dance life away, and to sink bleeding before her feet!"
+
+"And yet only to see that she would dance with a new one!" said Sophie.
+
+"No, no!" exclaimed Otto, "that you could not do! that you will not do!
+O Sophie, if you knew!"--He approached her still nearer, bent his head
+toward her, and his eye had twofold fire and expression in it.
+
+"You must come with us and see the cats!" said the Kammerjunker, and
+sprang in between them.
+
+"Yes, it is charming!" said Sophie. "You will have an opportunity, Mr.
+Thostrup, of moralizing over the perishableness of female beauty!"
+
+"In the evening, when we drive home together," thought Otto to himself
+consolingly, "in the mild summer-evening no Kammerjunker will disturb
+me. It must, it shall be decided! Misfortune might subject the
+wildness of childhood, but it gave me confidence, it never destroyed my
+independence; Love has made me timid,--has made me weak. May I thereby
+win a bride?"
+
+Gravely and with a dark glance he followed after Sophie and her guide.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL
+
+     "In vain his beet endeavors were;
+     Dull was the evening, and duller grew."--LUDOLF SCHLEF.
+
+     "Seest thou how its little life
+       The bird hides in the wood?
+     Wilt thou be my little wife--
+       Then do it soon. Good!
+     --A bridegroom am I."--Arion.
+
+Close beside St. Knud's Church, where once the convent stood, is now the
+dwelling of a private man. [Author's Note: See Oehlenschl�ger's Jorney
+to Funen.] The excellent hostess here, who once charmed the public on
+the Danish stage as Ida Munster, awaited the family to dinner.
+
+After dinner they wandered up and down the garden, which extended to the
+Odense River.
+
+In the dusk of evening Otto went to visit the German Heinrich; he had
+mentioned it to Louise, and she promised to divert attention from him
+whilst he was away.
+
+The company took coffee in the garden-house; Otto walked in deep thought
+in the avenue by the side of the river. The beautiful scene before
+him riveted his eye. Close beside lay a water-mill, over the two great
+wheels of which poured the river white as milk. Behind this was thrown a
+bridge, over which people walked and drove. The journeyman-miller
+stood upon the balcony, and whistled an air. It was such a picture as
+Christian Winther and Uhland give in their picturesque poems. On the
+other side of the mill arose tall poplars half-buried in the green
+meadow, in which stood the nunnery; a nun had once drowned herself where
+now the red daisies grow.
+
+A strong sunlight lit up the whole scene. All was repose and summer
+warmth. Suddenly Otto's ear caught the deep and powerful tones of an
+organ; he turned himself round. The tones, which went to his heart, came
+from St. Knud's Church, which lay close beside the garden. The sunshine
+of the landscape, and the strength of the music, gave, as it were, to
+him light and strength for the darkness toward which he was so soon to
+go.
+
+The sun set; and Otto went alone across the market-place toward the old
+corner house, where German Heinrich practiced his arts. Upon this place
+stood St. Albani's Church, where St. Knud, betrayed by his servant
+Blake, [Author's Note: Whence has arisen the popular expression of
+"being a false Blake."] was killed by the tumultuous rebels. The common
+people believe that from one of the deep cellars under this house
+proceeds a subterranean passage to the so-called "Nun's Hill." At
+midnight the neighboring inhabitants still hear a roaring under the
+marketplace, as if of the sudden falling of a cascade. The better
+informed explain it as being a concealed natural water-course, which has
+a connection with the neighboring river. In our time the old house is
+become a manufactory; the broken windows, the gaps of which are repaired
+either with slips of wood or with paper, the quantity of human bones
+which are found in the garden, and which remain from the time when this
+was a church-yard, give to the whole place a peculiar interest to the
+common people of Odense.
+
+Entering the house at the front, it is on the same level as the
+market-place; the back of the house, on the contrary, descends
+precipitously into the garden, where there are thick old walls and
+foundations. The situation is thus quite romantic; just beside it is
+the old nunnery, with its dentated gables, and not far off the ruins, in
+whose depths the common people believe that there resides an evil being,
+"the river-man," who annually demands his human sacrifice, which he
+announces the night before. Behind this lie meadows, villas, and green
+woods.
+
+On the other side of the court, in a back gate-way, German Heinrich
+had set up his theatre. The entrance cost eight skillings; people of
+condition paid according to their own will.
+
+Otto entered during the representation. A cloth constituted the whole
+scenic arrangement. In the middle of the floor sat a horrible goblin,
+with a coal-black Moorish countenance and crispy hair upon its head. An
+old bed-cover concealed the figure, yet one saw that it was that of a
+woman.
+
+The audience consisted of peasants and street boys. Otto kept himself in
+the background, and remained unobserved by Heinrich.
+
+The representation was soon at an end, and the crowd dispersed. It was
+then that Otto first came forward.
+
+"We must speak a few words together!" said he. "Heinrich, you have not
+acted honestly by me! The girl is not that which you represented her to
+be; you have deceived me: I demand an explanation!"
+
+German Heinrich stood silent, but every feature eloquently expressed
+first amazement, and then slyness and cunning; his knavish, malicious
+eye, measured Otto from top to toe.
+
+"Nay; so then, Mr. Thostrup, you are convinced, are you, that I have
+been cheating you?" said he. "If so, why do you come to me? In that case
+there needs no explanation. Ask herself there!" And so saying he pointed
+to the black-painted figure.
+
+"Do not be too proud, Otto!" said she, smiling; "thou couldst yet
+recognize thy sister, although she has a little black paint on her
+face!"
+
+Otto riveted a dark, indignant glance upon her, pressed his lips
+together, and tried to collect himself. "It is my firm determination
+to have the whole affair searched into," said he, with constrained
+calmness.
+
+"Yes, but it will bring you some disagreeables!" said Heinrich, and
+laughed scornfully.
+
+"Do not laugh in that manner when I speak to you!" said Otto, with
+flushing cheeks.
+
+Heinrich leaned himself calmly against the door which led into the
+garden.
+
+"I am acquainted with the head of the police," said Otto, "and I might
+leave the whole business in his hands. But I have chosen a milder way; I
+am come myself. I shall very soon leave Denmark; I shall go many
+hundred miles hence shall, probably, never return; and thus you see the
+principal ground for my coming to you is a whim: I will know wherefore
+you have deceived me; I will know what is the connection between you and
+her."
+
+"Nay; so, then, it is _that_ that you want to know?" said Heinrich, with
+a malicious glance. "Yes, see you, she is my best beloved; she shall be
+my wife: but your sister she is for all that, and that remains so!"
+
+"Thou couldst easily give me a little before thou settest off on thy
+journey!" said Sidsel, who seemed excited by Heinrich's words, and put
+forth her painted face.
+
+Otto glanced at her with contracted eyebrows.
+
+"Yes," said she, "I say 'thou' to thee: thou must accustom thyself to
+that! A sister may have, however, that little bit of pleasure!"
+
+"Yes, you should give her your hand!" said Heinrich, and laughed.
+
+"Wretch!" exclaimed Otto, "she is not that which you say! I will find
+out my real sister! I will have proof in hand of the truth! I will
+show myself as a brother; I will care for her future! Bring to me her
+baptismal register; bring to me one only attestation of its reality--and
+that before eight days are past! Here is my address, it is the envelope
+of a letter; inclose in it the testimonial which I require, and send it
+to me without delay. But prove it, or you are a greater villain than I
+took you for."
+
+"Let us say a few rational words!" said Heinrich, with a constrained,
+fawning voice. "If you will give to me fifty rix-dollars, then you shall
+never have any more annoyance with us! See, that would be a great deal
+more convenient."
+
+"I abide by that which I have said!" answered Otto; "we will not have
+any more conversation together!" And so saying, he turned him round to
+go out.
+
+Heinrich seized him by the coat.
+
+"What do you want?" inquired Otto.
+
+"I mean," said Heinrich, "whether you are not going to think about the
+fifty rix-dollars?"
+
+"Villain!" cried Otto, and, with the veins swelling in his forehead, he
+thrust Heinrich from him with such force, that he fell against the worm
+eaten door which led into the garden; the panel of the door fell out,
+and had not Heinrich seized fast hold on some firm object with both his
+hands, he must have gone the same way. Otto stood for a moment silent,
+with flashing eyes, and threw the envelope, on which his address was, at
+Heinrich's feet, and went out.
+
+When Otto returned to the hotel, he found the horses ready to be put to
+the carriage.
+
+"Have you had good intelligence?" whispered Louise.
+
+"I have in reality obtained no more than I had before!" replied he;
+"only my own feelings more strongly convince me than ever that I have
+been deceived by him."
+
+He related to her the short conversation which had taken place.
+
+The Kammerjunker's carriage was now also brought out; in this was more
+than sufficient room for two, whereas in the other carriage they had
+been crowded. The Kammerjunker, therefore, besought that they would
+avail themselves of the more convenient seat which he could offer; and
+Otto saw Sophie and her mother enter the Kammerjunker's carriage. This
+arrangement would shortly before have confounded Otto, now it had much
+less effect upon him. His mind was so much occupied by his visit to
+German Heinrich, his soul was filled with a bitterness, which for the
+moment repelled the impulse which he had felt to express his great love
+for Sophie.
+
+"I have been made Heinrich's plaything--his tool!" thought he. "Now he
+ridicules me, and I am compelled to bear it! That horrible being is not
+my sister!--she cannot be so!"
+
+The street was now quiet. They mounted into the carriage. In the corner
+house just opposite there was a great company; light streamed through
+the long curtains, a low tenor voice and a high ringing soprano mingled
+together in Mozart's "Audiam, audiam, mio bene."
+
+"The bird may not flutter from my heart!" sighed Otto, and seated
+himself by the side of Louise. The carriage rolled away.
+
+The full moon shone; the wild spiraea sent forth its odor from the road
+side; steam ascended from the moor-lands; and the white mist floated
+over the meadows like the daughters of the elfin king.
+
+Louise sat silent and embarrassed; trouble weighed down her heart. Otto
+was also silent.
+
+The Kammerjunker drove in first, cracked his whip, and struck up a wild
+halloo.
+
+Wilhelm began to sing, "Charming the summer night," and the Kammerjunker
+joined in with him.
+
+"Sing with us man," cried Wilhelm to the silent Otto, and quickly the
+two companies were one singing caravan.
+
+It was late when they reached the hall.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI
+
+     "Destiny often pulls off leaves, as we treat the vine, that
+     its fruits may be earlier brought to maturity."--JEAN PAUL.
+
+It was not until toward morning that Otto fell into sleep. Wilhelm and
+he were allowed to take their own time in rising, and thus it was late
+in the day before these two gentlemen made their appearance at the
+breakfast-table; the Kammerjunker was already come over to the hall, and
+now was more adorned than common.
+
+"Mr. Thostrup shall be one of the initiated!" said the mother. "It
+will be time enough this evening for strangers to know of it. The
+Kammerjunker and my Sophie are betrothed."
+
+"See, it was in the bright moonlight, Mr. Thostrup, that I became such
+a happy man!" said the Kammerjunker, and kissed the tips of Sophie's
+fingers. He offered his other hand to Otto.
+
+Otto's countenance remained unchanged, a smile played upon his lips.
+"I congratulate you!" said he; "it is indeed a joyful day! If I were a
+poet, I would give you an ode!"
+
+Louise looked at him with an extraordinary expression of pain in her
+countenance.
+
+Wilhelm called the Kammerjunker brother-in-law, and smiling shook both
+his hands.
+
+Otto was unusually gay, jested, and laughed. The ladies went to their
+toilet, Otto into the garden.
+
+He had been so convinced in his own mind that Sophie returned his
+passion. With what pleasure had she listened to him! with what an
+expression had her eye rested upon him! Her little jests had been to
+him such convincing proofs that the hope which he nourished was no
+self-delusion. She was the light around which his thoughts had circled.
+Love to her was to him a good angel, which sung to him consolation and
+life's gladness in his dark moments.
+
+Now, all was suddenly over. It was as if the angel had left him; the
+flame of love which had so entirely filled his soul, was in a moment
+extinguished to its last spark. Sophie was become a stranger to him; her
+intellectual eye, which smiled in love on the Kammerjunker, seemed to
+him the soulless eye of the automaton. A stupefying indifference went
+through him, deadly as poison that is infused into the human blood.
+
+"The vain girl! she thought to make herself more important by repelling
+from her a faithful heart! She should only see how changed her image is
+in my soul. All the weaknesses which my love for her made me pass over,
+now step forth with repulsive features! Not a word which she spoke fell
+to the ground. The diamond has lost its lustre; I feel only its sharp
+corners!"
+
+Sophie had given the preference to a man who, in respect of intellect,
+stood far below Otto! Sophie, who seemed to be enthusiastic for art and
+beauty, for everything glorious in the kingdom of mind, could thus have
+deceived him!
+
+We will now see the sisters in their chamber.
+
+Louise seemed pensive, she sat silently looking before her.
+
+Sophie stood thoughtfully with a smile upon her lips.
+
+"The Kammerjunker is very handsome, however!" exclaimed she: "he looks
+so manly!"
+
+"You ought to find him love-worthy!" said Louise.
+
+"Yes," replied her sister, "I have always admired these strong
+countenances! He is an Axel--a northern blackbearded savage. Faces such
+as Wilhelm's look like ladies'! And he is so good! He has said, that
+immediately after our marriage we shall make a tour to Hamburg. What
+dress do you think I should wear?"
+
+"When you make the journey to Hamburg?" inquired Louise.
+
+"O no, child! to-day I mean. Thostrup was indeed very polite! he
+congratulated me! I felt, however, rather curious when it was told to
+him. I had quite expected a scene! I was almost ready to beg of you
+to tell him first of all. He ought to have been prepared. But he was,
+however, very rational! I should not have expected it from him. I really
+wish him all good, but he is an extraordinary character! so melancholy!
+Do you think that he will take my betrothal to heart? I noticed that
+when I was kissed he turned himself suddenly round to the window and
+played with the flowers. I wish that he would soon go! The journey
+into foreign countries will do him good--there he will soon forget his
+heart's troubles. To-morrow I will write to Cousin Joachim; he will also
+be surprised!"
+
+Late in the afternoon came Jakoba, the Mamsell, the preacher, and yet a
+few other guests.
+
+In the evening the table was arranged festively. The betrothed sat
+together, and Otto had the place of honor--he sat on the other side
+of Sophie. The preacher had written a song to the tune of "Be thou
+our social guardian-goddess;" this was sung. Otto's voice sounded
+beautifully and strong; he rang his glass with the betrothed pair, and
+the Kammerjunker said that now Mr. Thostrup must speedily seek out a
+bride for himself.
+
+"She is found," answered Otto; "but now that is yet a secret."
+
+"Health to the bride!" said Sophie, and rung her glass; but soon again
+her intellectual eye rested upon the Kammerjunker, who was talking about
+asparagus and stall-feeding with clover, yet her glance brought him back
+again to the happiness of his love.
+
+It was a very lively evening. Late in the night the party broke up. The
+friends went to their chamber.
+
+"My dear, faithful Otto!" said Wilhelm, and laid his hand on his
+shoulder; "you were very lively and good-humored this evening. Continue
+always thus!"
+
+"I hope to do so," answered Otto: "may we only always have as happy an
+evening as this!"
+
+"Extraordinary man!" said Wilhelm, and shook his head. "Now we will soon
+set out on our journey, and catch for ourselves the happiness of the
+glorious gold bird!"
+
+"And not let it escape again!" exclaimed Otto. "Formerly I used to say,
+To-morrow! to-morrow! now I say, To-day, and all day long! Away with
+fancies and complainings. I now comprehend that which you once said to
+me, that is. Man _can_ be happy if he only _will_ be so."
+
+Wilhelm took his hand, and looked into his face with a half-melancholy
+expression.
+
+"Are you sentimental?" inquired Otto.
+
+"I only affect that which I am not!" answered Wilhelm; and with that,
+suddenly throwing off the natural gravity of the moment, returned to his
+customary gayety.
+
+The following days were spent in visiting and in receiving visitors. On
+every post-day Otto sought through the leathern bag of the postman, but
+he found no letter from German Heinrich, and heard nothing from him. "I
+have been deceived," said he, "and I feel myself glad about it! She, the
+horrible one, is not my sister!"
+
+There was a necessity for him to go away, far from home, and yet he felt
+no longing after the mountains of Switzerland or the luxuriant beauty of
+the south.
+
+"Nature will only weaken me! I will not seek after it. Man it is that I
+require: these egotistical, false beings--these lords of everything!
+How we flatter our weaknesses and admire our virtues! Whatever serves to
+advance our own wishes we find to be excellent. To those who love us,
+we give our love in return. At the bottom, whom do I love except myself?
+Wilhelm? My friendship for him is built upon the foundation,--I cannot
+do without thee! Friendship is to me a necessity. Was I not once
+convinced that I adored Sophie, and that I never could bear it if she
+were lost to me? and yet there needed the conviction 'She loves thee
+not,' and my strong feeling was dead. Sophie even seems to me
+less beautiful; I see faults where I formerly could only discover
+amiabilities! Now, she is to me almost wholly a stranger. As I am, so
+are all. Who is there that feels right lovingly, right faithfully for
+me, without his own interest leading him to do so? Rosalie? My old,
+honest Rosalie? I grew up before her eyes like a plant which she loved.
+I am dear to her as it! When her canary-bird one morning lay dead in its
+cage, she wept bitterly and long; she should never more hear it sing,
+she should never more look after its cage and its food. It was the loss
+of it which made her weep. She missed that which had been interesting
+to her. I also interested her. Interest is the name for that which
+the world calls love. Louise?" He almost spoke the name aloud, and his
+thoughts dwelt, from a strong combination of circumstances, upon it.
+"She appears to me true, and capable of making sacrifices! but is not
+she also very different from all the others? How often have I not heard
+Sophie laugh at her for it--look down upon her!" And Otto's better
+feeling sought in vain for a shadow of self-love in Louise, a single
+selfish motive for her noble conduct.
+
+"Away from Denmark! to new people! Happy he who can always be on the
+wing, making new friendships, and speedily breaking them off! At the
+first meeting people wear their intellectual Sunday apparel; every point
+of light is brought forth; but soon and the festival-day is over, and
+the bright points have vanished."
+
+"We will set off next week!" said Wilhelm, "and then it shall be--
+
+    'Over the rushing blue waters away!
+     We will speed along shores that are verdant and gay!'
+
+Away over the moors, up the Rhine, through the land of champagne to the
+city of cities, the life-animating Paris!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLII
+
+     "A maiden stood musing, gentle and mild. I grasped the hand
+     of the friendly child, but the lovely fawn shyly
+     disappeared.... From the Rhine to the Danish Belt,
+     beautiful and lovely maidens are found in palaces and tents;
+     yet nobody pleases me."--SCHMIDT VON L�BECK.
+
+The last day at home was Sophie's birthday. In the afternoon the whole
+family was invited to the Kammerjunker's, where Jakoba and the Mamsell
+were to be quite brilliant in their cookery.
+
+A table filled with presents, all from the Kammerjunker, awaited Miss
+Sophie; it was the first time that he had ever presented to her a
+birthday gift, and he had now, either out of his own head or somebody's
+else, fallen on the very good idea of making her a present for every
+year which she had lived. Every present was suited to the age for which
+it was intended, and thus he began with a paper of sugar-plums and ended
+with silk and magnificent fur; but between beginning and end there
+were things, of which more than the half could be called solid: gold
+ear-rings, a boa, French gloves, and a riding-horse. This last, of
+course, could not stand upon the table. It was a joy and a happiness;
+people walked about, and separated themselves by degrees into groups.
+
+The only one who was not there was Eva. She always preferred remaining
+at home; and yet, perhaps, to-day she might have allowed herself to have
+been overpersuaded, had she not found herself so extremely weak.
+
+Silently and alone she now sat at home in the great empty parlor. It
+was in the twilight; she had laid down her work, and her beautiful,
+thoughtful eyes looked straight before her: thoughts which we may not
+unveil were agitating her breast.
+
+Suddenly the door opened, and Wilhelm stood before her. Whilst the
+others were walking he had stolen away. He knew that Eva was alone at
+home; nobody would know that he visited her, nobody would dream of their
+conversation.
+
+"You here!" exclaimed Eva, when she saw him.
+
+"I was compelled to come," answered he. "I have slipped away from
+the others; no one knows that I am here. I must speak with you, Eva.
+To-morrow I set off; but I cannot leave home calmly and happily without
+knowing--what this moment must decide."
+
+Eva rose, her checks crimsoned, she cast down her eyes.
+
+"Baron Wilhelm!" stammered she, "it is not proper that I should remain
+here!" She was about to leave the room.
+
+"Eva!" said Wilhelm, and seized her hand, "you know that I love you! My
+feelings are honorable! Say Yes, and it shall be holy to me as an oath.
+Then I shall begin my journey glad at heart, as one should do. Your
+assent shall stand in my breast, shall sound in my ear, whenever sin and
+temptation assail me! It will preserve me in an upright course, it will
+bring me back good and unspoiled. My wife must you be! You have
+soul, and with it nobility! Eva! in God's name, do not make a feeble,
+life-weary, disheartened being of me!"
+
+"O Heavens!" exclaimed she, and burst into tears, "I cannot, and--will
+not! You forget that I am only a poor girl, who am indebted for
+everything to your mother! My assent would displease her, and some time
+or other you would repent of it! I cannot!--I do not love you!" added
+she, in a tremulous voice.
+
+Wilhelm stood speechless.
+
+Eva suddenly rang the bell.
+
+"What are you doing?" exclaimed he.
+
+The servant entered.
+
+"Bring in lights!" said she; "but first of all you must assist me with
+these flowers down into the garden. It will do them good to stand in the
+dew."
+
+The servant did as she bade; she herself carried down one of the pots,
+and left the room.
+
+"I do not love you!" repeated Wilhelm to himself, and returned to the
+company which he had left, and where he found all gayety and happiness.
+
+The supper-table was spread in the garden; lights burned in the open air
+with a steady flame; it was a summer-evening beautiful as the October of
+the South; the reseda sent forth its fragrance; and when Sophie's health
+was drunk cannon were fired among the lofty fir-trees, the pines of the
+North.
+
+The next morning those countenances were dejected which the evening
+before had been so gay. The carriage drew up to the door. The dear
+mother and sisters wept; they kissed Wilhelm, and extended their hands
+to Otto.
+
+"Farewell!" said Louise; "do not forget us!" and her tearful glance
+rested upon Otto. Eva stood silent and pale.
+
+"You will not forget me!" whispered Otto, as he seized Louise's hand. "I
+will forget your sister!"
+
+The carriage rolled away; Wilhelm threw himself back into a corner. Otto
+looked back once more; they all stood at the door, and waved their white
+handkerchiefs.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIII
+
+     "In one short speaking silence all conveys--
+     And looks a sigh, and weeps without a tear."
+                                  MRS. BROWNING.
+
+     "Forgive us our debts as we
+       The debts of others forgive;
+     And lead us not in tempting ways;
+       Apart from evil let us live."
+                   A. VON CHAMISSO.
+
+We will not accompany the friends, but will remain behind in Funen,
+where we will make a bolder journey than they, namely, we will go back
+one-and-twenty years. We will allow the circumstances of Otto's birth
+again to come before us. It is a leap backward that we take from 1830 to
+1810. We are in Odense, that old city, which takes its name from Odin.
+
+The common people there have still a legend about the origin of the name
+of the city. Upon Naesbyhoved's Hill [Author's Note: Not far from the
+city, by the Odense Channel; it is described in Wedel Simonsen's City
+Ruins.] there once stood a castle; here lived King Odin and his wife:
+Odense city was not then in existence, but the first building of it was
+then begun. [Author's Note: The place is given as being that of the now
+so-called Cross Street.] The court was undecided as to the name which
+should be given to the city. After long indecision it was at last agreed
+that the first word which either King or Queen should speak the next
+morning should be the name given to it. In the early morning the Queen
+awoke and looked out from her window over the wood. The first house in
+the city was erected to the roof, and the builders had hung up a
+great garland, glittering with tinsel, upon the rooftree. "Odin, see!"
+exclaimed the Queen; and thenceforward the city was called Odensee,
+which name, since then, has been changed by daily speech to Odense.
+
+When people ask the children in Copenhagen whence they have come, they
+reply, out of the Peblings�e. The little children of Odense, who
+know nothing about the Peblings�e, say that they are fetched out of
+Rosenbaek, a little brook which has only been ennobled within the few
+last years, just as in Copenhagen is the case with Krystal Street, which
+formerly had an unpleasant name. This brook runs through Odense, and
+must, in former times, when united with the Odense River, have formed an
+island where the city at that time stood; hence some people derive the
+name of Odense from Odins Ei, or Odins �, that is, Odin's Island. Be it
+then as it might, the brook flows now, and in 1810, when the so-called
+Willow-dam, by the West Gate, was not filled up, it stood, especially in
+spring, low and watery. It often overflowed its banks, and in so doing
+overflowed the little gardens which lay on either side. It thus ran
+concealed through the city until near the North Gate, where it made its
+appearance for a moment and then dived again in the same street, and,
+like a little river, flowed through the cellars of the old justice-room,
+which was built by the renowned Oluf Bagger. [Author's Note: He was so
+rich that once, when Frederick the Second visited him, he had the room
+heated with cinnamon chips. Much may be found about this remarkable
+man in the second collection of Thiele's Popular Danish Legends. His
+descendants still live in Odense, namely, the family of the printer Ch.
+Iversen, who has preserved many curiosities which belonged to him.]
+
+It was an afternoon in the summer of 1810; the water was high in the
+brook, yet two washerwomen were busily employed in it; reed-matting
+was fast bound round their bodies, and they beat with wooden staves the
+clothes upon their washing-stools. They were in deep conversation, and
+yet their labor went on uninterruptedly.
+
+"Yes," said one of them, "better a little with honor, than much with
+dishonor. She is sentenced; to-morrow she is to go about in the pillory.
+That is sure and certain! I know it from the trumpeter's Karen, and from
+the beggar-king's [Author's Note: Overseer of the poor.] wife: neither
+of them go about with lies."
+
+"Ih, my Jesus!" exclaimed the other, and let her wooden beater fall, "is
+Johanne Marie to go in the pillory, the handsome girl? she that looked
+so clever and dressed herself so well?"
+
+"Yes, it is a misfortune!" said the first; "a great misfortune it must
+be! No, let every one keep his own! say I every day to my children.
+After the sweet claw comes the bitter smart. One had much better work
+till the blood starts from the finger-ends."
+
+"Ih, see though!" said the other; "there goes the old fellow, Johanne
+Marie's father. He is an honest man; he was so pleased with his
+daughter, and to-morrow he must himself bind her to the pillory! But can
+she really have stolen?"
+
+"She has herself confessed," returned she; "and the Colonel is severe. I
+fancy the Gevaldiger is going there."
+
+"The Colonel should put the bridle on his own son. He is a bad fellow!
+Not long ago, when I was washing yarn there, and was merry, as I always
+am, he called me 'wench.' If he had said 'woman,' I should not have
+troubled myself about it, for it has another meaning; but 'wench,' that
+is rude! Ei, there sails the whole affair!" screamed she suddenly, as
+the sheet which she had wound round the washing-stool got loose and
+floated down the stream: she ran after it, and the conversation was
+broken off.
+
+The old man whom they had seen and compassionated, went into a great
+house close by, where the Colonel lived. His eyes were cast upon the
+ground; a deep, silent suffering lay in his wrinkled face; he gently
+pulled at the bell, and bowed himself deeply before the black-appareled
+lady who opened to him the door.
+
+We know her--it was the old Rosalie, then twenty years younger than when
+we saw her upon the western coast of Jutland.
+
+"Good old man!" said she, and laid her hand kindly on his shoulder.
+"Colonel Thostrup is severe, but he is not, however, inhuman; and that
+he would be if he let you tomorrow do your office. The Colonel has said
+that the Gevaldiger should stay at home."
+
+"No!" said the old man, "our Lord will give me strength. God be thanked
+that Johanne Marie's mother has closed her eyes: she will not see the
+misery! We are not guilty of it!"
+
+"Honest man!" said Rosalie. "Johanne was always so good and clever;
+and now"--she shook her head--"I would have sworn for her, but she has
+confessed it herself!"
+
+"The law must have its course!" said the old man, and tears streamed
+down his cheeks.
+
+At that moment the door opened, and Colonel Thostrup, a tall, thin man,
+with a keen eye, stood before them. Rosalie left the room.
+
+"Gevaldiger," said the Colonel, "to-morrow you will not be required to
+act in your office."
+
+"Colonel," returned the old man, "it is my duty to be there, and, if I
+may say a few words, people would speak ill of me if I kept away."
+
+On the following forenoon, from the early morning, the square where lay
+the council-house and head-watch, was filled with people; they were come
+to see the handsome girl led forth in the pillory. The time began
+to appear long to them, and yet no sign was seen of that which they
+expected. The sentinel, who went with measured step backward and forward
+before the sentry-box, could give no intelligence. The door of the
+council-house was closed, and everything gave occasion to the report
+which suddenly was put into circulation, that the handsome Johanne Marie
+had been for a whole hour in the pillory within the council-house, and
+thus they should have nothing at all to see. Although it is entirely
+opposed to sound reason that punishment should be inflicted publicly, it
+met with much support, and great dissatisfaction was excited.
+
+"That is shabby!" said a simple woman, in whom we may recognize one of
+the washerwomen; "it is shabby thus to treat the folks as if they were
+fools! Yesterday I slaved like a horse, and here one has stood two whole
+hours by the clock, till I am stiff in the legs, without seeing anything
+at all!"
+
+"That is what I expected," said another woman; "a fair face has many
+friends! She has known how to win the great people to her side!"
+
+"Do not you believe," inquired a third, "that she has been good friends
+with the Colonels son?"
+
+"Yes; formerly I would have said No, because she always looked so
+steady, and against her parents there is not a word to be said; but as
+she has stolen, as we know she has, she may also have been unsteady.
+The Colonel's son is a wild bird; riots and drinks does he in secret! We
+others know more than his father does: he had held too tight a hand over
+him. Too great severity causes bad blood!"
+
+"God help me, now it begins!" interrupted another woman, as a detachment
+of soldiers marched out of the guard-house, and at some little distance
+one from the other inclosed an open space. The door of the council-house
+now opened, and two officers of police, together with some of the guard,
+conducted out the condemned, who was placed in the pillory. This was a
+sort of wooden yoke laid across the shoulders of the delinquent; a piece
+of wood came forward from this into which her hands were secured: above
+all stood two iron bars, to the first of which was fastened a little
+bell; to the other a long fox's tail, which hung down the lack of the
+condemned.
+
+The girl seemed hardly more than nineteen, and was of an unusually
+beautiful figure; her countenance was nobly and delicately formed,
+but pale as death: yet there was no expression either of suffering or
+shame,--she seemed like the image of a penitent, who meekly accomplishes
+the imposed penance.
+
+Her aged father, the Gevaldiger, followed her slowly; his eye was
+determined; no feature expressed that which went forward in his soul:
+he silently took his place beside one of the pillars before the guard
+house.
+
+A loud murmur arose among the crowd when they saw the beautiful girl and
+the poor old father, who must himself see his daughter's disgrace.
+
+A spotted dog sprang into the open space; the girl's monotonous tread,
+as she advanced into the middle of the square, the ringing of the little
+bell, and the fox-tail which moved in the wind, excited the dog, which
+began to bark, and wanted to bite the fox's tail. The guards drove the
+dog away, but it soon came back again, although it did not venture again
+into the circle, but thrust itself forward, and never ceased barking.
+
+Many of those who already had been moved to compassion by the beauty
+of the girl and the sight of the old father, were thrown again by this
+incident into a merry humor; they laughed and found the whole thing very
+amusing.
+
+The hour was past, and the girl was now to be released. The Gevaldiger
+approached her, but whilst he raised his hand to the yoke the old
+man tottered, and sank, in the same moment, back upon the hard stone
+pavement.
+
+A shriek arose from those who stood around; the young girl alone stood
+silent and immovable; her thoughts seemed to be far away. Yet some
+people fancied they saw how she closed her eyes, but that was only for
+a moment. A policeman released her from the pillory, her old father
+was carried into the guard-house, and two policemen led her into the
+council-house.
+
+"See, now it is over!" said an old glover, who was among the spectators;
+"the next time she'll get into the House of Correction."
+
+"O, it is not so bad there," answered another; "they sing and are merry
+there the whole day long, and have no need to trouble themselves about
+victuals."
+
+"Yes, but that is prison fare."
+
+"It is not so bad--many a poor body would thank God for it; and Johanne
+Marie would get the best of it. Her aunt is the head-cook, and the cook
+and the inspector they hang together. It's my opinion, however, that
+this affair will take the life out of the old man. He got a right
+good bump as he fell on the stone-pavement; one could hear how it rung
+again."
+
+The crowd separated.
+
+The last malicious voice had prophesied truth.
+
+Three weeks afterward six soldiers bore a woven, yellow straw coffin
+from a poor house in East Street. The old Gevaldiger lay, with closed
+eyes and folded hands, in the coffin. Within the chamber, upon the
+bedstead, sat Johanne Marie, with a countenance pale as that of the dead
+which had been carried away. A compassionate neighbor took her hand, and
+mentioned her name several times before she heard her.
+
+"Johanne, come in with me; eat a mouthful of pease and keep life in
+you; if not for your own sake, at least for that of the child which lies
+under your heart."
+
+The girl heaved a wonderfully deep sigh. "No, no!" said she, and closed
+her eyes.
+
+Full of pity, the good neighbor took her home with her.
+
+A few days passed on, and then one morning two policemen entered the
+poor room in which the Gevaldiger had died. Johanne Marie was again
+summoned before the judge.
+
+A fresh robbery had taken place at the Colonel's. Rosalie said that it
+was a long time since she had first missed that which was gone, but that
+she thought it best to try to forget it. The Colonel's violent temper
+and his exasperation against Johanne Marie, who, as he asserted, by
+her bad conduct, had brought her old, excellent father to the grave,
+insisted on summoning her before the tribunal, that the affair might be
+more narrowly inquired into.
+
+Rosalie, who had been captivated by the beauty of the girl and by her
+modest demeanor, and who was very fond of her, was this time quite calm,
+feeling quite sure that she would deny everything, because, in fact,
+the theft had only occurred within the last few days. The public became
+aware of this before long, and the opinion was that Johanne Marie could
+not possibly have been an actor in it; but, to the astonishment of the
+greater number, she confessed that she was the guilty person, and that
+with such calmness as amazed every one. Her noble, beautifully
+formed countenance seemed bloodless; her dark-blue eyes beamed with a
+brilliancy which seemed like that of delirium; her beauty, her calmness,
+and yet this obduracy in crime, produced an extraordinary impression
+upon the spectators.
+
+She was sentenced to the House of Correction in Odense. Despised and
+repulsed by the better class of her fellow-beings, she went to her
+punishment. No one had dreamed that under so fair a form so corrupt a
+soul could have been found. She was set to the spinning-wheel; silent
+and introverted, she accomplished the tasks that were assigned her. In
+the coarse merriment of the other prisoners she took no part.
+
+"Don't let your heart sink within you, Johanne Marie," said German
+Heinrich, who sat at the loom; "sing with us till the iron bars rattle!"
+
+"Johanne, you brought your old father to the grave," said her relation,
+the head-cook; "how could you have taken such bad courses?"
+
+Johanne Marie was silent; the large, dark eyes looked straight before
+her, whilst she kept turning the wheel.
+
+Five months went on, and then she became ill--ill to death, and
+gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl--two beautiful and well-formed
+children, excepting that the girl was as small and delicate as if its
+life hung on a thread.
+
+The dying mother kissed the little ones and wept; it was the first time
+that the people within the prison had seen her weep. Her relation the
+cook sat alone with her upon the bed.
+
+"Withdraw not your hand from the innocent children," said Johanne Marie;
+"if they live to grow up, tell them some time that their mother was
+innocent. My eternal Saviour knows that I have never stolen! Innocent
+am I, and innocent was I when I went out a spectacle of public derision,
+and now when I sit here!"
+
+"Ih, Jesus though! What do you say?" exclaimed the woman.
+
+"The truth!" answered the dying one. "God be gracious to me!--my
+children!"
+
+She sank back upon the couch, and was dead.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIV
+
+     "Ah! wonderfully beautiful is God's earth, and worthy it is
+     to live contented."--H�LTY.
+
+We now return to the hall in Funen, to the family which we left there;
+but autumn and winter are gone whilst we have been lingering on the
+past. Otto and Wilhelm have been two months away. It is the autumn of
+1832.
+
+The marriage of the Kammerjunker and Sophie was deferred, according to
+her wish, until the second of April, because this day is immortal in the
+annals of Denmark. In the house, where there now were only the mother,
+Louise, and Eva, all was quiet. Through the whole winter Eva had become
+weaker; yet she did not resemble the flowers which wither; there was no
+expression of illness about her--it was much more as if the spiritual
+nature overpowered the bodily; she resembled an astral lamp which,
+filled with light, seems almost resembled be an ethereal existence. The
+dark-blue eyes had an expression of soul and feeling which attracted
+even the simple domestics at the hall. The physician assured them that
+her chest was sound, and that her malady was to him a riddle. A
+beautiful summer, he thought, would work beneficially upon her.
+
+Wilhelm and Otto wrote alternately. It was a festival-day whenever a
+letter came; then were maps and plans of the great cities fetched out,
+and Louise and Eva made the journey with them.
+
+"To-day they are here, to-morrow they will be there," cried they.
+
+"How I envy them both, to see all these glorious things!" said Louise.
+
+"The charming Switzerland!" sighed Eva. "How refreshing the air must be
+to breathe! How well one must feel one's self there!"
+
+"If you could only go there, Eva," said Louise, "then you would
+certainly get better."
+
+"Here all are so kind to me; here I am so happy!" answered she. "I am
+right thankful to God for it. How could I have hoped for such a home as
+this? God reward you and your good mother for your kindness to me.
+Once I was so unhappy; but now I have had a double repayment for all
+my sorrow, and all the neglect I have suffered. I am so happy, and
+therefore I would so willingly live!"
+
+"Yes, and you shall live!" said Louise. "How came you now to think about
+dying? In the summer you will perfectly recover, the physician says. Can
+you hide from me any sorrow? Eva, I know that my brother loves you!"
+
+"He will forget that abroad!" said Eva. "He must forget it! Could I
+be ungrateful? But we are not suited for each other!" She spoke of her
+childhood, of long-passed, sorrowful days. Louise laid her arm upon
+her shoulder: they talked till late in the evening, and tears stood in
+Louise's eyes.
+
+"Only to you could I tell it!" said Eva. "It is to me like a sin, and
+yet I am innocent. My mother was so too--my poor mother! Her sin was
+love. She sacrificed all; more than a woman should sacrifice. The old
+Colonel was stern and violent. His wrath often became a sort of frenzy,
+in which he knew not what he did. The son was young and dissipated; my
+mother a poor girl, but very handsome, I have heard. He seduced her.
+She had become an unfortunate being, and that she herself felt. The
+Colonel's son robbed his father and an old woman who lived in the
+family: that which had been taken was missed. The father would have
+murdered the son, had he discovered the truth; the son, therefore,
+sought in his need help from my poor mother. He persuaded her to save
+him by taking the guilt on herself. The whole affair as regarded her
+was, he intended, only to come from the domestics. She thought that with
+her honor all was lost. She, indeed, had already given him the best of
+which she was possessed. In anguish of heart, and overpowered by his
+prayers, she said, 'Yes; my father has been angry and undone already.'"
+
+Eva burst into tears.
+
+"Thou dear, good girl!" said Louise, and kissed her forehead.
+
+"My poor mother," continued Eva, "was condemned to an undeserved
+punishment. I cannot mention it. For that reason I have never had a
+desire to go to Odense. The old lady in the Colonel's family concealed,
+out of kindness, her loss; but by accident it was discovered. The
+Colonel was greatly embittered. My mother was overwhelmed by shame and
+misfortune: the first error had plunged her into all this. She was
+taken to the House of Correction in Odense. The Colonel's son shortly
+afterward went away in a vessel. My unhappy mother was dispirited:
+nobody knew that she had endured, out of despair and love, a disgrace
+which she had not deserved. It was not until she lay upon her death-bed,
+when I and my brother were born, that she told a relation that she was
+innocent. Like a criminal, in the early morning she was carried to
+the grave in a coffin of plaited straw. A great and a noble heart was
+carried unacknowledged to the dead!"
+
+"You had a brother?" inquired Louise, and her heart beat violently. "Did
+he die? and where did you, poor children, remain?"
+
+"The cook in the house kept us with her. I was small and weak; my
+brother, on the contrary, was strong, and full of life. He lived mostly
+among the prisoners. I sat in a little room with my doll. When we were
+in our seventh year, we were sent for to the old Colonel. His son died
+abroad; but before his death he had written to the old man, confessing
+to him his crime, my mother's innocence, and that we were his children!
+I resembled my father greatly. The old gentleman, as soon as he saw
+me, was very angry, and said, 'I will not have her!' I remained with my
+foster-mother. I never saw my brother after that time. The Colonel left
+the city, and took him with him."
+
+"O God!" cried Louise; "you have still some papers on this subject? Do
+you not know your brother? It is impossible that it should be otherwise!
+You are Otto's sister!"
+
+"O Heavens!" exclaimed Eva; her hands trembled, and she became as pale
+as a corpse.
+
+"You are fainting!" cried Louise, throwing her arm around her waist and
+kissing her eyes and her cheeks. "Eva! he is your brother! the dear,
+good Otto! O, he will be so happy with you! Yes, your eyes are like his!
+Eva, you beloved girl!"
+
+Louise related to her all that Otto had confided to her. She told her
+about German Heinrich, and how Otto had assisted Sidsel away, and how
+they had met.
+
+Eva burst into tears. "My brother! O Father in heaven, that I may but
+live! live and see him! Life is so beautiful! I must not die!"
+
+"Happiness will make you strong! There is no doubt but that he is your
+brother! We must tell it to mamma. O Heavens! how delighted she will be!
+and Otto will no longer suffer and be unhappy! He may be proud of you,
+and happy in you! O, come, come!"
+
+She led Eva out with her to her mother, who was already in bed; but how
+could Louise wait till next morning?
+
+"May the Lord bless thee, my good child!" said the lady, and pressed a
+kiss upon her forehead.
+
+Eva related now how the Colonel had, given a considerable sum to
+her foster-mother; but that was all she was to receive, he had said.
+Afterward, when the foster-mother died, Eva had still two hundred
+rix-dollars; and on consideration of this the sister of the deceased
+had taken Eva to live with her. With her she came to Copenhagen and to
+Nyboder, and at that time she was ten years old. There she had to nurse
+a little child--her brother she called it--and that was the little
+Jonas. As she grew older, people told her that she was handsome. It was
+now four years since she was followed one evening by two young men, one
+of whom we know--our moral Hans Peter. One morning her foster-mother
+came to her with a proposal which drove her to despair. The merchant
+had seen her, and wished to purchase the beautiful flower. Upon this Eva
+left her home, and came to the excellent people at Roeskelde; and from
+that day God had been very good to her.
+
+She sank down upon her knees before the elderly lady's bed. She was not
+among strangers: a mother and a sister wept with the happy one.
+
+"O that I might live!" besought Eva, in the depths of her heart. As a
+glorified one she stood before them. Her joy beamed through tears.
+
+The next morning she felt herself singularly unwell. Her feet trembled;
+her cheeks were like marble. She seated herself in the warm sunshine
+which came in through the window. Outside stood the trees with large,
+half-bursting buds. A few mild nights would make the wood green. But
+summer was already in Eva's heart; there was life's joy and gladness.
+Her large, thoughtful eyes raised themselves thankfully to heaven.
+
+"Let me not die yet, good God!" prayed she; and her lips moved to a low
+melody, soft as if breezes passed over the outstretched chords:--
+
+           "The sunshine warm, the odorous flowers,
+            Of these do not bereave me!
+            I breathe with joy the morning hours,
+            Let not the grave receive me!
+            There can no pleasant sunbeams fall,
+            No human voice come near me;
+            There should I miss the flow'rets small,
+            There have no friends to cheer me.
+
+            Now, how to value life I know--
+            I hold it as a treasure;
+            There is no love i' th' grave below,
+            No music, warmth, or pleasure.
+            On it the heavy earth is flung,
+            The coffin-lid shuts tightly!
+            My blood is warm, my soul is young!
+            Life smiles--life shines so brightly!"
+
+She folded her hands: all became like flowers and gold before her eyes.
+Afar off was the sound of music: she reeled and sank down upon the sofa
+which was near her. Life flowed forth from her heart, but the sensation
+was one of bliss; a repose, as when the weary bow down their heads for
+sleep.
+
+"Here is a letter!" cried Louise, full of joy, and found her white and
+cold. Terrified, she called for help, and bent over her.
+
+Eva was dead.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLV
+
+     "Knowest thou the mountain and its cloudy paths? where the
+     mule is seeking its misty way."--GOETHE.
+
+The letter was from Wilhelm; every line breathed life's joy and
+gladness.
+
+"MIA CARA SORELLA!
+
+"Does it not sound beautifully? It is Italian! Now then, I am in that
+so-often-sung-of Paradise, but of the so much-talked-about blue air,
+I have as yet seen nothing of consequence. Here it is gray, gray as in
+Denmark. To be sure Otto says that it is beautiful, that we have the
+heaven of home above us, but I am not so poetical. The eating is
+good, and the filth of the people strikes one horribly after being in
+Switzerland, the enchanting Switzerland! Yes, there is nature! We have
+made a crusade through it, you may think. But now you shall hear about
+the journey, and the entrance into 'la bella Italia,' which is yet below
+all my expectations. I cannot at all bear these feeble people; I cannot
+endure this monk-odor and untruthfulness. We are come direct from the
+scenery of Switzerland, from clouds and glaciers, from greatness and
+power. We travelled somewhat hastily through the valley of the Rhone;
+the weather was gray, but the whole obtained therefrom a peculiar
+character. The woods in the lofty ridges looked like heather; the valley
+itself seemed like a garden filled with vegetables, vineyards, and green
+meadows. The clouds over and under one another, but the snow-covered
+mountains peeped forth gloriously from among them, It was a riven
+cloud-world which drove past,--the wild chase with which the daylight
+had disguised itself. It kissed in its flight Pissevache, a waterfall
+by no means to be despised. In Brieg we rested some time, but at two
+o'clock in the morning began again our journey over the Simplon. This is
+the journey which I will describe to you. Otto and I sat in the coup�e.
+Fancy us in white blouses, shawl-caps, and with green morocco slippers,
+for the devil may travel in slippers--they are painful to the feet.
+
+"We both of us have mustaches! I have seduced Otto. They become us
+uncommonly well, and give us a very imposing air; and that is very good
+now that we are come into the land of banditti, where we must endeavor
+to awe the robbers. Thus travelled we. It was a dark night, and still
+as death, as in the moment when the overture begins to an opera. Soon,
+indeed, was the great Simplon curtain to be rolled up, and we to behold
+the land of music. Immediately on leaving the city, the road began to
+ascend; we could not see a hand before us; around us tumbled and roared
+the water-courses,--it was as if we heard the pulse of Nature beat.
+Close above the carriage passed the white clouds; they seemed like
+transparent marble slabs which were slid over us. We had the gray dawn
+with us, whilst deep in the valley lay yet the darkness of night; in
+an hour's time it began to show itself there among the little wooden
+houses.
+
+"It is a road hewn out of the rocks. The giant Napoleon carried it
+through the backbone of the earth. The eagle, Napoleon's bird, flew like
+a living armorial crest over the gigantic work of the master. There it
+was cold and gray; the clouds above us, the clouds below us, and in the
+middle space steep rocky walls.
+
+"At regular distances houses (relais) are erected for the travellers;
+in one of these we drank our coffee. The passengers sat on benches and
+tables around the great fire-place, where the pine logs crackled. More
+than a thousand names were written on the walls. I amused myself by
+writing mamma's, yours, Sophie's, and Eva's; now they stand there, and
+people will fancy that you have been on the Simplon. In the lobby I
+scratched in that of Mamsell, and added 'Without her workbox.' Otto
+was thinking about you. We talked in our, what the rest would call
+'outlandish speech,' when I all at once exclaimed, 'It is really Eva's
+birthday!' I remembered it first. In Simplon town we determined to drink
+her health.
+
+"We set off again. Wherever the glaciers might fall and destroy the road
+the rocks have been sprung, and formed into great galleries, through
+which one drives without any danger. One waterfall succeeds another.
+There is no balustrade along the road, only the dark, deep abyss where
+the pine-trees raise themselves to an immense height, and yet only look
+like rafters on the mighty wall of rock. Before we had advanced much
+further, we came to where trees no longer grew. The great hospice lay in
+snow and cloud. We came into a valley. What solitude! what desolation!
+only naked crags! They seemed metallic, and all had a green hue. The
+utmost variety of mosses grew there; before us towered up an immense
+glacier, which looked like green bottle-glass ornamented with snow.
+It was bitterly cold here, and in Simplon the stoves were lighted; the
+champagne foamed, Eva's health was drunk, and, only think! at that very
+moment an avalanche was so gallant as to fall. That was a cannonade; a
+pealing among the mountains! It must have rung in Eva's ears. Ask her
+about it. I can see how she smiles.
+
+"We now advanced toward Italy, but cold was it, and cold it remained.
+The landscape became savage; we drove between steep crags. Only fancy,
+on both sides a block of granite several miles long, and almost as high,
+and the road not wider than for two carriages to pass, and there you
+have a picture of it. If one wanted to see the sky, one was obliged to
+put one's head out of the carriage and look up, and then it was as if
+one looked up from the bottom of the deepest well, dark and narrow.
+Every moment I kept thinking, 'Nay, if these two walls should come
+together!' We with carriage and horses were only like ants on a pebble.
+We drove through the ribs of the earth! The water roared; the clouds
+hung like fleeces on the gray, craggy walls. In a valley we saw boys
+and girls dressed in sheep-skins, who looked as wild as if they had been
+brought up among beasts.
+
+"Suddenly the air became wondrously mild. We saw the first fig-tree by
+the road-side. Chestnuts hung over our heads; we were in Isella, the
+boundary town of Italy. Otto sang, and was wild with delight; I studied
+the first public-house sign, 'Tabacca e vino.'
+
+"How luxuriant became the landscape! Fields of maize and vineyards! The
+vine was not trained on frames as in Germany!--no, it hung in luxuriant
+garlands, in great huts of leaves! Beautiful children bounded along the
+road, but the heavens were gray, and that I had not expected in Italy.
+From Domo d'Ossola, I looked back to my beloved Switzerland! Yes, she
+turns truly the most beautiful side toward Italy. But there was not
+any time for me to gaze; on we must. In the carriage there sat an old
+Signorina; she recited poetry, and made: with her eyes 'che bella cosa!'
+
+"About ten o'clock at night we were in Baveno, drank tea, and slept,
+whilst Lago Maggiore splashed under our window. The lake and the
+Borromaen island we were to see by daylight.
+
+"'Lord God!' thought I, 'is this all?' A scene as quiet and riant as
+this we--have at home! Funen after this should be called Isola bella,
+and the East Sea is quite large enough to be called Lago Maggiore. We
+went by the steamboat past the holy Borromeus [Author's Note: A colossal
+statue on the shore of Lago Maggiore.] to Sesto de Calende; we had a
+priest on board, who was very much astonished at our having come from so
+far. I showed him a large travelling map which we had with us, where
+the Lago Maggiore was the most southern, and Hamburg the most northern
+point. 'Yet still further off,' said I; 'more to the north!' and he
+struck his hands together when he perceived that we were from beyond the
+great map. He inquired whether we were Calvinists.
+
+"We sped through glorious scenes. The Alps looked like glass mountains
+in a fairy tale. They lay behind us. The air was warm as summer, but
+light as on the high mountains. The women wafted kisses to us; but they
+were not handsome, the good ladies!
+
+"Tell the Kammerjunker that the Italian pigs have no bristles, but have
+a coal-black shining skin like a Moor.
+
+"Toward night we arrived at Milan, where we located ourselves with
+Reichmann, made a good supper, and had excellent beds; but I foresee
+that this bliss will not last very long. On the other side of the
+Apennines we shall be up to the ears in dirt, and must eat olives
+preserved in oil; but let it pass. Otto adapts himself charmingly to
+all things; he begins to be merry--that is, at times! I, too, have had
+a sort of vertigo--I am taken with Italian music; but then there is a
+difference in hearing it on the spot. It has more than melody; it has
+character. The luxuriance in nature and in the female form; the light,
+fluttering movement of the people, where even pain is melody, has won my
+heart and my understanding. Travelling changes people!
+
+"Kiss mamma for me! Tell Eva about the health-drinking on the Simplon,
+and about the falling avalanche: do not forget that; that is precisely
+the point in my letter! Tell me too how Eva blushed, and smiled, and
+said, 'He thought of me!' Yes, in fact it is very noble of me. My sweet
+Sophie and her Kammerjunker, Jakoba and Mamsell, must have a bouquet of
+greetings, which you must arrange properly. If you could but see Otto
+and me with our mustaches! We make an impression, and that is very
+pleasant. If the days only did not go on so quickly--if life did not
+pass so rapidly!
+
+           "'Questa vita mortale
+             Che par si bella, a quasi piuma al vento
+             Che la porta a la perde in un momento,' [Note: Guarini]
+
+as we Italians say. Cannot you understand that?
+
+"Thy affectionate brother,
+
+"WILHELM."
+
+Otto wrote in the margin of the letter, "Italy is a paradise! Here the
+heavens are three times as lofty as at home. I love the proud pine-trees
+and the dark-blue mountains. Would hat everybody could see the glorious
+objects!"
+
+Wilhelm added to this, "What he writes about the Italian heavens is
+stupid stuff. Ours at home is just as good. He is an odd person, as you
+very well know!
+
+"'Addic! A rivederci!'"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVI
+
+     "Thou art master in thy world.
+     Hast thou thyself, then thou hast all!"
+     --WAHLMANN.
+
+In the summer of 1834 the friends had been absent for two years. In the
+last year, violet-colored gillyflowers had adorned a grave in the little
+country church-yard.
+
+     "A heart which overflowed with love,
+     Was gone from earth to love and God,"
+     were the words which might be read upon the grave-stone.
+
+A withered bouquet of stocks had been found by Louise, with the
+certificate of Eva's birth and her hymn-book. These were the flowers
+which Wilhelm had given her that evening at Roeskelde. Among the dry
+leaves there lay a piece of paper, on which she had written,--"Even like
+these flowers let the feelings die away in my soul which these flowers
+inspire it with!"
+
+And now above her grave the flowers which she had loved sent forth their
+fragrance.
+
+It was Sunday; the sun shone warm; the church-goers, old and young,
+assembled under the great lime-tree near Eva's grave. They expected
+their young preacher, who to-day was to preach for the third time.
+
+The gentlefolks would also certainly be there, they thought, because the
+young Baron was come back out of foreign parts, and with him the other
+gentleman, who certainly was to have Miss Louise.
+
+"Our new preacher is worth hearing," said one of the peasant women;
+"such a young man, who actually preaches the old faith! as gentle and as
+meek in conversation as if he were one of ourselves! And in the pulpit,
+God help us! it went quite down into my legs the last time about the Day
+of Judgment!"
+
+"There is Father!" [Note: The general term applied to the preacher by
+the Danish peasants.] exclaimed the crowd, and the heads of old and
+young were uncovered. The women courtesied deeply as a young man in
+priest-robes went into the church-door. His eyes and lips moved to a
+pious smile, the hair was smooth upon his pale forehead.
+
+"Good day, children!" said he.
+
+It was Hans Peter. He had, indeed, had "the best characters," and thus
+had received a good living, and now preached effectively about the devil
+and all his works.
+
+The singing of the community sounded above the grave where the sun
+shone, where the stocks sent forth their fragrance, and where Eva slept:
+she whose last wish was to live.
+
+     "There is no love i' th' grave below,
+     No music, warmth, or pleasure."
+
+The earth lay firm and heavy upon her coffin-lid.
+
+During the singing of the second hymn a handsome carriage drove up
+before the church-yard. The two friends, who were only just returned to
+their home in Denmark, entered the church, together with the mother and
+Louise.
+
+Travelling and two years had made Wilhelm appear somewhat older;
+there was a shadow of sadness in his otherwise open and life-rejoicing
+countenance. Otto looked handsomer than formerly; the gloomy expression
+in his face was softened, he looked around cheerfully, yet thoughtfully,
+and a smile was on his lips when he spoke with Louise.
+
+There was in the sermon some allusion made to those who had returned
+home; for the rest, it was a flowery discourse interlarded with many
+texts from the Bible. The community shed tears; the good, wise people,
+they understood it to mean that their young lord was returned home
+uninjured from all the perils which abound in foreign lands.
+
+The preacher was invited to dinner at the hall. The Kammerjunker and
+Sophie came also, but it lasted "seven long and seven wide," as
+Miss Jakoba expressed herself, before they could get through all the
+unwrapping and were ready to enter the parlor, for they had with them
+the little son Fergus, as he was called, after the handsome Scotchman in
+Sir Walter Scott's "Waverley." That was Sophie's wish. The Kammerjunker
+turned the name of Fergus to Gusseman, and Jacoba asserted that it was a
+dog's name.
+
+"Now you shall see my little bumpkin!" said he, and brought in a
+square-built child, who with fat, red cheeks, and round arms, stared
+around him. "That is a strong fellow! Here is something to take hold of!
+Tralla-ralla-ralla!" And he danced him round the room.
+
+Sophie laughed and offered her hand to Otto.
+
+Wilhelm turned to Mamsell. "I have brought something for you," said he,
+"something which I hope may find a place in the work-box--a man made of
+very small mussel-shells; it is from Venice."
+
+"Heavens! from all that way off!" said she and courtesied.
+
+After dinner they walked in the garden.
+
+Wilhelm spoke already of going the following year again to Paris.
+
+"Satan!" said the Kammerjunker. "Nay, I can do better with Mr. Thostrup.
+He is patriotic. He lays out his money in an estate. It is a good
+bargain which you have made, and in a while will be beautiful; there is
+hill and dale."
+
+"There my old Rosalie shall live with me," said Otto; "there she will
+find her Switzerland. The cows shall have bells on their necks."
+
+"Lord God! shall they also be made fools of?" exclaimed Jakoba: "that is
+just exactly as if it were Sophie."
+
+They went through the avenue where Otto two years before had wept, and
+had related all his troubles to Louise. He recollected it, and a gentle
+sigh passed his lips whilst his eyes rested on Louise.
+
+"Now, do you feel yourself happy at home?" asked she; "a lovelier
+summer's day than this you certainly have not abroad."
+
+"Every country has its own beauties," replied Otto. "Our Denmark is not
+a step child of Nature. The people here are dearest to me, for I am
+best acquainted with them. They, and not Nature, it is that makes a
+land charming. Denmark is a good land; and here also will I look for my
+happiness." He seized Louise's hand; she blushed, and was silent. Happy
+hours succeeded.
+
+This circle assembled every Sunday; on the third, their delight was
+greater, was more festal than on any former occasion.
+
+Nature herself had the same expression. The evening was most beautiful;
+the full moon shone, magnificent dark-blue clouds raised themselves like
+mountains on the other side the Belt. Afar off sailed the ships, with
+every sail set to catch the breeze.
+
+Below the moon floated a coal-black cloud, which foretold a squall.
+
+A little yacht went calmly over the water. At the helm sat a boy--half
+a child he seemed: it was Jonas, the little singing-bird, as Wilhelm had
+once called him. Last Whitsuntide he had been confirmed, and with his
+Confirmation all his singer-dreams were at an end: but that did not
+trouble him; on the contrary, it had lain very heavy upon his heart that
+he was not to be a fifer. His highest wish had been to see himself as
+a regimental fifer, and then he should have gone to his Confirmation in
+his red uniform, with a sabre at his side, and a feather in his hat half
+as tall as himself. Thus adorned, he might have gone with the girls
+into the King's Garden and upon the Round Tower, the usual walk for poor
+children in Copenhagen. On Confirmation-day they ascend the high tower,
+just as if it were to gain from it a free view over the world. Little
+Jonas, however, was confirmed as a sailor, and he now sat at the helm on
+this quiet night.
+
+Upon the deck lay two persons and slept; a third went tranquilly up
+and down. Suddenly he shook one of the sleepers, and caught hold on
+the sail. A squall had arisen with such rapidity and strength, that the
+vessel in a moment was thrown on her side. Mast and sail were below the
+water. Little Jonas uttered a shriek. Not a vessel was within sight.
+The two sleepers had woke in time to cling to the mast. With great
+force they seized the ropes, but in vain; the sail hung like lead in the
+water. The ship did not right herself.
+
+"Joseph, Maria!" exclaimed one of them, a man with gray hairs and
+unpleasing features. "We sink! the water is in the hold!"
+
+All three clambered now toward the hinder part of the vessel, where a
+little boat floated after. One of them sprang into it.
+
+"My daughter!" cried the elder, and bent himself toward the narrow
+entrance into the cabin. "Sidsel, save thy life!" and so saying, he
+sprang into the boat.
+
+"We must have my daughter out," cried he. One of the ship's cabin
+windows was under water; he burst in the other window.
+
+"We are sinking!" cried he, and a horrible scream was heard within.
+
+The old man was German Heinrich, who was about to come with this vessel
+from Copenhagen to Jutland: Sidsel was his daughter, and therefore he
+wished now to save her life a second time.
+
+The water rushed more and more into the ship. Heinrich thrust his arm
+through the cabin-window, he grasped about in the water within; suddenly
+he caught hold on a garment, he drew it toward him; but it was only the
+captain's coat, and not his daughter, as he had hoped.
+
+"The ship sinks!" shrieked the other, and grasped wildly on the rope
+which held the boat fast: in vain he attempted to divide it with his
+pocket-knife. The ship whirled round with the boat and all. Air and
+water boiled within it, and, as if in a whirlpool, the whole sunk into
+the deep. The sea agitated itself into strong surges over the place, and
+then was again still. The moon shone tranquilly over the surface of the
+water as before. No wreck remained to tell any one of the struggle which
+there had been with death.
+
+The bell tolled a quarter past twelve; and at that moment the last light
+at the hall was extinguished.
+
+"I will go to Paris," said Wilhelm, "to my glorious Switzerland; here
+at home one is heavy-hearted; the gillyflowers on the grave have an odor
+full of melancholy recollections. I must breathe the mountain air;
+I must mingle in the tumult of men, and it is quite the best in the
+world."
+
+Otto closed his eyes; he folded his hands.
+
+"Louise loves me," said he. "I am so happy that I fear some great
+misfortune may soon meet me; thus it used always to be. Whilst German
+Heinrich lives I cannot assure myself of good! If he were away, I should
+be perfectly tranquil, perfectly happy!"
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of O. T., by Hans Christian Andersen
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diff --git a/7513-8.zip b/7513-8.zip
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@@ -0,0 +1,13094 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+
+<!DOCTYPE html
+   PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+   "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" >
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" />
+    <title>
+      O. T., by Hans Christian Andersen
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve">
+
+    body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify}
+    P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; }
+    H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; }
+    hr  { width: 50%; text-align: center;}
+    .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; }
+    blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;}
+    .mynote    {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;}
+    .toc       { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;}
+    .toc2      { margin-left: 20%;}
+    div.fig    { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; }
+    div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; }
+    .figleft   {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;}
+    .figright  {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;}
+    .pagenum   {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal;
+               margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%;
+               text-align: right;}
+    pre        { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;}
+
+</style>
+  </head>
+  <body>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of O. T., by Hans Christian Andersen
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: O. T.
+       A Danish Romance
+
+Author: Hans Christian Andersen
+
+Release Date: August 3, 2009 [EBook #7513]
+Last Updated: October 31, 2016
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK O. T. ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nicole Apostola, and David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <h1>
+      O. T.
+    </h1>
+    <h2>
+      A Danish Romance
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <h2>
+      by Hans Christian Andersen
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      Author of the &ldquo;Improvisatore&rdquo; and the &ldquo;Two Baronesses&rdquo;
+     </h3>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <blockquote>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER XVIII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XIX </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER XX </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0021"> CHAPTER XXI </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0022"> CHAPTER XXII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0023"> CHAPTER XXIII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0024"> CHAPTER XXIV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0025"> CHAPTER XXV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0026"> CHAPTER XXVI </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0027"> CHAPTER XXVII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0028"> CHAPTER XXVIII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0029"> CHAPTER XXIX </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0030"> CHAPTER XXX </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0031"> CHAPTER XXXI </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0032"> CHAPTER XXXII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0033"> CHAPTER XXXIII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0034"> CHAPTER XXXIV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0035"> CHAPTER XXXV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0036"> CHAPTER XXXVI. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0037"> CHAPTER XXXVII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0038"> CHAPTER XXXVIII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0039"> CHAPTER XXXIX </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0040"> CHAPTER XL </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0041"> CHAPTER XLI </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0042"> CHAPTER XLII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0043"> CHAPTER XLIII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0044"> CHAPTER XLIV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0045"> CHAPTER XLV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0046"> CHAPTER XLVI </a>
+      </p>
+    </blockquote>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br /> <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER I
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Quod felix faustumque sit!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      There is a happiness which no poet has yet properly sung, which no
+      lady-reader, let her be ever so amiable, has experienced or ever will
+      experience in this world. This is a condition of happiness which alone
+      belongs to the male sex, and even then alone to the elect. It is a moment
+      of life which seizes upon our feelings, our minds, our whole being. Tears
+      have been shed by the innocent, sleepless nights been passed, during which
+      the pious mother, the loving sister, have put up prayers to God for this
+      critical moment in the life of the son or the brother.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Happy moment, which no woman, let her be ever so good, so beautiful, or
+      intellectual, can experience&mdash;that of becoming a student, or, to
+      describe it by a more usual term, the passing of the first examination!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The cadet who becomes an officer, the scholar who becomes an academical
+      burgher, the apprentice who becomes a journeyman, all know, in a greater
+      or less degree, this loosening of the wings, this bounding over the limits
+      of maturity into the lists of philosophy. We all strive after a wider
+      field, and rush thither like the stream which at length loses itself in
+      the ocean.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then for the first time does the youthful soul rightly feel her freedom,
+      and, therefore, feels it doubly; the soul struggles for activity, she
+      comprehends her individuality; it has been proved and not found too light;
+      she is still in possession of the dreams of childhood, which have not yet
+      proved delusive. Not even the joy of love, not the enthusiasm for art and
+      science, so thrills through all the nerves as the words, &ldquo;Now am I a
+      student!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This spring-day of life, on which the ice-covering of the school is
+      broken, when the tree of Hope puts forth its buds and the sun of Freedom
+      shines, falls with us, as is well known, in the month of October, just
+      when Nature loses her foliage, when the evenings begin to grow darker, and
+      when heavy winter-clouds draw together, as though they would say to youth,&mdash;&ldquo;Your
+      spring, the birth of the examination, is only a dream! even now does your
+      life become earnest!&rdquo; But our happy youths think not of these things,
+      neither will we be joyous with the gay, and pay a visit to their circle.
+      In such a one our story takes its commencement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER II
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;At last we separate:
+     To Jutland one, to Fünen others go;
+     And still the quick thought comes,
+     &mdash;A day so bright, so full of fun,
+     Never again on us shall rise.&rdquo;&mdash;CARL BAGGER.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      It was in October of the year 1829. Examen artium had been passed through.
+      Several young students were assembled in the evening at the abode of one
+      of their comrades, a young Copenhagener of eighteen, whose parents were
+      giving him and his new friends a banquet in honor of the examination. The
+      mother and sister had arranged everything in the nicest manner, the father
+      had given excellent wine out of the cellar, and the student himself, here
+      the rex convivii, had provided tobacco, genuine Oronoko-canaster. With
+      regard to Latin, the invitation&mdash;which was, of course, composed in
+      Latin&mdash;informed the guests that each should bring his own.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The company, consisting of one and twenty persons&mdash;and these were
+      only the most intimate friends&mdash;was already assembled. About one
+      third of the friends were from the provinces, the remainder out of
+      Copenhagen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Old Father Homer shall stand in the middle of the table!&rdquo; said one of the
+      liveliest guests, whilst he took down from the stove a plaster bust and
+      placed it upon the covered table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, certainly, he will have drunk as much as the other poets!&rdquo; said an
+      older one. &ldquo;Give me one of thy exercise-books, Ludwig! I will cut him out
+      a wreath of vine-leaves, since we have no roses and since I cannot cut out
+      any.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have no libation!&rdquo; cried a third,&mdash;&ldquo;Favete linguis.&rdquo; And he
+      sprinkled a small quantity of salt, from the point of a knife, upon the
+      bust, at the same time raising his glass to moisten it with a few drops of
+      wine.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do not use my Homer as you would an ox!&rdquo; cried the host. &ldquo;Homer shall
+      have the place of honor, between the bowl and the garland-cake! He is
+      especially my poet! It was he who in Greek assisted me to laudabilis et
+      quidem egregie. Now we will mutually drink healths! Jörgen shall be
+      magister bibendi, and then we will sing &lsquo;Gaudeamus igitur,&rsquo; and &lsquo;Integer
+      vitae.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Sexton with the cardinal&rsquo;s hat shall be the precentor!&rdquo; cried one of
+      the youths from the provinces, pointing toward a rosy-cheeked companion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, now I am no longer sexton!&rdquo; returned the other laughing. &ldquo;If thou
+      bringest old histories up again, thou wilt receive thy old school-name,
+      &lsquo;the Smoke-squirter.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But that is a very nice little history!&rdquo; said the other. &ldquo;We called him
+      &lsquo;Sexton,&rsquo; from the office his father held; but that, after all, is not
+      particularly witty. It was better with the hat, for it did, indeed,
+      resemble a cardinal&rsquo;s hat. I, in the mean time, got my name in a more
+      amusing manner.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He lived near the school,&rdquo; pursued the other; &ldquo;he could always slip home
+      when we had out free quarters of an hour: and then one day he had filled
+      his mouth with tobacco smoke, intending to blow it into our faces; but
+      when he entered the passage with his filled cheeks the quarter of an hour
+      was over, and we were again in class: the rector was still standing in the
+      doorway; he could not, therefore, blow the smoke out of his mouth, and so
+      wished to slip in as he was. &lsquo;What have you there in your mouth?&rsquo; asked
+      the rector; but Philip could answer nothing, without at the same time
+      losing the smoke. &lsquo;Now, cannot you speak?&rsquo; cried the rector, and gave him
+      a box on the ear, so that the smoke burst through nose and mouth. This
+      looked quite exquisite; the affair caused the rector such pleasure, that
+      he presented the poor sinner with the nota bene.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Integer vitae!&rdquo; broke in the Precentor, and harmoniously followed the
+      other voices. After this, a young Copenhagener exhibited his dramatic
+      talent by mimicking most illusively the professors of the Academy, and
+      giving their peculiarities, yet in such a good-natured manner that it must
+      have amused even the offended parties themselves. Now followed the healths&mdash;&ldquo;Vivant
+      omnes hi et hae!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A health to the prettiest girl!&rdquo; boldly cried one of the merriest
+      brothers. &ldquo;The prettiest girl!&rdquo; repeated a pair of the younger ones, and
+      pushed their glasses toward each other, whilst the blood rushed to their
+      cheeks at this their boldness, for they had never thought of a beloved
+      being, which, nevertheless, belonged to their new life. The roundelay now
+      commenced, in which each one must give the Christian name of his
+      lady-love, and assuredly every second youth caught a name out of the air;
+      some, however, repeated a name with a certain palpitation of the heart.
+      The discourse became more animated; the approaching military exercises,
+      the handsome uniform, the reception in the students&rsquo; club, and its
+      pleasures, were all matters of the highest interest. But there was the
+      future philologicum and philosophicum&mdash;yes, that also was discussed;
+      there they must exhibit their knowledge of Latin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do you think,&rdquo; said one of the party, &ldquo;if once a week we alternately
+      met at each other&rsquo;s rooms, and held disputations? No Danish word must be
+      spoken. This might be an excellent scheme.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I agree to that!&rdquo; cried several.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Regular laws must be drawn up.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, and we must have our best Latin scholar, the Jutlander, Otto
+      Thostrup, with us! He wrote his themes in hexameters.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He is not invited here this evening,&rdquo; remarked the neighbor, the young
+      Baron Wilhelm of Funen, the only nobleman in the company.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Otto Thostrup!&rdquo; answered the host. &ldquo;Yes, truly he&rsquo;s a clever fellow, but
+      he seems to me so haughty. There is something about him that does not
+      please me at all. We are still no dunces, although he did receive nine
+      prae caeteris!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet it was very provoking,&rdquo; cried another, &ldquo;that he received the only Non
+      in mathematics. Otherwise he would have been called in. Now he will only
+      have to vex himself about his many brilliant characters.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, and he is well versed in mathematics!&rdquo; added Wilhelm &ldquo;There was
+      something incorrect in the writing; the inspector was to blame for that,
+      but how I know not. Thostrup is terribly vehement, and can set all respect
+      at defiance; he became angry, and went out. There was only a piece of
+      unwritten paper presented from him, and this brought him a cipher, which
+      the verbal examination could not bring higher than non. Thostrup is
+      certainly a glorious fellow. We have made a tour together in the steamboat
+      from Helsingöer to Copenhagen, and in the written examination we sat
+      beside each other until the day when we had mathematics, and then I sat
+      below him. I like him very much, his pride excepted; and of that we must
+      break him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Herr Baron,&rdquo; said his neighbor, &ldquo;I am of your opinion. Shall not we drink
+      the Thou-brotherhood?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To-night we will all of us drink the Thou!&rdquo; said the host; &ldquo;it is nothing
+      if comrades and good friends call each other <i>you</i>.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Evoe Bacchus!&rdquo; they joyously shouted. The glasses were filled, one arm
+      was thrown round that of the neighbor, and the glasses were emptied,
+      whilst several commenced singing &ldquo;dulce cum sodalibus!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell me what thou art called?&rdquo; demanded one of the younger guests of his
+      new Thou-brother.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What am I called?&rdquo; replied he. &ldquo;With the exception of one letter, the
+      same as the Baron.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Baron!&rdquo; cried a third; &ldquo;yes, where is he?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There he stands talking at the door; take your glasses! now have all of
+      us drank the Thou-brotherhood?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The glasses were again raised; the young Baron laughed, clinked his glass,
+      and shouted in the circle, &ldquo;Thou, Thou!&rdquo; But in his whole bearing there
+      lay something constrained, which, however, none of the young men remarked,
+      far less allowed themselves to imagine that his sudden retreat, during the
+      first drinking, perhaps occurred from the sole object of avoiding it. But
+      soon was he again one of the most extravagant; promised each youth who
+      would study theology a living on his estate when he should once get it
+      into his own hands; and proposed that the Latin disputations should
+      commence with him, and on the following Friday. Otto Thostrup, however,
+      should be of the party&mdash;if he chose, of course being understood; for
+      he was a capital student, and his friend they had made a journey together
+      and had been neighbors at the green table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Among those who were the earliest to make their valete amici was the
+      Baron. Several were not yet inclined to quit this joyous circle. The
+      deepest silence reigned in the streets; it was the most beautiful
+      moonlight. In most houses all had retired to rest&mdash;only here and
+      there was a light still seen, most persons slept, even those whose sense
+      of duty should leave banished the god of sleep: thus sat a poor
+      hackney-coachman, aloft upon his coach-box, before the house where he
+      awaited his party, and enjoyed, the reins wound about his hand, the
+      much-desired rest. Wilhelm (henceforth we will only call the young Baron
+      by his Christian name) walked alone through the street. The wine had
+      heated his northern blood&mdash;besides which it never flowed slowly; his
+      youthful spirits, his jovial mood, and the gayety occasioned by the merry
+      company he had just quitted did not permit him quietly to pass by this
+      sleeping Endymion. Suddenly it occurred to him to open the coach-door and
+      leap in; which having done, he let the glass fall and called out with a
+      loud voice, &ldquo;Drive on!&rdquo; The coachman started up out of his blessed sleep
+      and asked, quite confused, &ldquo;Where to?&rdquo; Without reflecting about the
+      matter, Wilhelm cried, &ldquo;To the Ship in West Street.&rdquo; The coachman drove
+      on; about half-way, Wilhelm again opened the coach-door, a bold spring
+      helped him out, and the coach rolled on. It stopped at the public-house of
+      the Ship. The coachman got down and opened the door; there was no one
+      within; he thrust his head in thoroughly to convince himself; but no, the
+      carriage was empty! &ldquo;Extraordinary!&rdquo; said the fellow; &ldquo;can I have dreamed
+      it? But still I heard, quite distinctly, how I was told to drive to the
+      Ship! Lord preserve us! now they are waiting for me!&rdquo; He leaped upon the
+      box and drove rapidly back again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the mean time Wilhelm had reached his abode in Vineyard Street; he
+      opened a window to enjoy the beautiful night, and gazed out upon the
+      desolate church-yard which is shut in by shops. He had no inclination for
+      sleep, although everything in the street, even the watchmen not excepted,
+      appeared to rejoice the gift of God. Wilhelm thought upon the merry
+      evening party, upon his adventure with the poor hackney-coachman, then
+      took down his violin from the wall and began to play certain variations.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The last remaining guests from the honorable carousal, merrier than when
+      Wilhelm left them, now came wandering up the street. One of them jodeled
+      sweetly, and no watchman showed himself as a disturbing principle. They
+      heard Wilhelm violin and recognized the musician.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Play us a Française, thou up there!&rdquo; cried they.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But the watchman?&rdquo; whispered one of the less courageous.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Zounds, there he sits!&rdquo; cried a third, and pointed toward a sleeping
+      object which leaned its head upon a large wooden chest before a closed
+      booth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He is happy!&rdquo; said the first speaker. &ldquo;If we had only the strong
+      Icelander here, he would soon hang him up by his bandelier upon one of the
+      iron hooks. He has done that before now; he has the strength of a bear. He
+      seized such a lazy fellow as this right daintily by his girdle on one of
+      the hooks at the weighing-booth. There hung the watchman and whistled to
+      the others; the first who hastened to the spot was immediately hung up
+      beside him, and away ran the Icelander whilst the two blew a duet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here, take hold!&rdquo; cried one of the merry brothers, quickly opening the
+      chest, the lid of which was fastened by a peg. &ldquo;Let us put the watchman
+      into the chest; he sleeps indeed like a horse!&rdquo; In a moment, the four had
+      seized the sleeper, who certainly awoke during the operation, but he
+      already lay in the chest. The lid flew down, and two or three of the
+      friends sprang upon it whilst the peg was stuck in again. The watchman
+      immediately seized his whistle and drew the most heart-rending tones from
+      it. Quickly the tormenting spirits withdrew themselves; yet not so far but
+      that they could still hear the whistle and observe what would take place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The watchmen now came up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The deuce! where art thou?&rdquo; cried they, and then discovered the place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah, God help me!&rdquo; cried the prisoner. &ldquo;Let me out, let me out! I must
+      call!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou hast drunk more than thy thirst required, comrade!&rdquo; said the others.
+      &ldquo;If thou hast fallen into the chest, remain lying there, thou swine!&rdquo; And
+      laughing they left him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, the rascals!&rdquo; sighed he, and worked in vain at opening the lid.
+      Through all his powerful exertions the box fell over. The young men now
+      stepped forth, and, as though they were highly astonished at the whole
+      history which he related to them, they let themselves be prevailed upon to
+      open the box, but only upon condition that he should keep street free from
+      the interference of the other watchmen whilst they danced a Française to
+      Wilhelm&rsquo;s violin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor man was delivered from his captivity, and must obligingly play
+      the sentinel whilst they arranged them for the dance. Wilhelm was called
+      upon to play, and the dance commenced; a partner, however, was wanting.
+      Just then a quiet citizen passed by. The gentleman who had no partner
+      approached the citizen with comic respect, and besought him to take part
+      in the amusement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I never dance!&rdquo; said the man, laughing, and wished to pursue his way.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; replied the cavalier, &ldquo;yet you must still do me this pleasure, or
+      else I shall have no dance.&rdquo; Saying this he took hold of him by the waist
+      and the dance commenced, whether the good man would or no.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The watchman should receive a present from every one!&rdquo; said they, when
+      the Française was at an end. &ldquo;He is an excellent man who thus keeps order
+      in the street, so that one can enjoy a little dance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These are honest people&rsquo;s children!&rdquo; said the watchman to himself, whilst
+      he with much pleasure thrust the money into his leathern purse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All was again quiet in the street; the violin was also silent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER III
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Who looks into the shadowy realm of my heart?&rdquo;
+                                     A. V. CHAMISSO.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In the former chapter we heard mention made of a young student, Otto
+      Thostrup, a clever fellow, with nine prae caeteris, as his comrades said,
+      but also of a proud spirit, of which he must be broken. Not at the
+      disputations, which have been already mentioned, will we make his
+      acquaintance, although there we must be filled with respect for the good
+      Latin scholar; not in large companies, where his handsome exterior and his
+      speaking, melancholy glance must make him interesting; as little in the
+      pit of the Opera although his few yet striking observations there would
+      show him to be a very intellectual young man; but we will seek him out for
+      the first time at the house of his friend, the young Baron Wilhelm. It is
+      the beginning of November: we find them both with their pipes in their
+      mouths; upon the table lie Tibullus and Anacreon, which they are reading
+      together for the approaching philologicum.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the room stands a piano-forte, with a number of music-books; upon the
+      walls hang the portraits of Weyse and Beethoven, for our young Baron is
+      musical, nay a composer himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See, here we have again this lovely, clinging mist!&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;Out
+      of doors one can fairly taste it; at home it would be a real plague to me,
+      here it only Londonizes the city.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I like it!&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;To me it is like an old acquaintance from
+      Vestervovov. It is as though the mist brought me greetings from the sea
+      and sand-hills.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I should like to see the North Sea, but the devil might live there! What
+      town lies nearest to your grandfather&rsquo;s estate?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lernvig,&rdquo; answered Otto. &ldquo;If any one wish to see the North Sea properly,
+      they ought to go up as far as Thisted and Hjörring. I have travelled
+      there, have visited the family in Börglum-Kloster; and, besides this, have
+      made other small journeys. Never shall I forget one evening; yes, it was a
+      storm of which people in the interior of the country can form no
+      conception. I rode&mdash;I was then a mere boy, and a very wild lad&mdash;with
+      one of our men. When the storm commenced we found ourselves among the
+      sand-hills. Ah! that you should have seen! The sand forms along the strand
+      high banks, which serve as dikes against the sea; these are overgrown with
+      sea-grass, but, if the storm bursts a single hole, the whole is carried
+      away. This spectacle we chanced to witness. It is a true Arabian
+      sand-storm, and the North Sea bellowed so that it might be heard at the
+      distance of many miles. The salt foam flew together with the sand into our
+      faces.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That must have been splendid!&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm, and his eyes sparkled.
+      &ldquo;Jutland is certainly the most romantic part of Denmark. Since I read
+      Steen-Blicher&rsquo;s novels I have felt a real interest for that country. It
+      seems to me that it must greatly resemble the Lowlands of Scotland. And
+      gypsies are also found there, are they not?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Vagabonds, we call them,&rdquo; said Otto, with an involuntary motion of the
+      mouth. &ldquo;They correspond to the name!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The fishermen, also, on the coast are not much better! Do they still from
+      the pulpit pray for wrecks? Do they still slay shipwrecked mariners?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have heard our preacher, who is an old man, relate how, in the first
+      years after he had obtained his office and dignity, he was obliged to pray
+      in the church that, if ships stranded, they might strand in his district;
+      but this I have never heard myself. But with regard to what is related of
+      murdering, why, the fishermen&mdash;sea-geese, as they are called&mdash;are
+      by no means a tender-hearted people; but it is not as bad as that in our
+      days. A peasant died in the neighborhood, of whom it was certainly related
+      that in bad weather he had bound a lantern under his horse&rsquo;s belly and let
+      it wander up and down the beach, so that the strange mariner who was
+      sailing in those seas might imagine it some cruising ship, and thus fancy
+      himself still a considerable way from land. By this means many a ship is
+      said to have been destroyed. But observe, these are stories out of the
+      district of Thisted, and of an elder age, before my power of observation
+      had developed itself; this was that golden age when in tumble-down
+      fishers&rsquo; huts, after one of these good shipwrecks, valuable shawls, but
+      little damaged by the sea, might be found employed as bed-hangings. Boots
+      and shoes were smeared with the finest pomatum. If such things now reach
+      their hands, they know better how to turn them into money. The
+      Strand-commissioners are now on the watch; now it is said to be a real age
+      of copper.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have you seen a vessel stranded?&rdquo; inquired Wilhelm, with increasing
+      interest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Our estate lies only half a mile from the sea. Every year about this
+      time, when the mist spreads itself out as it does to-day and the storms
+      begin to rage, then was it most animated. In my wild spirits, when I was a
+      boy, and especially in the midst of our monotonous life, I truly yearned
+      after it. Once, upon a journey to Börglum-Kloster, I experienced a storm.
+      In the early morning; it was quite calm, but gray, and we witnessed a kind
+      of Fata Morgana. A ship, which had not yet risen above the horizon, showed
+      itself in the distance, but the rigging was turned upside down; the masts
+      were below, the hull above. This is called the ship of death, and when it
+      is seen people are sure of bad weather and shipwreck. Later, about midday,
+      it began to blow, and in an hour&rsquo;s time we had a regular tempest. The sea
+      growled quite charmingly; we travelled on between sand-hills&mdash;they
+      resemble hills and dales in winter time, but here it is not snow which
+      melts away; here never grows a single green blade; a black stake stands up
+      here and there, and these are rudders from wrecks, the histories of which
+      are unknown. In the afternoon arose a storm such as I had experienced when
+      riding with the man between the sand-hills. We could not proceed farther,
+      and were obliged on this account to seek shelter in one of the huts which
+      the fishermen hail erected among the white sand-hills. There we remained,
+      and I saw the stranding of a vessel: I shall never forget it! An American
+      ship lay not a musket-shot from land. They cut the mast; six or seven men
+      clung fast to it in the waters. O, how they rocked backward and forward in
+      the dashing spray! The mast took a direction toward the shore; at length
+      only three men were left clinging to the mast; it was dashed upon land,
+      but the returning waves again bore it away; it had crushed the arms and
+      legs of the clinging wretches&mdash;ground them like worms! I dreamed of
+      this for many nights. The waves flung the hull of the vessel up high on
+      the shore, and drove it into the sand, where it was afterward found.
+      Later, as we retraced our steps, were the stem and sternpost gone: you saw
+      two strong wooden walls, between which the road took its course. You even
+      still travel through the wreck!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Up in your country every poetical mind must become a Byron,&rdquo; said
+      Wilhelm. &ldquo;On my parents&rsquo; estate we have only idyls; the whole of Funen is
+      a garden. We mutually visit each other upon our different estates, where
+      we lead most merry lives, dance with the peasant-girls at the
+      brewing-feast, hunt in the woods, and fish in the lakes. The only
+      melancholy object which presents itself with us is a funeral, and the only
+      romantic characters we possess are a little hump-backed musician, a wise
+      woman, and an honest schoolmaster, who still firmly believes, as Jeronimus
+      did, that the earth is flat, and that, were it to turn round, we should
+      fall, the devil knows where!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I love nature in Jutland!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto. &ldquo;The open sea, the brown
+      heath, and the bushy moorland. You should see the wild moor in Vendsyssel&mdash;that
+      is an extent! Almost always wet mists float over its unapproachable
+      interior, which is known to no one. It is not yet fifty years since it
+      served as an abode for wolves. Often it bursts into flames, for it is
+      impregnated with sulphuric gas,&mdash;one can see the fire for miles.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My sister Sophie ought to hear all this!&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;You would make
+      your fortune with her! The dear girl! she has the best head at home, but
+      she loves effect. Hoffman and Victor Hugo are her favorites. Byron rests
+      every night under her pillow. If you related such things of the west coast
+      of Jutland, and of heaths and moors, you might persuade her to make a
+      journey thither. One really would not believe that we possessed in our own
+      country such romantic situations!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is she your only sister?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; returned Wilhelm, &ldquo;I have two&mdash;the other is named Louise; she
+      is of quite an opposite character: I do not know of which one ought to
+      think most. Have you no brothers or sisters?&rdquo; he asked of Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No!&rdquo; returned the latter, with his former involuntary, half-melancholy
+      expression. &ldquo;I am an only child. In my house it is solitary and silent. My
+      grandfather alone is left alive. He is an active, strong man, but very
+      grave. He instructed me in mathematics, which he thoroughly understands.
+      The preacher taught me Latin, Greek, and history: two persons, however,
+      occupied themselves with my religious education&mdash;the preacher and my
+      old Rosalie. She is a good soul. How often have I teased her, been
+      petulant, and almost angry with her! She thought so much of me, she was
+      both mother and sister to me, and instructed me in religion as well as the
+      preacher, although she is a Catholic. Since my father&rsquo;s childhood she has
+      been a sort of governante in the house. You should have seen her
+      melancholy smile when she heard my geography lesson, and we read of her
+      dear Switzerland, where she was born, and of the south of France, where
+      she had travelled as a child. The west coast of Jutland may also appear
+      very barren in comparison with these countries!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She might have made you a Catholic! But surely nothing of this still
+      clings to you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Rosalie was a prudent old creature; Luther himself need not have been
+      ashamed of her doctrine. Whatever is holy to the heart of man, remains
+      also holy in every religion!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But then, to erect altars to the Madonna!&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm; &ldquo;to pray to
+      a being; whom the Bible does not make a saint!&mdash;that is rather too
+      much. And their tricks with burning of incense and ringing of bells! Yes,
+      indeed, it would give me no little pleasure to cut off the heads of the
+      Pope and of the whole clerical body! To purchase indulgence!&mdash;Those
+      must, indeed, be curious people who can place thorough faith in such
+      things! I will never once take off my hat before the Madonna!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But that will I do, and in my heart bow myself before her!&rdquo; answered
+      Otto, gravely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did I not think so? she has made you a Catholic!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No such thing! I am as good a Protestant as you yourself: but wherefore
+      should we not respect the mother of Christ? With regard to the ceremonials
+      of Catholicism, indulgence, and all these additions of the priesthood, I
+      agree with you in wishing to strike off the heads of all who, in such a
+      manner, degrade God and the human understanding. But in many respects we
+      are unjust: we so easily forget the first and greatest commandment, &lsquo;Love
+      thy neighbor as thyself!&rsquo; We are not tolerant. Among our festivals we have
+      still one for the Three Kings&mdash;it is yet celebrated by the common
+      people; but what have these three kings done? They knelt before the manger
+      in which Christ lay, and on this account we honor them. On the contrary,
+      the mother of God has no festival-day; nay, the multitude even smile at
+      her name! If you will only quietly listen to my simple argument, we shall
+      soon agree. You will take off your hat and bow before the Madonna. Only
+      two things are to be considered&mdash;either Christ was entirely human, or
+      He was, as the Bible teaches us, a divine being. I will now admit the
+      latter. He is God Himself, who in some inexplicable manner, is born to us
+      of the Virgin Mary. She must therefore be the purest, the most perfect
+      feminine being, since God found her worthy to bring into the world the
+      Son, the only one; through this she becomes as holy as any human being
+      can, and low we must bow ourselves before the pure, the exalted one. Take
+      it for granted that Christ was human, like ourselves, otherwise He cannot,
+      according to my belief, call upon us to imitate Him; neither would it be
+      great, as God, to meet a corporeal death, from which He could remove each
+      pain. Were He only a man, born of Mary, we must doubly admire Him; we must
+      bow in the dust before His mighty spirit, His enlightening and consoling
+      doctrine. But can we then forget how much the mother has must have
+      influenced the child, how sublime and profound the soul must have been
+      which spoke to His heart? We must reverence and honor her! Everywhere in
+      the Scriptures where she appears we see an example of care and love; with
+      her whole soul she adheres to her Son. Think how uneasy she became, and
+      sought for Him in the temple&mdash;think of her gentle reproaches! The
+      words of the Son always sounded harsh in my ears. &lsquo;Those are the powerful
+      expressions of the East!&rsquo; said my old preacher. The Saviour was severe,
+      severe as He must be! Already there seemed to me severity in His words!
+      She was completely the mother; she was it then, even as when she wept at
+      Golgotha. Honor and reverence she deserves from us!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These she also receives!&rdquo; returned Wilhelm; and striking him upon the
+      shoulder he added, with a smile, &ldquo;you are, according to the Roman Catholic
+      manner, near exalting the mother above the Son! Old Rosalie has made a
+      proselyte; after all, you are half a Catholic!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That am I not!&rdquo; answered Otto, &ldquo;and that will I not be!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+          &ldquo;See! the thunder-cloud advances!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      resounded below in the court: the sweet Neapolitan song reached the ears
+      of the friends. They stepped into the adjoining room and opened the
+      window. Three poor boys stood below in the wind and rain, and commenced
+      the song. The tallest was, perhaps, fourteen or fifteen years old, his
+      deep, rough voice seemed to have attained its strength and depth more
+      through rain and bad weather than through age. The dirty wet clothes hung
+      in rags about his body; the shoes upon the wet feet, and the hat held
+      together with white threads, were articles of luxury. The other two boys
+      had neither hat nor shoes, but their clothes were whole and clean. The
+      youngest appeared six or seven years old; his silvery white hair formed a
+      contrast with his brown face, his dark eyes and long brown eyelashes. His
+      voice sounded like the voice of a little girl, as fine and soft, beside
+      the voices of the others, as the breeze of an autumnal evening beside that
+      of rude November weather.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is a handsome boy!&rdquo; exclaimed the two friends at the same time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And a lovely melody!&rdquo; added Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, but they sing falsely!&rdquo; answered Wilhelm: &ldquo;one sings half a tone too
+      low, the other half a tone too high!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, thank God that I cannot hear that!&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;It sounds sweetly,
+      and the little one might become a singer. Poor child!&rdquo; added he gravely:
+      &ldquo;bare feet, wet to the very skin; and then the elder one will certainly
+      lead him to brandy drinking! Within a month, perhaps, the voice will be
+      gone! Then is the nightingale dead!&rdquo; He quickly threw down some skillings,
+      wrapped in paper.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come up!&rdquo; cried Wilhelm, and beckoned. The eldest of the boys flew up
+      like an arrow; Wilhelm, however, said it was the youngest who was meant.
+      The others remained standing before the door; the youngest stepped in.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whose son art thou?&rdquo; asked Wilhelm. The boy was silent, and cast down his
+      eyes in an embarrassed manner. &ldquo;Now, don&rsquo;t be bashful! Thou art of a good
+      family&mdash;that one can see from thy appearance! Art not thou thy
+      mother&rsquo;s son? I will give thee stockings and&mdash;the deuce! here is a
+      pair of boots which are too small for me; if thou dost not get drowned in
+      them they shall be thy property: but now thou must sing.&rdquo; And he seated
+      himself at the piano-forte and struck the keys. &ldquo;Now, where art thou?&rdquo; he
+      cried, rather displeased. The little one gazed upon the ground.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How! dost thou weep; or is it the rain which hangs in thy black
+      eyelashes?&rdquo; said Otto, and raised his head: &ldquo;we only wish to do thee a
+      kindness. There&mdash;thou hast another skilling from me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The little one still remained somewhat laconic. All that they learned was
+      that he was named Jonas, and that his grandmother thought so much of him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here thou hast the stockings!&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;and see here! a coat with a
+      velvet collar, a much-to-be-prized keepsake! The boots! Thou canst
+      certainly stick both legs into one boot! See! that is as good as having
+      two pairs to change about with! Let us see!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The boy&rsquo;s eyes sparkled with joy; the boots he drew on, the stockings went
+      into his pocket, and the bundle he took under his arm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But thou must sing us a little song!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, and the little one
+      commenced the old song out of the &ldquo;Woman-hater,&rdquo; &ldquo;Cupid never can be
+      trusted!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The lively expression in the dark eyes, the boy himself in his wet,
+      wretched clothes and big boots, with the bundle under his arm; nay, the
+      whole had something so characteristic in it, that had it been painted, and
+      had the painter called the picture &ldquo;Cupid on his Wanderings,&rdquo; every one
+      would have found the little god strikingly excellent, although he were not
+      blind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Something might be made of the boy and of his voice!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, when
+      little Jonas, in a joyous mood, had left the house with the other lads.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The poor child!&rdquo; sighed Otto. &ldquo;I have fairly lost my good spirits through
+      all this. It seizes upon me so strangely when I see misery and genius
+      mated. Once there came to our estate in Jutland a man who played the
+      Pandean-pipes, and at the same time beat the drum and cymbals: near him
+      stood a little girl, and struck the triangle. I was forced to weep over
+      this spectacle; without understanding how it was, I felt the misery of the
+      poor child. I was myself yet a mere boy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He looked so comic in the big boots that I became quite merry, and not
+      grave,&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;Nevertheless what a pity it is that such gentle
+      blood, which at the first glance one perceives he is, that such a pretty
+      child should become a rude fellow, and his beautiful voice change into a
+      howl, like that with which the other tall Laban saluted us. Who knows
+      whether little Jonas might not become the first singer on the Danish
+      stage? Yes, if he received education of mind and voice, who knows? I could
+      really have, pleasure in attempting it, and help every one on in the
+      world, before I myself am rightly in the way!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If he is born to a beggar&rsquo;s estate,&rdquo; said Otto, &ldquo;let him as beggar live
+      and die, and learn nothing higher. That is better, that is more to be
+      desired!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm seated himself at the piano-forte, and played some of his own
+      compositions. &ldquo;That is difficult,&rdquo; said he; &ldquo;every one cannot play that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The simpler the sweeter!&rdquo; replied Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You must not speak about music!&rdquo; returned the friend &ldquo;upon that you know
+      not how to pass judgment. Light Italian operas are not difficult to
+      write.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In the evening the friends separated. Whilst Otto took his hat, there was
+      a low knock at the door. Wilhelm opened it. Without stood a poor old
+      woman, with pale sharp features; by the hand she led a little boy&mdash;it
+      was Jonas: thus then it was a visit from him and his grandmother.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The other boys had sold the boots and shoes which had been given him. They
+      ought to have a share, they maintained. This atrocious injustice had
+      induced the old grandmother to go immediately with little Jonas to the two
+      good gentlemen, and relate how little the poor lad had received of flint
+      which they had assigned to him alone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm spoke of the boy&rsquo;s sweet voice, and thought that by might make his
+      fortune at the theatre; but then he ought not now to be left running about
+      with bare feet in the wind and rain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But by this means he brings a skilling home,&rdquo; said the old woman. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s
+      what his father and mother look to, and the skilling they can always
+      employ. Nevertheless she had herself already thought of bringing him out
+      at the theatre,&mdash;but that was to have been in dancing, for they got
+      shoes and stockings to dance in, and with these they might also run home;
+      and that would be an advantage.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will teach the boy music!&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;he can come to me sometimes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And then he will, perhaps, get a little cast-off clothing, good sir,&rdquo;
+       said the grandmother; &ldquo;a shirt, or a waistcoat, just as it happens?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Become a tailor, or shoemaker,&rdquo; said Otto, gravely, and laid his hand
+      upon the boy&rsquo;s head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He shall be a genius!&rdquo; said Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IV
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+                         &ldquo;Christmas-tide,
+     When in the wood the snow shines bright.&rdquo;
+                              OEHLENSCHLÄGER&rsquo;S Helge
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      We again let several weeks pass by; it was Christmas Eve, which brings us
+      the beautiful Christmas festival. We find the two friends taking a walk.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Describe to an inhabitant of the south a country where the earth appears
+      covered with the purest Carrara marble, where the tree twigs resemble
+      white branches of coral sprinkled with diamonds, and above a sky as blue
+      as that belonging to the south, and he will say that is a fairy land.
+      Couldst thou suddenly remove him from his dark cypresses and olive-trees
+      to the north, where the fresh snow lies upon the earth, where the white
+      hoar-frost has powdered the trees over, and the sun shines down from the
+      blue heaven, then would he recognize the description and call the north a
+      fairy land.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This was the splendor which the friends admired. The large trees upon the
+      fortification-walls appeared crystallized when seen against the blue sky.
+      The Sound was not yet frozen over; vessels, illuminated by the red evening
+      sun, glided past with spread sails. The Swedish coast seemed to have
+      approached nearer; one might see individual houses in Landskrona. It was
+      lovely, and on this account there were many promenaders upon the walls and
+      the Langelinie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sweden seems so near that one might swim over to it!&rdquo; said Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The distance would be too far,&rdquo; answered Otto; &ldquo;but I should love to
+      plunge among the deep blue waters yonder.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How refreshing it is,&rdquo; said Wilhelm, &ldquo;when the water plays about one&rsquo;s
+      cheeks! Whilst I was at home, I always swam in the Great Belt. Yes, you
+      are certainly half a fish when you come into the water.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I!&rdquo; repeated Otto, and was silent; but immediately added, with a kind of
+      embarrassment which was at other times quite foreign to him, and from
+      which one might infer how unpleasant confessing any imperfection was to
+      him, &ldquo;I do not swim.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That must be learned in summer!&rdquo; said Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There is so much to learn,&rdquo; answered Otto; &ldquo;swimming will certainly be
+      the last thing.&rdquo; He now suddenly turned toward the fortress, and stood
+      still. &ldquo;Only see how melancholy and quiet!&rdquo; said he, and led the
+      conversation again to the surrounding scenery. &ldquo;The sentinel before the
+      prison paces so quietly up and down, the sun shines upon his bayonet! How
+      this reminds me of a sweet little poem of Heine&rsquo;s; it is just as though he
+      described this fortress and this soldier, but in the warmth of summer: one
+      sees the picture livingly before one, as here; the weapon glances in the
+      sun, and the part ends so touchingly,&mdash;&lsquo;Ich wollt&rsquo;, er schösse mich
+      todt!&rsquo; It is here so romantically beautiful! on the right the animated
+      promenade, and the view over the Sund; on the left, the desolate square,
+      where the military criminals are shot, and close upon it the prison with
+      its beam-fence. The sun scarcely shines through those windows. Yet,
+      without doubt, the prisoner can see us walking here upon the wall.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And envy our golden freedom!&rdquo; said Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps he derides it,&rdquo; answered Otto. &ldquo;He is confined to his chamber and
+      the small courts behind the beam-lattice; we are confined to the coast; we
+      cannot fly forth with the ships into the mighty, glorious world. We are
+      also fastened with a chain, only ours is somewhat longer than that of the
+      prisoner. But we will not think of this; let us go down to where the
+      beautiful ladies are walking.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To see and to be seen,&rdquo; cried Wilhelm. &ldquo;&lsquo;Spectatum veniunt; veniunt
+      spectentur ut ipsae,&rsquo; as Ovid says.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The friends quitted the wall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There comes my scholar, little Jonas!&rdquo; cried Wilhelm. &ldquo;The boy was better
+      dressed than at his last appearance; quickly he pulled his little cap off
+      and stood still: a young girl in a wretched garb held him by the hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good day, my clever lad!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, and his glance rested on the
+      girl: she was of a singularly elegant form; had she only carried herself
+      better she would have been a perfect beauty. It was Psyche herself who
+      stood beside Cupid. She smiled in a friendly manner; the little lad had
+      certainly told her who the gentlemen were; but she became crimson, and
+      cast down her eyes when Wilhelm looked back after her: he beckoned to
+      Jonas, who immediately came to him. The girl was his sister, he said, and
+      was called Eva. Wilhelm nodded to her, and the friends went on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That was a beautiful girl!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, and looked back once more. &ldquo;A
+      rosebud that one could kiss until it became a full blown rose!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;During the experiment the rosebud might easily be broken!&rdquo; answered Otto;
+      &ldquo;at least such is the case with the real flower. But do not look back
+      again, that is a sin!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sin?&rdquo; repeated Wilhelm; &ldquo;no, then it is a very innocent sin! Believe me,
+      it flatters the little creature that we should admire her beauty. I can
+      well imagine how enchanting a loving look from a rich young gentleman may
+      be for a weak, feminine mind. The sweet words which one can say are as
+      poison which enters the blood. I have still a clear conscience. Not ONE
+      innocent soul have I poisoned!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And yet you are rich and young enough to do so,&rdquo; returned Otto, not
+      without bitterness. &ldquo;Our friends precede us with a good example: here come
+      some of our own age; they are acquainted with the roses!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good evening, thou good fellow!&rdquo; was the greeting Wilhelm received from
+      three or four of the young men.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are you on Thou-terms with all these?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; answered Wilhelm; &ldquo;we became so at a carouse. There all drank the
+      Thou-brotherhood. I could not draw myself back. At other times I do not
+      willingly give my &lsquo;thou&rsquo; to any but my nearest friends. <i>Thou</i> has
+      something to my mind affectionate and holy. Many people fling it to the
+      first person with whom they drink a glass. At the carouse I could not say
+      no.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And wherefore not?&rdquo; returned Otto; &ldquo;that would never have troubled me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The friends now wandered on, arm-in-arm. Later in the evening we again
+      meet with them together, and that at the house of a noble family, whose
+      name and rank are to be found in the &ldquo;Danish Court Calendar;&rdquo; on which
+      account it would be wanting in delicacy to mention the same, even in a
+      story the events of which lie so near our hearts.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Large companies are most wearisome. In these there are two kinds of rank.
+      Either you are riveted to a card-table, or placed against the wall where
+      you must stand with your hat in your hand, or, later in the evening, with
+      it at your feet, nay, even must stand during supper. But this house was
+      one of the most intellectual. Thou who dost recognize the house wilt also
+      recognize that it is not to be reckoned with those,&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+               &ldquo;Where each day&rsquo;s gossiping stale fish
+                Is served up daily for thy dish.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      This evening we do not become acquainted with the family, but only with
+      their beautiful Christmas festival.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The company was assembled in a large apartment; the shaded lamp burned
+      dimly, but this was with the intention of increasing the effect when the
+      drawing-room doors should open and the children joyfully press in
+      together.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm now stepped to the piano-forte; a few chords produced stillness
+      and attention. To the sounds of low music there stepped forth from the
+      side-doors three maidens arrayed in white; each wore a long veil depending
+      from the back of her head,&mdash;one blue, the other red, and the third
+      white. Each carried in her arms an urn, and thus they represented
+      fortune-tellers from the East. They brought good or ill luck, which each
+      related in a little verse. People were to draw a number, and according to
+      this would he receive his gift from the Christmas-tree. One of the maidens
+      brought blanks&mdash;but which of them? now it was proved whether you were
+      a child of fortune. All, even the children, drew their uncertain numbers:
+      exception was only made with the family physician and a few elderly ladies
+      of the family; these had a particular number stuck into their hands&mdash;their
+      presents had been settled beforehand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who brings me good luck?&rdquo; inquired Otto, as the three pretty young girls
+      approached him. The one with a white veil was Wilhelm&rsquo;s eldest sister,
+      Miss Sophie, who was this winter paying a visit to the family. She
+      resembled her brother. The white drapery about her head increased the
+      expression of her countenance. She rested her gaze firmly upon Otto, and,
+      perhaps, because he was the friend of her brother, she raised her finger.
+      Did she wish to warn or to challenge him? Otto regarded it as a challenge,
+      thrust his hand into the urn, and drew out number 33. All were now
+      provided. The girls disappeared, and the folding-doors of the drawing-room
+      were opened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A dazzling light streamed toward the guests. A splendid fir-tree, covered
+      with burning tapers, and hung over with tinsel-gold, gilt eggs and apples,
+      almonds and grapes, dazzled the eye. On either side of the tree were
+      grottoes of fir-trees and moss, hung with red and blue paper lamps. In
+      each grotto was an altar; upon one stood John of Bologna&rsquo;s floating
+      Mercury; upon the other, a reduced cast in plaster of Thorwaldsen&rsquo;s
+      Shepherd-boy. The steps were covered with presents, to which were attached
+      the different numbers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Superbe! lovely!&rdquo; resounded from all sides; and the happy children
+      shouted for joy. People arranged themselves in a half-circle, one row
+      behind the other. One of the cousins of the family now stepped forth, a
+      young poet, who, if we mistake not, has since then appeared among the
+      Anonymouses in &ldquo;The New Year&rsquo;s Gift of Danish Poets.&rdquo; He was appareled
+      this evening as one of the Magi, and recited a little poem which declared
+      that, as each one had himself drawn out of the urn of Fate, no one could
+      be angry, let him have procured for himself honor or derision&mdash;Fate,
+      and not Merit, being here the ruler. Two little boys, with huge butterfly
+      wings and in flowing garments, bore the presents to the guests. A number,
+      which had been purposely given to one of the elder ladies, was now called
+      out, and the boys brought forward a large, heavy, brown earthen jug. To
+      the same hung a direction the length of two sheets of paper, upon which
+      was written, &ldquo;A remedy against frost.&rdquo; The jug was opened, and a very nice
+      boa taken out and presented to the lady.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What number have you?&rdquo; inquired Otto of Wilhelm&rsquo;s sister, who, freed from
+      her long veil, now entered the room and took her place near him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Number 34,&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;I was to keep the number which remained over
+      when the others had drawn.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We are, then, neighbors in the chain of Fate,&rdquo; returned Otto; &ldquo;I have
+      number 33.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then one of us will receive something very bad!&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;For, as
+      much as I know, only every other number is good.&rdquo; At this moment their
+      numbers were called out. The accompanying poem declared that only a
+      poetical, noble mind deserved this gift. It consisted of an illuminated
+      French print, the subject a simple but touching idea. You saw a frozen
+      lake, nothing but one expanse of ice as far as the horizon. The ice was
+      broken, and near to the opening lay a hat with a red lining, and beside it
+      sat a dog with grave eyes, still and expectant. Around the broken opening
+      in the ice were seen traces of the dog having scratched into the hard
+      crust of ice. &ldquo;Il attend toujours&rdquo; was the simple motto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is glorious!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto. &ldquo;An affecting thought! His master has
+      sunk in the depth, and the faithful log yet awaits him. Had that picture
+      only fallen to my lot!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is lovely!&rdquo; said Sophie, and a melancholy glance made the young girl
+      still more beautiful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Soon after Wilhelm&rsquo;s turn came.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+           &ldquo;Open the packet, thou shalt see
+            The very fairest gaze on thee!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      ran the verse. He opened the packet, and found within a small mirror.
+      &ldquo;Yes, that was intended for a lady,&rdquo; said he; &ldquo;in that case it would have
+      spoken the truth! in my hands it makes a fool of me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For me nothing certainly remains but my number!&rdquo; said Otto to his
+      neighbor, as all the gifts appeared to be distributed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The last is number 33,&rdquo; said the cousin, and drew forth a roll of paper,
+      which had been hidden among the moss. It was unrolled. It was an old
+      pedigree of an extinct race. Quite at the bottom lay the knight with
+      shield and armor, and out of his breast grew the many-branched tree with
+      its shields and names. Probably it had been bought, with other rubbish, at
+      some auction, and now at Christmas, when every hole and corner was
+      rummaged for whatever could be converted into fun or earnest, it had been
+      brought out for the Christmas tree. The cousin read the following verse:&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+         &ldquo;Art thou not noble?&mdash;then it in far better;
+          This tree unto thy father is not debtor;
+          Thyself alone is thy ancestral crown.
+          From thee shall spring forth branches of renown,
+          And if thou come where blood gives honor&rsquo;s place,
+          This tree shall prove thee first of all thy race!
+          From this hour forth thy soul high rank hath won her,
+          Not will forget thy knighthood and thy honor.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I congratulate you,&rdquo; said Wilhelm, laughing. &ldquo;Now you will have to pay
+      the nobility-tax!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Several of the ladies who stood near him, smiling, also offered a kind of
+      congratulation. Sophie alone remained silent, and examined the present of
+      another lady&mdash;a pretty pincushion in the form of a gay butterfly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The first row now rose to examine more nearly how beautifully the
+      Christmas tree was adorned. Sophie drew one of the ladies away with her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let us look at the beautiful statues,&rdquo; said she; &ldquo;the Shepherd-boy and
+      the Mercury.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is not proper,&rdquo; whispered the lady; &ldquo;but look there at the splendid
+      large raisins on the tree!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie stepped before Thorwaldsen&rsquo;s Shepherd-boy. The lady whispered to a
+      friend, &ldquo;It looks so odd that she should examine the figures!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; replied the other, &ldquo;she is a lover of the fine arts, as you well
+      know. Only think! at the last exhibition she went with her brother into
+      the great hall where all the plaster-casts stand, and looked at them!&mdash;the
+      Hercules, as well as the other indecent figures! they were excellent, she
+      said. That is being so natural; otherwise she is a nice girl.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is a pity she is a little awry.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie approached them; both ladies made room for her, and invited her
+      most lovingly to sit clown beside them. &ldquo;Thou sweet girl!&rdquo; they
+      flatteringly exclaimed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER V
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Hark to trumpets and beaten gongs,
+     Squeaking fiddles, shouts and songs.
+          Hurra! hurra!
+          The Doctor is here;
+     And here the hills where fun belongs.&rdquo;
+                              J. L. HEIBERG.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      We will not follow the principal characters of our story step for step,
+      but merely present the prominent moments of their lives to our readers, be
+      these great or small; we seize on them, if they in any way contribute to
+      make the whole picture more worthy of contemplation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The winter was over, the birds of passage had long since returned; the
+      woods and fields shone in the freshest green, and, what to the friends was
+      equally interesting, they had happily passed through their examen
+      philologicum. Wilhelm, who, immediately after its termination, had
+      accompanied his sister home, was again returned, sang with little Jonas,
+      reflected upon the philosophicum, and also how he would thoroughly enjoy
+      the summer,&mdash;the summer which in the north is so beautiful, but so
+      short. It was St. John&rsquo;s Day. Families had removed from Copenhagen to
+      their pretty country-seats on the coast, where people on horseback and in
+      carriages rushed past, and where the highway was crowded with
+      foot-passengers. The whole road presented a picture of life upon the Paris
+      Boulevard. The sun was burning, the dust flew up high into the air; on
+      which account many persons preferred the pleasanter excursion with the
+      steamboat along the coast, from whence could be seen the traffic on the
+      high-road without enduring the annoyance of dust and heat. Boats skimmed
+      past; brisk sailors, by the help of vigorous strokes of the oar, strove to
+      compete with the steam-packet, the dark smoke from which, like some demon,
+      partly rested upon the vessel, partly floated away in the air.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Various young students, among whom were also Wilhelm and Otto, landed at
+      Charlottenlund, the most frequented place of resort near Copenhagen. Otto
+      was here for the first time; for the first time he should see the park.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A summer&rsquo;s afternoon in Linken&rsquo;s Bad, near Dresden, bears a certain
+      resemblance to Charlottenlund, only that the Danish wood is larger; that
+      instead of the Elbe we have the Sound, which is here three miles broad,
+      and where often more than a hundred vessels, bearing flags of all the
+      European nations, glide past. A band of musicians played airs out of
+      &ldquo;Preciosa;&rdquo; the white tents glanced like snow or swans through the green
+      beech-trees. Here and there was a fire-place raised of turf, over which
+      people boiled and cooked, so that the smoke rose up among the trees.
+      Outside the wood, waiting in long rows, were the peasants&rsquo; vehicles,
+      called &ldquo;coffee-mills,&rdquo; completely answering ho the couricolo of the
+      Neapolitan and the coucou of the Parisian, equally cheap, and overladen in
+      the same manner with passengers, therefore forming highly picturesque
+      groups. This scene has been humorously treated in a picture by Marstrand.
+      Between fields and meadows, the road leads pleasantly toward the park; the
+      friends pursued the foot-path.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Shall I brush the gentlemen?&rdquo; cried five or six boys, at the same time
+      pressing upon the friends as they approached the entrance to the park.
+      Without waiting for an answer, the boys commenced at once brushing the
+      dust from their clothes and boots.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These are Kirsten Piil&rsquo;s pages,&rdquo; said Wilhelm, laughing; &ldquo;they take care
+      that people show themselves tolerably smart. But now we are brushed
+      enough!&rdquo; A six-skilling-piece rejoiced these little Savoyards.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Champs Elysées of the Parisians on a great festival day, when the
+      theatres are opened, the swings are flying, trumpets and drums
+      overpowering the softer music, and when the whole mass of people, like one
+      body, moves itself between the booths and tents, present a companion piece
+      to the spectacle which the so-called Park-hill affords. It is Naples&rsquo; 
+      &ldquo;Largo dei Castello,&rdquo; with its dancing apes, shrieking Bajazzoes, the
+      whole deafening jubilee which has been transported to a northern wood.
+      Here also, in the wooden booths, large, tawdry pictures show what
+      delicious plays you may enjoy within. The beautiful female horse-rider
+      stands upon the wooden balcony and cracks with her whip, whilst Harlequin
+      blows the trumpet. Fastened to a perch, large, gay parrots nod over the
+      heads of the multitude. Here stands a miner in his black costume, and
+      exhibits the interior of a mine. He turns his box, and during the music
+      dolls ascend and descend. Another shows the splendid fortress of
+      Frederiksteen: &ldquo;The whole cavalry and infantry who have endured an
+      unspeakable deal; here a man without a weapon, there a weapon without a
+      man; here a fellow without a bayonet, here a bayonet without a fellow; and
+      yet they are merry and contented, for they have conquered the victory.&rdquo;
+       [Note: Literal translation of the real words of a showman.] Dutch
+      wafer-cake booths, where the handsome Dutch women, in their national
+      costume, wait on the customers, entice old and young. Here a telescope,
+      there a rare Danish ox, and so forth. High up, between the fresh tree
+      boughs, the swings fly. Are those two lovers floating up there? A current
+      of air seizes the girl&rsquo;s dress and shawl, the young man flings his arm
+      round her waist; it is for safety: there is then less danger. At the foot
+      of the hill there is cooking and roasting going on; it seems a complete
+      gypsy-camp. Under the tree sits the old Jew&mdash;this is precisely his
+      fiftieth jubilee; through a whole half-century has he sung here his
+      comical Doctor&rsquo;s song. Now that we are reading this he is dead; that
+      characteristic countenance is dust, those speaking eyes are closed, his
+      song forgotten tones. Oehlenschläger, in his &ldquo;St. John&rsquo;s Eve,&rdquo; has
+      preserved his portrait for us, and it will continue to live, as Master
+      Jakel (Punch), our Danish Thespis, will continue to live. The play and the
+      puppets were transferred from father to son, and every quarter of an hour
+      in the day the piece is repeated. Free nature is the place for the
+      spectators, and after every representation the director himself goes round
+      with the plate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This was the first spectacle which exhibited itself to the friends. Not
+      far off stood a juggler in peasant&rsquo;s clothes, somewhat advanced in years,
+      with a common ugly countenance. His short sleeves were rolled up, and
+      exhibited a pair of hairy, muscular arms. The crowd, withdrawing from
+      Master Jakel when the plate commenced its wanderings, pushed Otto and
+      Wilhelm forward toward the low fence before the juggler&rsquo;s table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Step nearer, my gracious gentlemen, my noble masters!&rdquo; said the juggler,
+      with an accentuation which betrayed his German birth. He opened the fence;
+      both friends were fairly pushed in and took their places upon the bench,
+      where they, at all events, found themselves out of the crowd.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Will the noble gentleman hold this goblet?&rdquo; said the juggler, and handed
+      Otto one from his apparatus. Otto glanced at the man: he was occupied with
+      his art; but Otto&rsquo;s cheek and forehead were colored with a sudden crimson,
+      which was immediately afterward supplanted by a deathly paleness: his hand
+      trembled, but this lasted only a moment; he gathered all his strength of
+      mind together and appeared the same as before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That was a very good trick!&rdquo; said Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, certainly!&rdquo; answered Otto; but he had seen nothing whatsoever. His
+      soul was strangely affected. The man exhibited several other tricks, and
+      then approached with the plate. Otto laid down a mark, and then rose to
+      depart. The juggler remarked the piece of money: a smile played about his
+      mouth; he glanced at Otto, and a strange malicious expression lay in the
+      spiteful look which accompanied his loudly spoken thanks: &ldquo;Mr. Otto
+      Thostrup is always so gracious and good!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Does he know you?&rdquo; asked Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He has the honor!&rdquo; grinned the juggler, and proceeded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He has exhibited his tricks in the Jutland villages, and upon my father&rsquo;s
+      estate,&rdquo; whispered Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Therefore an acquaintance of your childhood?&rdquo; said Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of my childhood,&rdquo; repeated Otto, and they made themselves a way through
+      the tumult.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They met with several young noblemen, relatives of Wilhelm, with the
+      cousin who had written the verses for the Christmas tree; also several
+      friends from the carouse, and the company increased. They intended, like
+      many others, to pass the night in the wood, and at midnight drink out of
+      Kirsten Piil&rsquo;s well. &ldquo;Only with the increasing darkness will it become
+      thoroughly merry here,&rdquo; thought they: but Otto had appointed to be in the
+      city again toward evening. &ldquo;Nothing will come out of that!&rdquo; said the poet;
+      &ldquo;if you wish to escape, we shall bind you fast to one of us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then I carry him away with me on my back,&rdquo; replied Otto; &ldquo;and still run
+      toward the city. What shall I do here at night in the wood?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be merry!&rdquo; answered Wilhelm. &ldquo;Come, give us no follies, or I shall grow
+      restive.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Hand-organs, drums, and trumpets, roared against each other; Bajazzo
+      growled; a couple of hoarse girls sang and twanged upon the guitar: it was
+      comic or affecting, just as one was disposed. The evening approached, and
+      now the crowd became greater, the joy more noisy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But where is Otto?&rdquo; inquired Wilhelm. Otto had vanished in the crowd.
+      Search after him would help nothing, chance must bring them together
+      again. Had he designedly withdrawn himself? no one knew wherefore, no one
+      could dream what had passed within his soul. It became evening. The
+      highway and the foot-path before the park resembled two moving gay
+      ribbons.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the park itself the crowd perceptibly diminished. It was now the
+      high-road which was become the Park-hill. The carriages dashed by each
+      other as at a race; the people shouted and sung, if not as melodiously as
+      the barcarole of the fisher men below Lido, still with the thorough
+      carnival joy of the south. The steamboat moved along the coasts. From the
+      gardens surrounding the pretty country-houses arose rockets into the blue
+      sky, the Moccoli of the north above the Carnival of the Park.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm remained with his young friends in the wood, and there they
+      intended, with the stroke of twelve, to drink out of Kirsten&rsquo;s well. Men
+      and women, girls and boys of the lower class, and jovial young men, meet,
+      after this manner, to enjoy St. John&rsquo;s Eve. Still sounded the music, the
+      swings were in motion, lamps hung out, whilst the new moon shone through
+      the thick tree boughs. Toward midnight the noise died away; only a blind
+      peasant still scratched upon the three strings which were left on his
+      violin; some servant-girls wandered, arm-in-arm, with their sweethearts,
+      and sang. At twelve o&rsquo;clock all assembled about the well, and drank the
+      clear, ice-cold water. From no great distance resounded, through the still
+      night, a chorus of four manly voices. It was as if the wood gods sang in
+      praise of the nymph of the well.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Upon the hill all was now deserted and quiet. Bajazzo and il Padrone slept
+      behind the thin linen partition, under a coverlid. The moon set, but the
+      night was clear; no clear, frosty winter night has a snore beautiful
+      starry heaven to exhibit. Wilhelm&rsquo;s party was merry, quickly flew the
+      hours away; singing in chorus, the party wandered through the wood, and
+      down toward the strand. The day already dawned; a red streak along the
+      horizon announced its approach.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nature sang to them the mythos of the creation of the world, even as she
+      had sung it to Moses, who wrote down this voice from God, interpreted by
+      Nature. Light banished the darkness, heaven and earth were parted; at
+      first birds showed themselves in the clear air; later rose the beasts of
+      the field; and, last of all, appeared man.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The morning is fairly sultry,&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;the sea resembles a mirror:
+      shall we not bathe?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The proposal was accepted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There we have the Naiades already!&rdquo; said one of the party, as a swarm of
+      fishermen&rsquo;s wives and daughters, with naked feet, their green petticoats
+      tucked up, and baskets upon their backs, in which they carried fish to
+      Copenhagen, came along the road. The gay young fellows cast toward the
+      prettiest glances as warm and glowing as that cast by the sun himself,
+      who, at this moment, came forth and shone over the Sound, where a splendid
+      three-masted vessel had spread all her sails to catch each breeze. The
+      company reached the strand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There is some one already swimming out yonder,&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;He stands
+      it bravely. That is an excellent swimmer!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here lie his clothes,&rdquo; remarked another.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How!&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm: &ldquo;this is Otto Thostrup&rsquo;s coat! But Otto cannot
+      swim; I have never been able to persuade him to bathe. Now, we will out
+      and make a nearer acquaintance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, certainly it is he,&rdquo; said another; &ldquo;he is now showing his skill.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then he must have been all night in the wood,&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm. &ldquo;Yes,
+      indeed, he&rsquo;s a fine bird. Does he fly us? He shall pay for this. Good
+      night in the water, or in any other improper place? To quit friends
+      without saying a word does not appertain to the customs of civilized
+      people. Since you, therefore, show yourself such a man of nature, we will
+      carry away your garments; it cannot annoy you in puris naturalibus to seek
+      us out in the wood.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto raised his head, but was silent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, will you not come forth?&rdquo; cried Wilhelm. &ldquo;Only kneeling before each
+      of us can you receive the separate articles of your dress, so that you may
+      again appear as a civilized European.&rdquo; And saying this he divided the
+      clothes among the others; each one held an article in his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Leave such jokes!&rdquo; cried Otto with singular earnestness. &ldquo;Lay down the
+      clothes, and retire!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Aye, that we will, presently,&rdquo; returned Wilhelm. &ldquo;You are a fine fellow!
+      You cannot swim, you say. Now, if you should not kneel&rdquo;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Retire!&rdquo; cried Otto, &ldquo;or I will swim out into the stream, and not return
+      again!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That might be original enough,&rdquo; answered Wilhelm. &ldquo;Swim forth, or come
+      and kneel here!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wilhelm!&rdquo; cried Otto, with an affecting sigh, and in a moment swam forth
+      with quick strokes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There he shoots away,&rdquo; said one of the party. &ldquo;How he cuts the waves! He
+      is a splendid swimmer!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Smiling they gazed over the expanse; Otto swam even farther out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But where will he swim to?&rdquo; exclaimed, somewhat gravely, one of the
+      spectators. &ldquo;He will certainly lose his strength before he returns the
+      same distance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They unmoored the boat. Otto swam far out at sea; with quick strokes of
+      the oars they rowed after him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where is he now?&rdquo; cried Wilhelm shortly afterwards; &ldquo;I see him no
+      longer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, there he comes up again,&rdquo; said another; &ldquo;but his strength is leaving
+      him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;On! on!&rdquo; cried Wilhelm; &ldquo;he will be drowned if we do not come to his
+      help. Only see&mdash;he sinks!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto had lost all power; his head disappeared beneath the water. The
+      friends had nearly reached him; Wilhelm and several of the best swimmers
+      flung from themselves boots and coats, sprang into the sea, and dived
+      under the water. A short and noiseless moment passed. One of the swimmers
+      appeared above water. &ldquo;He is dead!&rdquo; were the first words heard. Wilhelm
+      and the three others now appeared with Otto; the boat was near oversetting
+      as they brought him into it. Deathly pale lay he there, a beautifully
+      formed marble statue, the picture of a young gladiator fallen in the
+      arena.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The friends busied themselves about him, rubbing his breast and hands,
+      whilst two others rowel toward the land.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He breathes!&rdquo; said Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto opened his eyes; his lips moved; his gaze became firmer; a deep
+      crimson spread itself over his breast and countenance; he raised himself
+      and Wilhelm supported him. Suddenly a deep sigh burst from his breast; he
+      thrust Wilhelm from him, and, like a madman, seized an article of dress to
+      cover himself with; then, with a convulsive trembling of the lips, he said
+      to Wilhelm, who held his hand, &ldquo;I HATE YOU!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VI
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &mdash;&ldquo;Art thou Prometheus, pierced with wounds?
+     The Vulture thou that tugs at his heart?&rdquo;
+                    J. CHR. V. ZEDLITZ&rsquo;S Todtenkränze.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Not half an hour after this adventure a carriage rolled toward the city&mdash;a
+      large carriage, containing three seats, but, beside the coachman, there
+      was only one person within. This was Otto; his lips were pale; death, it
+      is true, had touched them. Alone he dashed forward; his last words to
+      Wilhelm had been his only ones.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He has lost his wits,&rdquo; said one of the friends.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is a fit of madness,&rdquo; answered another, &ldquo;such as he was seized with at
+      the examination, when he only sent in a scrap of white paper for the
+      mathematical examination, because he felt himself offended by the
+      inspector.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I could quite vex myself about my stupid joke,&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;I ought to
+      have known him better; he is of a strange, unhappy character. Give me your
+      hands! We will mention to no one what has occurred; it would only give
+      occasion to a deal of gossip, and wound him deeply, and he is an
+      excellent, glorious fellow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They gave their hands upon it, and drove toward the city.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The same day, toward evening, we again seek Otto. We find him in his
+      chamber. Silent, with crossed arms, he stands before a print, a copy of
+      Horace Vernet&rsquo;s representation of Mazeppa, who, naked and bound upon a
+      wild horse, rushes through the forest. Wolves thrust forth their heads and
+      exhibit their sharp teeth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My own life!&rdquo; sighed Otto. &ldquo;I also am bound to this careering wild horse.
+      And no friend, not a single one! Wilhelm, I could kill thee! I could see
+      you all lying in your blood! O, Almighty God!&rdquo; He pressed his hands before
+      his face and threw himself into a seat; his eyes, however, again directed
+      themselves toward the picture; it exhibited a moment similar to the
+      condition of his own mind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The door now opened, and Wilhelm stood before him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How do you find yourself, Thostrup?&rdquo; he inquired. &ldquo;We are still friends
+      as before?&rdquo; and he wished to give his hand. Otto drew back his. &ldquo;I have
+      done nothing which could so much offend you,&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;the whole was
+      merely a joke! Give me your hand, and we will speak no more of the
+      affair!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To the man whom I hate, I never reach my hand,&rdquo; replied Otto and his lips
+      were white like his cheeks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A second time to-day you speak these words to me,&rdquo; said Wilhelm, and the
+      blood rushed to his face. &ldquo;We were friends, wherefore cannot we be so
+      still? Have people slandered me to you? Have they told lies about me? Only
+      tell me faithfully, and I shall be able to defend myself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You must fight with me!&rdquo; said Otto; and his glance became more gloomy.
+      Wilhelm was silent; there reigned a momentary stillness. Otto suppressed a
+      deep sigh. At length Wilhelm broke silence, and said, with a grave and
+      agitated voice,&mdash;&ldquo;I am so thoughtless, I joke so often, and regard
+      everything from the ridiculous side. But for all that I have both heart
+      and feeling. You must have known how much dearer you were to me than most
+      other people. You are so still, although you offend me. At this moment
+      your blood is in a fever; not now, but after a few days, you yourself will
+      best see which of us is the offended party. You demand that I fight with
+      you; I will if your honor requires this satisfaction: but you must lay
+      before me an acceptable reason. I will know wherefore we risk our lives.
+      Let some days pass by; weigh all with your understanding and your heart!
+      It will still depend upon yourself whether we remain friends as before.
+      Farewell!&rdquo; And Wilhelm went.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Each of his words had penetrated to Otto&rsquo;s heart. A moment he stood silent
+      and undecided, then his limbs trembled involuntarily, tears streamed from
+      his eyes&mdash;it was a convulsive fit of weeping; he pressed his head
+      back. &ldquo;God, how unfortunate I am!&rdquo; were his only words.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So passed some minutes; he had ceased to weep, and was calm; suddenly he
+      sprang up, shot the bolt in the door, drew down the blinds, lighted his
+      candle, and once more looked searchingly around: the key-hole was also
+      stopped up. He then flung his coat away from him and uncovered the upper
+      part of his body.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;The towers pass by, even before we perceive them.&rdquo;
+                     OEHLENSCHLÄER&rsquo;S Journey to Fünen.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Early the following morning, whilst Wilhelm still slept and dreamed of his
+      beloved sisters, well-known footsteps sounded on the stairs, the door
+      opened, and Otto stepped into the sleeping-room. Wilhelm opened his eyes.
+      Otto was pale; a sleepless night and sorrow of heart had breathed upon his
+      brow and eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thostrup!&rdquo; cried Wilhelm, with joyous surprise, and stretched forth his
+      hand toward him, but it again sank; Otto seized it, and pressed it firmly
+      in his own, adding at the same time, with gravity,&mdash;&ldquo;You have humbled
+      me! Is that sufficient satisfaction for you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We are then friends!&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;Friends must be very indulgent
+      toward each other. Yesterday you were a little strange, to-morrow I may be
+      so; that is the way in which one retaliates.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto pressed his hand. &ldquo;We will never speak again of the occurrence of
+      yesterday!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never!&rdquo; repeated Wilhelm, affected by the strange gravity of his friend.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are a noble, a good creature!&rdquo; said Otto, and bent over him; his lips
+      touched Wilhelm&rsquo;s forehead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm seized his hand, and gazed frankly into his eye. &ldquo;You are not
+      happy!&rdquo; exclaimed he. &ldquo;If I cannot assist you, I can, at least, dear Otto,
+      honestly share the grief of a friend!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Even on that very point we may never speak!&rdquo; replied Otto. &ldquo;Farewell! I
+      have determined on travelling home; we have only vacation for a few weeks,
+      and I have not been in Jutland since I became a student. Even a month&rsquo;s
+      sojourn there cannot throw me back; I am well prepared for the
+      philosophicum.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And when will you set out?&rdquo; asked Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To-morrow, with the steamboat. It is hot and sultry here in the city: my
+      blood becomes heated: it will, also, soon be a year since I saw my
+      family.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thostrup!&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm, through whom a thought suddenly flashed, &ldquo;I
+      should also like to see my family; they have written to me to come.
+      Listen: make your journey through Funen, and only remain three or four
+      days with us. My mother&rsquo;s carriage shall convey you then to Middelfart.
+      Say &lsquo;Yes,&rsquo; and we will set out this evening.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That cannot be done!&rdquo; replied Otto; but half an hour later, as both sat
+      together over the tea-table, and Wilhelm repeated his wish, Otto
+      consented, but certainly more through a feeling of obligation than through
+      any pleasure of his own. Toward evening, therefore, they set out in the
+      beautiful summer night to travel through Zealand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Smartly dressed families wandered pleasantly through the city gate toward
+      the summer theatre and Fredericksberg. The evening sun shone upon the
+      column of Liberty; the beautiful obelisk, around which stand Wiedewelt&rsquo;s
+      statues, one of which still weeps,
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+             &ldquo;In white marble clothing,
+                Hand upon the breast,
+                Ever grief-oppressed,
+              Looking down upon the gloomy sea,&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      where were closed the eyes of the artist. Was it the remembrance which
+      here clouded Otto&rsquo;s glance, as his eye rested upon the statues as they
+      drove past, or did his own soul, perhaps, mirror itself in his eyes?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here it is gay and animated!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, wishing to commence a
+      conversation. &ldquo;Vesterbro is certainly your most brilliant suburb. It forms
+      a city by itself,&mdash;a little state! There upon the hill lies the
+      King&rsquo;s Castle, and there on the left, between the willows, the poet&rsquo;s
+      dwelling, where old Rahbek lived with his Kamma!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Castle and poet&rsquo;s dwelling!&rdquo; repeated Otto; &ldquo;the time will be when they
+      will inspire equal interest!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That old place will soon be pulled down!&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;in such a
+      beautiful situation, so near the city, a splendid villa will be raised,
+      and nothing more remind one of Philemon and Baucis!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The old trees in the park will be spared!&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;in the garden the
+      flowers will scent the air, and remind one of Kamma&rsquo;s flowers. Rahbek was
+      no great poet, but he possessed a true poet&rsquo;s soul, labored faithfully in
+      the great vineyard, and loved flowers as Kamma loved them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The friends hail left Fredericksberg behind them. The white walls of the
+      castle glanced through the green boughs; behind Söndermark, the large,
+      wealthy village stretched itself out. The sun had set before they reached
+      the Dam-house, where the wild swans, coming from the ocean, build in the
+      fresh water fake. This is the last point of beauty; nothing but lonely
+      fields, with here and there a cairn, extend to the horizon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The clear summer&rsquo;s night attracted their gaze upward; the postilion blew
+      his horn, and the carriage rolled toward the town of Roeskilde, the St.
+      Denis of Denmark, where kings turn to dust; where Hroar&rsquo;s spring still
+      flows, and its waters mingle with those of Issefjords.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They drove to a public-house to change horses. A young girl conducted the
+      friends into the public room; she lighted the way for them. Her slender
+      figure and her floating gait drew Wilhelm&rsquo;s attention toward her; his hand
+      touched her shoulder, she sprang aside and fixed her beautiful grave eyes
+      upon him; but their expression became milder, she smiled and colored at
+      the same time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are the sister of little Jonas!&rdquo; cried Wilhelm, recognizing the young
+      girl he had seen with him at Christmas.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I must also thank you,&rdquo; said she, &ldquo;for your kindness toward the poor
+      boy!&rdquo; She quickly placed the lights on the table, and left the room with a
+      gentle glance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is beautiful, very beautiful!&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm. &ldquo;That was really
+      quite a pleasant meeting.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it then you, Herr Baron, who honor me thus?&rdquo; cried the host, stepping
+      in&mdash;an elderly man with a jovial countenance. &ldquo;Yes, the Baron will
+      doubtless visit his dear relations in hunch? It is now some little time
+      since you were there.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is our host!&rdquo; said Wilhelm to Otto. &ldquo;He and his wife were born upon
+      my parent&rsquo;s estate.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said the host, &ldquo;in my youth I have shot many a snipe and wild duck
+      with the Herr Baron&rsquo;s father. But Eva should spread the table; the
+      gentlemen will certainly take supper, and a glass of good punch the Herr
+      Baron will certainly not despise, if he is like his blessed father.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The young girl spread the cloth in an adjoining room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is pretty!&rdquo; Wilhelm whispered to the old man.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And just as pious and innocent as she is pretty!&rdquo; returned he; &ldquo;and that
+      is saying much, as she is a poor girl, and from Copenhagen. She is of good
+      service to us, and my wife says Eva shall not leave us until she is well
+      married.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm invited the host to join them at a glass. The old man became more
+      animated, and now confided to him, half mysteriously, what made Eva so
+      honorable in the eyes of his wife, and what was, indeed, really very nice
+      of her. &ldquo;My old woman,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;was in Copenhagen, in search of a
+      waiting-girl. Yes, there are enough to be had, and they are fine girls;
+      but mother has her own thoughts and opinions: she has good eyes&mdash;that
+      she has! Now, there came many, and among others Eva; but, good Lord! she
+      was very poorly clad, and she looked feeble and weak, and what service
+      could one get out of her! But she had a good countenance, and the poor
+      girl wept and besought mother to take her, for she was not comfortable at
+      home, and would not remain at Copenhagen. Now, mother knows how to make
+      use of her words: it is unfortunate that she is not at home to-night; how
+      pleased she would have been to see the Herr Baron! Yes, what I would say
+      is, she so twisted her words about, that Eva confessed to her why she
+      wished to leave home. You see the girl is petty; and the young gallant
+      gentlemen of Copenhagen had remarked her smooth face,&mdash;and not alone
+      the young, but the old ones also! So an old gentleman&mdash;I could easily
+      name him, but that has nothing to do with the affair&mdash;a very
+      distinguished man in the city, who has, besides, a wife and children, had
+      said all sorts of things to her parents; and, as eight hundred dollars is
+      a deal of money to poor people, one can excuse them: but Eva wept, and
+      said she would rather spring into the castle-ditch. They represented all
+      sorts of things to the poor girl; she heard of the service out here with
+      us. She wept, kissed my old woman&rsquo;s hand, and thus came to us; and since
+      then we have had a deal of service from Eva, and joy also!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Some minutes after Eva stepped in, Otto&rsquo;s eye rested with a melancholy
+      expression upon the beautiful form: never had he before so gazed upon a
+      woman. Her countenance was extraordinarily fine, her nose and forehead
+      nobly formed, the eyebrows dark, and in the dark-blue eyes lay something
+      pensive, yet happy: one might employ the Homeric expression, &ldquo;smiling
+      through tears,&rdquo; to describe this look. She announced that the carriage was
+      ready.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A keen observer would soon have remarked what a change the host&rsquo;s relation
+      had worked in the two friends. Wilhelm was no longer so free toward poor
+      Eva. Otto, on the contrary, approached her more,&mdash;and at their
+      leave-taking they offered her a greater present than they would otherwise
+      have given.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She stood with Otto at the door, and assisted him on with his travelling
+      cloak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Preserve your heart pure!&rdquo; said he, gravely; &ldquo;that is more than beauty!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The young girl blushed, and gazed at him with astonishment; in such a
+      manner had no one of his age ever before spoken to her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The poor girl!&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;but I think she is come to good people.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She has a strange glance!&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;Do you know that there is
+      really a certain affinity between you and her? It was to me quite
+      striking.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is a compliment which I cannot accept,&rdquo; returned Otto, smiling.
+      &ldquo;Yet, perhaps, I might resemble her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was not yet three o&rsquo;clock when the friends reached Ringsted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have never before been so far in Zealand,&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Shall I be your guide?&rdquo; returned Wilhelm. &ldquo;Ringsted has a street and an
+      inn, and one is very badly served there, as you will soon both see and
+      experience yourself. Meanwhile, one can think of Hagbarth and Signe; not
+      far from here, at Sigersted, he hung his mantle on the oak, and Signelil&rsquo;s
+      abode stood in flames. Now only remain fields and meadows, a cairn, and
+      the old popular song. Then we rush past the friendly Soroe, that mirrors
+      itself with the wood in the lake, which forms itself into so many bays;
+      but we do not see much of it. We have here another romantic spot, an old
+      castle converted into a church, high up on the hill near the lake, and
+      close to it the dismal place of execution. We then reach Slagelse, an
+      animated little town; with the Antvorskov convent, the poet Frankenau&rsquo;s
+      grave, and a Latin school, celebrated on account of its poets. It was
+      there Baggesen and Ingemann learned their Latin. When I once questioned
+      the hostess regarding the lions of the town, she would only acknowledge
+      two,&mdash;Bastholm&rsquo;s library, and the English fire-engine. The curtain in
+      the theatre represents an alley with a fountain, the jets of which are
+      painted as if spouting out of the prompter&rsquo;s box; or is this, perhaps, the
+      English fire-engine? I know not. The scene-decoration for towns represents
+      the market-place of Slagelse itself, so that the pieces thus acquire a
+      home-feeling. This is the modern history of the little town; and, with
+      regard to its older and romantic history, learn that the holy Anders was
+      preacher here! Yes, indeed, that was a man! He has been also sung of by
+      our first poets. We end with Korsöer, where Baggesen was born and Birckner
+      lies buried. In the more modern history of this town, King Solomon and
+      Jörgen the hatter play a considerable rôle. Besides this, I know that the
+      town is said once to have possessed a private theatre; but this soon was
+      done for, and the decorations were sold; a miller bought them, and patched
+      his windmill sails with them. Upon one sail was a piece of a wood, upon
+      another a shred of a room, or a street; and so they rushed round one after
+      the other. Perhaps this is mere slander, for I have my information from
+      Slagelse; and neighboring towns never speak well of each other.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In this manner Wilhelm gossiped on, and the friends travelled over the way
+      he had described. Slagelse, and the peasant village of Landsgrav, they had
+      already behind them, when Wilhelm ordered the coachman to diverge from the
+      high-road toward the right.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where will you take us to?&rdquo; asked Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will give you a pleasure!&rdquo; returned Wilhelm. &ldquo;We shall reach the
+      weariful Korsöer early enough: the steamboat leaves at ten, and it is not
+      yet seven. You shall be surprised&mdash;I know well that you are half a
+      Catholic; I will conduct you where you may believe yourself carried back
+      several centuries, and may imagine yourself in a Catholic country. That is
+      right pleasant, is it not?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto smiled. The friends alighted from the coach and walked over a
+      corn-field. They found themselves upon a hill, the whole landscape spread
+      itself out before them&mdash;they saw the Belt, with Sprogöe and Funen.
+      The surrounding country was certainly flat, but the variety of greens, the
+      near meadow, the dark stretch of wood in the neighborhood of Korsöer, the
+      bay itself, and all this seen in a warm morning light, produced effect.
+      The friends diverged to the right; and before them, upon a hill, stood a
+      large wooden cross, with the figure of the Crucified One. Above the cross
+      was built a small roof to carry off the rain,&mdash;such as one may yet
+      find in Bavaria. The figure of the Redeemer was of wood, painted with
+      strong, tawdry colors; a withered garland of corn-flowers still hung
+      around his bowed head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is extraordinary,&rdquo; said Otto, &ldquo;to find in our time, in the year 1830,
+      such a Catholic symbol in Lutheran Denmark! And yet&mdash;yes, you will
+      laugh at me, but I find it lovely: it affects me, moves me to worship.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That tawdry, tasteless figure!&rdquo; cried Wilhelm. &ldquo;Only see how coarse! the
+      hair is covered with tar to keep off the rain! The peasants here have
+      their peculiar superstition. If they allow the cross to fall they have no
+      luck with their lands. It was upon this hill that the holy Anders, the
+      celebrated preacher of Slagelse, awoke. He visited the sepulchre of
+      Christ, but through praying there too long the ship sailed without him,
+      and he was forced to stay behind. Then came a man and took him upon his
+      horse, and they would ride to Joppa: the holy Anders fell asleep; but when
+      he awoke he lay here, and heard the bells ringing in Slagelse. Upon a
+      foal, only one night old, he rode round the extensive city lands, whilst
+      King Waldemar lay in his bath. He could hang his glove upon the beams of
+      the sun. This hill, where he awoke, was called Rest-hill; and the cross,
+      with the figure of the Redeemer erected upon it, which still stands here,
+      reminds us of the legend of the holy Anders.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A little peasant girl at this moment mounted the hill, but paused when she
+      perceived the strangers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t be afraid, my child!&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;What hast thou there? a
+      garland! shall it hang here upon the cross? Only come, we will help thee.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It should hang over our Lord,&rdquo; said the little one, holding, in an
+      embarrassed manner, the garland of pretty blue cornflowers in her hand.
+      Otto took the garland, and hung it up in place of the faded one.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That was our morning adventure!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, and soon they were rolling
+      in the deep sand toward Korsöer, toward the hill where the poet watched
+      the sun and moon sink into the sea, and wished that he had wings that he
+      might catch them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Melancholy and silent lies the town on the flat coast, the old castle
+      turned into a farm-house&mdash;high grass grows upon the walls. In a
+      storm, when the wind blows against the city, the surf beats against the
+      outermost houses. High upon the church stands a telegraph; the black
+      wooden plates resemble mourning-flags hung above the sinking town. Here is
+      nothing for the stranger to see, nothing except a grave&mdash;that of the
+      thinker Birckner. The friends drove to the public-house on the strand. No
+      human being met them in the street except a boy, who rung a hand-bell.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That calls to church,&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;Because there are no bells in the
+      tower, they have here such a wandering bell-ringer as this. Holla! there
+      lies the inn!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Baron Wilhelm!&rdquo; cried a strong voice, and a man in a green jacket with
+      pockets in the breast, the mighty riding-boots splashed above the tops,
+      and with whip in hand, approached them, pulled his horse-hair cap, and
+      extended his hand to Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Kammerjunker from Funen!&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;my mother&rsquo;s neighbor, one of
+      the most industrious and rich noblemen in all Funen.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will come one of the first days to me!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker; &ldquo;you
+      shall try my Russian steam-bath: I have erected one upon my estate. All
+      who visit me, ladies and gentlemen without any exception, must try it!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And do the cherry-trees bear well this year?&rdquo; asked Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no,&rdquo; answered the Kammerjunker, &ldquo;they are good for nothing; but the
+      apples are good! All the old trees in the hill-garden stand in full
+      splendor: I&rsquo;ve brought them into condition! Two years ago there was not,
+      on all the trees together, a bushel of fruit. But I had all the horses
+      which had to be bled led under the trees, and had the warm blood sprinkled
+      upon the roots; this happened several times, and it has been a real
+      inoculation for life.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The wind is certainly favorable,&rdquo; said Otto, whom this conversation began
+      to weary.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, just the contrary!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker. &ldquo;The vane upon the little
+      house yonder lies; it points always to Nyborg, always shows a good wind
+      for us when we want to leave. In Nyborg is also a vane, which stands even
+      as firmly as this, and prates to the folk there of good wind. I regard
+      both vanes as a kind of guide-post, which merely says, There goes the way!
+      No, if we had had a wind I should have gone with the boat, and not with
+      the little splashing thing, as the seamen call the steamboat. The carriage
+      is doubtless awaiting the young gentleman in Nyborg?&rdquo; pursued he. &ldquo;I will
+      join company with you&mdash;my brown horse waits for me at Schalburg. You
+      should see him! He has sinews like steel springs, and legs like a
+      dancing-master! He is my own brown.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No one knows that we are coming,&rdquo; answered Wilhelm. &ldquo;We shall, therefore,
+      take a carriage from Nyborg.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We will join company,&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, &ldquo;and then you will pay me a
+      visit with the young gentleman. You shall sleep in the black chamber! Yes,
+      you will give me the pleasure?&rdquo; said he to Otto. &ldquo;If you are a lover of
+      the antique, my estate will afford you pleasure; you find there moats,
+      towers, guard-rooms, ghosts, and hobgoblins, such as belong to an old
+      estate. The black chamber! after all, it is not quite secure there; is it,
+      Herr Baron?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, the deuce remain a night with you!&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;one gets to bed
+      late, and even then it is not permitted one to close one&rsquo;s eyes. You, your
+      sister, and the Mamsell,&mdash;yes, you are a pretty clover-leaf! Yes,
+      Thostrup, you cannot believe what pranks are hatched upon the
+      Kammerjunker&rsquo;s estate! One must be prepared for it! It is said to be
+      haunted, but if the dead will not take that trouble the living do. The
+      Kammerjunker is in the plot with his women-folk. They sewed me lately live
+      cockchafers into my pillow, and they crawled and scrambled about till I
+      did not know what the deuce it could be! A live cock they had also placed
+      under my bed, and just in the morning, when I would go to sleep, the
+      creature began to crow!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The women-folk had done that,&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker. &ldquo;Did they not the
+      very same night fasten a door-bell to the head of my bed? I never thought
+      of it; fat Laender slept in the same room, and had fastened along the wall
+      a string to the bell. I awoke with the ringing. &lsquo;What the devil is that
+      bell?&rsquo; said I, and glanced about the room, for I could not conceive what
+      it was. &lsquo;Bell?&rsquo; asked Laender&mdash;&lsquo;there is no bell here!&rsquo; The ringing
+      also ceased. I thought I must have dreamed, or that our merry evening must
+      have left some buzzing in my ears. Again it began to ring. Laender looked
+      so innocent all the time, I could not comprehend myself; I thought it must
+      be my imagination. I became quite fainthearted, I denied my own hearing,
+      and said, &lsquo;No, I have only dreamed!&rsquo; and commenced reckoning and counting
+      to employ my mind; but that did no good, and it nearly drove me mad! I
+      sprang out of bed, and then I found out the trick: but how Laender
+      grinned! he was swollen and red in the face with his mirth.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you play such jokes on your estate?&rdquo; inquired Otto, addressing himself
+      to Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, not such refined ones!&rdquo; returned the Kammerjunker; &ldquo;perhaps a piece
+      of wood, or a silly mask, is laid in your bed. Miss Sophie gives us other
+      clever things for amusement&mdash;tableaux and the magic-lantern. I was
+      once of the party. Yes, what was it I represented? Ah, I played, Heaven
+      help me! King Cyrus: had a paper crown on my head, and Miss Sophie&rsquo;s cloak
+      about me, the wrong side turned outward, for it is lined with sable. I
+      looked like Satan!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The steamboat passengers were summoned on board, the company went down to
+      the vessel, and soon it was cutting through the waves of the Belt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VIII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;See now, Fünen signifieth <i>fine</i>,
+       And much in that word lies;
+     For Fünen is the garden fine,
+       Where Denmark glads its eyes.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      The nakedness which the last aspect of Zealand presents occasions one to
+      be doubly struck by the affluent abundance and luxuriance with which Funen
+      steps forth. Green woods, rich corn-fields, and, wherever the eye rests,
+      noblemen&rsquo;s seats and churches. Nyborg itself appears a lively capital in
+      comparison with the still melancholy Korsöer. One now perceives people
+      upon the great bridge of boats, on the ramparts, and in the broad streets
+      with their high houses; one sees soldiers, hears music, and, what is
+      especially animating upon a journey, one comes to an excellent inn. The
+      drive out through the arched gateway is an astonishment; it is the same
+      length and breadth as one of the gates of Copenhagen. Villages and
+      peasants&rsquo; houses here assume a more well-to-do aspect than in Zealand,
+      where one often on the way-side imagines one sees a manure-heap heaped
+      upon four poles, which upon nearer examination one finds is the abode of a
+      family. On the highroads in Funen one perceives only clean houses; the
+      window-frames are painted; before the doors are little flower-gardens, and
+      wherever flowers are grown, as Bulwer strikingly remarks, the peasant is
+      in a higher state of civilization; he thinks of the beautiful. In the
+      ditches along the highway one sees lilac with their white and lilac
+      flowers. Nature herself has here adorned the country with a multitude of
+      wild poppies, which for splendor of color might vie with the most admired
+      and beautiful in a botanic garden. Especially in the neighborhood of
+      Nyborg do they grow in exceeding abundance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What a dazzling color!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto, as the friends rolled past these
+      beautiful red flowers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is a proud color!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, who rode near them upon
+      his brown steed, &ldquo;a proud color! but they are manured with the blood of
+      Andalusian horses. It was just here where the battle between these beasts
+      took place. You know that sit the year 1808 the Spaniards lay in Funen;
+      the English ships were cruising about in the Belt, and Romana fled with
+      his whole army on board, but they could net take their horses with them.
+      These were the most splendid Andalusian creatures that eyes ever saw. The
+      Spaniards took off their bridles, and left them here to scamper about the
+      fields like wild horses. The horses of Nyborg chanced also to graze here,
+      and as soon as the Andalusian steeds became aware of ours they arranged
+      themselves in a row, and fell upon the Danish horses: that was a combat!
+      At length they fell upon each other, and fought until they fell bleeding
+      to earth. Whilst still a boy I saw little skull of one of these beasts.
+      This is the last adventure left us from the visit of the Spaniards to
+      Denmark. In the village through which we shall now pass are some outer
+      remembrances. Remark the young lads and lasses,&mdash;they are of a darker
+      complexion than the inhabitants of other Funen valleys; that is Spanish
+      blood, it is said. It was in this village that the story took its rise of
+      the preacher&rsquo;s servant-girl, who wept and was so inconsolable at the
+      departure of the Spaniards. But not on account of her bridegroom did she
+      weep,&mdash;not over her own condition. The preacher consoled her, and
+      then she said she only wept to think that if the innocent child resembled
+      its father it certainly would speak Spanish, and then not a soul would
+      understand it! Yes, such histories as this have we in Funen!&rdquo; said he
+      laughingly to Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With similar relations, and some agricultural observations, according as
+      they were called forth by surrounding objects, did our excellent landed
+      proprietor amuse our young gentlemen. They were already distant several
+      miles from Nyborg, when he suddenly broke off in the midst of a very
+      interesting discourse upon a characteristic of a true inhabitant of Funen,
+      which is, that whenever he passes a field of buckwheat he moves his mouth
+      as if chewing, and made Wilhelm observe a Viennese carriage, which
+      approached them by a neighboring road. To judge from the coachman and the
+      horses, it must be the family from the hall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This was the case&mdash;they returned from paying a visit. Where the roads
+      crossed they met each other. Otto immediately recognized Miss Sophie, and
+      near to her sat an elderly lady, with a gentle, good-humored countenance;
+      this was the mother. Now there was surprise and joy. Sophie blushed&mdash;this
+      blush could not have reference to the brother; was it then the
+      Kammerjunker? No: that appeared impossible! therefore, it must concern
+      Otto. The mother extended her hand to him with a welcome, whilst at the
+      same time she invited the Kammerjunker to spend the afternoon with them.
+      There lay, in the manner with which she proposed this, so much attention
+      and consideration, that Otto felt the man was here held in greater esteem,
+      and was otherwise regarded than he, during their short acquaintance, had
+      imagined possible.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie added, smiling, &ldquo;You must stay!&rdquo; To which the Kammerjunker replied
+      with an apology for his travelling-dress.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We are not strangers!&rdquo; said the mother; &ldquo;it is only a family meal! You
+      see the usual circle. You, Mr. Thostrup,&rdquo; added she, with a most obliging
+      manner, &ldquo;I know so well from Wilhelm&rsquo;s letters, that we are no strangers.
+      The gentlemen are acquainted with each other!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I accept the invitation,&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, &ldquo;and I will now show you
+      into what a gallop I can put my steed! It is Carl Rise, [Translator&rsquo;s
+      Note: Name of one of the heroes in Waldemar the Conqueror, a romance by
+      Ingemann.] as you see, young lady&mdash;you called him so yourself!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, ride forward,&rdquo; said Sophie, smiling. &ldquo;By that means you will oblige
+      my sister. She might otherwise be quite frightened, did she see such a
+      mighty caravan approach the house, did she had not properly prepared the
+      dinner-table.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As my gracious young lady commands!&rdquo; said the rider, and sprang forward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The country became more woody; the road passed various small lakes, almost
+      overgrown with water-lilies and shaded by old trees; the old-fashioned,
+      indented gable-ends of the hall now peeped forth. They drove through an
+      avenue of wild chestnut-trees; the stone pavement here threatened to smash
+      the carriage axles. On the right lay the forge, through the open door of
+      which flew the sparks. A little girl, with bare feet, opened a gate, and
+      they now found themselves in a large open space before the red-painted
+      out-buildings. The ground was covered with straw, and all the cows of the
+      farm were collected here for milking. Here they were obliged to drive,
+      step by step, until by the gateway they reached the larger courtyard,
+      which was inclosed by the barns and the principal building itself. This
+      was surrounded by broad ditches, almost grown over with reeds. Over a
+      solid bridge, resting upon pillars of masonry, and through a principal
+      wing which bore the armorial bearings and initials of the old possessor,
+      they arrived in the innermost court, which was shut in by three wings, the
+      antique one already mentioned, and two others: the fourth side was
+      inclosed by a low trellis-work which adjoined the garden, where the canals
+      lost themselves in a small lake.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is an interesting old court!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, that is not to be compared with the Kammerjunker&rsquo;s!&rdquo; returned Wilhelm:
+      &ldquo;you should first see his!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, you must come over some of these days,&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker.
+      &ldquo;Silence, Fingal! Silence, Valdine!&rdquo; cried he to the barking dogs. A
+      couple of turkey-cocks spread their feathers out, and gobbled with all
+      their might. Men and women servants stood at the door: that was their
+      reception!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thostrup will have the red room, will he not?&rdquo; said Wilhelm, and the
+      friends ascended the stairs together.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A pale young girl, not free from freckles, but with eyes full of soul,
+      hastened toward them; this was Wilhelm&rsquo;s youngest sister. She pressed her
+      brother to her breast, and took Otto&rsquo;s hand with kindness. She is not
+      beautiful! was the first impression she made upon him. His chamber was
+      vaulted, and the walls painted in the style of Gobelin tapestry; they
+      represented the whole of Olympus. On the left was an old fire-place, with
+      decorations and a gilt inscription; on the right stood an antiquated
+      canopy-bed, with red damask hangings. The view was confined to the moat
+      and the interior court. But a few minutes and Otto and Wilhelm were
+      summoned to table. A long gallery through two wings of the hall, on one
+      side windows, on the other entrances to the rooms, led to the dining-room.
+      The whole long passage was a picture-gallery. Portraits the size of life,
+      representing noble knights and ladies shining forth in red powdered
+      periwigs, children adorned like their elders, with tulips in their hands,
+      and great hounds by their sides, together with some historical pieces,
+      decorated the walls.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have we no garland on the table?&rdquo; asked Sophie, as she entered the
+      dining-room with the others.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Only a weak attempt to imitate my sister!&rdquo; said Louise, smiling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But there is not a single flower in the garland! What economy! And yet it
+      is sweet!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How tasteful!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto, examining the garland which Louise had
+      laid.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All kinds of green leaves, with their innumerable shades, a few yellow
+      linden-leaves, and some from the copper-beech, formed, through their
+      varied forms and colors, a tasteful garland upon the white table-cloth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You receive a thistle and a withered leaf!&rdquo; whispered Wilhelm, as Otto
+      seated himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But yet the most beautiful!&rdquo; answered he. &ldquo;The copper beech contrasts so
+      sweetly with the whitish-green thistle and the yellow leaf.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My sister Sophie,&rdquo; said Louise, &ldquo;lays us each day a different garland;&mdash;it
+      is such a pretty decoration! If she is not here we get none; that would
+      have been the case to-day, but when I learned that Wilhelm was coming, and
+      that we,&rdquo; she added, with a friendly glance, &ldquo;should have two other
+      guests, I in great haste, made an attempt, and&rdquo;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And wished to show how nicely it could be made without robbing your
+      flowers!&rdquo; interrupted Sophie, laughing. &ldquo;In reality, I am very cruel! I
+      cut all the heads of her favorites off. To-morrow, as a parody upon her
+      garland of to-day, will I make one of green cabbage and pea-shells!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Madeira or port wine?&rdquo; asked the Kammerjunker, and led the conversation
+      from flowers to articles of food and drink.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One feels one&rsquo;s self comfortable here at the hall! Miss Louise cares for
+      the body, and Miss Sophie for the soul!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And mamma bestows a good cup of coffee,&rdquo; said the mother; &ldquo;you must also
+      praise me a little!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I give music after dinner!&rdquo; cried Wilhelm; &ldquo;and thus the whole family
+      will have shown their activity!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But no voluntaries!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker; &ldquo;no voluntaries, dear friend!
+      No, a brisk song, so that one can hear what it is! but none of your
+      artificial things!&rdquo; A right proper blow on the shoulders was intended to
+      soften his expression.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IX
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;She sees if the cloth is clean and white
+     &mdash;If the bed has pillows and sheets;
+     If the candle fits in the candlestick....
+
+     &ldquo;Modest she is, although you know
+       She makes the whole of the place;
+     And in she slips in the evening glow,
+       To light the room with her merry face &ldquo;&mdash;OEHLENSCHLÄGER
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      A quiet, busy house-fairy was Louise; the beautiful, fragrant flowers were
+      her favorites. Good-humoredly she smiled at the raillery of her sister,
+      quietly listened to each thoughtless jest; but if any one, in joke,
+      touched upon what was holy to her soul, she was aroused from her calmness
+      and attained a certain eloquence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We will now become more nearly acquainted with the sisters, and on this
+      account pass over to one of the following days.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An abode together of a week, at a country-seat, will often bring about a
+      greater intimacy than if, throughout a whole winter, people had met in
+      large companies in cities. Otto soon felt himself at home; he was treated
+      as a near relative. Wilhelm related all he knew of the beautiful Eva, and
+      Sophie discovered that she was a romantic character. Mamma pitied the poor
+      child, and Louise wished she had her on the estate: an inn was, after all,
+      no proper place for a respectable girl. They then spoke of the winter
+      enjoyments in Copenhagen, of art, and the theatre. Louise could not speak
+      much with them upon these subjects, although she had seen one play,
+      &ldquo;Dyveke:&rdquo; the amiable nature of the actress had spoken deeply to her
+      heart.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Several days had passed; the sky was gray; the young people assembled
+      round the table; they were at no loss for a subject of conversation. All
+      those who have brothers or sons who study well, have remarked how much
+      they are especially fascinated by the lectures on natural philosophy and
+      astronomy; the world, as it were, expands itself before the intellectual
+      eye. We know that the friends, during the past summer, had participated in
+      these lectures, and, like the greater number, were full of these subjects,
+      from the contemplation of a drop of water, with its innumerable
+      animalculae, to the distance and magnitude of stars and planets.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To most of us these are well-known doctrines; to the ladies, also, this
+      was nothing entirely new: nevertheless, it interested them; perhaps partly
+      owing to Otto&rsquo;s beautiful eloquence. The gray, rainy weather led the
+      conversation to the physical explanation of the origin of our globe, as
+      the friends, from Orsted&rsquo;s lectures, conceived it to have been.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Northern and Grecian myths agree also with it!&rdquo; sail Otto. &ldquo;We must
+      imagine, that in infinite space there floated an eternal, unending mist,
+      in which lay a power of attraction. The mist condensed itself now to one
+      drop&mdash;our globe was one enormous egg-shaped drop; light and warmth
+      operated upon this huge world egg, and hatched, not alone ONE creature,
+      but millions. These must die and give way to new ones, but their corpses
+      fell as dust to the centre: this grew; the water itself condensed, and
+      soon arose a point above the expanse of ocean. The warmth of the sun
+      developed moss and plants; fresh islands presented themselves; for
+      centuries did a more powerful development and improvement show themselves,
+      until the perfection was attained which we now perceive!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But the Bible does not teach us thus!&rdquo; said Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Moses invented his account of the creation,&rdquo; answered Otto; &ldquo;we keep to
+      Nature, who has greater revelations than man.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But the Bible is to you a holy book?&rdquo; asked Louise, and colored.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A venerable book!&rdquo; returned Otto. &ldquo;It contains the profoundest doctrines,
+      the most interesting histories, but also much which belongs not at all to
+      a holy book.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How can you say such things?&rdquo; exclaimed Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do not touch upon religion in her presence,&rdquo; said Sophie; &ldquo;she is a pious
+      soul, and believes, without desiring to know wherefore.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said Wilhelm, &ldquo;this winter she became quite angry, and, as I
+      believe, for the first time angry with me, because I maintained that
+      Christ was a man.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wilhelm!&rdquo; interrupted the young girl, &ldquo;do not speak of that; I feel
+      myself unhappy at this thought; I can and will not see the Holy brought
+      down to my level, and to that of every-day life. It lies in my nature that
+      I commit a sin if I think otherwise than I have learned and than my heart
+      allows me. It is profane, and if you speak longer of religion in this
+      strain I shall leave the room.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At this moment the mother entered. &ldquo;The festival has commenced,&rdquo; said she;
+      &ldquo;I have been forced to give my brightest silver skilling. Does Mr.
+      Thostrup know the old custom which is observed here in the country, when
+      beer is brewed for the mowing-feast?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A piercing cry, as from a horde of savages, at this moment reached the
+      ears of the party.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The friends descended.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the middle of the brew-house stood a tub, around which danced all the
+      female servants of the estate, from the dairymaids down to the girl who
+      tended the swine; their iron-bound wooden shoes dashed against the uneven
+      flag-stones. The greater number of the dancers were without their jackets,
+      but with their long chemise-sleeves and narrow bodices. Some screamed,
+      others laughed, the whole was blended together in a howl, whilst they
+      danced hand in hand around the tub in which the beer should be brewed. The
+      brewing-maid now flung into it the silver skilling, upon which the girls,
+      like wild Maenades, tore off each other&rsquo;s caps, and with bacchanalian
+      wildness whirled round the tub. By this means should the beer become
+      stronger, and work more intoxicatingly at the approaching mowing-feast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Among the girls, one especially distinguished herself by her Strong frame
+      of body, and her long black hair, which, now that her cap was torn off,
+      hung in disorder over her red face. The dark eyebrows were grown together.
+      All seemed to rage most violently within her, and in truth she assumed
+      something wild, nay almost brutal. Both arms she raised high in the air,
+      and with outstretched fingers she whirled around.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is disgusting!&rdquo; whispered Otto: &ldquo;they all look like crazy people.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm laughed at it. The wild merriment was lost in a joyous burst of
+      laughter. The girl with the grown-together eyebrows let fall her arms; but
+      still there lay in her glance that wild expression, which the loose hair
+      and uncovered shoulders made still more striking. Either one of the others
+      had had the misfortune to scratch her lip, or else she herself had bitten
+      it in bacchanalian wildness until it bled: she accidentally glanced toward
+      the open door where stood the friends. Otto&rsquo;s countenance became clouded,
+      as was ever the case when anything unpleasant affected him. She seemed to
+      guess his thoughts, and laughed aloud. Otto stepped aside; it was as
+      though he in anticipation felt the shadow which this form would one day
+      cast across his life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When he and Wilhelm immediately afterward returned to Sophie and Louise,
+      he related the unpleasant impression which the girl had made upon him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, that is my Meg Merrilies!&rdquo; exclaimed Sophie. &ldquo;Yes, spite of her youth,
+      do you not find that she has something of Sir Walter Scott&rsquo;s witch about
+      her? When she grows older, she will be excellent. She has the appearance
+      of being thirty, whereas she is said not to be more than twenty years old:
+      she is a true giantess.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The poor thing!&rdquo; said Louise; &ldquo;every one judges from the exterior. All
+      who are around her hate her, I believe, because her eyebrows are grown
+      together, and that is said to be a sign that she is a nightmare:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [Note: This superstition of the people is mentioned in
+     Thieles&rsquo;s Danish traditions: &ldquo;When a girl at midnight
+     stretches between four sticks the membrane in which the foal
+     lies when it is born, and then creeps naked through it, she
+     will bear her child without pains; but all the boys she
+     conceives will become were-wolves, and all the girls
+     nightmares. You will know them in the daytime by their
+     eyebrows grown together over the nose. In the night she
+     creeps in through the key-hole, and places herself upon the
+     sleeper&rsquo;s bosom. The same superstition is also found in
+     German Grimm speaks thus about it: If you say to the
+     nightmare,&mdash;
+
+         Old hag, come to-morrow,
+         And I from you will borrow,
+
+     it retreats directly, and comes the next morning in the
+     shape of a man to borrow something.&rdquo;]
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      they are angry with her, and how could one expect, from the class to which
+      she belongs, that she should return scorn with kindness? She is become
+      savage, that she may not feel their neglect. In a few days, when we have
+      the mowing-feast, you yourself will see how every girl gets a partner; but
+      poor Sidsel may adorn herself as much as she likes, she still stands
+      alone. It is truly hard to be born such a being!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The unfortunate girl!&rdquo; sighed Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, she does not feel it!&rdquo; said Wilhelm: &ldquo;she cannot feel it; for that she
+      is too rude, too much of an animal.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER X
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Were the pease not tender, and the vegetables fresh and
+     sweet as sugar What was the matter with the hams, the smoked
+     goose-breasts, and the herrings? What with the roasted lamb,
+     and the refreshing red-sprinkled head-lettuce? Was not the
+     vinegar sharp, and the nut-oil balmy? Was not the butter as
+     sweet as a nut, the red radishes tender? What?&rdquo;&mdash;VOSS&rsquo;S
+     Louise.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Thostrup shall see the Kammerjunker&rsquo;s old country-seat; to-morrow we
+      must go over.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Louise could not go with them, a hundred small duties chained her to the
+      house. The most important of them all was ironing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But that the house-maid can do,&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;Do come with us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When thou seest thy linen nice and neat in thy drawers,&rdquo; returned Louise,
+      &ldquo;thou wilt certainly pardon me for remaining at home.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, thou art a glorious girl!&rdquo; said Sophie; &ldquo;thou dost deserve to have
+      been known by Jean Paul, and made immortal in one of his books. Thou dost
+      deserve the good fortune of being sung of by such a poet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Dost thou call it good fortune,&rdquo; answered the sister, &ldquo;when the whole
+      world directs its attention to one person?&mdash;that must be painful!
+      unhappy! No, it is much better not to be remarked at all. Take my
+      greetings with you, and ask for my Claudius back; they have had it now a
+      whole half year.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There, they have kept half my sister&rsquo;s library,&rdquo; said Sophie, smiling to
+      Otto. &ldquo;You must know she has only two books: Mynster&rsquo;s Sermons, and the
+      &lsquo;Wandsbecker Boten.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The carriage rolled away through the chestnut avenue. &ldquo;There upon the
+      hill, close by the wood, did I act the elf-maiden,&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;I was
+      not yet confirmed; there were strangers staying with us at the hall, and
+      we wandered in the beautiful moonlight through the wood. Two of my friends
+      and I hastened toward the hill, took hold of each other&rsquo;s hands and danced
+      in a ring. The day after, two persons of the congregation told the
+      preacher about three elfin-maidens, clad in white, who had danced upon the
+      hill in the moonlight. The elfin-maidens were we; but that our backs were
+      hollow as baking-troughs, and that the hill glanced like silver, was their
+      own invention.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And in this oak,&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm, &ldquo;when a boy, I killed the first bird
+      which fell from my shot. It was a crow, and was very honorably interred.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, beneath my sister&rsquo;s weeping-willow,&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;We buried it in
+      an old chapeaubras, adorned with white bows; the grave was decorated with
+      peony-leaves and yellow lilies. Wilhelm, who was then a big boy, made an
+      oration, and Louise strewed flowers.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You were little fools!&rdquo; said the mother. &ldquo;But see, who comes here?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, my little Dickie, my dwarf of Kenilworth!&rdquo; exclaimed Sophie, as a
+      little hump-backed man, with thin legs and an old face, approached. He was
+      dressed as a peasant, and bore upon his back a little knapsack of red
+      calfskin, the hairy side turned outward: in this he carried his violin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is he called Dickie?&rdquo; asked Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, that is only a joke of Sophie&rsquo;s,&rdquo; pursued Wilhelm; &ldquo;she must always
+      make suitable people romantic. He is called commonly &lsquo;Musikanti.&rsquo; The
+      inhabitant of Funen Italianizes most names; otherwise he is called Peter
+      Cripple.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will hear his tones,&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;The day after to-morrow, when we
+      have the mowing-feast, he will he number one. He understands music with
+      which you are scarcely acquainted; he will play you the &lsquo;Shoemaker&rsquo;s
+      Dance&rsquo; as well as &lsquo;Cherry-soup:&rsquo; such dances as these have people here in
+      the country.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We are now beyond my lands, and upon our neighbor&rsquo;s,&rdquo; said the old lady.
+      &ldquo;You will see a thorough old mansion.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, I should like to know how the inhabitants will please Mr. Thostrup,&rdquo;
+       said Sophie. &ldquo;The Kammerjunker you know; he is an excellent country
+      gentleman. His sister, on the contrary, is a little peculiar: she belongs
+      to that class of people who always, even wily the best intentions, say
+      unpleasant things. She has for this quite a rare talent&mdash;you will
+      soon experience this; but she does not intend anything so bad. She can
+      also joke! Thank God that you will not remain there over night, otherwise
+      you would experience what she and the Mamsell can invent!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, the Mamsell is my friend!&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;You will see her work-box
+      with all the curiosities. That little box plays a great part: it is always
+      taken out with her when she pays a visit&mdash;for the sake of
+      conversation it is brought out; all is then looked through, and every
+      article goes the round of the company. Yes, there are beautiful things to
+      be seen: a little wheelbarrow with a pincushion, a silver fish, and the
+      little yard-measure of silk ribbon.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, and the amber heart!&rdquo; said Sophie; &ldquo;the little Napoleon of cast
+      iron, and the officer who is pasted fast to the bottom of the box: that is
+      a good friend in Odense, she lately told to me in confidence.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See what beautiful stone fences the Kammerjunker has made!&rdquo; said the
+      mother. &ldquo;And how beautifully the cherry-trees grow! He is an industrious
+      man!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They approached the garden. It was laid out in the old French style, with
+      straight walks, pyramids of box, and white painted stone figures: satyrs
+      and goddesses peeped through the green foliage. You now caught sight of a
+      high tower with a spire; and soon the whole of the old mansion presented
+      itself to view. The water was conveyed away from the broad moats, where
+      the weeping willows with bowed heads and uncovered roots stood in the warm
+      sunshine. A number of work-people were busily employed in clearing the
+      moats of mud, which was wheeled in barrows on both sides.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They soon reached the principal court-yard. The barns and the
+      out-buildings lay on the opposite side. A crowd of dogs rushed forth
+      barking toward the carriage&mdash;all possible races, from the large
+      Danish hound, which is known to the Parisian, down to the steward&rsquo;s little
+      pug-dog, which had mixed with this company. Here stood the greyhound, with
+      his long legs, beside the turnspit. You saw all varieties, and each had
+      its peculiar and melodious bark. A couple of peacocks, with bright
+      outspread tails, raised at the same time a cry, which must have made an
+      impression. The whole court-yard had a striking air of cleanliness. The
+      grass was weeded from between the stones; all was swept and arranged in
+      its appointed order. Before the principal flight of steps grew four large
+      lime-trees; their tops, from youth bent together and then clipped short,
+      formed in spring and summer two large green triumphal arches. On the right
+      stood upon an upright beam, which was carved and formed into a pillar, a
+      prettily painted dove-cot; and its gay inhabitants fluttered and cooed
+      around. The peacock-pigeon emulated the peacock in spreading its tail; and
+      the cropper-pigeon elevated itself upon its long legs, and drew itself up,
+      as though it would welcome the strangers with the air of a grand
+      gentleman. The reddish-brown tiles and the bright window-panes were the
+      only things which had a modern air. The building itself, from the stone
+      window-seats to the old-fashioned tower through which you entered,
+      proclaimed its antiquity. In the vaulted entrance-hall stood two immense
+      presses: the quantity of wood which formed them, and the artistical
+      carving, testified to their great age. Above the door were fastened a
+      couple of antlers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Kammerjunker&rsquo;s sister, Miss Jakoba, a young lady of about thirty,
+      neither stout nor thin, but with a strange mixture of joviality and
+      indolence, approached them. She appeared to rejoice very much in the
+      visit.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, you are come over, then!&rdquo; said she to Wilhelm. &ldquo;I thought you had
+      enough to do with your examination.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm smiled, and assured her that after so much study people required
+      relaxation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, you doubtless study in handsome boots!&rdquo; said the young lady, and in
+      a friendly manner turned toward Sophie. &ldquo;Good heavens, miss!&rdquo; she
+      exclaimed, &ldquo;how the sun has burnt your nose! That looks horrible! Don&rsquo;t
+      you ever wear a veil? you, who otherwise look so well!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto was a stranger to her. He escaped such unpleasant remarks. &ldquo;They
+      should spend the whole day there,&rdquo; insisted Miss Jakoba; but mamma spoke
+      of being at home by noon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nothing will come of that!&rdquo; said Jakoba. &ldquo;I have expected you; and we
+      have cooked a dinner, and made preparations, and I will not have had all
+      this trouble in vain. There are some especial dishes for you, and of these
+      you shall eat.&rdquo; This was all said in such a good-humored tone that even a
+      stranger could not have felt himself offended. The Kammerjunker was in the
+      fields looking after his flax; he would soon be back. Squire Wilhelm could
+      in the mean time conduct Mr. Thostrup about the premises: &ldquo;he would
+      otherwise have nothing to do,&rdquo; said she.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      No one must remain in the sitting-room; it was so gloomy there! The walls
+      were still, as in by-gone days, covered with black leather, upon which
+      were impressed gold flowers. No, they should go to the hall&mdash;that had
+      been modernized since the Baroness was last there. The old chimney-piece
+      with carved ornaments was removed, and a pretty porcelain stove had taken
+      its place. The walls were covered with new paper from Paris. You could
+      there contemplate all the public buildings of that city,&mdash;Notre Dame,
+      Saint Sulpice, and the Tuileries. Long red curtains, thrown over gilt
+      rods, hung above the high windows. All this splendor was admired.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I prefer the antique sitting-room, after all,&rdquo; said Sophie; &ldquo;the old
+      chimney-piece and the leather hangings. One fairly lives again in the days
+      of chivalry!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, you have always been a little foolish!&rdquo; said Jakoba, but softened
+      her words by a smile and a pressure of the hand. &ldquo;No, the hall is more
+      lively. Ah!&rdquo; she suddenly exclaimed; &ldquo;Tine has placed her work-box in the
+      window! That is disorder!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, is that the celebrated work-box, with its many fool&rsquo;s tricks?&rdquo;
+       inquired Wilhelm, as he laughingly took it up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There are neither fools nor tricks in the box,&rdquo; said Jakoba. &ldquo;But only
+      look in the mirror in the lid, and then you will perhaps see one of the
+      two.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No rude speeches, my young lady!&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;I am an academical
+      burgher!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Kammerjunker now entered, attired in the same riding dress in which we
+      made his acquaintance. He had visited his hay and oats, had seen after the
+      people who were working at the fences, and had been also in the
+      plantation. It had been a warm forenoon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, Miss Sophie,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;do you see how I am clearing out the court?
+      It costs me above five hundred dollars; and still they are the peasants of
+      the estate who clear away the mud. But I shall get a delicate manure-heap,
+      so fit and rich that it&rsquo;s quite a pleasure. But, Jakoba, where is the
+      coffee?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Only let it come in through the door,&rdquo; said Jakoba, somewhat angrily.
+      &ldquo;You certainly ate something before you went from home. Let me attend to
+      the affairs of the ladies, and do thou attend to the gentlemen, so that
+      they may not stand and get weary.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Kammerjunker conducted the friends up the winding stone stairs into
+      the old tower.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All solid and good!&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;We no longer build in this manner. The
+      loop-holes here, close under the roof, were walled up already in my
+      father&rsquo;s time. But only notice this timber!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The whole loft appeared a gigantic skeleton composed of beams, one
+      crossing the other. On either side of the loft was a small vaulted
+      chamber, with a brick fire-place. Probably these chambers had been used as
+      guard-rooms; a kind of warder&rsquo;s walk led from these, between the
+      beam-palisade and the broad wall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, here,&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, &ldquo;they could have had a good lookout
+      toward the enemy. Look through my telescope. You have here the whole
+      country from Vissenberg to Munkebobanke, the Belt, and the heights of
+      Svendborg. Only see! The air is clear. We see both Langeland and Zealand.
+      Here one could, in 1807, have well observed the English fleet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The three climbed up the narrow ladder and came past the great clock, the
+      leaden weights of which, had they fallen, would have dashed through the
+      stone steps, and soon the gentlemen sat on the highest point. The
+      Kammerjunker requested the telescope, placed it and exclaimed:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did I not think so? If one has not them always under one&rsquo;s eyes they
+      begin playing pranks! Yes, I see it very well! There, now, the fellows who
+      are working at the fences have begun to romp with the girls! they do
+      nothing! Yes, they don&rsquo;t believe that I am sitting here in the tower and
+      looking at them!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then a telescope is, after all, a dangerous weapon!&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm.
+      &ldquo;You can look at people when they least expect it. Fortunately, our seat
+      lies hidden behind the wood: we are, at all events, safe.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, that it is, my friend,&rdquo; returned the other; &ldquo;the outer sides of the
+      garden are still bare. Did I not, last autumn, see Miss Sophie quite
+      distinctly, when she was gathering service-berries in her little basket?
+      And then, what tricks did she not play? She certainly did not think that I
+      sat here and watched tier pretty gambols!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They quitted the tower, and passed through the so-called Knight&rsquo;s Hall,
+      where immense beams, laid one on the other, supported the roof. At either
+      end of the hall was a huge fireplace, with armorial bearings painted
+      above: the hall was now used as a granary; they were obliged to step over
+      a heap of corn before reaching the family pew in the little chapel, which
+      was no longer used for divine service.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This might become a pretty little room,&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, &ldquo;but we
+      have enough, and therefore we let this, for curiosity&rsquo;s sake, remain in
+      its old state. The moon is worth its money!&rdquo; and he pointed toward the
+      vaulted ceiling, where the moon was represented as a white disk, in which
+      the painter, with much naïveté, had introduced a man bearing a load of
+      coals upon his back; in faithful representation of the popular belief
+      regarding the black spot in the moon, which supposes this to be a man whom
+      the Lord has sent up there because he stole his neighbor&rsquo;s coal. &ldquo;That
+      great picture on the right, there,&rdquo; pursued he, &ldquo;is Mrs. Ellen Marsviin; I
+      purchased it at an auction. One of the peasants put up for it; I asked him
+      what he would do with this big piece of furniture&mdash;he could never get
+      it in through his door. But do you know what a speculation he had? It was
+      not such a bad one, after all. See! the rain runs so beautifully off the
+      painted canvas, he would have a pair of breeches made out of it, to wear
+      in rainy weather behind the plough; they would keep the rain off! I
+      thought, however, I ought to prevent the portrait of the highly honorable
+      Mrs. Ellen Marsviin being so profaned. I bought it: now she hangs there,
+      and looks tolerably well pleased. The peasant got a knight instead&mdash;perhaps
+      one of my own ancestors, who was now cut up into breeches. See, that is
+      what one gets by being painted!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But the cupboard in the pillar there?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There, certainly, were Bibles and Prayer-books kept. Now I have in it
+      what I call sweetmeats for the Chancery-counselor Thomsen: old knives of
+      sacrifice, coins and rings, which I have found in the horse-pond and up
+      yonder in the cairns: not a quarter of a yard below the turf we found one
+      pot upon another; round each a little inclosure of stones&mdash;a flat
+      stone as covering, and underneath stood the pot, with burnt giants&rsquo; bones,
+      and a little button or the blade of a knife. The best things are already
+      gone away to Copenhagen, and should the Counselor come, he will, God help
+      me! carry away the rest. That may be, then, willingly, for I cannot use
+      the stuff, after all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      After coffee, the guests wandered through the old garden: the clearing
+      away of the mud was more closely observed, the dairy and pig-sty visited,
+      the new threshing-machine inspected. But now the Russian bath should be
+      also essayed; &ldquo;it was heated!&rdquo; But the end of the affair was, that only
+      the Kammerjunker himself made use of it. The dinner-table was prepared,
+      and then he returned. &ldquo;But here something is wanting!&rdquo; exclaimed he; left
+      the room, and returned immediately with two large bouquets, which he stuck
+      into an ale-glass which he placed upon the table. &ldquo;Where Miss Sophie
+      dines, the table must be ornamented with flowers: certainly we cannot lay
+      garlands, as you do!&rdquo; He seated himself at the end of the table, and
+      wished, as he himself said, to represent the President Lars: they had had
+      the &ldquo;Wandsbecker Boten&rdquo; half a year in the house, and it would certainly
+      please Miss Sophie if they betrayed some acquaintance with books. This
+      Lars and the flowers, here, meant quite as much as in the south a serenade
+      under the windows of the fair one.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When, toward evening, the carriage for their return drew up before the
+      door, Otto still stood contemplating some old inscriptions which were
+      built into the tower-wall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That you can look at another time,&rdquo; said Jakoba; &ldquo;now you must be of use
+      a little!&rdquo; And she reached him the ladies&rsquo; cloaks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Amidst promises of a return visit and the parting yelping of the dogs the
+      carriage rolled away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have fairly fallen in love with the old place!&rdquo; said Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Kaminerjunker gains much upon nearer acquaintance,&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They bad now reached the furthest extremity of the garden. A flower-rain
+      showered itself over them and the carriage. The Kammerjunker, Jakoba, and
+      the Mamsell, had taken a shorter way, and now waved an adieu to the
+      travellers, whilst at the same time they scattered hyacinths and stocks
+      over them. With a practiced hand Jakoba threw, as a mark of friendship, a
+      great pink straight into Otto&rsquo;s face. &ldquo;Farewell, farewell!&rdquo; sounded from
+      both sides, and, accompanied by the sound of the evening-bell from the
+      near village, for it was sunset, the carriage rolled away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XI
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Dance and stamp
+     Till the shoe-soles drop!&rdquo;
+                       &mdash;Danish Popular Song.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      On the following day should the much-talked-of mowing-festival take place.
+      It was the hay-harvest which occasioned all this merriment. [Author&rsquo;s
+      Note: It is true that serfdom is abolished, but the peasant is still not
+      quite free; neither can he be so. For his house and land he must pay a
+      tribute, and this consists in labor. His own work must give way to that of
+      his lord. His wagon, which he has had prepared to bring home his own
+      harvest, must, if such be commanded, go to the nobleman&rsquo;s land, and there
+      render service. This is, therefore, a kind of tax which he pays, and for
+      the faithful payment of which he is rewarded by a harvest and
+      mowing-feast; at the latter he receives a certain quantity of brandy, and
+      as much ale as he can drink. The dance generally takes place in the middle
+      of the court-yard, and the dancers themselves must pay their musicians.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      During three afternoons in succession, in the inner court and under free
+      heaven, should a ball be held. Along the walls, rough planks, laid upon
+      logs of wood, formed a row of benches. At both ends of the court lay two
+      barrels of the newly brewed ale, which had received more malt than usual,
+      and which, besides, through the silver skilling, and the magic dance of
+      the maidens round the tub, had acquired extraordinary strength. A large
+      wooden tankard, containing several measures of brandy, stood upon a table;
+      the man who watched the bleaching-ground was placed as a kind of butler to
+      preside at this sideboard. A bread-woman, with new white bread from Nyborg
+      upon her barrow, wheeled into the court, and there established her stall
+      for every one; for it was only liquors the guests received gratis.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The guests now entered the court by pairs; the men, part in jackets, part
+      in long coats which hung down to their ankles. Out of the waistcoat-pocket
+      protruded a little nosegay of sweet-williams and musk. The girls carried
+      their &ldquo;posies,&rdquo; as they called them, in their neatly folded
+      pocket-handkerchiefs. Two musicians&mdash;one quite a young blade, in a
+      laced coat with a stiff cravat, mid the other the well-known Peter
+      Cripple, &ldquo;Musikanti&rdquo; as he was called&mdash;led the procession. They both
+      played one and the same piece, but each according to his own manner. It
+      was both good and old.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They now began to draw lots, who should dance before the door of the
+      family and who before that of the steward; after which the two parties
+      drew lots for the musicians. The girls seated themselves in a row upon the
+      bench, from whence they were chosen. The gallantry accorded with the
+      ball-room,&mdash;the hard stone pavement. Not even had the grass been
+      pulled up, but that would be all right after dancing there the first day.
+      &ldquo;Nay, why art thou sitting there?&rdquo; spoken with a kind of morose
+      friendliness, was the invitation to dance; and this served for seven
+      dances. &ldquo;Only don&rsquo;t be melancholy!&rdquo; resounded from the company, and now
+      the greater portion moved phlegmatically along, as if in sleep or in a
+      forced dance: the girl with her eyes staring at her own feet, her partner
+      with his head bent toward one side, and his eyes in a direct line with the
+      girl&rsquo;s head-dress. A few of the most active exhibited, it is true, a kind
+      of animation, by stamping so lustily upon the stone pavement that the dust
+      whirled up around them. That was a joy! a joy which had occupied them many
+      weeks, but as yet the joy had not reached its height; &ldquo;but that will soon
+      come!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, who, with his sister and Otto, had taken his place at
+      an open window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The old people meanwhile kept to the ale-barrels, and the brandy. The
+      latter was offered to the girls, and they were obliged, at least, to sip.
+      Wilhelm soon discovered the prettiest, and threw them roses. The girls
+      immediately sprang to the spot to collect the flowers: but the cavaliers
+      also wished to have them, and they were the stronger; they, therefore,
+      boldly pushed the ladies aside, so that some seated themselves on the
+      stone pavement and got no roses: that was a merry bit of fun! &ldquo;Thou art a
+      foolish thing! It fell upon thy shoulder and thou couldst not catch it!&rdquo;
+       said the first lover to his lady, and stuck the rose into his
+      waistcoat-pocket.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All got partners&mdash;all the girls; even the children, they leaped about
+      to their own singing out upon the bridge. Only ONE stood forlorn,&mdash;Sidsel,
+      with the grown-together eyebrows; she smiled, laughed aloud; no one would
+      become her partner. Peter Cripple handed his violin to one of the young
+      men and asked him to play, for he himself wished to stretch his legs a
+      little. The girls drew back and talked with each other; but Peter Cripple
+      stepped quietly forward toward Sidsel, flung his arms around her, and they
+      danced a whirling dance. Sophie laughed aloud at it, but Sidsel directed
+      her extraordinary glance maliciously and piercingly toward her. Otto saw
+      it, and the girl was doubly revolting and frightful in his eyes. With the
+      increasing darkness the assembly became more animated; the two parties of
+      dancers were resolved into one. At length, when it was grown quite dark,
+      the ale barrels become empty, the tankard again filled and once more
+      emptied, the company withdrew in pairs, singing. Now commenced the first
+      joy, the powerful operation of the ale. They now wandered through the
+      wood, accompanying each other home, as they termed it; but this was a
+      wandering until the bright morning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto and Wilhelm were gone out into the avenue, and the peasants shouted
+      to them a grateful &ldquo;Good night!&rdquo; for the merry afternoon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now works the witchcraft!&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;the magical power of the ale!
+      Now begins the bacchand! Give your hand to the prettiest girl, and she
+      will immediately give you her heart!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pity,&rdquo; answered Otto, &ldquo;that the Maenades of the north possess only that
+      which is brutal in common with those of the south!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See, there goes the smith&rsquo;s pretty daughter, to whom I threw the best
+      rose!&rdquo; cried Wilhelm. &ldquo;She has got two lovers, one under either arm!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, there she goes!&rdquo; simpered a female voice close to them. It was
+      Sidsel, who sat upon the steps of a stile almost concealed in the
+      darkness, which the trees and the hedge increased still more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Has Sidsel no lover?&rdquo; asked Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hi, hi, hi,&rdquo; simpered she; &ldquo;the Herr Baron and the other gentleman seek,
+      doubtless, for a little bride. Am I beautiful enough? At night all cats
+      are gray!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come!&rdquo; whispered Otto, and drew Wilhelm away from her. &ldquo;She sits like
+      some bird of ill omen there in the hedge.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What a difference!&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm, as he followed; &ldquo;yes, what a
+      difference between this monster, nay, between the other girls and Eva! She
+      was, doubtless, born in the same poverty, in similar circumstances, and
+      yet they are like day and night. What a soul has been given to Eva! what
+      inborn nobility! It must be, really, more than a mere freak of Nature!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Only do not let Nature play her freaks with you!&rdquo; said Otto, smiling, and
+      raised his hand. &ldquo;You speak often of Eva.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here it was association of ideas,&rdquo; answered Wilhelm. &ldquo;The contrast awoke
+      remembrance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto entered his chamber&mdash;he opened the window; it was a moonlight
+      night. From the near wood resounded laughter and song. They came from the
+      young men and girls, who, on their wandering, gave themselves up to
+      merriment. Otto stood silent and full of thought in the open window.
+      Perhaps it was the moon which lent her paleness to his countenance. On
+      what did he reflect? Upon his departure, perhaps? Only one more day would
+      he remain here, where he felt himself so much at home; but then the
+      journey was toward his own house, to his grandfather, to Rosalie, and the
+      old preacher, who all thought so much of him. Otto stood listening and
+      silent. The wind bore the song more distinctly over from the wood.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is their joy, their happiness!&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;It might have been my joy
+      also, my happiness!&rdquo; lay in the sigh which he heaved. His lips did not
+      move, his thoughts alone spoke their silent language. &ldquo;I might have stood
+      on a level with these; my soul might have been chained to the dust, and
+      yet it would have been the same which I now possess, with which I long to
+      compass all worlds! the same, endowed with this sentiment of pride, which
+      drives me on to active exertion. My fate wavered whether I should become
+      one such as these or whether I should rise into that circle which the
+      world calls the higher. The mist-form did not sink down into the mire, but
+      rose above into the high refreshing air. And am I become happy through
+      this?&rdquo; His eye stared upon the bright disk of the moon. Two large tears
+      rolled over his pale cheeks. &ldquo;Infinite Omnipotence! I acknowledge Thy
+      existence! Thou dost direct all; upon Thee will I depend!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A melancholy smile passed over his lips; he stepped back into the chamber,
+      folded his hands, prayed, and felt rest and peace.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;The travellers roll through the world of men,
+     Like rose leaves in a stream.
+     The past will ne&rsquo;er come back again,
+     But fade into a dream.&rdquo;&mdash;B. S. INGEMANN.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The following day, the last before Otto&rsquo;s departure, whilst he and Wilhelm
+      were walking in the garden, Sophie approached them with a garland made of
+      oak-leaves: this was intended for Otto; they were now really to lose him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sophie will scarcely be up so early to-morrow morning,&rdquo; said Louise; &ldquo;she
+      is, therefore, obliged to present her garland to-day. I am never missing
+      at the breakfast-table, as you well know; and I shall then bring my
+      bouquet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shall preserve both until we meet again,&rdquo; returned Otto; &ldquo;they are
+      vignettes to my beautiful summer-dream. When I again sit in Copenhagen,
+      when the rain patters and the winter approaches with cold and a joyless
+      sky, I shall still see before me Funen with its green woods, flowers, and
+      sunshine; it will appear to me that it must still be so there, and that
+      the garland and bouquet are only withered because they are with me in the
+      winter cold.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In Copenhagen we shall meet again!&rdquo; said Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And I shall see you again with the swallows!&rdquo; said Louise, &ldquo;when my
+      flowers spring up again, when we have again warm summer days! As far as I
+      am concerned, you belong to the summer, and not to the cold, calm winter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Early on the following morning was Sophie, after all, at the breakfast
+      table. That was to honor Otto. Mamma showed herself as the carriage was at
+      the door. Wilhelm would accompany him as far as Odense. It was, therefore,
+      a double leave taking, here and there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We will always remain friends, faithful friends!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, when they
+      parted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Faithful friends!&rdquo; repeated Otto, and they rolled away toward Middelfart;
+      thus far should mamma&rsquo;s own carriage convey the excellent Otto. Wilhelm
+      remained behind in Odense; his coachman drove Otto, and they discoursed
+      upon the way. They passed Vissenberg: the high, wooded hills there have
+      received the name of the Funen Alps. The legend relates of robbers who had
+      here deep passages underneath the high-road, where they hung bells which
+      rang when any one passed above. The inhabitants are still looked upon with
+      suspicion. Vissenberg appears a kind of Itri, between Copenhagen and
+      Hamburg. [Author&rsquo;s Note: &ldquo;Itri,&rdquo; Fra Diavolo&rsquo;s birthplace, lies in the
+      Neapolitan States, on the highway between Rome and Naples. The inhabitants
+      are not, without reason, suspected of carrying on the robber&rsquo;s trade.]
+      Near the church there formerly lay a stone, on which Knud, the saint, is
+      said to have rested himself when flying from the rebellious Jutlanders. In
+      the stone remained the impression of where he had sat; the hard stone had
+      been softer than the hearts of the rebellious people.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This, and similar legends, the coachman knew how to relate; he was born in
+      this neighborhood, but not in Vissenberg itself, where they make the false
+      notes. [Author&rsquo;s Note: A number of years ago a band of men were seized in
+      Vissenberg who had forged bank-notes.] Every legend gains in interest when
+      one hears it in the place with which it is connected. Funen is especially
+      rich in such relations.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That cairn elevates itself at Christmas upon four red posts, and one can
+      then see the dance and merriment of the goblins within. Through that
+      peasant&rsquo;s farm there drives every night a glowing coach, drawn by four
+      coal-black horses. Where we now see a pond overgrown with reeds and roots
+      there once stood a church, but it sank as the godless desecrated it; at
+      midnight we still hear their sighs, and hymns of repentance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It is true that the narrator mixed up together certain leg-ends which
+      related to other places in the country&mdash;that he took little springs,
+      and mingled his own thoughts with his relations; but Otto listened to him
+      with great interest. The discourse turned also upon the family at the
+      hall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, they are very much liked!&rdquo; said the coachman; &ldquo;the gentleman may
+      believe we know how to value them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And now, which of the young ladies is the best?&rdquo; asked Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, every one is best served by Miss Louise,&rdquo; returned the fellow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Miss Sophie is the prettiest,&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, she is also very good,&mdash;she belongs to the learned ones! She
+      knows German, that she does! she can act comedy very excellently! I once
+      got permission with the rest of the people to be up-stairs in the
+      sitting-room&mdash;we stood behind the family; she did not manage her
+      affairs at all badly.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      However much the old legends interested Otto, it seemed as though he
+      listened with more pleasure to the simple reasonings of the coachman upon
+      the family who were become so dear to him. Words and thoughts were busied
+      about the objects there. Wilhelm, however, was and still remained the
+      dearest; he recollected with what mildness Wilhelm had stretched forth his
+      hand in reconciliation, when he himself had thrust him from him. Already
+      the happy summer days which he had spent at the country-seat, the whole
+      visit, appeared a beautiful but short dream.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto felt an inward impulse to express his gratitude; his pride even,
+      which was a fundamental feature of his character, commanded him to do
+      this. Wilhelm&rsquo;s affection, his desire for a continued friendship, Otto
+      thought he must reward; and on this account he added the following words
+      to the few lines which he gave the coachman before his passage over the
+      Little Belt:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wilhelm, in future we will say thou to each other; that is more
+      confidential!&rdquo; &ldquo;He is the first to whom I have given my thou,&rdquo; said Otto,
+      when the letter was dispatched. &ldquo;This will rejoice him: now, however, I
+      myself have for once made an advance, but he deserves it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A few moments later it troubled him. &ldquo;I am a fool like the rest!&rdquo; said he,
+      and wished he could annihilate the paper. He was summoned on board. The
+      Little Belt is only a river between the two countries; he soon found
+      himself upon Jutland ground; the whip cracked, the wheels turned round,
+      like the wheels of fortune, up and down, yet ever onward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Late in the evening he arrived at an inn. From his solitary chamber his
+      thoughts flew in opposite directions; now toward the solitary country-seat
+      of his grandfather, among the sand-hills; now toward the animated mansion
+      in Funen, where the new friends resided. He had opened his box and taken
+      out what lay quite at the top, the garland of oak-leaves and the beautiful
+      bouquet of flowers of this morning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Most people maintain that one dreams at night of that which one has
+      thought much about. According to this, Otto must have thought a deal about
+      the North Sea, for of it he dreamed the whole night,&mdash;not of the
+      young ladies.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XIII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;The heat-lark warbles forth his sepulchral melodies.&rdquo;
+                                             S. S. BLICHER.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The peninsula of Jutland possesses nothing of the natural beauty which
+      Zealand and Funen present&mdash;splendid beeches and odoriferous
+      clover-fields in the neighborhood of the salt sea; it possesses at once a
+      wild and desolate nature, in the heath-covered expanses and the
+      far-stretching moors. East and west are different; like the green, sappy
+      leaf, and grayish white sea-weed on the sea shore. From the Woods of
+      Marselisborg to the woods south of Coldinger Fjord, is the land rich and
+      blooming; it is the Danish Nature in her greatness. Here rises the Heaven
+      Mountain, with its wilderness of coppice and heather; from here you gaze
+      over the rich landscape, with its woods and lakes, as far down as the
+      roaring Cattegat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The western coast, on the contrary, lies without a tree, without bushes,
+      with nothing but white sand-hills stretching along the roaring ocean,
+      which scourges the melancholy coast with sand-storms and sharp winds.
+      Between these contrasts, which the east and west coasts present, the
+      Hesperides and Siberia, lies the vast heath which stretches itself from
+      the Lyneborg sand to the Skagen&rsquo;s reef. No hedge shows here the limits of
+      possession. Among the crossing tracks of carriage wheels must thou seek
+      thy way. Crippled oaks, with whitish-green moss overgrown to the outermost
+      branches, twist themselves along the ground, as if fearing storms and the
+      sea-mist. Here, like a nomadic people, but without flocks, do the
+      so-called Tartar bands wander up and down, with their peculiar language
+      and peculiar ceremonies. Suddenly there shows itself in the interior of
+      the heathy wilderness a colony&mdash;another, a strange people, German
+      emigrants, who through industry compel the meagre country to fruitfulness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      From Veile, Otto wished to take the road through Viborg, as the most
+      direct and the shortest to his grandfather&rsquo;s estate, which lay between
+      Nisumfjord and Lemvig.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The first heath-bushes accosted him as dear friends of his childhood. The
+      beautiful beech-woods lay behind him, the expanse of heath began; but the
+      heath was dear to him: it was this landscape which formed the basis of
+      many dear recollections.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The country became ever higher with brown heights, beyond which nothing
+      was visible; houses and farms became more rare, the cherry orchards
+      transformed themselves into cabbage-gardens. Only single spots were free
+      from heather, and here grew grass, but short, and like moss or duckweed
+      which grows upon ponds: here birds congregated by hundreds, and fluttered
+      twittering into the air as the carriage drove past.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You know where to find the green spot in the heath, and how to become
+      happy through it,&rdquo; sighed Otto. &ldquo;Could I only follow your example!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At a greater distance rose bare hills, without ling or ploughed land; the
+      prickly heath looked brown and yellow on the sharp declivities. A little
+      boy and girl herded sheep by the way-side; the boy played the Pandean
+      pipe, the little girl sang a psalm,&mdash;it was the best song which she
+      knew how to sing to the traveller, in order to win a little present from
+      him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The day was warm and beautiful, but the evening brought the cold mist from
+      the sea, which, however, in the interior of the country loses something of
+      its power.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is a kiss of welcome from my home,&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;the death-kiss of
+      the mermaid! In Funen they call it the elf maiden.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Within the last few years a number of children have been sent from the
+      Orphan Asylum to the heath, in order that, instead of Copenhagen rogues,
+      they may become honest Jutland peasants. Otto had a boy of this
+      description for his coachman. The lad was very contented, and yet Otto
+      became low-spirited from his relation. Recollections from his own life
+      stirred within his breast. &ldquo;Return thanks to God,&rdquo; said he, and gave the
+      lad a considerable present; &ldquo;on the heath thou hast shelter and a home; in
+      Copenhagen, perhaps, the sandy beach would have been thy nightly
+      resting-place, hunger and cold the gifts which the day would bring thee.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The nearer he approached the west, the more serious became his frame of
+      mind; it was as if the desolate scenery and cold sea-mist entered his
+      soul. The pictures of the gay country-seat at Funen were supplanted by
+      recollections of his home with his grandfather. He became more and more
+      low-spirited. It was only when a single mile separated him from his home
+      that the thought of surprising his dear friends conquered his melancholy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He caught sight of the red roof of the house, saw the willow plantations,
+      and heard the bark of the yard-dog. Upon the hillock before the gate stood
+      a group of children. Otto could no longer endure the slow driving through
+      the deep ruts. He sprang out of the carriage, and ran more than he walked.
+      The children on the hillock became aware of him, and all looked toward the
+      side from whence he came.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The slow driving, and his being absorbed in melancholy fancies, had
+      relaxed his powerful frame; but now in one moment all his elasticity
+      returned: his cheeks glowed, and his heart beat loudly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      From the court resounded singing&mdash;it was the singing of a psalm. He
+      stepped through the gateway. A crowd of peasants stood with bared heads:
+      before the door stood a carriage, some peasants were just raising a coffin
+      into it. In the doorway stood the old preacher, and spoke with a man clad
+      in black.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lord Jesus! who is dead?&rdquo; were Otto&rsquo;s first words, and his countenance
+      became pale like that of a corpse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Otto!&rdquo; all exclaimed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Otto!&rdquo; exclaimed also the old preacher, astonished; then seized his hand,
+      and said gravely, &ldquo;The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be
+      the name of the Lord!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let me see the face of the dead!&rdquo; said Otto. Not a tear came to his eye;
+      surprise and sorrow were too great.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Shall I take out the screws?&rdquo; inquired the man who had just screwed up
+      the coffin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let him sleep the eternal rest!&rdquo; said the preacher.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto stared at the black coffin in which his grandfather lay. The carriage
+      drove away with it. Otto followed after with the preacher, heard him throw
+      earth upon it, heard words which he did not comprehend, saw the last
+      corner of the coffin, and it was then removed from his sight. All was as a
+      dream to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They returned back to the preacher&rsquo;s abode; a pale figure approached him:
+      it was Rosalie&mdash;old Rosalie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We have here no abiding-place, we all hasten toward futurity!&rdquo; said the
+      old preacher. &ldquo;Strengthen yourself now with meat and drink! The body
+      cannot suffer like the soul. We have accompanied him to His sleeping
+      chamber; his bed was well prepared! I have prayed the evening prayer; he
+      sleeps in God, and will awaken to behold His glory. Amen!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Otto! thou dear Otto!&rdquo; said Rosalie. &ldquo;The bitterest day brings me this
+      joy! How have I thought of thee! Amongst strangers shouldst thou receive
+      the tidings of his death! with no one who could feel for thy sorrow! where
+      thou shouldst see no eye weep for what thou hast lost! Now thou art here!
+      now, when I believed thee so far distant&mdash;it is a miracle! Thou
+      couldst only have received the letter to-day which carried the
+      intelligence of thy grandfather&rsquo;s death to thee!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wished to surprise you,&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;A melancholy surprise awaited me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sit down, my child!&rdquo; said the preacher, and drew him toward the covered
+      table. &ldquo;When the tree falls which gave us shade and fruit, from which we,
+      in our own little garden, have planted shoots and sown seeds, we may well
+      look on with sadness and feel our loss: but we must not forget our own
+      garden, must not forget to cherish that which we have won from the fallen
+      tree: we must not cease to live for the living! I miss, like you, the
+      proud tree, which rejoiced my soul and my heart, but I know that it is
+      planted in a better garden, where Christ is the gardener.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The preacher&rsquo;s invitation to remain with him, during his stay, in his
+      house, Otto declined. Already this first night he wished to establish
+      himself in his own little chamber in the house of mourning. Rosalie also
+      would return.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We have a deal to say to each other,&rdquo; said the old preacher, and laid his
+      hand upon Otto&rsquo;s shoulder. &ldquo;Next summer you will hardly press my hand, it
+      will be pressed by the turf.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To-morrow I will come to you,&rdquo; said Otto, and drove back with the old
+      Rosalie to the house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The domestics kissed the hand and coat of the young master&mdash;he wished
+      to prevent this; the old woman wept. Otto stepped into the room; here had
+      stood the corpse, on account of which the furniture had been removed, and
+      the void was all the more affecting. The long white mourning curtains
+      fluttered in tire wind before the open window. Rosalie led him by the hand
+      into the little sleeping-room where the grandfather had died. Here
+      everything yet stood as formerly&mdash;the large book case, with the glass
+      doors, behind which the intellectual treasure was preserved: Wieland and
+      Fielding, Millot&rsquo;s &ldquo;History of the World,&rdquo; and Von der Hagen&rsquo;s
+      &ldquo;Narrenbuch,&rdquo; occupied the principal place: these books had been those
+      most read by the old gentleman. Here was also Otto&rsquo;s earliest intellectual
+      food, Albertus Julius, the English &ldquo;Spectator,&rdquo; and Evald&rsquo;s writings. Upon
+      the wall hung pikes and pistols, and a large old sabre, which the
+      grandfather had once worn. Upon the table beneath the mirror stood an
+      hour-glass; the sand had run out. Rosalie pointed toward the bed. &ldquo;There
+      he died,&rdquo; said she, &ldquo;between six and seven o&rsquo;clock in the evening. He was
+      only ill three days; the two last he passed in delirium: he raised himself
+      in bed, and shook the bed posts; I was obliged to let two strong men watch
+      beside him. &lsquo;To horse! to horse!&rsquo; said he; &lsquo;the cannons forward!&rsquo; His
+      brain dreamed of war and battles. He also spoke of your blessed father
+      severely and bitterly! Every word was like the stab of a knife; he was as
+      severe toward him as ever!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And did the people understand his words?&rdquo; asked Otto with a wrinkled
+      brow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, for the uninitiated they were dark words; and even had they possessed
+      any meaning, the men would have believed it was the sickness which spoke
+      out of him. &lsquo;There stands the mother with the two children! The one shall
+      fall upon the flank of the enemy and bring me honor and joy. The mother
+      and daughter I know not!&rsquo; That was all which I heard him say about you and
+      your mother and sister. By noon on the third day the fever had spent
+      itself; the strong, gloomy man was become as weak and gentle as a child; I
+      sat beside his bed. &lsquo;If I had only Otto here!&rsquo; said he. &lsquo;I have been
+      severely attacked, Rosalie, but I am now much better: I will go to sleep;
+      that strengthens one.&rsquo; Smilingly he closed his eyes and lay quite still: I
+      read my prayers, withdrew gently so as not to wake him; he lay there
+      unchanged when I returned. I sat a little while beside his bed; his hands
+      lay upon the coverlid; I touched them, they were ice-cold. I was
+      frightened, touched his brow, his face&mdash;he was dead! he had died
+      without a death-struggle!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      For a long time did they converse about the dead man; it was near midnight
+      when Otto ascended the narrow stairs which led to the little chamber in
+      the roof, where as child and boy he had slept. All stood here as it had
+      done the year before, only in nicer order. Upon the wall hung the black
+      painted target, near to the centre of which he had once shot. His skates
+      lay upon the chest of drawers, near to the nodding plaster figure. The
+      long journey, and the overpowering surprise which awaited him on his
+      return, had strongly affected him: he opened the window; a large white
+      sand-hill rose like a wall straight up before it, and deprived him of all
+      view. How often, when a child, had the furrows made by rain in the sand,
+      and the detached pieces, presented to him pictures,&mdash;towns, towers,
+      and whole marching armies. Now it was only a white wall, which reminded
+      him of a winding-sheet. A small streak of the blue sky was visible between
+      the house and the steep slope of the hill. Never before had Otto felt,
+      never before reflected, what it was to stand alone in the world, to be
+      lovingly bound to no one with the band of consanguinity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Solitary, as in this silent night do I stand in the world! solitary in
+      the mighty crowd of human beings! Only ONE being can I call mine! only ONE
+      being press as kindred to my heart! And I shudder at the thought of
+      meeting with this being&mdash;I should bless the thought that she was
+      dead! Father! thou didst ruin one being and make three miserable. I have
+      never loved thee; bitterness germinated within my breast when I became
+      acquainted with thee! Mother! thy features have died out of my
+      recollection; I revere thee! Thou wast all love; to love didst thou offer
+      up thy life&mdash;more than life! Pray for me with thy God! Pray for me,
+      ye dead! if there is immortality; if the flesh is not alone born again in
+      grass and the worm; if the soul is not lost in floods of air! We shall be
+      unconscious of it: eternally shall we sleep! eternally!&rdquo; Otto supported
+      his forehead upon the window-frame, his arm sank languidly, &ldquo;Mother! poor
+      mother! thou didst gain by death, even if it be merely an eternal sleep,&mdash;asleep
+      without dreams! We have only a short time to live, and yet we divide our
+      days of life with sleep! My body yearns after this short death! I will
+      sleep&mdash;sleep like all my beloved ones! They do not awaken!&rdquo; He threw
+      himself upon the bed. The cold air from the sea blew through the open
+      window. The wearied body conquered; he sank into the death-like sleep,
+      whilst his doubting soul, ever active, presented him with living dreams.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XIV
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Man seems to me a foolish being; he drives along over the
+     waves of time, endlessly thrown up and down, and descrying a
+     little verdant spot, formed of mud and stagnant moor and of
+     putrid green mouldiness, he cries out, Land! He rows
+     thither, ascends&mdash;and sinks and sinks&mdash;and is no more to be
+     seen.&rdquo;&mdash;The Golden Fleece of GRILLPARZER.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Old Rosalie was pouring out coffee when Otto came down the next morning.
+      Peace and resignation to the will of God lay in her soft countenance. Otto
+      was pale, paler than usual, but handsomer than Rosalie had seen him
+      before: a year had rendered him older and more manly; a handsome, crisp
+      beard curled over his chin; manly gravity lay in his eyes, in which, at
+      his departure, she had only remarked their inborn melancholy glance. With
+      a kind of satisfaction she looked upon this beautiful, melancholy
+      countenance, and with cordial affection she stretched forth her hand
+      toward him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here stands thy chair, Otto; and here thy cup. I will drink to thy
+      welcome. It seems to me long since I saw thee, and yet it is, now I have
+      thee again, only a short time. Were that place only not empty!&rdquo; and she
+      pointed to the place at the table which the grandfather had used to
+      occupy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If I had only seen him!&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;His countenance was so gentle in death,&rdquo; said Rosalie. &ldquo;The severity and
+      gravity which had settled in his eyes were softened away. I was myself
+      present when he was dressed. He had his uniform on, which he always wore
+      upon occasions of ceremony, the sabre by his side and the great hat upon
+      his head. I knew that this was his wish!&rdquo; Quietly she made the sign of the
+      cross.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are all my grandfather&rsquo;s papers sealed?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The most important&mdash;those which have the greatest interest for
+      thee,&rdquo; said Rosalie, &ldquo;are in the hands of the preacher. Last year, the day
+      after thy departure, he gave them to the preacher; thy father&rsquo;s last
+      letter I know is amongst them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My father!&rdquo; said Otto, and glanced toward the ground. &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; continued
+      he, &ldquo;there is truth in the words of Scripture,&mdash;the sins of the
+      fathers are visited upon the children unto the third and fourth
+      generation!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Otto!&rdquo; said Rosalie, with a beseeching and reproachful look, &ldquo;thy
+      grandfather was a severe man. Thou last known him, hast seen his darkest
+      moments, and yet then age and cares had softened him: his love to thee
+      calmed every outbreak. Had he only loved thy father as he loved thee,
+      things would, perhaps, have ended better: but we may not judge!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And what have I done?&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;Thou, Rosalie, knowest the history of
+      my life. Is it not as if a curse rested upon me? I was a high-spirited
+      boy, I often occasioned thee tears; yet didst thou always place thyself
+      between me and punishment. It was my evil blood, the blood of my birth in
+      which the curse lay, that drove me on!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But thou didst become good and full of love, as thou art now!&rdquo; said
+      Rosalie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Only when I became acquainted with myself and my destiny. In the
+      thoughtlessness of childhood, unacquainted with myself and the world, did
+      I myself have that sign of my misery, which now presses down my soul, cut
+      into my flesh. Yes, Rosalie! I remember this very well, and have clearly
+      preserved this, my earliest recollection before my grandfather took me,
+      and I came here a boy. I remember the great building from whence I was
+      brought, the number of people who there worked, sang, and laughed, and who
+      told me extraordinary stories of how badly people were treated in the
+      beautiful world. This was my parents&rsquo; home, thought I, when I began to
+      ponder upon parents and their connection with children. It was a large
+      manufactory which they possessed, thought I; I remembered the number of
+      work-people. All played and romped with me. I was wild and full of
+      boisterous spirits a boy of only six years old, but with the perseverance
+      and will of one of ten. Rosalie, thou sawest many proofs of the evil which
+      lay in my blood; it bordered upon insolence. I remembered well the strong,
+      merry Heinrich, who always sang at his loom; he showed me and the others
+      his tattooed breast, upon which he had his whole mournful history
+      imprinted. Upon his arm were his own and his bride&rsquo;s names. That pleased
+      me; I wished to have my name also on my arm. &lsquo;It is painful!&rsquo; said he;
+      &lsquo;then thou wilt pipe, my lad!&rsquo; That was spur enough to make me desire it.
+      I allowed him to puncture my skin, to puncture an O and a T upon my
+      shoulder, and did not cry,&mdash;no, not once whilst the powder burnt into
+      it; but I was praised, and was proud to bear the initials&mdash;proud of
+      them until three years ago, when I met Heinrich here. I recognized him,
+      but he did not recognize me. I showed him my shoulder, and besought him to
+      read the name, this O and T: but he did not say Otto Thostrup; he named a
+      name which destroyed the happiness of my childhood, and has made me
+      miserable forever!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was a fearful day!&rdquo; said Rosalie. &ldquo;Thou didst demand from me an
+      explanation, thy grandfather gave it thee, and thou wast no longer the
+      Otto thou hadst formerly been. Yet wherefore speak of it? Thou art good
+      and wise, noble and innocent. Do not fill thy heart with sorrow from a
+      time which is past, and which, for thy sake, shall be forgotten.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But Heinrich still lives!&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;I have met with him, have spoken
+      with him: it was as if all presence of mind forsook me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When and where?&rdquo; asked Rosalie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto related of his walk with Wilhelm in the park, and of the juggler, in
+      whom he had recognized Heinrich. &ldquo;I tore myself from my friends, I
+      wandered the whole night alone in the wood. O Rosalie, I thought of death!
+      I thought of death as no Christian ought to do. A beautiful morning
+      followed, I wandered beside the sea which I love, and in which I have so
+      often dived. Since that explanation of the initials on my shoulder was
+      suggested, that explanation which reminded me of my unhappy birth, I have
+      never uncovered them before any one. O, I have rubbed thorn with a stone,
+      until they were bloody! The letters are gone, but still I imagine I can
+      read them in the deep scar&mdash;that in it I see a Cain&rsquo;s mark! That
+      morning the desire to bathe came upon me. The fresh current infused life
+      once more into my soul. Just then Wilhelm and several acquaintance came
+      down; they called to me and carried off my clothes; my blood boiled; all
+      my unhappiness, which this night had stirred within my soul, again
+      overwhelmed me: it was as though the obliterated initials on my shoulder
+      would reveal themselves in the scar and betray the secret of my grief.
+      Disgust of life seized upon me. I no longer knew what I shouted to them,
+      but it seemed to me as if I must swim out into the stream and never
+      return. I swam until it became night before my eyes. I sank, and Wilhelm
+      rescued me! Never since then have we spoken of this hour! O Rosalie! long
+      is it since I have been able to open my heart as before thee at this
+      moment. What use is it to have a friend if one cannot lay before him one&rsquo;s
+      whole thoughts? To no one have I been able to unfold them but to thee, who
+      already knowest them. I suffer, as a criminal and yet am I innocent,&mdash;just
+      as the misshapen, the deformed man, is innocent of his ugliness!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not possess thy knowledge, Otto,&rdquo; said Rosalie, and pressed his
+      hand; &ldquo;have never rejoiced in such a clear head as thine; but I have that
+      which thou canst not as yet possess&mdash;experience. In trouble, as well
+      as in joy, youth transforms the light cobweb into the cable.
+      Self-deception has changed the blood in thy veins, the thoughts in thy
+      soul; but do not forever cling to this one black spot! Neither wilt thou!
+      it will spur thee on to activity, will enervate thy soul, not depress
+      thee! The melancholy surprise of thy grandfather&rsquo;s death, whom thou didst
+      believe active and well, has now made thee dejected, and thy thoughts so
+      desponding. But there will come better days! happy days! Thou art young,
+      and youth brings health for the soul and body!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She led Otto into the garden, where the willow plantations protected the
+      other trees from the sharp west wind. The gooseberry-bushes bore fruit,
+      but it was not yet ripe: one bush Otto had planted when a cutting; it was
+      now large. Rosalie had tied the twigs to a palisade, so that, as an
+      espalier, it could thoroughly drink in the sun&rsquo;s rays. Otto regarded the
+      fetters more than the good intention.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let it grow free!&rdquo; said he; &ldquo;if that brittle palisade should tumble down,
+      the twigs would be broken.&rdquo; And he cut the bands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou art still the old Otto,&rdquo; said Rosalie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They went into her little room, where the crucifix, and before it a small
+      vase of flowers, adorned the table. Above the cross hung a garland of
+      withered heather.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Two years ago didst thou give me that, Otto!&rdquo; said Rosalie. &ldquo;There were
+      no more flowers, there was nothing green but the heath, and thou twinedst
+      a garland of it for me. Afterward I would not take it down from the
+      crucifix.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They were interrupted by a visit. It was from the old preacher.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XV
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;His coal was coarse, its fashion old;
+       He asked no dress of greater worth
+     Than that which kept from storm and cold
+       The Baptist when he preached on earth.&rdquo;
+                                C. J. BORE.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Not alone of Otto&rsquo;s affairs, but also of &ldquo;the city yonder,&rdquo; as the
+      preacher called Copenhagen, would he speak. Only once a week came the
+      &ldquo;Viborg Collector&rdquo; to hint, and the Copenhagen papers were a whole month
+      going their round. &ldquo;One would willingly advance with the time,&rdquo; said he.
+      Yesterday, at the interment, he had not found it seemly to gratify his
+      desire of hearing dear Otto talk about the city, but to-day he thought it
+      might well be done, and therefore he would not await Otto&rsquo;s visit but come
+      over to pay one himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou hast certainly seen our good king?&rdquo; was his first question. &ldquo;Lord
+      help the anointed one! he is then as vigorous and active as ever&mdash;my
+      good King Frederik!&rdquo; And now he must relate a trait which had touched his
+      heart, and which, in his opinion, deserved a place in the annals of
+      history. This event occurred the last time that the king was in Jutland;
+      he had visited the interior of the country and the western coast also.
+      When he was leaving a public-house the old hostess ran after him, and
+      besought that the Father would, as a remembrance, write his name with
+      chalk upon a beam. The grand gentlemen wished to deter her, but she pulled
+      at the king&rsquo;s coat; and when he had learned her wish he nodded in a
+      friendly manner, and said, &ldquo;Very willingly!&rdquo; and then turned back and
+      wrote his name on the beam. Tears came into the old man&rsquo;s eyes; he wept,
+      and prayed for his king. He now inquired whether the old tree was still
+      standing in the Regent&rsquo;s Court, and then spoke of Nyerup and Abrahamson,
+      whom he had known in his student days.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In fact, after all, he was himself the narrator; each of his questions
+      related to this or that event in his own life, and he always returned to
+      this source&mdash;his student-days. There was then another life, another
+      activity, he maintained. His royal idea of beauty had been Queen Matilda.
+      [Translator&rsquo;s Note: The unhappy wife of Christian VII. and daughter of our
+      George III.] &ldquo;I saw her often on horseback,&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;It was not then the
+      custom in our country for ladies to ride. In her country it was the
+      fashion; here it gave rise to scandal. God gave her beauty, a king&rsquo;s
+      crown, and a heart full of love; the world gave her&mdash;what it can give&mdash;a
+      grave near to the bare heath!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Whilst he so perpetually returned to his own recollections, his share of
+      news was truly not new, but he was satisfied. Copenhagen appeared to him a
+      whole world&mdash;a royal city; but Sodom and Gomorrah had more than one
+      street there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto smiled at the earnestness with which he said this.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, that I know better than thou, my young friend!&rdquo; continued the old
+      preacher. &ldquo;True, the devil does not go about like a roaring lion, but
+      there he has his greatest works! He is well-dressed, and conceals his
+      claws and his tail! Do not rely upon thy strength! He goes about, like the
+      cat in the fable, &lsquo;pede suspenso,&rsquo; sneakingly and cautiously! It is, after
+      all, with the devil as it is with a Jutland peasant. This fellow comes to
+      the city, has nothing, runs about, and cleans shoes and boots for the
+      young gentlemen, and by this means he wins a small sum of money. He knows
+      how to spare. He can now hire the cellar of the house in which thou
+      livest, and there commence some small trade. The trade is successful, very
+      successful. It goes on so well that he can hire the lower story; then he
+      gains more profit, and before thou canst look about thee he buys the whole
+      house. See, that is the way with the Jutland peasant, and just the same
+      with the devil. At first he gets the cellar, then the lower story, and at
+      last the whole house!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XVI
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Sure &lsquo;tis fair in foreign land,
+         But not so fair as home;
+
+     Let me but see thy mountains grand
+         Glaciers and snowy dome!
+
+     Let me but hear the sound that tells
+     Of climbing cattle, dressed with bells.&rdquo;
+                                The Switzer&rsquo;s Homesickness.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Not until after breakfast did the preacher pass over to Otto&rsquo;s affairs.
+      His grandfather&rsquo;s will made him the sole heir to the large property; a man
+      in Copenhagen, the merchant Berger, should be his guardian, since the
+      preacher did not wish to undertake the office. Rosalie was not forgotten:
+      her devotion and fidelity had won for her a relative&rsquo;s right. Her last
+      days should be free from care: she had truly striven to remove all care
+      from the dead whilst yet he lived. An old age free from care awaited her;
+      but Otto wished that she should also have a happy old age. He imparted his
+      plan to the preacher; but the latter shook his head, thought it was not
+      practicable, and regarded it as a mere fancy&mdash;a whim. But such it was
+      not.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Some days passed by. One afternoon Rosalie sat upon a small wooden bench
+      under the cherry-trees, and was making mourning for the winter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is the last summer that we shall sit here,&rdquo; said she; &ldquo;the last
+      summer that this is our home. Now I am become equally rooted to this spot;
+      it grieves me that I must leave it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou wast forced to leave thy dear Switzerland,&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;that was
+      still harder!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was then young,&rdquo; answered she. &ldquo;The young tree may be easily
+      transplanted, but the old one has shot forth deeper roots. Denmark is a
+      good land&mdash;a beautiful land!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But not the west coast of Jutland!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto. &ldquo;For thy green
+      pasture hast thou here heath; for thy mountains, low sand-hills.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Upon the Jura Mountains there is also heath,&rdquo; said Rosalie. &ldquo;The heath
+      here often reminds me of my home on the Jura. There also is it cold, and
+      snow can fall already in August. The fir-trees then stand as if powdered
+      over.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I love Switzerland, which I have never seen,&rdquo; pursued Otto. &ldquo;Thy relation
+      has given me a conception of the picturesque magnificence of this
+      mountain-land. I have a plan, Rosalie. I know that in the heart of a
+      mountaineer homesickness never dies. I remember well how thy eyes sparkled
+      when thou toldest of the walk toward Le Locle and Neufchâtel; even as a
+      boy I felt at thy words the light mountain air. I rode with thee upon the
+      dizzy height, where the woods lay below us like potato fields. What below
+      arose, like the smoke from a charcoal-burner&rsquo;s kiln, was a cloud in the
+      air. I saw the Alpine chain, like floating cloud mountains; below mist,
+      above dark shapes with glancing glaciers.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, Otto,&rdquo; said Rosalie, and her eyes sparkled with youthful fire; &ldquo;so
+      looks the Alpine chain when one goes from Le Locle to Neulfchâtel: so did
+      I see it when I descended the Jura for the list time. It was in August.
+      The trees, with their autumnal foliage, stood yellow and red between the
+      dark firs; barberries and hips grew among the tall fern. The Alps lay in
+      such a beautiful light, their feet blue as heaven, their peaks snow-white
+      in the clear sunshine. I was in a sorrowful mood; I was leaving my
+      mountains! Then I wrote in my book&mdash;O, I remember it so well!&mdash;The
+      high Alps appear to me the folded wings of the earth: how if she should
+      raise them! how if the immense wings should unfold, with their gay images
+      of dark woods, glaciers, and clouds! What a picture! At the Last Judgment
+      will the earth doubtless unfold these pinions, soar up to God, and in the
+      rays of His sunlight disappear! I also have been young, Otto,&rdquo; pursued
+      she, with a melancholy smile. &ldquo;Thou wouldst have felt still more deeply at
+      the sight of this splendor of nature. The lake at the foot of the
+      mountains was smooth as a mirror; a little boat with white sails swam,
+      like a swan, upon its expanse. On the road along which we drove were the
+      peasants beating down chestnuts; the grapes hung in large black bunches.
+      How an impression such as this can root itself in the memory! It is five
+      and thirty years since, and yet I still see that boat with the white sail,
+      the high Alps, and the black grapes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou shalt see thy Switzerland again, Rosalie,&rdquo; exclaimed Otto; &ldquo;again
+      hear the bells of the cows upon the green pastures! Thou shalt go once
+      more to the chapel in Franche Compté, shalt visit thy friends at Le Locle,
+      see the subterranean mill, and the Doub fall.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The mill wheel yet goes round, the water dashes down as in my youth; but
+      the friends are gone, my relatives dispersed! I should appear a stranger
+      there; and when one has reached my age, nature cannot satisfy&mdash;one
+      must have people!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou knowest, Rosalie, my grandfather has settled a sum upon thee so long
+      as thou livest. Now I have thought thou couldst spend thy latter days with
+      thy beloved ones at home, in the glorious Switzerland. In October I take
+      my philosophicum; the following summer I would then accompany thee. I must
+      also see that splendid mountain-land,&mdash;know something more of the
+      world than I have yet known. I know how thy thoughts always dwell upon
+      Switzerland. Thither will I reconduct thee; thou wilt feel thyself less
+      lonely there than here in Denmark.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou art carried away by the thoughts of youth, as thou shouldst and must
+      be, thou dear, sweet soul!&rdquo; said Rosalie, smiling. &ldquo;At my age it is not so
+      easy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We will make short days&rsquo; journeys,&rdquo; said Otto, &ldquo;go with the steamboat up
+      the Rhine&mdash;that is not fatiguing; and from Basel one is soon in
+      Franche Compté on the Jura.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, upon the heath, near Vestervovov, as it is called here, will old
+      Rosalie die; here I have felt myself at home, here I have two or three
+      friends. The family at Lemvig have invited me, have for me a place at
+      table, a little room, and friendly faces. Switzerland would be no longer
+      that Switzerland which I quitted. Nature would greet me as an old
+      acquaintance; it would be to me music, once more to hear the ringing of
+      the cows&rsquo; bells; it would affect me deeply, once again to kneel in the
+      little chapel on the mountain: but I should soon feel myself a greater
+      stranger there than here. Had it been fifteen years ago, my sister would
+      still have been living, the dear, pious Adèle! She dwelt with my uncle
+      close on the confines of Neufchâtel, as thou knowest, scarcely a quarter
+      of a mile from Le Locle&mdash;<i>the town</i>, as we called it, because it
+      was the largest place in the neighborhood. Now there are only distant
+      relations of mine living, who have forgotten me. I am a stranger there.
+      Denmark gave me bread, it will also give me a grave!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thought of giving thee a pleasure!&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That thou dost by thy love to me!&rdquo; returned she.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thought thou wouldst have shown me thy mountains, thy home, of which
+      thou hast so often spoken!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That can I still do. I remember every spot, every tree&mdash;all remains
+      so clear in my recollection. Then we ascend together the Jura higher and
+      higher; here are no more vineyards to be found, no maize, no chestnuts
+      only dark pines, huge cliffs, here and there a beech, as green and large
+      as in Denmark. Now we have the wood behind us, we are many feet above the
+      sea; thou canst perceive this by the freshness of the air. Everywhere are
+      green meadows; uninterruptedly reaches our ear the ringing of the
+      cow-bells. Thou as yet seest no town, and yet we are close upon Le Locle.
+      Suddenly the road turns; in the midst of the mountain-level we perceive a
+      small valley, and in this lies the town, with its red roofs, its churches,
+      and large gardens. Close beneath the windows rises the mountain-side, with
+      its grass and flowers; it looks as though the cattle must be precipitated
+      upon the houses. We go through the long street, past the church; the
+      inhabitants are Protestants&mdash;it is a complete town of watchmakers. My
+      uncle and Adèle also sat the whole day, and worked at wheels and chains.
+      That was for Monsieur Houriet, in Le Locle. His daughters I know; one is
+      called Rosalie, like myself. Rosalie and Lydia, they will certainly have
+      forgotten me! But it is true that we are upon our own journey! Now, thou
+      seest, at the end of the town we do not follow the broad road&mdash;that
+      leads to Besançon; we remain in the lesser one, here in the valley where
+      the town lies. The beautiful valley! The green mountain-sides we keep to
+      our right; on it are scattered houses, with large stones upon their steep
+      wooden roofs, and with little gardens tilled with plum-trees. Steep
+      cliff-walls shut in the valley; there stands up a crag; if thou climbest
+      it thou canst look straight into France: one sees a plain, flat like the
+      Danish plains. In the valley where we are, close under the rock, lies a
+      little house; O, I see it distinctly! white-washed and with blue painted
+      window-frames: at the gate a great chained dog. I hear him bark! We step
+      into that quiet, friendly little house! The children are playing about on
+      the ground. O, my little Henry-Numa-Robert! Ah, it is true that now he is
+      older and taller than thou! We descend the steps toward the cellar. Here
+      stand sacks and chests of flour; under the floor one hears a strange
+      roaring; still a few steps lower, and we must light the lamp, for here it
+      is dark. We find ourselves in a great water-mill, a subterranean mill.
+      Deep below in the earth rushes a river&mdash;above no one dreams of it;
+      the water dashes down several fathoms over the rushing wheel, which
+      threatens to seize our clothes and whirl us away into the circle. The
+      steps on which we stand are slippery: the stone walls drip with water, and
+      only a step beyond the depth appears bottomless! O, thou wilt love this
+      mill as I love it! Again having reached the light of day, and under free
+      heaven, one only perceives the quiet, friendly little house. Dost thou
+      know, Otto, often as thou hast sat quiet and dreaming, silent as a statue,
+      have I thought of my mill, and the repose which it presented? and yet how
+      wildly the stream roared in its bosom, how the wheels rushed round, and
+      how gloomy it was in the depth!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We will leave the mill!&rdquo; said Otto, and sought to lead her from her
+      reflections back to her own relation. &ldquo;We find ourselves in the wood,
+      where the ringing of the evening-bell reaches our ear from the little
+      chapel in Franche Compté.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There stands my father&rsquo;s house!&rdquo; said Rosalie. &ldquo;From the corner-window
+      one looks over the wood toward Aubernez, [Author&rsquo;s Note: A village in the
+      canton Neufchâtel, lying close upon the river Doub, where it forms the
+      boundary between Switzerland and France.] where the ridge leads over the
+      Doub. The sun shines upon the river, which, far below, winds along,
+      gleaming like the clearest silver.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And the whole of France spreads itself out before us!&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How beautiful! O, how beautiful!&rdquo; exclaimed Rosalie, and her eyes
+      sparkled as she gazed before her; but soon her glance became sad, and she
+      pressed Otto&rsquo;s hand. &ldquo;No one will welcome me to my home! I know neither
+      their joys nor their sorrows&mdash;they are not my own family! In Denmark&mdash;I
+      am at home. When the cold sea-mist spreads itself over the heath I often
+      fancy I am living among my mountains, where the heather grows. The mist
+      seems to me then to be a snow-cloud which rests over the mountains, and
+      thus, when other people are complaining of the bad weather, I am up among
+      my mountains!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou wilt then remove to the family at Lemvig?&rdquo; asked Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There I am welcome!&rdquo; returned she.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XVII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Look at the calming sea. The waves still tremble in the
+     depths, and stem to fear the gale.&mdash;Over my head is hovering
+     the shadowy mist.&mdash;My curls are wet with the filling dew.&rdquo;
+      &mdash;OSSIAN.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Otto had not as yet visited the sand-hills on the strand, the fishermen,
+      or the peasants, among whom formerly he had spent all his spare time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The beautiful summer&rsquo;s day drove him forth, his heart yearned to drink in
+      the summer warmth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Only the roads between the larger towns are here tolerable, or rather as
+      tolerable as the country will allow. The by-ways were only to be discerned
+      by the traces of cart-wheels, which ran on beside each other; at certain
+      places, to prevent the wheels sinking into the deep sand, ling had been
+      spread; where this is not the case, and the tracks cross each other, a
+      stranger would scarcely find the way. Here the landmark places its unseen
+      boundary between neighboring possessions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Every farm, every cottage, every hill, was an old acquaintance to Otto. He
+      directed his steps toward Harbooere, a parish which, one may say, consists
+      of sand and water, but which, nevertheless, is not to be called
+      unfruitful. A few of the inhabitants pursue agriculture, but the majority
+      consists of fishermen, who dwell in small houses and have no land.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His first encounter upon his wandering was with one of those large covered
+      wagons with which the so-called eelmen, between the days of St. John and
+      St. Bartholomew, go with eels toward the small towns lying to the south
+      and east, and then, laden with apples and garden produce, return home&mdash;articles
+      which are rapidly consumed by the common people. The eelman stopped when
+      he saw and recognized Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Welcome, Mr. Otto!&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;Yes, you are come over abut a sad affair!
+      That Major Thostrup should have gone off so! But there was nothing else to
+      be expected from him he was old enough.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Death demands his right!&rdquo; replied Otto, and pressed the man&rsquo;s hand.
+      &ldquo;Things go, doubtless, well with you, Morten Chraenseu?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The whole cart full of eels, and some smoked carp! It is also good to
+      meet with you, Mr. Otto. Upon the land a preacher is very good, but not
+      upon the sea, as they say at home. Yes, you are certainly now a preacher,
+      or will become one?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, I am not studying to become a preacher!&rdquo; answered Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No! will you then become a lawyer? It strikes me you are clever enough&mdash;you
+      have no need to study any more! You will just go and say a few words to
+      them at home? The grandmother sits and spins yarn for eel-nets. She has
+      now the cataract on the other eye, but her mouth is as well as ever; she
+      does not let herself grow dumb, although she does sit in the dark. Mother
+      provides the baits; she has also enough to do with the hooks.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But Maria, the lively little Maria?&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The girl? She has gone this year with the other fishergirls to
+      Ringkjoebing, to be hired for the hay and corn harvest; we thought we
+      could do without her at home. But now, God willing! I must travel on.&rdquo;
+       Cordially he shook Otto&rsquo;s hand, and pursued his slow journey.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The brothers of the eelman were active fishermen, as their father had been
+      before them; and although they were all married they lived together. The
+      swarm of children was not insignificant; young and old formed one family,
+      in which the old grandmother had the first voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto approached the dwelling; before it lay a little plot of land, planted
+      with potatoes and carrots, and also beds of onions and thyme. Two large
+      bull-dogs, with sharp teeth and wicked eyes, rushed toward Otto. &ldquo;Tyv!
+      Grumsling!&rdquo; shrieked a voice, and the dogs let fall their tails and drew
+      back, with a low growl, toward the house. Here at the threshold sat an old
+      woman in a red woolen jacket, with a handkerchief of the same material and
+      same color about her neck, and upon her head a man&rsquo;s black felt hat. She
+      spun. Otto immediately recognized the old blind grandmother.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;God&rsquo;s peace be in the house!&rdquo; said he.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That voice I have not heard for a year and a day!&rdquo; replied the old woman,
+      and raised her head, as if she would see him with her dead eyes. &ldquo;Are not
+      you Major Thostrup&rsquo;s Otto? You resemble him in the voice. I thought,
+      truly, that if you came here you would pay us a visit. Ide shall leave the
+      baits and put on the kettle, that you may have a cup of coffee. Formerly
+      you did not use to despise our entertainment. You have not grown proud
+      with your journey, have you? The coffee-vetch [Author&rsquo;s Note: Astragalus
+      baeticus is used as a substitute for coffee, and is principally grown upon
+      the sand-hills west of Holmsland. It is first freed from the husk, and
+      then dried and roasted a little.] is good; it is from Holmsland, and
+      tastes better than the merchant&rsquo;s beans.&rdquo; The dogs still growled at Otto.
+      &ldquo;Cannot you stupid beasts, who have still eyes in your heads to see with,
+      recognize that this is the Major&rsquo;s Otto?&rdquo; cried she wrathfully, and gave
+      them several good blows with her hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto&rsquo;s arrival created a great stir in the little household that he was
+      welcome, you might see by every countenance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said the grandmother, &ldquo;now you are grown much wiser in the town,
+      could, very likely, were it needful, write an almanac! You will very
+      likely have found for yourself a little bride there, or will you fetch one
+      out of Lemvig? for no doubt she must be from a town! Yes, I have known him
+      ever since he was a little fellow; yonder, on the wall, he made, out of
+      herrings&rsquo; heads, the living devil, just as he lives and breathes. He
+      thrust our sucking-pig into the eel-cart, between the casks. We sought a
+      whole day after the sucking-pig without finding him, and he was forced to
+      make the journey with them to Holstebro. Yes, he was a wild fellow! Later,
+      when he was obliged to learn so much, he became sad. Yes, yes, within the
+      last years his books have overdone him!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, many a time has he put out to sea with my husband!&rdquo; pursued one of
+      the daughters-in-law. &ldquo;One night he remained out with him. How anxious the
+      French Mamsell at the hall was about him!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He was never haughtty,&rdquo; said the grandmother. &ldquo;He nibbled his dried fish
+      with the fresh fish, and drank a little cup of water, although he was used
+      to better things at home. But to-day we have white bread, fresh and good;
+      it came yesterday from Lemvig.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The brandy-glass, with its wooden, red-painted foot, was placed before
+      Otto. Under the bed there was an anker of brandy,&mdash;&ldquo;a little stock,&rdquo;
+       as all stranded goods are here called.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto inquired after the married sons. They were with their men on the
+      shore, ready to embark on their fishing expedition, The grandmother would
+      accompany him thither; they were not yet departed: she should first take
+      them provisions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The old woman took her stick, the dog sprang forward, and now commenced
+      their wandering among the sand-hills, where their huts or booths, built
+      with rafters and smeared with earth, stood. Around lay the refuse of fish,&mdash;heads
+      and entrails, thrown about. The men were just then busied in carrying the
+      trough and fishing-tackle [Author&rsquo;s Note: A &ldquo;Bakke&rdquo; consists of three
+      lines, each of 200 Danish ells, or about 135 yards, and of 200
+      fishing-hooks; the stretched &ldquo;Bakke&rdquo; is thus about 200 yards, with 600
+      hooks; these are attached to the line with strings half an ell long and as
+      thick as fine twine. To each &ldquo;Bakke&rdquo; belongs a square trough, on which it
+      is carried on board. To a larger fishing-boat are reckoned six lots of
+      hooks; each lot has eight to nine &ldquo;Bakkes.&rdquo;] on board.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The open sea lay before them, almost as bright as a mirror, for the wind
+      was easterly. Near to them paused a horseman; he was partly dressed like a
+      peasant, with riding-breeches on, which were buttoned down at the sides.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have you heard the news?&rdquo; he cried to Otto. &ldquo;I come from Ringkjoebing. At
+      Merchant Cohen&rsquo;s I have read the German paper; there is a revolution in
+      France! Charles X. is fled with the whole royal family. Yes, in Paris,
+      there is fine work!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The French are a wild people!&rdquo; said the grandmother. &ldquo;A king and a queen
+      they have beheaded in my time; now they will do the same with these. Will
+      our dear Lord suffer that such things be done to His anointed?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There will be war again!&rdquo; said one of the fishermen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then more horses will go out of the country,&rdquo; said the stranger, pressed
+      Otto&rsquo;s hand, and vanished behind the sandhills.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Was not that the horse-dealer from Varde?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, he understands languages,&rdquo; said the fisherman; &ldquo;and thus he is
+      acquainted with foreign affairs sooner than we. Then they are now fighting
+      in France! Blood flows in the streets; it will not be so in Denmark before
+      the Turk binds his horse to the bush in the Viborg Lake. And then,
+      according to the prophecy of the sibyl, it will be near the end of the
+      world.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Meanwhile, everything was prepared for their embarkation. If Mr. Otto
+      would take the further oar, and was inclined to pass the night on the sea,
+      there was a place for him in the boat. But he had promised Rosalie to be
+      back before evening. The grandmother now prayed, kneeling with the others,
+      and immediately after quick strokes of the oars the flat boat rowed away
+      from the shore. The fate of France was forgotten; their calling occupied
+      the fishermen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The old woman seemed to listen to the strokes of the oars; her dead eyes
+      rested immovably on the sea. A sea-mew passed close to her in its flight.
+      &ldquo;That was a bird!&rdquo; said she. &ldquo;Is there no one here beside ourselves?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No; no one at all,&rdquo; answered Otto, carelessly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is no one in the hut, no one behind the sand-hills?&rdquo; again asked the
+      grandmother. &ldquo;It was not on account of the dried meat that I came here&mdash;it
+      was not to wet my face on the shore; I speak with you alone, which I could
+      not do in the house. Give me your hand! Now that the old man rests in the
+      grave, you yourself will guide the rudder; the estate will be sold, and
+      you will not come again to the west coast. Our Lord has made it dark
+      before my eyes before He has closed my ears and given me leave to go. I
+      can no longer see you, but I have you in my thought as you looked before
+      you left our land. That you are handsomer now I can easily imagine; but
+      gayer you are not! Talk you certainly can, and I have heard you laugh; but
+      that was little better than the two last years you were here. Once it was
+      different with you&mdash;no fairy could be wilder than you!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;With years one becomes more quiet,&rdquo; said Otto, and gazed with
+      astonishment at the blind woman, who did not leave go his hand. &ldquo;As a boy
+      I was far too merry&mdash;that could not continue; and that I should now
+      be grave, I have, as you will see, sufficient reason&mdash;I have lost my
+      last support.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, truly, truly!&rdquo; repeated she slowly, and as if pondering; then shook
+      her head. &ldquo;That is not the reason. Do you not believe in the power of the
+      devil? our Lord Christ forgive me! do not you believe in the power of
+      wicked men? There is no greater difference between the human child and the
+      changeling brat which the underground spirits lay in his stead in the
+      cradle, than there is between you when you were a boy and you as you
+      became during the last year of your stay here. &lsquo;That comes from books,
+      from so much learning,&rsquo; said I to other people. Could I only have said so
+      to myself! But you shall become gay; the trouble of your heart shall
+      wither like a poisonous weed. I know whence it sprung, and will, with
+      God&rsquo;s help, heal it. Will you solemnly promise, that no soul in the world
+      shall learn what we speak of in this hour?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What have you to say to me?&rdquo; asked Otto, affected by the extraordinary
+      earnestness of the old woman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The German Heinrich, the player! You remember him well? He is to blame
+      for your grief! Yes, his name drives the blood more quickly through your
+      pulse. I feel it, even if I cannot see your face.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The German Heinrich!&rdquo; repeated Otto, and his hand really trembled. Had
+      Heinrich, then, when he was here three years ago, told her and the
+      fishermen that which no human being must know,&mdash;that which had
+      destroyed the gayety of his youth? &ldquo;What have I to do with the German
+      Heinrich?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nothing more than a pious Christian has to do with the devil!&rdquo; replied
+      she, and made the sign of the cross. &ldquo;But Heinrich has whispered an evil
+      word in your ear; he has banished your joyous humor, as one banishes a
+      serpent.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Has he told you this?&rdquo; exclaimed Otto, and breathed more quickly. &ldquo;Tell
+      me all that he has said!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will not make me suffer for it!&rdquo; said she. &ldquo;I am innocent, and yet I
+      have cooperated in it: it was only a word but a very unseemly word, and
+      for it one must account at the day of judgment!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not understand you!&rdquo; said Otto, and his eyes glanced around to see
+      whether any one heard. They were quite alone. In the far distance the boat
+      with the fishermen showed itself like a dark speck.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you remember how wild you were as a boy? How you fastened bladders to
+      the cat&rsquo;s legs and tail, and flung her out of the loft-window that she
+      might fly? I do not say this in anger, for I thought a deal of you; but
+      when you became too insolent one might wall say, &lsquo;Can no one, then, curb
+      this lad?&rsquo; See, these words I said!&mdash;that is my whole fault, but
+      since then have lain heavy on my heart. Three years ago came the German
+      Heinrich, and stayed two nights in our house; God forgive it us! Tricks he
+      could play, and he understood more than the Lord&rsquo;s Prayer&mdash;more than
+      is useful to a man. With one trick you were to assist him, but when he
+      gave you the goblet you played your own tricks, and he could make nothing
+      succeed. You would also be clever. Then he cast an evil eye upon you,
+      although he was still so friendly and submissive, because you were a
+      gentleman&rsquo;s child. Do you remember&mdash;no, you will certainly have
+      forgotten&mdash;how you once took the baits of the hooks off and hung my
+      wooden shoes on instead? Then I said in anger, and the anger of man is
+      never good, &lsquo;Can no one, then, tame this boy for me? He was making
+      downright fun of you to your own face,&rsquo; said I to the player. &lsquo;Do you not
+      know some art by which you can tame this wild-cat?&rsquo; Then he laughed
+      maliciously, but I thought no more of the matter. The following day,
+      however, he said, &lsquo;Now I have curbed the lad! You should only see how tame
+      he is become; and should he ever again turn unruly, only ask him what word
+      the German Heinrich whispered in his ear, and you shall. Then see how
+      quiet he will become. He shall not mock this trick!&rsquo; My heart was filled
+      with horror, but I thought afterward it really meant nothing. Ei! ei! from
+      the hour he was here you are no longer the same as formerly; that springs
+      from the magical word he whispered in your ear. You cannot pronounce the
+      word, he told me; but by it you have been enchanted: this, and not
+      book-learning, has worked the change. But you shall be delivered! If you
+      have faith, and that you must have, you shall again become gay, and I,
+      spite of the evil words which I spoke, be able to sleep peacefully in my
+      grave. If you will only lay this upon your heart, now that the moon is in
+      its wane, the trouble will vanish out of your heart as the disk of the
+      moon decreases!&rdquo; And saying this she drew out of her pocket a little
+      leather purse, opened it and took out a piece of folded paper. &ldquo;In this is
+      a bit of the wood out of which our Saviour&rsquo;s cross was made. This will
+      draw forth the sorrow from your heart, and bear it, as it bore Him who
+      took upon Himself the sorrow of the whole world!&rdquo; She kissed it with pious
+      devotion, and then handed it to Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The whole became clear to him. He recollected how in his boyish wantonness
+      he had caused Heinrich&rsquo;s tricks to miscarry, which occasioned much
+      pleasure to the spectators, but in Heinrich displeasure: they soon again
+      became friends, and Otto recognized in him the merry weaver of the
+      manufactory, as he called his former abode. They were alone, Otto asked
+      whether he did not remember his name: Heinrich shook his head. Then Otto
+      uncovered his shoulder, bade him read the branded letters, and heard the
+      unhappy interpretation which gave the death-blow to his gayety. Heinrich
+      must have seen what an impression his words made upon the boy: he gained
+      through them an opportunity of avenging himself, and at the same time of
+      bringing himself again into repute: as a sorcerer. He had tamed him,
+      whispered he to the old woman,&mdash;he had tamed the boy with a single
+      word. At any future wantonness of Otto&rsquo;s, gravity and terror would
+      immediately return should any one ask him, What word did the German
+      Heinrich whisper into thy ear? &ldquo;Only ask him,&rdquo; had Heinrich said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In a perfectly natural manner there lay, truly, enchantment in Heinrich&rsquo;s
+      words, even although it were not that enchantment which the superstition
+      of the old woman would have signified. A revelation of the connection of
+      affairs would have removed her doubts, but here an explanation was
+      impossible to Otto. He pressed her hand, besought her to be calm; no
+      sorrow lay heavy on his heart, except the loss of his dear grandfather.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Every evening have I named your name it my prayers,&rdquo; said the old
+      grandmother. &ldquo;Each time when the harbingers of bad weather showed
+      themselves, and my sons were on the sea, so that we hung out flags or
+      lighted beacons as signals, did I think of the words which had escaped my
+      lips, and which the wicked Heinrich had caught up; I feared lest our Lord
+      might cause my children to suffer for my injustice.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be calm, my dear old woman!&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;Keep for yourself the holy
+      cross, on the virtue of which you rely; may it remove each sorrow from
+      your own heart!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, I am guilty of my own sorrow! yours has a stranger laid upon your
+      heart! Only the sorrow of the guiltless will the cross bear.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The beautiful sentiment which, unconsciously to her, lay in these words,
+      affected Otto. He accepted the present, preserved it, sought to calm the
+      old woman, and once more at parting glanced toward the splendid sea
+      expanse which formed its own boundary.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was almost evening before he reached the house where Rosalie awaited
+      him. His last scene with the blind fisher-woman had again thrown him into
+      his gloomy mood. &ldquo;After all, she really knows nothing!&rdquo; said he to
+      himself. &ldquo;This Heinrich is my evil angel! might he only die soon!&rdquo; It was
+      in Otto&rsquo;s soul as if he could shoot a ball through Heinrich&rsquo;s heart. &ldquo;Did
+      he only lie buried under the heather, and with him my secret! I will have
+      blood! yes, there is something devilish in man! Were Heinrich only dead!
+      But others live who know my birth,&mdash;my sister! my poor, neglected
+      sister, she who had the same right to intellectual development as myself!
+      How I fear this meeting! it will be bitter! I must away. I will hence&mdash;here
+      will my life-germ be stifled! I have indeed fortune&mdash;I will travel!
+      This animated France will drive away these whims, and&mdash;I am away, far
+      removed from my home. In the coming spring I shall be a stranger among
+      strangers!&rdquo; And his thoughts melted into a quiet melancholy. In this
+      manner he reached the hall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XVIII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;L&rsquo;Angleterre jalouse et la Grèce homérique,
+     Toute l&rsquo;Europe admire, et la jeune Amérique
+     Se lève et bat des mains du bord des océans.
+     Trois jours vous ont suffi pour briser vos entraves.
+     Vous êtes les aînés d&rsquo;une race de braves,
+     Vous êtes les fits des géans!&rdquo;
+                                  V. HUGO, Chants du Crépuscule.
+
+                  &ldquo;Politiken, mine Herrer!&rdquo;
+                       MORTONS&rsquo; Lystspil: den Hjemkomne Nabob
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In France there is revolution!&rdquo; was the first piece of information which
+      Otto related. &ldquo;Charles X. has flown with his family. This, they say, is in
+      the German papers.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Revolution?&rdquo; repeated Rosalie, and folded her hands. &ldquo;Unhappy France!
+      Blood has flowed there, and it again flows. There I lost my father and my
+      brother. I became a refugee&mdash;must seek for myself a new father-land.&rdquo;
+       She wiped away a tear from her cheek, and sunk into deep meditation. She
+      knew the horrors of a revolution, and only saw in this new one a
+      repetition of those scenes of terror which she had experienced, and which
+      had driven her out into the world, up into the north, where she struggled
+      on, until at length she found a home with Otto&rsquo;s grandfather&mdash;a
+      resting abode.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Everything great and beautiful powerfully affected Otto&rsquo;s soul; only in
+      one direction had he shown no interest&mdash;in the political direction,
+      and it was precisely politics which had most occupied the grandfather in
+      his seclusion. But Otto&rsquo;s soul was too vivacious, too easily moved, too
+      easily carried away by what lay nearest him. &ldquo;One must first thoroughly
+      enter into life, before the affairs of the world can seize upon us!&rdquo; said
+      he. &ldquo;With the greater number of those who in their early youth occupy
+      themselves with politics, it is merely affectation. It is with them like
+      the boy who forces himself to smoke tobacco so as to appear older than he
+      really is.&rdquo; Beyond his own country, France was the only land which really
+      interested Otto. Here Napoleon had ruled, and Napoleon&rsquo;s name had reached
+      his heart&mdash;he had grown up whilst this name passed from mouth to
+      mouth; the name and the deeds of the hero sounded to him, yet a boy, like
+      a great world adventure. How often had he heard his grandfather, shaking
+      his head, say, &ldquo;Yes, now newspaper writers have little to tell since
+      Napoleon is quiet.&rdquo; And then he had related to him of the hero at Arcole
+      and among the Pyramids, of the great campaign against Europe, of the
+      conflagration at Moscow, and the return from Elba.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Who has not written a play in his childhood? Otto&rsquo;s sole subject was
+      Napoleon; the whole history of the hero, from the snow-batteries at
+      Brienne to the rocky island in the ocean. True, this poem was a wild
+      shoot; but it had sprung from an enthusiastic heart. At that time he
+      preserved it as a treasure. A little incident which is connected with it,
+      and is characteristic of Otto&rsquo;s wild outbreaks of temper when a boy, we
+      will here introduce.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A child of one of the domestics, a little merry boy with whom Otto
+      associated a good deal, was playing with him in his garret. Otto was then
+      writing his play. The boy bantered him, pulling the paper at the same
+      time. Otto forbade him with the threat,&mdash;&ldquo;If thou dost that again I
+      will throw thee out of the window!&rdquo; The boy again immediately pulled at
+      the paper. In a moment Otto seized him by the waist, swung him toward the
+      open window, and would certainly have thrown him out, had not Rosalie
+      fortunately entered the room, and, with an exclamation of horror, seized
+      Otto&rsquo;s arm, who now stood pale as death and trembling in every limb.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In this manner had Napoleon awoke Otto&rsquo;s interest for France. Rosalie also
+      spoke, next to her Switzerland, with most pleasure of this country. The
+      Revolution had livingly affected her, and therefore her discourse
+      regarding it was living. It even seemed to the old preacher as though the
+      Revolution were an event which he had witnessed. The Revolution and
+      Napoleon had often fed his thoughts and his discourse toward this land.
+      Otto had thus, without troubling himself the least about politics, grown
+      up with a kind of interest about France. The mere intelligence of this
+      struggle of the July days was therefore not indifferent to him. He still
+      only knew what the horse-dealer had related; nothing of the congregation,
+      or of Polignac&rsquo;s ministry: but France was to him the mighty world-crater,
+      which glowed with its splendid eruptions, and which he admired from a
+      distance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The old preacher shook his head when Otto imparted this political
+      intelligence to him. A king, so long as he lived, was in his eyes holy,
+      let him be whatever sort of a man he might. The actions of a king,
+      according to his opinion, resembled the words of the Bible, which man
+      ought not to weigh; they should be taken as they were. &ldquo;All authority is
+      from God!&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;The anointed one is holy; God gives to him wisdom; he
+      is a light to whom we must all look up!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He is a man like ourselves!&rdquo; answered Otto. &ldquo;He is the first magistrate
+      of the land, and as such we owe him the highest reverence and obedience.
+      Birth, and not worth, gives him the high post which he fills. He ought
+      only to will that which is good; to exercise justice. His duties are
+      equally great with those of his subjects.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But more difficult, my son!&rdquo; said the old man. &ldquo;It is nothing, as a
+      flower, to adorn the garland; more difficult is it to be the hand which
+      weaves the garland. The ribbon must be tight as well as gently tied; it
+      must not cut into the stems, and yet it must not be too loose. Yes, you
+      young men talk according to your wisdom! Yes, you are wise! quite as wise
+      as the woman who kept a roasted chicken for supper. She placed it upon a
+      pewter plate upon the glowing coals, and went out to attend to her
+      affairs. When she returned the plate was melted, and the chicken lay among
+      the ashes. &lsquo;What a wise cat I have!&rsquo; said she; &lsquo;she has eaten I the plate
+      and left the chicken!&rsquo; See, you talk just so, and regard things from the
+      same foolish point of view. Do not speak like the rest of them in the
+      city! &lsquo;Fear God, and honor the king!&rsquo; We have nothing to argue with these
+      two; they transact their business between them! The French resemble young
+      students; when these have made their examen artium they imagine they are
+      equal to the whole world: they grow restive, and give student-feasts! The
+      French must have a Napoleon, who can give their something to do! If they
+      be left to themselves they will play mad pranks!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let us first see what the papers really say,&rdquo; replied Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The following day a large letter arrived; it was from Wilhelm:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My excellent Otto,&mdash;We have all drunk to Otto Thostrup&rsquo;s health. I
+      raised the glass, and drank the health. The friendship&rsquo;s dissonance YOU
+      has dissolved itself into a harmonious THOU, and thou thyself hast given
+      the accord. All at home speak of thee; even the Kammerjunker&rsquo;s Mamsell
+      chose lately thee, and not her work-box, as a subject of conversation. The
+      evening as thou drovest over the Jutland heaths I seated myself at the
+      piano, and played thy whole journey to my sisters. The journey over the
+      heath I gave them in a monotonous piece, composed of three tones, quite
+      dissimilar to that composed by Rousseau. My sisters were near despair; but
+      I told them it was not more uninteresting than the heath. Sometimes I made
+      a little flight, a quaver; that was the heath-larks which flew up into the
+      air. The introduction to the gypsy-chorus in &lsquo;Preciosa&rsquo; signified the
+      German gypsy-flock. Then came the thema out of &lsquo;Jeannot and Collin&rsquo;&mdash;&lsquo;O,
+      joyous days of childhood!&rsquo;&mdash;and then thou wast at home. I thundered
+      powerfully down in the bass; that was the North Sea, the chorus in thy
+      present grand&rsquo; opéra. Thou canst well imagine that it was quite original.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For the rest, everything at home remains in its old state. I have been in
+      Svendborg, and have set to music that sweet poem, &lsquo;The Wishes,&rsquo; by Carl
+      Bagger. His verses seem to me a little rough; but something will certainly
+      come out of the fellow! Thy own wishes are they which he has expressed.
+      Besides this, the astonishing tidings out of France have given us, and all
+      good people here, an electrical shock. Yes, thou in thy solitude hast
+      certainly heard nothing of the brilliant July days. The Parisians have
+      deposed Charles X. If the former Revolution was a blood-fruit, this one is
+      a true passionflower, suddenly sprung up, exciting astonishment through
+      its beauty, and as soon as the work is ended rolling together its leaves.
+      My cousin Joachim, who as thou knowest is just now at Paris, has lived
+      through these extraordinary days. The day before yesterday we received a
+      long, interesting letter from him, which gave us&mdash;of the particulars
+      as well as of the whole&mdash;a more complete idea than the papers can
+      give us. People assemble in groups round the post-houses to receive the
+      papers as they arrive. I have extracted from my cousin&rsquo;s letter what has
+      struck me most, and send thee these extracts in a supplement. Thou canst
+      thus in thy retirement still live in the world. A thousand greetings from
+      all here. Thou hast a place in mamma&rsquo;s heart, but not less so in mine.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+          &ldquo;Thy friend and brother,
+
+                       &ldquo;WILHELM.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;P. S.&mdash;It is true! My sister Sophie begs thee to bring her a stone
+      from the North Sea. Perhaps thou wilt bring for me a bucket of water; but
+      it must not incommode thee!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This hearty letter transported Otto into the midst of the friendly circle
+      in Funen. The corner of the paper where Wilhelm&rsquo;s name stood he pressed to
+      his lips. His heart was full of noble friendship.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The extract which Wilhelm had made from his cousin&rsquo;s letter was short and
+      descriptive. It might be compared with a beautiful poem translated into
+      good prose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the theatre we interest ourselves for struggling innocence; but we are
+      still more affected when the destiny of a whole nation is to be decided.
+      It is on this account that &ldquo;Wilhelm Tell&rdquo; possesses so much interest. Not
+      of the single individual is here the question, but of all. Here is flesh
+      of our flesh, and bone of our bone. Greater than the play created by the
+      poet was the effect which this description of the July days produced upon
+      Otto. This was the reality itself in which he lived. His heart was filled
+      with admiration for France, who fought for Liberty the holy fight, and
+      who, with the language of the sword, had pronounced the anathema of the
+      age on the enemies of enlightenment and improvement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The old preacher folded his hands as he heard it; his eyes sparkled: but
+      soon he shook his head. &ldquo;May men so judge the anointed ones of God? &lsquo;He
+      who taketh the sword shall perish by the sword!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The king is for the people,&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;not the people for the king!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Louis XVIth&rsquo;s unhappy daughter!&rdquo; sighed Rosalie; &ldquo;for the third time is
+      she driven from her father-land. Her parents and brothers killed! her
+      husband dishonored! She herself has a mind and heart. &lsquo;She is the only man
+      among the Bourbons,&rsquo;&rdquo; said Napoleon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The preacher, with his old-fashioned honesty, and a royalist from his
+      whole heart, regarded the affair with wavering opinion, and with fear for
+      the future. Rosalie thought most of those who were made unhappy of the
+      royal ladies and the poor children. Each followed the impulse of their own
+      nature, and the instinctive feeling of their age; thus did Otto also, and
+      therefore was his soul filled with enthusiasm. Enthusiasm belongs to
+      youth. His thoughts were busied with dreams of Paris; thither flew his
+      wishes. &ldquo;Yes, I will travel!&rdquo; exclaimed he; &ldquo;that will give my whole
+      character a more decided bias: I will and must,&rdquo; added he in thought. &ldquo;My
+      sorrow will be extinguished, the recollections of my childhood be
+      forgotten. Abroad, no terrific figures, as here, will present themselves
+      to me. My father is dead, foreign earth lies upon his coffin!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But the office&mdash;examination!&rdquo; said the old preacher, &ldquo;pass that
+      first. It is always good to have this in reserve, even if thou dost make
+      no use of it. Only make this year thy philosophicum.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And in the spring I shall travel,&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That depends upon thy guardian, my son!&rdquo; said the preacher.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Several days passed, and Otto began to feel it solitary in his home&mdash;all
+      moved here in such a confined circle. His mind was accustomed to a wider
+      sphere of action. He began to grow weary, and then the hours travel with
+      the snail&rsquo;s pace.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+           &ldquo;...minutterna ligesom räcka og strärka sig.
+   Man känner behof at göre sa med.&rdquo; [Note: Sketches of Every-day Life.]
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      He thought of his departure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou must take the road through Lemvig,&rdquo; said Rosalie. &ldquo;I will then visit
+      the family there for a few days; it will make them quite happy to see
+      thee, and I shall then be so much longer with thee. That thou wilt do,
+      wilt thou not?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The day was fixed when they should travel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The evening previous, Otto paid his last visit to the preacher. They spoke
+      together a long time about the deceased grandfather. The preacher gave up
+      several papers to Otto; among them also his father&rsquo;s last letter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In honor of Otto, a bottle of wine was placed upon the table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To thy health, my son!&rdquo; said the preacher, raising his glass. &ldquo;We shall
+      hardly spend another evening together. Thou wilt have much to learn before
+      thou comest as far as I. The world has more thorn-bushes than
+      gold-mountains. The times look unsettled. France commences a new
+      description of campaign in Europe, and certainly will draw along with it
+      all young men: formerly it was the conquerer Napoleon who led to the
+      field; now it is the idea of liberty! May the Lord preserve our good king,
+      and then it will remain well with us! Thou, Otto, wilt fly out into the
+      wide world&mdash;hadst thou only first passed thy examination for office!
+      But when and where-ever thou mayest fly, remember on all occasions the
+      words of Scripture.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We all desire to rule. Phaeton wished to drive the chariot of the sun,
+      but not understanding how to guide the reins, he set fire to the
+      countries, precipitated himself from the chariot, and broke his neck. I
+      have no one in the city of Copenhagen whom I can ask thee to greet for me.
+      All the friends of my youth are scattered to the east and to the west. If
+      any of them still be in the city, they will certainly have forgotten me.
+      But shouldst thou ever go to the Regent&rsquo;s Court, and smoke with the others
+      a pipe under the tree, think of me. I have also sat there when I was young
+      like thee; when the French Revolution drove also the blood quicker through
+      my veins, and thoughts of freedom caused me to carry my head more high.
+      The dear old tree! [Author&rsquo;s Note: At the end of the last century it was
+      felled, and two younger ones, which are now in full growth, planted in its
+      stead.] Yes, but one does not perceive in it, as in me, how many years
+      have passed since then!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He pressed a kiss on Otto&rsquo;s forehead, gave him his blessing, and they
+      parted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto was in a melancholy mood; he felt that he had certainly seen the old
+      man for the last time. When he arrived at home he found Rosalie busy
+      hacking. The following morning, by earliest dawn, they were to travel
+      toward Lemvig. Otto had not been there within these two last years. In old
+      times the journey thither had always been to him a festival, now it was
+      almost indifferent to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He entered his little chamber; for the last time in his life he should now
+      sleep there. From the next morning commenced, so it seemed to him, a new
+      chapter in his life. Byron&rsquo;s &ldquo;Farewell&rdquo; sounded in his ears like an old
+      melody:&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Fare thee well, and if forever,
+                Still for ever fare thee well.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      At break of day the carriage rolled away with him and old Rosalie. Both
+      were silent; the carriage moved slowly along the deep ruts. Otto looked
+      back once more. A lark rose, singing above him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It will be a beautiful day!&rdquo; said the coachman; his words and the song of
+      the lark Rosalie regarded as a good omen for Otto&rsquo;s whole journey.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XIX
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+   &ldquo;Geske.&mdash;Have you put syrup in the coffee?
+   Henrich.&mdash;Yes, I have.
+   Geske.&mdash;Be so good, dear madams, be so kind as to be contented.&rdquo;
+                                      HOLBERG&rsquo;S Political Pewterer.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Lemvig lies, as is well known, on an arm of the Limfjord. The legend
+      relates, that in the Swedish war a troop of the enemy&rsquo;s cavalry compelled
+      a peasant here to mount his horse and serve as a guide. Darkness came on;
+      they found themselves already upon the high sand-banks. The peasant guided
+      his horse toward a steep precipice; in a farm-house on the other side of
+      the fjord they perceived a light. &ldquo;That is Lemvig,&rdquo; said the peasant; &ldquo;let
+      us hasten!&rdquo; He set spurs to his horse, the Swedes followed his example,
+      and they were precipitated into the depth: the following morning their
+      corpses were found. The monument of this bold Lemvig peasant consists of
+      this legend and in the songs of the poets; and these are the monuments
+      which endure the longest. Through this legend the bare precipice receives
+      an intellectual beauty, which may truly compare itself with the naturally
+      beautiful view over the city and the bay.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rosalie and Otto drove into the town. It was two years since he had been
+      here; everything seemed to him, during this time, to have shrunk together:
+      wherever he looked everything was narrow and small. In his recollection,
+      Lemvig was very much larger.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They now drew up before the merchant&rsquo;s house. The entrance was through the
+      shop, which was decorated with wooden shoes, woolen gloves, and iron ware.
+      Close within the door stood two large casks of tea. Over the counter hung
+      an extraordinary stuffed fish, and a whole bunch of felt hats, for the use
+      of both sexes. It was a business en gros and en détail, which the son of
+      the house managed. The father himself was number one in Lemvig; he had
+      ships at sea, and kept open house, as they call it, in the neighborhood.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sitting-room door opened, and the wife herself, a stout, square woman,
+      with an honest, contented countenance, stepped out and received the guests
+      with kisses and embraces. Alas! her good Jutland pronunciation cannot be
+      given in writing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, how glorious that the Mamsell comes and brings Mr. Thostrup with her!
+      How handsome he is become! and how grown! Yes, we have his mark still on
+      the door.&rdquo; She drew Otto along with her. &ldquo;He has shot up more than a
+      quarter of a yard!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He looked at the objects which surrounded him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said she, &ldquo;that instrument we have had since you were last here; it
+      is a present to Maren from her brother. She will now sing; you something.
+      It is astonishing what a voice she has! Last Whitsuntide she sang in the
+      church with the musical people; she sang louder than the organ!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto approached the sofa, over which a large piece of needlework hung, in
+      a splendid gold frame. &ldquo;That is Maren&rsquo;s name-sampler,&rdquo; said the mistress
+      of the house. &ldquo;It is very pretty. See! there stand all our names! Can Mr.
+      Thostrup guess who this is? Here are all the figures worked in open
+      stitch. That ship, there, is the Mariane, which was called after me. There
+      you see the Lemvig Arms&mdash;a tower which stands on the waves; and here
+      in the corner, in regular and irregular stitches, is her name, &lsquo;Maren,
+      October the 24th, 1828.&rsquo; Yes, that is now two years since. She has now
+      worked a cushion for the sofa, with a Turk upon it. It went the round of
+      the city&mdash;every one wished to see it; it is astonishing how Maren can
+      use her hands!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rosalie inquired after the excellent girl.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is preparing the table,&rdquo; said the lady. &ldquo;Some good friends are coming
+      to us this evening. The secretary will also come; he will then play with
+      Maren. You will doubtless, in Copenhagen, have heard much more beautiful
+      music; ours is quite simple, but they sing from notes: and I think, most
+      likely the secretary will bring his musical-box with him. That is
+      splendid! Only lately he sang a little song to the box, that was much
+      better than to the larger instrument; for I must say he has not the strong
+      chest which Maren has.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The whole family assembled themselves for the first time at the
+      dinner-table. The two persons who took the lowest places at table appeared
+      the most original; these were the shopman and the aunt. Both of them had
+      only at dinner the honor of being with the family; they were quite shut
+      out from the evening parties.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The shopman, who in the shop was the first person, and who could there
+      speak a few words, sat here like a quiet, constrained creature; his hair
+      combed toward one side, and exhibiting two red, swollen hands: no sound
+      escaped his lips; kissing the hand of the lady of the house, at coming and
+      going, was all he did beside eat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The aunt, who was not alone called so by the family, but by the whole of
+      Lemvig, was equally sparing of her words, but her face was constantly
+      laughing. A flowered, red cotton cap fitted close to the thin face, giving
+      something characteristic to the high cheek-bones and hanging lip. &ldquo;She
+      assisted in the household, but could take no part in genteel company,&rdquo; as
+      the lady expressed herself. She could never forget how, at the Reformation
+      Festival, when only the singers sang in the church, aunt began singing
+      with them out of her book, so that the churchwarden was forced to beg her
+      to be silent; but this she took very ill, and declared she had as notch
+      right as the others to praise God, and then sang in defiance. Had she not
+      been &ldquo;aunt,&rdquo; and not belonged to the family to which she did, she would
+      certainly have been turned out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She was now the last person who entered and took her place at table. Half
+      an hour had she been sought after before she was found. She had stood at
+      the end of the garden, before the wooden trellis. Grass had been mown in
+      the field behind the garden, and made into a rick; to see this she had
+      gone to the trellis, the odor had agreeably affected her; she had pressed
+      her face against the trellis-work, and from contemplation of it had fallen
+      into thought, or rather out of thought. There she was found, and the
+      dreamer was shaken into motion. She was again right lively, and laughed
+      each time that Otto looked at her. He had his seat between Maren and the
+      lady of the house, at the upper end of the table. Maren was a very pretty
+      girl&mdash;little, somewhat round, white and red, and well-dressed. A vast
+      number of bows, and a great variety of colors, were her weak side. She was
+      reading at this time &ldquo;Cabal and Love.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou art reading it in German!&rdquo; said the mother.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, it must be a beautiful piece. I speak German very well, but when I
+      wish to read it I get on too slowly with it: I like to get to the end of a
+      book!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The husband had his place at the head of the table. A little black cap sat
+      smoothly on his gray hair, and a pair of clever eyes sparkled in his
+      countenance. With folded hands he prayed a silent prayer, and then bowed
+      his head, before he allowed the dinner to be served. Rosalie sat beside
+      him. Her neighbor on the right seemed very talkative. He was an old
+      soldier, who in his fortieth year had gone as lieutenant with the land&rsquo;s
+      troops, and had permission to wear the uniform, and therefore sat there in
+      a kind of military coat, and with a stiff cravat. He was already deep in
+      Polignac&rsquo;s ministry and the triumph of the July days; but he had the
+      misfortune to confound Lafitte and Lafayette together. The son of the
+      house only spoke of bull-calves. The lady at the table was a little
+      mamsell from Holstebro, who sat beside him, dressed like a girl for
+      Confirmation, in a black silk dress and long red shawl. She was in grand
+      array, for she was on a visit. This young lady understood dress-making,
+      and could play upon the flute; which, however, she never did without a
+      certain bashfulness: besides this, she spoke well, especially upon
+      melancholy events. The bottle of wine only circulated at the upper end of
+      the table; the shopman and aunt only drank ale, but it foamed gloriously:
+      it had been made upon raisin-stalks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He is an excellent man, the merchant, whom you have received as guardian,
+      Mr. Thostrup,&rdquo; said the master of the house. &ldquo;I am in connection with
+      him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But it is strange,&rdquo; interrupted the lady, &ldquo;that only one out of his five
+      daughters is engaged. If the young ladies in Copenhagen do not go off
+      better than that, what shall we say here?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now Mr. Thostrup can take one of them,&rdquo; said the husband. &ldquo;There is
+      money, and you have fortune also; if you get an office, you can live in
+      floribus!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Maren colored, although there was no occasion for coloring; she even cast
+      down her eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What should Mr. Thostrup do with one of them?&rdquo; pursued the wife. &ldquo;He
+      shall have a Jutland maiden! There are pretty young ladies enough here in
+      the country-seats,&rdquo; added she, and laid the best piece of meat upon his
+      plate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do the royal company give pretty operas?&rdquo; asked Maren, and gave another
+      direction to the conversation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto named several, among others Der Freischütz.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That must be horrible!&rdquo; said the lieutenant. &ldquo;They say the wolf-glen is
+      so natural, with a waterfall, and an owl which flutters its wings.
+      Burgomaster Mimi has had a letter from a young lady in Aarhuus, who has
+      been in Copenhagen, and has seen this piece. It was so horrible that she
+      held her hand before her face, and almost fainted. They have a splendid
+      theatre!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, but our little theatre was very pretty!&rdquo; said the lady of the house.
+      &ldquo;It was quite stupid that the dramatic company should have been unlucky.
+      The last piece we gave is still clear in my recollection; it was the
+      &lsquo;Sandseslöse.&rsquo; I was then ill; but because I wished so much to see it, the
+      whole company was so obliging as to act it once more, and that, too, in
+      our sitting-room, where I lay on the sofa and could look on. That was an
+      extraordinary mark of attention from them! Only think&mdash;the
+      burgomaster himself acted with them!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In honor of the strangers, coffee was taken after dinner in the garden,
+      where, under the plum-trees, a swing was fixed. Somewhat later a sailing
+      party was arranged. A small yacht belonging to the merchant lay, just
+      unladen, near the bridge of boats.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto found Maren and the young lady from Holstebro sitting in the arbor.
+      Somewhat startled, they concealed something at his entrance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The ladies have secrets! May one not be initiated?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, not at all!&rdquo; replied Maren.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You have manuscript poems in the little book!&rdquo; said Otto, and boldly
+      approached. &ldquo;Perhaps of your own composition?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, it is only a memorandum-book,&rdquo; said Maren, blushing. &ldquo;When I read
+      anything pretty I copy it, for we cannot keep the books.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then I may see it!&rdquo; said Otto. His eye fell upon the written sheet:&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+             &ldquo;So fliessen nun zwei Wasser
+              Wohl zwischen mir und Dir
+              Das eine sind die Thränen,
+              Das andre ist der See!&rdquo;
+               [Note: Des Knaben Wunderhorn.]
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      he read. &ldquo;That is very pretty! &lsquo;Der verlorne Schwimmer,&rsquo; the poem is
+      called, is it not?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I have copied it out of the secretary&rsquo;s memorandum-book; he has so
+      many pretty pieces.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The secretary has many splendid things!&rdquo; said Otto, smiling.
+      &ldquo;Memorandum-book, musical snuff-box&rdquo;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And a collection of seals!&rdquo; added the young lady from Holstebro.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I must read more!&rdquo; said Otto; but the ladies fled with glowing cheeks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are you already at your tricks, Mr. Thostrup?&rdquo; said the mother, who now
+      entered the garden. &ldquo;Yes, you do not know how Maren has thought of you&mdash;how
+      much she has spoken of you. You never wrote to us; we never heard anything
+      of you, except when Miss Rosalie related us something out of your letters.
+      That was not nice of you! You and Maren were always called bride and
+      bridegroom. You were a pair of pretty children, and your growth has not
+      been disadvantageous to either of you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At four o&rsquo;clock the evening party assembled&mdash;a whole swarm of young
+      ladies, a few old ones, and the secretary, who distinguished himself by a
+      collection of seals hanging to a long watch-chain, and everlastingly
+      knocking against his body; a white shirt-frill, stiff collar, and a cock&rsquo;s
+      comb, in which each hair seemed to take an affected position. They all
+      walked down to the bay. Otto had some business and came somewhat later.
+      Whilst he was crossing, alone, the court-yard, he heard, proceeding from
+      the back of the house, a fearful, wild cry, which ended in violent
+      sobbing. Terrified, he went nearer, and perceived the aunt sitting in the
+      middle of a large heap of turf. The priestess at Delphi could not have
+      looked more agitated! Her close cap she had torn from her head; her long,
+      gray hair floated over her shoulders; and with her feet she stamped upon
+      the turf, like a willful child, until the pieces flew in various
+      directions. When she perceived Otto she became calm in a moment, but soon
+      she pressed her thin hands before her face and sobbed aloud. To learn from
+      her what was the matter was not to be thought of.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, she is only quarrelsome!&rdquo; said the girl, to whom Otto had turned for
+      an explanation. &ldquo;Aunt is angry because she was not invited to sail with
+      the company. She always does so,&mdash;she can be quite wicked! Just
+      lately, when she should have helped me to wring out the sheets, she always
+      twisted them the same way that I did, so that we could never get done, and
+      my hands hurt me very much!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto walked down to the bay. The sail was unfurled, the secretary brought
+      out his musical-box, and, accompanied by its tones, they glided in the
+      burning sunshine over the water.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the other side tea was to be drunk, and then Maren was to sing. Her
+      mother asked her to sing the song with the strong tones, so that Otto
+      might hear what a voice she had.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She sang &ldquo;Dannevang.&rdquo; Her voice had uncommon power, but no style, no
+      grace.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Such a voice, I fancy, you have not heard in the theatre at Copenhagen?&rdquo;
+       said the secretary, with dogmatical gravity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You might wish yourself such a chest!&rdquo; said the lieutenant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The secretary should now sing; but he had a little cold, which he had
+      always.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You must sing to the musical-box!&rdquo; said the lady, and her wish was
+      fulfilled. If Maren had only commenced, one might have believed it a trial
+      of skill between Boreas and Zephyr.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They now walked about, drank tea, and after this they were to return to
+      the house, there to partake of fish and roast meat, a piece of boxed ham,
+      and other good things.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto could by no means be permitted to think of leaving them the following
+      morning; he must remain a few days, and gather strength, so that in
+      Copenhagen he might apply himself well to work. But only one day would he
+      enjoy all the good things which they heaped upon him. He yearned for other
+      people, for a more intellectual circle. Two years before he had agreed
+      splendidly with them all, had found them interesting and intellectual; now
+      he felt that Lemvig was a little town, and that the people were good,
+      excellent people.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The following play again brought capital cookery, good foul, and good wine&mdash;that
+      was to honor Mr. Thostrup. His health was drunk, Maren was more
+      confidential, the aunt had forgotten her trouble, and again sat with a
+      laughing face beside the constrained shopman. They must, it is true, make
+      a little haste over their dinner, for the fire-engine was to be tried; and
+      this splendor, they maintained, Otto must see, since he so fortunately
+      chanced to lie there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How can my mother think that this will give Mr. Thostrup pleasure?&rdquo; said
+      Maren. &ldquo;There is nothing to see in it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That has given him pleasure formerly!&rdquo; answered the mother. &ldquo;It is, also,
+      laughable when the boys run underneath the engine-rain, and the stream
+      comes just in their necks.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She spoke of the former Otto and of the present one&mdash;he was become so
+      Copenhagenish, so refined and nice, as well in the cut of his clothes as
+      in his manners; yet she still found an opportunity of giving him a little
+      hint to further refinement. Only think! he took the sugar for his coffee
+      with his fingers!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But where are the sugar-tongs, the massive silver sugar-tongs?&rdquo; asked
+      she. &ldquo;Maren, dost thou allow him to take the sugar with his fingers?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is more convenient!&rdquo; answered Otto. &ldquo;I do that always.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, but if strangers had been here,&rdquo; said the hostess, in a friendly but
+      teaching tone, &ldquo;we must, like that grand lady you know of, have thrown the
+      sugar out of the window.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In the higher circles, where people have clean fingers, they make use of
+      them!&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;There would be no end of it if one were to take it with
+      the sugar-tongs.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They are of massive silver!&rdquo; said the lady, and weighed them in her hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Toward evening Rosalie went into the garden under the plum trees.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These, also, remind me of my mountains,&rdquo; said she; &ldquo;this is the only
+      fruit which will properly flourish there. Lemvig lies, like La Locle, in a
+      valley,&rdquo; and she pointed, smiling, to the surrounding sand-hills. &ldquo;How
+      entirely different it is here from what it is at home on thy grandfather&rsquo;s
+      estate! There I have been so accustomed to solitude, that it is almost too
+      lively for me here. One diversion follows another.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was precisely this which Otto did not like. These amusements of the
+      small towns wearied him, and he could not delight himself with them, no
+      longer mingle in this life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He wished to set out early the following morning. It would be too
+      exhausting to drive along the dry road in the sun&rsquo;s heat, they all
+      declared; he must wait until the afternoon, then it would be cooler; it
+      was, also, far pleasanter to travel in the night. Rosalie&rsquo;s prayers
+      decided him. Thus, after dinner and coffee, the horses should be put into
+      the carriage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was the last day. Maren was somewhat in a grave mood. Otto must write
+      in her album. &ldquo;He would never come to Lemvig again,&rdquo; said she. As children
+      they had played with each other. Since he went to Copenhagen she had, many
+      an evening, seated herself in the swing near the summer-house and thought
+      of him. Who knows whether she must not have done so when she copied out of
+      the secretary&rsquo;s memorandum-book, the verses,&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+             &ldquo;So fliessen nun zwei Wasser
+              Wohl zwischen mir and Dir?&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      The sea certainly flows between Aarhuus and Copenhagen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Maren will perhaps go over for the winter,&rdquo; said the mother; &ldquo;but we dare
+      not speak too much about it, for it is not yet quite settled. It will
+      really make her gayer! lately she has been very much inclined to
+      melancholy, although God knows that we have denied her no pleasure!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There now arrived a quantity of letters from different acquaintance, and
+      from their acquaintance: if Mr. Thostrup would have the goodness to take
+      care of this to Viborg, these to Aarhuus, and the others as far as
+      Copenhagen. It was a complete freight, such as one gets in little towns,
+      just as though no post went through the country.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The carriage stopped before the door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rosalie melted into tears. &ldquo;Write to me!&rdquo; said she. &ldquo;Thee I shall never
+      see again! Greet my Switzerland when thou comest there!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The others were merry. The lady sang,&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+                &ldquo;O could I, like a cloud, but fly!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      The young lady from Holstebro bowed herself before him with an Album-leaf
+      its her hand, upon which she must beg Mr. Thostrup to write her something.
+      Maren gave him her hand, blushed and drew back: but as the carriage rolled
+      away she waved her while handkerchief through the open window: &ldquo;Farewell!
+      Farewell!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XX
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Stop! cried Patroclus, with mighty, thundering voice.&rdquo;
+      &mdash;WILSTER&rsquo;S Iliad.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The parting with Rosalie, the hospitality of the family, and their sincere
+      sympathy, touched Otto; he thought upon the last days, upon his whole
+      sojourn in his home. The death of his grandfather made this an important
+      era in his life. The quiet evening and the solitary road inclined him
+      still more to meditation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      How cheering and interesting had been a visit to Lemvig in former times!
+      Then it furnished matter for conversation with Rosalie for many weeks; it
+      now lay before him a subject of indifference. The people were certainly
+      the same, therefore the change must have taken place in himself. He
+      thought of Copenhagen, which stood so high, and of the people there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;After all, the difference is not so great!&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;In Copenhagen the
+      social foci are more numerous, the interests more varied; each day brings
+      a fresh topic of conversation, and one can choose one&rsquo;s society. The
+      multitude, on the contrary, has something citizenish; it obtrudes itself
+      even from beneath the ball-dress which shows itself at court; it is seen
+      in the rich saloon of the wholesale merchant, as well as in the house of
+      the brandy distiller, whose possessions give to him and his two brewers
+      the right of election. It is the same food which is presented to us; in
+      the small towns one has it on earthenware, in Copenhagen on china. If one
+      had only the courage, in the so-called higher classes, to break through
+      the gloss which life in a greater circle, which participation in the
+      customs of the world, has called forth, one should soon find in many a
+      lady of rank, in many a nobleman who sits not alone in the theatre, on the
+      first bench, merely that empty common earthenware; and that, as with the
+      merchant&rsquo;s wife in Lemvig, a déjeuner or a soirée, like some public event,
+      will occupy the mind before and after its occurrence. A court-ball, at
+      which either the son or daughter has figured, resembles the most brilliant
+      success in an examination for office. We laugh at the authorities of
+      Lemvig, and yet with us the crowd runs after nothing but authorities and
+      newspapers. This is a certain state of innocence. How many a poor officer
+      or student must play the subordinate part of the shopman at the table of
+      the rich, and gratefully kiss the hand of the lady of the house because
+      she has the right of demanding gratitude? And in the theatre, with the
+      multitude, what does not &lsquo;an astonishing chest&rsquo; do? A strength of voice
+      which can penetrate right through the leather of the mind gains stormy
+      applause, whilst taste and execution can only be appreciated by the few.
+      The actor can be certain of applause if he only thunder forth his parting
+      reply. The comedian is sure of a shout of bravo if he puts forth an
+      insipidity, and rubs his legs together as if replying with spirit and
+      humor. The massive plate in the house gives many a lady the boldness to
+      teach that in which she herself might perhaps have been instructed. Many a
+      lady, like the Mamsell from Holstebro, dresses always in silk and a long
+      shawl, and if one asks after her profession one finds it consists at most
+      in dress-making; perhaps she does not even possess the little accompanying
+      talent of playing the flute. How many people do not copy, like Maren, out
+      of other people&rsquo;s memorandum-books, and do not excel musical-boxes! still
+      one hears a deal of musical snuff-box music, and is waited upon by voices
+      which are equally as insignificant as the secretary&rsquo;s.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      These were pretty much Otto&rsquo;s reflections, and certainly it was a good
+      feeling which lay at the bottom of them. Let us remember in our judgment
+      that he was so young, and that he had only known Copenhagen <i>one</i>
+      year; otherwise he would most certainly have thought <i>quite differently</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Night spread itself over the heath, the heavens were clear. Slowly the
+      carriage wound along through the deep sand. The monotonous sound, the
+      unchanging motion, all rendered Otto sleepy. A falling star shot like a
+      fire column across the sky&mdash;this woke him for a moment; he soon again
+      bowed his head and slept, fast and deep. It was an hour past midnight,
+      when he was awoke by a loud cry. He started up&mdash;the fire burnt before
+      them; and between it and the horse stood two figures, who had taken hold
+      of the leather reins. Close beside them was a cart, under which was placed
+      a sort of bed, on which slept a woman and some children.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Will you drive into the soup-kettle?&rdquo; asked a rough voice, whilst another
+      scolded in a gibberish which was unintelligible to Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It had happened to the coachman as to him, only that the coachman had
+      fallen asleep somewhat later; the horses had lost their track, and
+      uncertain, as they had long been, they were now traversing the impassable
+      heath. A troop of the so-called Scavengers, who wander through these
+      districts a nomadic race, had here taken up their quarters for the night,
+      had made a fire and hung the kettle over it, to cook some pieces of a lamb
+      they had stolen on their journey.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They were about half a mile from the highway,&rdquo; said an elderly woman who
+      was laying some bushes of heath under the kettle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Half a mile?&rdquo; replied a voice from the other side of the cart, and Otto
+      remarked a man who, wrapped in a large gray riding-cloak, had stretched
+      himself out among the heather. &ldquo;It is not a quarter of a mile to the
+      highway if people know how to direct their course properly!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The pronunciation of the man was somewhat foreign, but pure, and free from
+      the gibberish which the others employed in their speech. The voice seemed
+      familiar to Otto, his ear weighed each syllable, and his blood ran quicker
+      through his veins: &ldquo;It is the German Heinrich, the evil angel of my life!&rdquo;
+       he felt, and wrapt himself closer in his mantle, so that his countenance
+      was concealed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A half-grown lad came forward and offered himself as a guide.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But the lad must have two marks!&rdquo; said the woman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto nodded assent, and glanced once more toward the man in whom he
+      believed he recognized the German Heinrich; the man had again carelessly
+      stretched himself among the heath, and did not seem inclined to enter into
+      farther discourse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The woman desired the payment in advance, and received it. The boy led the
+      horses toward one side; at the moment the fire flare up between the
+      turf-sods, a great dog, with a loose cord about his neck, sprang forward
+      and ran barking after the carriage, which now travelled on over the heath
+      in the gloomy night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXI
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Poetry does not always express sorrow; the rainbow can also
+     arch across a cloudless blue firmament.&rdquo;&mdash;JEAN PAUL.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      We again find ourselves in Copenhagen, where we meet with Otto, and may
+      every day expect Wilhelm, Miss Sophie, and the excellent mamma; they would
+      only stay a few weeks. To learn tidings of their arrival, Otto determined
+      to pay a visit where they were expected; we know the house, we were
+      present at the Christmas festival: it was here that Otto received his
+      noble pedigree.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We will now become somewhat better acquainted with the family. The husband
+      had a good head, as people sat, had an excellent wine-cellar, and was, as
+      one of the friends maintained, a good l&rsquo;hombre player. But the soul of the
+      house, the animating genius, which drew into this circle all that
+      possessed life and youth, was the wife. Beautiful one could by no means
+      call her, but, enchanted by her natural loveliness, her mind, and her
+      unaffectedness, you forgot this in a few moments. A rare facility in
+      appreciating the comic of every-day life, and a good-humored originality
+      in its representation, always afforded her rich material for conversation.
+      It was as if Nature, in a moment of thoughtlessness, had formed an insipid
+      countenance, but immediately afterward strove to make good her fault by
+      breathing into it a soul, which, even through pale blue eyes, pale cheeks,
+      and ordinary features, could make her beauty felt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When Otto entered the room he heard music. He listened: it must be either
+      Weyse or Gerson.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is the Professor Weyse,&rdquo; said the servant, and Otto opened the door
+      softly, without knocking.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The astral-lamp burnt upon the table; upon the sofa sat two young ladies.
+      The mistress of the house nodded Otto a friendly welcome, but then smiling
+      laid her finger on her lips, as a sign of silence, and pointed to a chair,
+      on which he seated himself, and listened to the soft tones, which, like
+      spirits, floated from the piano at which the musician sat. It was as if
+      the slumbering thoughts and feelings of the soul, which in every breast
+      find a response, even among the most opposite nations, had found a voice
+      and language. The fantasies died away in a soft, spiritual piano. Thus
+      lightly has Raphael breathed the Madonna di Foligno upon the clouds; she
+      rests there as a soap-bubble rests upon velvet. That dying away of the
+      tomes resembled the thoughts of the lover when his eye closes, and the
+      living dream of his heart imperceptibly merges and vanishes in sleep.
+      Reality is over.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Here also the tones ceased.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+            &ldquo;Der Bettelvogt von Ninive
+             Zog hinab zum Genfersee,
+                  Hm, hm!&rdquo;
+              [Author&rsquo;s Note: An old popular German song.]
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      commenced the musician once more, with an originality and spirit which
+      influenced the whole company. Far too soon did he again break off, after
+      he had enchanted all ears by his own treasures, as well as by the
+      curiosities of the people&rsquo;s life in the world of sound. Only when he was
+      gone did admiration find words; the fantasies still echoed in every heart.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;His name deserves to be known throughout Europe!&rdquo; said the gracious lady;
+      &ldquo;how few people in the world know Weyse and Kuhlau!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is the misfortune of a musician being born in a small country,&rdquo; said
+      Otto. &ldquo;His works become only manuscript for friends; his auditory extends
+      only from Skagen to Kiel: there the door is closed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One must console one&rsquo;s self that everything great and good becomes at
+      length known,&rdquo; said the cousin of the family, who is known to us by his
+      verses for the Christmas-tree. &ldquo;The nations will become acquainted with
+      everything splendid in the kingdom of mind, let it bloom in a small or in
+      a large country. Certainly during this time the artist may have died, but
+      then he must receive compensation in another world.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I truly believe,&rdquo; returned the gracious lady, &ldquo;that he would wish a
+      little in advance here below, where it is so ordered that the immortal
+      must bow himself before the mortal.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Certainly,&rdquo; replied Otto; &ldquo;the great men of the age are like mountains;
+      they it is which cause the land to be seen from afar, and give it
+      importance, but in themselves they are bare and cold; their heights are
+      never properly known.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Very beautiful,&rdquo; said the lady; &ldquo;you speak like a Jean Paul.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At this moment the door opened, and all were surprised by the entrance of
+      Miss Sophie, Wilhelm, and the dear mamma. They were not expected before
+      the following evening. They had travelled the whole day through Zealand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We should have been here to dinner,&rdquo; said Sophie, &ldquo;but my brother could
+      not get his business finished in Roeskelde; then he had forgotten to order
+      horses, and other little misadventures occurred: six whole hours we
+      remained there. Mamma contracted quite a passion there&mdash;she fell
+      fairly in love with a young girl, the pretty Eva.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, she is a nice creature!&rdquo; said the old lady. &ldquo;Had I not reason, Mr.
+      Thostrup? You and my Wilhelm had already made her interesting to me. She
+      has something so noble, so refined, which one so rarely meets with in the
+      lower class; she deserves to come among educated people.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Otto, what shall our hearts say,&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm, &ldquo;when my good mother
+      is thus affected?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They assembled round the tea-table. Wilhelm addressed Otto with the
+      confidential &ldquo;thou&rdquo; which Otto himself had requested.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We will drink together in tea and renew our brotherhood.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto smiled, but with such a strangely melancholy air, and spoke not a
+      word.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He&rsquo;s thinking about the old grandfather,&rdquo; thought Wilhelm, and laid his
+      hand upon his friend&rsquo;s shoulder. &ldquo;The Kammerjunker and his ladies greet
+      thee!&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;I believe the Mamsell would willingly lay thee in her own
+      work-box, were that to be done.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto remained quiet, but in his soul there was a strange commotion. It
+      would be a difficult thing to explain this motive, which belonged to his
+      peculiarity of mind; it entered among the mysteries of the soul. The
+      multitude call it in individuals singularity, the psychologist finds a
+      deeper meaning in it, which the understanding is unable to fathom. We have
+      examples of men, whose strength of mind and body were well known, feeling
+      faint at the scent of a rose; others have been thrown into a convulsive
+      state by touching gray paper. This cannot be explained; it is one of the
+      riddles of Nature. A similar relaxing sensation Otto experienced when he,
+      for the first time, heard himself addressed as &ldquo;thou&rdquo; by Wilhelm. It
+      seemed to him as though the spiritual band which encircled them loosened
+      itself, and Wilhelm became a stranger. It was impossible for Otto to
+      return the &ldquo;thou,&rdquo; yet, at the same time, he felt the injustice of his
+      behavior and the singularity, and wished to struggle against it; he
+      mastered himself, attained a kind of eloquence, but no &ldquo;thou&rdquo; would pass
+      his lips.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To thy health, Otto,&rdquo; said Wilhelm, and pushed his cup against Otto&rsquo;s.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Health!&rdquo; said Otto, with a smile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is true,&rdquo; began the cousin, &ldquo;I promised you the other day to bring my
+      advertisements with me; the first volume is closed.&rdquo; And he drew from his
+      pocket a book in which a collection of the most original Address-Gazette
+      advertisements, such as one sees daily, was pasted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have one for you,&rdquo; said the lady; &ldquo;I found it a little time since. &lsquo;A
+      woman wishes for a little child to bottle.&rsquo; Is not that capital?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here is also a good one,&rdquo; said Wilhelm, who had turned over the leaves of
+      the book: &ldquo;&lsquo;A boy of the Mosaic belief may be apprenticed to a
+      cabinet-maker, but he need not apply unless he will eat everything that
+      happens to be in the house.&rsquo; That is truly a hard condition for the poor
+      lad.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Almost every day,&rdquo; said the cousin, &ldquo;one may read, &lsquo;For the play of
+      to-day or to-morrow is a good place to be had in the third story in the
+      Christenbernikov Street.&rsquo; The place is a considerable distance from the
+      theatre.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Theatre!&rdquo; exclaimed the master of the house, who now entered to take his
+      place at the tea-table, &ldquo;one can soon hear who has that word in his mouth;
+      now is he again at the theatre! The man can speak of nothing else. There
+      ought, ready, to be a fine imposed, which he should pay each time he
+      pronounces the word theatre. I would only make it a fine of two skillings,
+      and yet I dare promise that before a month was over he would be found to
+      pay in fines his whole pocket-money, and his coat and boots besides. It is
+      a real mania with the man! I know no one among my young friends,&rdquo; added
+      he, with an ironical smile at Wilhelm,&mdash;&ldquo;no, not one, who has such a
+      hobby-horse as our good cousin.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here thou art unjust to him!&rdquo; interrupted his wife; &ldquo;do not place a fine
+      upon him, else I will place thee in a vaudeville! Thy life is in politics;
+      our cousin&rsquo;s in theatrical life; Wilhelm&rsquo;s in thorough-bass; and Mr.
+      Thostrup&rsquo;s in learned subjects. Each of you is thus a little nail in the
+      different world-wheels; whoever despises others shows that he considers
+      his wheel the first, or imagines that the world is a wheelbarrow, which
+      goes upon one wheel! No, it is a more complicated machine.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Later in the evening, when the company broke up, Otto and Wilhelm went
+      together.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not think,&rdquo; said Wilhelm, &ldquo;that thou hast yet said thou to me. Is it
+      not agreeable to thee?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was my own wish, my own request,&rdquo; replied Otto. &ldquo;I have not remarked
+      what expressions I have employed.&rdquo; He remained silent. Wilhelm himself
+      seemed occupied with unusual thoughts, when he suddenly exclaimed: &ldquo;Life
+      is, after all, a gift of blessings! One should never make one&rsquo;s self
+      sorrows which do not really exist! &lsquo;Carpe diem,&rsquo; said old Horace.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That will we!&rdquo; replied Otto; &ldquo;but now we must first think of our
+      examination.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They pressed each other&rsquo;s hands and parted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But I have heard no thou!&rdquo; said Wilhelm to himself &ldquo;He is an oddity, and
+      yet I love him! In this consists, perhaps, my own originality.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He entered his room, where the hostess had been cleaning, and had arranged
+      the books and papers in the nicest order. Wilhelm truly called it
+      disorder; the papers in confusion and the books in a row. The lamp even
+      had a new place; and this was called order!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Smiling, he seated himself at the piano; it was so long since they had
+      said &ldquo;Good day&rdquo; to each other! He ran over the keys several times, then
+      lost himself in fantasies. &ldquo;That is lovely!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;But it is not
+      my property! What does it belong to? It melts into my own feelings!&rdquo; He
+      played it again. It was a thema out of &ldquo;Tancredi,&rdquo; therefore from Rossini,
+      even the very composer whom our musical friends most looked down upon; how
+      could he then guess who had created those tones which now spoke to his
+      heart? His whole being he felt penetrated by a happiness, a love of life,
+      the cause of which he knew not. He thought of Otto with a warmth which the
+      latter&rsquo;s strange behavior did not deserve. All beloved beings floated so
+      sweetly before his mind. This was one of those moments which all good
+      people know; one feels one&rsquo;s self a member of the great chain of love
+      which binds creation together.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So long as the rose-bud remains folded together it seems to be without
+      fragrance; yet only one morning is required, and the fine breath streams
+      from the crimson mouth. It is only one moment; it is the commencement of a
+      new existence, which already has lain long concealed in the bud: but one
+      does not see the magic wand which works the change. This spiritual
+      contrast, perhaps, took place in the past hour; perhaps the last evening
+      rays which fell upon the leaves concealed this power! The roses of the
+      garden must open; those of the heart follow the same laws. Was this love?
+      Love is, as poets say, a pain; it resembles the disease of the mussel,
+      through which pearls are formed. But Wilhelm was not sick; he felt himself
+      particularly full of strength and enjoyment of life. The poet&rsquo;s simile of
+      the mussel and the pearl sounds well, but it is false. Most poets are not
+      very learned in natural history; and, therefore, they are guilty of many
+      errors with regard to it. The pearl is formed on the mussel not through
+      disease; when an enemy attacks her she sends forth drops in her defense,
+      and these change into pearls. It is thus strength, and not weakness, which
+      creates the beautiful. It would be unjust to call love a pain, a sickness;
+      it is an energy of life which God has planted in the human breast; it
+      fills our whole being like the fragrance which fills each leaf of the
+      rose, and then reveals itself among the struggles of life as a pearl of
+      worth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      These were Wilhelm&rsquo;s thoughts; and yet it was not perfectly clear to him
+      that he loved with his whole soul, as one can only love once.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The following forenoon he paid a visit to Professor Weyse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are going to Roeskelde, are you not?&rdquo; asked Wilhelm. &ldquo;I have heard
+      you so often play the organ here in Our Lady&rsquo;s church, I should very much
+      like to hear you there, in the cathedral. If I were to make the journey,
+      would you then play a voluntary for me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will not come!&rdquo; said the musician.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shall come!&rdquo; answered Wilhelm, and kept his word. Two days after this
+      conversation he rolled through the streets of Roeskelde.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am come for a wager! I shall hear Weyse play the organ!&rdquo; said he to the
+      host, although there was no need for an apology.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bulwer in his romance, &ldquo;The Pilgrims of the Rhine,&rdquo; has with endless grace
+      and tenderness called forth a fairy world. The little spirits float there
+      as the breath of air floats around the material reality; one is forced to
+      believe in their existence. With a genius powerful as that which inspired
+      Bulwer, glorious as that which infused into Shakespeare the fragrance we
+      find breathed over the &ldquo;Midsummer-night&rsquo;s Dream,&rdquo; did Weyse&rsquo;s tones fill
+      Wilhelm; the deep melodies of the organ in the old cathedral had indeed
+      attracted him to the quiet little town! The powerful tones of the heart
+      summoned him! Through them even every day things assumed a coloring, an
+      expression of beauty, such as Byron shows us in words, Thorwaldsen in the
+      hard stone, Correggio in colors.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We have by Goethe a glorious poem, &ldquo;Love a Landscape-painter.&rdquo; The poet
+      sits upon a peak and gazes before him into the mist, which, like canvas
+      spread upon the easel, conceals all heights and expanses; then comes the
+      God of Love and teaches him how to paint a picture on the mist. The little
+      one now sketches with his rosy fingers a picture such as only Nature and
+      Goethe give us. Were the poet here, we could offer him no rock on which he
+      might seat himself, but something, through legends and songs, equally
+      beautiful. He would then sing,&mdash;I seated myself upon the mossy stone
+      above the cairn; the mist resembled outstretched canvas. The God of Love
+      commenced on this his sketch. High up he painted a glorious still, whose
+      rays were dazzling! The edges of the clouds he made as of gold, and let
+      the rays penetrate through them; then painted he the fine light boughs of
+      fresh, fragrant trees; brought forth one hill after the other. Behind
+      these, half-concealed, lay a little town, above which rose a mighty
+      church; two tall towers with high spires rose into the air; and below the
+      church, far out, where woods formed the horizon, drew he a bay so
+      naturally! it seemed to play with the sunbeams as if the waves splashed up
+      against the coast. Now appeared flowers; to the fields and meadows he gave
+      the coloring of velvet and precious stones; and on the other side of the
+      bay the dark woods melted away into a bluish mist. &ldquo;I can paint!&rdquo; said the
+      little one; &ldquo;but the most difficult still remains to do.&rdquo; And he drew with
+      his delicate finger, just where the rays of the sun fell most glowingly, a
+      maiden so gentle, so sweet, with dark blue eyes and cheeks as blooming as
+      the rosy fingers which formed the picture. And see! a breeze arose; the
+      leaves of the trees quivered; the expanse of water ruffled itself; the
+      dress of the maiden was gently stirred; the maiden herself approached: the
+      picture itself was a reality! And thus did the old royal city present
+      itself before Wilhelm&rsquo;s eyes, the towers of the cathedral, she tay, the
+      far woods, and&mdash;Eva!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The first love of a pure heart is holy! This holiness may be indicated,
+      but not described! We return to Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0022" id="link2HCH0022">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;A man only gains importance by a poet&rsquo;s fancy, when his
+     genius vividly represents to our imagination a clearer, but
+     not an ennobled image of men and objects which have an
+     existence; then alone he understands how to idealize.&rdquo;&mdash;H.
+     HERTZ.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      We pass on several weeks. It was toward the end of September, the examen
+      philosophicum was near. Preparations for this had been Otto&rsquo;s excuse for
+      not yet having visited the family circle of his guardian, the merchant
+      Berger. This was, however, brought about by Otto&rsquo;s finding one day, when
+      he went to speak with his guardian, the mistress of the house in the same
+      room. We know that there are five daughters in the house, and that only
+      one is engaged, yet they are all well-educated girls&mdash;domestic girls,
+      as their mother assured her friend upon more than one occasion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So, then, I have at length the honor of making your acquaintance,&rdquo; said
+      Mrs. Berger, &ldquo;this visit, truly, is not intended either for me or the
+      children, but still you must now drink a cup of coffee with us. Within it
+      certainly looks rather disorderly; the girls are making cloaks for the
+      winter. We will not put ourselves out of the way for you: you shall be
+      regarded as a member of the family: but then you must come to us in a
+      friendly way. Every Thursday our son-in-law dines with us, will you then
+      be contented with our dinner? Now you shall become acquainted with my
+      daughters.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And I must to my office,&rdquo; said the husband; &ldquo;therefore let us consider
+      Thursday as an appointment. We dine at three o&rsquo;clock, and after coffee
+      Laide gives us music.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady now conducted Otto into the sitting-room, where he found the four
+      daughters in full activity with a workwoman. The fifth daughter, Julle,
+      was, as they had told him, gone to the shops for patterns: yesterday she
+      had run all over the town, but the patterns she received were not good.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady told him the name of each daughter; their characteristics he
+      naturally learnt later.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All the five sisters had the idea that they were so extremely different,
+      and yet they resembled each other to a hair. Adelaide, or Laide, as she
+      was also called, was certainly the prettiest; that she well knew also,
+      therefore she would have a fur cape, and no cloak; her figure should be
+      seen. Christiane was what one might call a practical girl; she knew how to
+      make use of everything. Alvilde had always a little attack of the
+      tooth-ache; Julle went shopping, and Miss Grethe was the bride. She was
+      also musical, and was considered witty. Thus she said one evening when the
+      house-door was closed, and groaned dreadfully on its hinges, &ldquo;See now, we
+      have port wine after dinner.&rdquo; [Translator&rsquo;s Note: A pun which it is
+      impossible to translate. The Danish word Portviin according to sound, may
+      mean either port wine or the creaking of a door.] The brother, the only
+      son of the house, with whom we shall become better acquainted, had written
+      down this conceit; &ldquo;but that was only to be rude toward her,&rdquo; said Miss
+      Grethe. &ldquo;Such good ideas as this I have every hour of the day!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      We ought really to accuse these excellent girls of nothing foolish; they
+      were very good and wise. The lover, Mr. Svane, was also a zealous wit; he
+      was so lively, they said. Every one with whom he became a little familiar
+      he called immediately Mr. Petersen, and that was so droll!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now the father has invited Mr. Thostrup to come on Thursday!&rdquo; said the
+      lady. &ldquo;I also think, if we were to squeeze ourselves a little together, he
+      might find a place with us in the box; the room is, truly, very confined.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto besought them not to incommode themselves.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, it is a large box!&rdquo; said the lady, but she did not say how many of
+      them were already in it. Only eleven ladies went from the family itself.
+      They were obliged to go to the theatre in three parties, so that people
+      might not think; if they all went together, there was a mob. One evening,
+      when the box had been occupied by eighteen persons, beside several
+      twelve-year old children, who had sat in people&rsquo;s laps, or stood before
+      them, and the whole party had returned home in one procession, and were
+      standing before the house door to go in, people streamed together,
+      imagining there was some alarm, or that some one had fallen into
+      convulsions. &ldquo;What is the matter?&rdquo; they asked, and Miss Grethe immediately
+      replied, &ldquo;It is a select company!&rdquo; [Translator&rsquo;s Note: A select or
+      shut-out company. We regret that this pun, like the foregoing one, is
+      untransferable into English.] Since that evening they returned home in
+      separate divisions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is really a good box!&rdquo; said Alvilde; &ldquo;if we had only other neighbors!
+      The doors are opening and shutting eternally, and make a draught which is
+      not bearable for the teeth. And then they speak so loud! the other night I
+      did not hear a single word of the pretty song about Denmark.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But did you lose much through that?&rdquo; asked Otto, smiling, and soon they
+      found themselves very much at variance, just as if they had been old
+      acquaintances. &ldquo;I do not think much of these patriotic scraps, where the
+      poet, in his weakness, supports himself by this beautiful sentiment of
+      patriotism in the people. You will certainly grant that here the multitude
+      always applauds when it only hears the word &lsquo;Father-land,&rsquo; or the name of
+      &lsquo;Christian IV.&rsquo; The poet must give something more; this is a left-handed
+      kind of patriotism. One would really believe that Denmark were the only
+      country in the world!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fie, Mr. Thostrup!&rdquo; said the lady: &ldquo;do you not then love your
+      father-land?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I believe I love it properly!&rdquo; returned he: &ldquo;and because it really
+      possesses so much that is excellent do I desire that only what is genuine
+      should be esteemed, only what is genuine be prized.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I agree in the main with Mr. Thostrup,&rdquo; said Miss Grethe, who was busied
+      in unpicking and turning her cloak, in order, as she herself said, to
+      spoil it on the other side. &ldquo;I think he is right! If a poem is well spoken
+      on the stage, it has always a kind of effect. It is just the same as with
+      stuffs&mdash;they may be of a middling quality and may have an unfavorable
+      pattern, but if they are worn by a pretty figure they look well after
+      all!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am often vexed with the public!&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;It applauds at improper
+      places, and sometimes exhibits an extraordinary innocence.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Those are &lsquo;the lords of the kingdom of mind,&rsquo;&rdquo; said Miss Grethe, smiling.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+   [Note: &ldquo;We are the lords of the kingdom of mind!
+         We are the stem which can never decay!&rdquo;
+          &mdash;Students&rsquo; Song, by CHRISTIAN WINTHER.]
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, the <i>neighbors</i>!&rdquo; replied Otto quickly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At this moment Miss Julle entered. She had been wandering from shop to
+      shop, she said, until she could bear it no longer! She had had the stuffs
+      down from all the shelves, and at length had succeeded so far as to become
+      possessed of eight small pieces&mdash;beautiful patterns, she maintained.
+      And now she knew very well where the different stuffs were to be had, how
+      wide they were, and how much the yard. &ldquo;And whom did I meet?&rdquo; said she;
+      &ldquo;only think! down the middle of East Street came the actor&mdash;you know
+      well! Our little passion! He is really charming off the stage.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did you meet him?&rdquo; said Laide. &ldquo;That girl is always lucky!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Thostrup,&rdquo; said the mother, presenting him, for the young lady seemed
+      to forget him entirely, so much was she occupied with this encounter and
+      her patterns.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Julle bowed, and said she had seen him before: he had heard Mynster, and
+      had stood near the chair where she sat; he was dressed in an olive-green
+      coat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then you are acquainted with each other!&rdquo; said the lady. &ldquo;She is the most
+      pious of all the children. When the others rave about Spindler and Johanne
+      Schoppenhauer, she raves about the clergyman who confirmed her. You know
+      my son? He became a student a year before you. He sees you in the club
+      sometimes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There you will have seen him more amiable than you will find him at
+      home,&rdquo; said Adelaide. &ldquo;Heaven knows he is not gallant toward his sisters!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sweet Laide, how can you say so!&rdquo; cried the mother. &ldquo;You are always so
+      unjust toward Hans Peter! When you become better acquainted with him, Mr.
+      Thostrup, you will like him; he is a really serious young man, of
+      uncorrupted manners. Do you remember, Laide, how he hissed that evening in
+      the theatre when they gave that immoral piece? And how angry he is with
+      that &lsquo;Red Riding Hood?&rsquo; O, the good youth! Besides, in our family, you
+      will soon meet with an old acquaintance&mdash;in a fortnight a lady out of
+      Jutland will come here. She remains the winter here. Do you not guess who
+      it is? A little lady from Lemvig!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Maren!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, truly!&rdquo; said the lady. &ldquo;She is said to have such a beautiful voice!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, in Lemvig,&rdquo; remarked Adelaide. &ldquo;And what a horrible name she has! We
+      must christen her again, when she comes. She must be called Mara, or
+      Massa.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We could call her Massa Carara!&rdquo; said Grethe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No; she shall be called Maja, as in the &lsquo;Every-day Tales,&rsquo;&rdquo; said
+      Christiane.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am of Jane&rsquo;s opinion!&rdquo; said the mother. &ldquo;We will christen her again,
+      and call her Maja.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0023" id="link2HCH0023">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXIII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     Men are not always what they seem.&mdash;LESSING.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Our tale is no creation of fancy; it is the reality in which we live; bone
+      of our bone, and flesh of our flesh. Our own time and the men of our own
+      age we shall see. But not alone will we occupy ourselves with every-day
+      life, with the moss on the surface; the whole tree, from the roots to the
+      fragrant leaves, will we observe. The heavy earth shall press the roots,
+      the moss and bark of every-day life adhere to the stern, the strong boughs
+      with flowers and leaves spread themselves out, whilst the sun of poetry
+      shall shine among them, and show the colors, odor, and singing-birds. But
+      the tree of reality cannot shoot up so soon as that of fancy, like the
+      enchantment in Tieck&rsquo;s &ldquo;Elves.&rdquo; We must seek our type in nature. Often may
+      there be an appearance of cessation; but that is not the case. It is even
+      so with our story; whilst our characters, by mutual discourse, make
+      themselves worthy of contemplation, there arises, as with the individual
+      branches of the tree, an unseen connection. The branch which shoots high
+      up in the air, as though it would separate itself from the mother-stem,
+      only presses forward to form the crown, to lend uniformity to the whole
+      tree. The lines which diverge from the general centre are precisely those
+      which produce the harmony.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We shall, therefore, soon see, though these scenes out of every-day life
+      are no digression from the principal events, nothing episodical which one
+      may pass over. In order still sooner to arrive at a clear perception of
+      this assertion, we will yet tarry a few moments in the house of Mr.
+      Berger, the merchant; but in the mean time we have advanced three weeks.
+      Wilhelm and Otto had happily passed their examen philosophicum. The latter
+      had paid several visits, and was already regarded as an old friend of the
+      family. The lover already addressed him with his droll &ldquo;Good day, Mr.
+      Petersen;&rdquo; and Grethe was witty about his melancholy glance, which he was
+      not always able to conquer. She called it &ldquo;making faces,&rdquo; and besought him
+      to appear so on the day of her funeral.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The object of the five sisters&rsquo; first Platonic love had been their
+      brother. They had overwhelmed him with caresses and tenderness, had
+      admired and worshipped him. &ldquo;The dear little man!&rdquo; they called him; they
+      had no other. But Hans Peter was so impolite and teasing toward the dear
+      sisters, that they were found to resign him so soon as one of them had a
+      lover. Upon this lover they all clung. Each one seemed to have a piece of
+      him. He was Grethe&rsquo;s bridegroom, would be their brother-in-law. They might
+      address him with the confidential thou, and even give him a little kiss.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto&rsquo;s appearance in the family caused these rays to change their
+      direction. Otto was handsome, and possessed of fortune; either of which
+      often suffices to bow a female heart. Beauty bribes the thoughtless;
+      riches, the prudent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Maren, or as she was here called, Maja, had arrived. The young ladies had
+      already pulled off some of her bows, arranged her hair differently, and
+      made one of her silk handkerchiefs into an apron; but, spite of all this
+      finesse, she still remained the lady from Lemvig. They could remove no
+      bows from her pronunciation. She had been the first at home; here she
+      could not take that rank. This evening she was to see in the theatre, for
+      the first time, the ballet of the &ldquo;Somnambule.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is French!&rdquo; said Hans Peter; &ldquo;and frivolous, like everything that we
+      have from them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, the scene in the second act, where she steps out of the window,&rdquo;
+       said the merchant; &ldquo;that is very instructive for youth!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But the last act is sweet!&rdquo; cried the lady. &ldquo;The second act is certainly,
+      as Hans Peter very justly observed, somewhat French. Good heavens! he gets
+      quite red, the sweet lad!&rdquo; She extended her hand to him, and nodded,
+      smiling, whereupon Hans Peter spoke very prettily about the immorality on
+      the stage. The father also made some striking observation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said the lady, &ldquo;were all husbands like thee, and all young men like
+      Hans Peter, they would speak in another tone on the stage, and dress in
+      another manner. In dancing it is abominable; the dresses are so short and
+      indecent, just as though they had nothing on! Yet, after all, we must say
+      that the &lsquo;Somnambule&rsquo; is beautiful. And, really, it is quite innocent!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They now entered still deeper into the moral: the conversation lasted till
+      coffee came.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Maren&rsquo;s heart beat even quicker, partly in expectation of the play,
+      through hearing of the corruptions of this Copenhagen Sodom. She heard
+      Otto defend this French piece; heard him speak of affectation. Was he then
+      corrupted? How gladly would she have heard him discourse upon propriety,
+      as Hans Peter had done. &ldquo;Poor Otto!&rdquo; thought she; &ldquo;this is having no
+      relations, but being forced to struggle on in the world alone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The merchant now rose. He could not go to the theatre. First, he had
+      business to attend to; and then he must go to his club, where he had
+      yesterday changed his hat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, then, it has happened to thee as to Hans Peter!&rdquo; said the lady.
+      &ldquo;Yesterday, in the lecture-room, he also got a strange hat. But, there,
+      thou hast his hat!&rdquo; she suddenly exclaimed, as her eye fell upon the hat
+      which her husband held in his hand. &ldquo;That is Hans Peter&rsquo;s hat! Now, we
+      shall certainly find that he has thine! You have exchanged them here at
+      home. You do not know each other&rsquo;s hats, and therefore you fancy this
+      occurred from home.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      One of the sisters now brought the hat which Hans Peter had got in
+      mistake. Yes, it was certainly the father&rsquo;s. Thus an exchange in the
+      house, a little intermezzo, which naturally, from its insignificance, was
+      momentarily forgotten by all except the parties concerned, for to them it
+      was an important moment in their lives; and to us also, as we shall see,
+      an event of importance, which has occasioned us to linger thus long in
+      this circle. In an adjoining room will we, unseen spirits, watch the
+      father and son. They are alone; the family is already in the theatre. We
+      may, indeed, watch them&mdash;they are true moralists. It is only a moral
+      drawn from a hat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But the father&rsquo;s eyes rolled, his cheeks glowed, his words were
+      sword-strokes, and must make an impression on any disposition as gentle as
+      his son&rsquo;s; but the son stood quiet, with a firm look and with a smile on
+      his lips, such as the moral bestows. &ldquo;You were in the adjoining room!&rdquo;
+       said he. &ldquo;Where it is proper for you to be there may I also come.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Boy!&rdquo; cried the father, and named the place, but we know it not; neither
+      know we its inhabitants. Victor Hugo includes them in his &ldquo;Children&rsquo;s
+      Prayer,&rdquo; in his beautiful poem, &ldquo;La Prière pour Tous.&rdquo; The child prays for
+      all, even &ldquo;for those who sell the sweet name of love.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [Note: &ldquo;Prie!... Pour les femmes échevelées Qui vendent
+      le doux nom d&rsquo;amour!&rdquo;]
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let us be silent with each other!&rdquo; said the son. &ldquo;I am acquainted with
+      many histories. I know another of the pretty Eva!&rdquo;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Eva!&rdquo; repeated the father.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We will hear no more! It is not proper to listen. We see the father and
+      son extend their hands. It appeared a scene of reconciliation. They
+      parted: the father goes to his business, and Hans Peter to the theatre, to
+      anger himself over the immorality in the second act of the &ldquo;Somnambule.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0024" id="link2HCH0024">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXIV
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;L&rsquo;amour est pour les coeurs,
+     Ce que l&rsquo;aurore est pour les fleurs,
+     Et le printemps pour la nature.&rdquo;&mdash;VIGUE.
+
+     &ldquo;Love is a childish disease and like the small-pox. Some
+     die, some become deformed, others are more or less scarred,
+     while upon others the disease does not leave any visible
+     trace.&rdquo;&mdash;The Alchemist, by C. HAUCH.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be candid, Otto!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, as he one day visited his friend. &ldquo;You
+      cannot make up your mind to say thou to me; therefore let it be. We are,
+      after all, good friends. It is only a form; although you must grant that
+      in this respect you are really a great fool.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto now explained what an extraordinary aversion he had felt, what a
+      painful feeling had seized upon him, and made it impossible to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There you were playing the martyr!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, laughing. &ldquo;Could you
+      not immediately tell me how you were constituted? So are most men. When
+      they have no trouble, they generally hatch one themselves; they will
+      rather stand in the cold shadow than in the warm sunshine, and yet the
+      choice stands open to us. Dear friend, reflect; now we are both of us on
+      the stream: we shall soon be put into the great business-bottles, where we
+      shall, like little devils, stretch and strain ourselves without ever
+      getting out, until life withdraws from us!&rdquo; He laid his arm confidentially
+      upon Otto&rsquo;s shoulder. &ldquo;Often have I wished to speak with you upon one
+      point! Yes, I do not desire that you should confess every word, every
+      thought to me. I already know that I shall be able to prove to you that
+      the thing lies in a region where it cannot have the power which you
+      ascribe to it. In the cold zones a venomous bite does not operate as
+      dangerously as in warmer ones; a sorrow in childhood cannot overpower us
+      as it does in riper age. Whatever misfortune may have happened to you when
+      a child, if in your wildness&mdash;you yourself say that you were wild&mdash;whatsoever
+      you may have then done, it cannot, it ought not to influence your whole
+      life: your understanding could tell you this better than I. At our age we
+      find ourselves in the land of joy, or we never enter it!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are a happy man!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto, and gazed sorrowfully before him.
+      &ldquo;Your childhood afforded you only joy and hope! Only think of the solitude
+      in which mine was passed. Among the sand-hills of the west coast my days
+      glided away: my grandfather was gloomy and passionate; our old preacher
+      lived only in a past time which I knew not, and Rosalie regarded the world
+      through the spectacles of sorrow. Such an environment might well cast a
+      shadow upon my life-joy. Even in dress, one is strangely remarkable when
+      one comes from afar province to the capital; first this receives another
+      cut, and one gradually becomes like those around one. The same thing
+      happens in a spiritual relation, but one&rsquo;s being and ideas one does not
+      change so quickly as one&rsquo;s clothes. I have only been a short time among
+      strangers, and who knows?&rdquo; added he, with a melancholy smile, &ldquo;perhaps I
+      shall come into equilibrium when some really great misfortune happens to
+      me and very much overpowers me, and then I may show the same carelessness,
+      the same phlegm as the multitude.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A really great misfortune!&rdquo; repeated Wilhelm. &ldquo;You do, indeed, say
+      something. That would be a very original means of cure, but you are an
+      original being. Perhaps lay this means you might really be healed. &lsquo;Make
+      no cable out of cobweb!&rsquo; said a celebrated poet whose name does not occur
+      to me at this moment. But the thought is good, you should have it
+      embroidered upon your waistcoat, so that you might have it before your
+      eyes when you droop your head. Do not look so grave; we are friends, are
+      we not? Among all my young acquaintance you are the dearest to me,
+      although there are moments when I know not how it stands with us. I could
+      confide every secret to you, but I am not sure that you would be equally
+      open with me. Do not be angry, my dear friend! There are secrets of so
+      delicate a nature, that one may not confide them even to the dearest
+      friend. So long as we preserve <i>our</i> secret it is our prisoner; it is
+      quite the contrary, however, so soon as we have let it escape us. And yet,
+      Otto, you are so dear to me, that I believe in you as in my own heart.
+      This, even now, bears a secret which penetrates me with joy and love of
+      life! I must speak cut. But you must enter into my joy, partake in it, or
+      say nothing about it; you have then heard nothing&mdash;nothing! Otto, I
+      love! therefore am I happy, therefore is there sunshine in my heart, life
+      joy in my veins! I love Eva, the beautiful lovely Eva!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto pressed his hand, but preserved silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, not so!&rdquo; cried Wilhelm. &ldquo;Only speak a word! Do you I&rsquo;m in a
+      conception of the world which has opened before me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Eva is beautiful! very beautiful!&rdquo; said Otto, slowly. &ldquo;She is innocent
+      and good. What can one wish for more? I can imagine how she fills your
+      whole heart! But will she do so always? She will not always remain young,
+      always lovely! Has she, then, mind sufficient to be everything to you?
+      Will this momentary happiness which you prepare for her and yourself be
+      great enough to outweigh&mdash;I will not say the sorrow, but the
+      discontent which this union will bring forth in your family? For God&rsquo;s
+      sake, think of everything!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My dear fellow!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, &ldquo;your old preacher now really speaks out
+      of you! But enough: I can bear the confession. I answer, &lsquo;Yes, yes!&rsquo; with
+      all my heart, &lsquo;yes!&rsquo; Wherefore will you now bring me out of my sunshine
+      into shade? Wherefore, in my joy over the beauty of the rose should I be
+      reminded that the perfume and color will vanish, that the leaves will
+      fall? It is the course of life! but must one, therefore, think of the
+      grave, of the finale, when the act begins?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Love is a kind of monomania,&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;it may be combated: it depends
+      merely upon our own will.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah, you know this not at all!&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;But it will come in due
+      time, and then you will be far more violent than others! Who knows?
+      perhaps this is the sorrow of which you spoke, the misfortune which should
+      bring your whole being into equipoise! That was also a kind of search
+      after the sorrowful. I will sincerely wish that your heart may be filled
+      with love as mine is; then will the influence of the sand-hills vanish,
+      and you will speak with me as you ought to do, and as my confidence
+      deserves!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That will I!&rdquo; replied Otto. &ldquo;You make the poor girl miserable! Now you
+      love Eva, but then you will no longer be able. The distance between you
+      and her is too great, and I cannot conceive how the beauty of her
+      countenance can thus fill your whole being. A waiting-girl! yes, I repeat
+      the name which offends your ear: a waiting-girl! Everywhere will it be
+      repeated. And you? No one can respect nobility less than I do&mdash;that
+      nobility which is only conferred by birth; it is nothing, and a time will
+      come when this will not be prized at all, when the nobility of the soul
+      will be the only nobility. I openly say this to you, who are a nobleman
+      yourself. The more development of mind, the more ancestors! But Eva has
+      nothing, can have nothing, except a pretty face, and this is what has
+      enchained you; you are become the servant of a servant, and that is
+      degrading yourself and your nobility of mind!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Thostrup!&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm, &ldquo;you wound me! This is truly not the
+      first time, but now I am weary of it. I have shown too much good nature,
+      and that is the most unfortunate failing a man can be cursed with!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He seated himself at the piano, and hammered away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto was silent a moment, his checks glowed, but he was soon again calm,
+      and in a joking tone said: &ldquo;Do not expend your anger upon that poor
+      instrument because we disagree in our views. You are playing only
+      dissonances, which offend my ear more than your anger!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Dissonances!&rdquo; repeated Wilhelm. &ldquo;Cannot you hear that they are harmonies?
+      There are many things for which you have a bad ear!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto knew how to lead his anger to different points regarding which they
+      had formerly been at variance, but he spoke with such mildness that
+      Wilhelm&rsquo;s anger rather abated than increased.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They were again friends, but regarding Eva not one word more was said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I should not be an honest and true friend to him, were I to let him be
+      swallowed up by this whirlpool!&rdquo; said Otto to himself, when he was alone.
+      &ldquo;At present he is innocent and good but at his age, with his gay
+      disposition!&mdash;I must warn Eva! soon! soon! The snow which has once
+      been trodden is no longer pure! Wilhelm will scarcely forgive me! But I
+      must!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      On the morrow it was impossible for him to travel to Roeskelde, but the
+      following day he really would and must hasten thither.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Still, in the early morning hour, Eva occupied his thoughts; she busied
+      Wilhelm&rsquo;s also, but in a different way: but they agreed in the purity of
+      their intentions. There was still a third, whose blood was put in motion
+      at the mention of her name, who said: &ldquo;The pretty Eva is a servant there!
+      One must speak with her. The family can make an excursion there!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You sweet children!&rdquo; said the merchant&rsquo;s wife, &ldquo;the autumn is charming,
+      far pleasanter than the whole summer! The father, should the weather
+      remain good, will make an excursion with us to Lethraborg the day after
+      to-morrow. We will then walk in the beautiful valley of the Hertha, and
+      pass the night at Roeskelde. Those will be two delightful days! What an
+      excellent father you have! But shall we not invite Mr. Thostrup to go with
+      us? We are so many ladies, and it looks well to have a few young gentlemen
+      with us. Grethe, thou must write an invitation; thou canst write thy
+      father&rsquo;s name underneath.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0025" id="link2HCH0025">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXV
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;These poetical letters are so similar to those of Baggesen,
+     that we could be almost tempted to consider the news of his
+     death as false, although so well affirmed that we must
+     acknowledge it.&rdquo;&mdash;Monthly Journal of Literature.
+
+     &ldquo;She is as slender as the poplar-willow, as fleet as the
+     hastening waters. A Mayflower odorous and sweet.&rdquo;&mdash;H. P.
+     HOLST.
+
+     &ldquo;Ah, where is the rose?&rdquo;&mdash;Lulu, by GUNTELBURG.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The evening before Otto was to travel with the merchant&rsquo;s family to
+      Roeskelde he called upon the family where Miss Sophie was staying. Her
+      dear mamma had left three days before. Wilhelm had wished to accompany him
+      to Roeskelde, but the mother did not desire it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We have had a pleasure to-day,&rdquo; said Sophie, &ldquo;a pleasure from which we
+      shall long have enjoyment. Have you seen the new book, the &lsquo;Letters of a
+      Wandering Ghost?&rsquo; It is Baggesen himself in his most perfect beauty, a
+      music which I never believed could have been given in words. This is a
+      poet! He has made July days in the poetry of Denmark. Natural thoughts are
+      so strikingly, and yet so simply expressed; one has the idea that one
+      could write such verses one&rsquo;s self, they fall so lightly.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They are like prose,&rdquo; said the lady, &ldquo;and yet the most beautifully
+      perfect verse I know. You must read the book, Mr. Thostrup!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps you will read to us this evening?&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;I should very
+      much like to hear it again.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In a second reading one shall enter better into the individual beauties,&rdquo;
+       said the lady of the house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will remain and listen,&rdquo; said the host.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This must be a masterpiece!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto,&rdquo;&mdash;a true masterpiece,
+      since all are so delighted with it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is Baggesen himself; and truly as he must sing in that world where
+      everything mortal is ennobled.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Meadows all fragrance, the strongholds of pleasure,
+        Heaven blue streamlets,
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      That speed through the green woods in musical measure,&rsquo;&rdquo; began Otto, and
+      the spiritual battle-piece with beauty and tone developed itself more and
+      more; they found themselves in the midst of the winter camp of the Muses,
+      where the poet with
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     ...&ldquo;lyre on his shoulder and sword at....
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Hastened to fight with the foes of the Muses.&rdquo; Otto&rsquo;s gloomy look won
+      during the perusal a more animated expression. &ldquo;Excellent!&rdquo; exclaimed he;
+      &ldquo;this is what I myself have thought and felt, but, alas! have been unable
+      to express.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am a strange girl,&rdquo; said Sophie; &ldquo;whenever I read a new poet of
+      distinguished talent, I consider that he is the greatest. It was so with
+      Byron and Victor Hugo. &lsquo;Cain&rsquo; overwhelmed me, &lsquo;Notre Dame&rsquo; carried me away
+      with it. Once I could imagine no greater poet than Walter Scott, and yet I
+      forget him over Oehlenschläger; yes, I remember a time when Heiberg&rsquo;s
+      vaudevilles took almost the first place among my chosen favorites. Thus I
+      know myself and my changeable disposition, and yet I firmly believe that I
+      shall make an exception with this work. Other poets showed me the objects
+      of the outer world, this one shows me my own mind: my own thoughts, my own
+      being he presents before me, and therefore I shall always take the same
+      interest in the Ghost&rsquo;s Letters.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They are true food for the mind,&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;they are as words in
+      season; there must be movement in the lake, otherwise it will become a
+      bog.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The author is severe toward those whom he has introduced,&rdquo; said the lady;
+      &ldquo;but he carries, so to say, a sweet knife. A wound from a sharp
+      sword-blade is not so painful as that from a rusty, notched knife.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But who may the author be?&rdquo; said Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;May we never learn!&rdquo; replied Otto. &ldquo;Uncertainty gives the book something
+      piquant. In such a small country as ours it is good for the author to be
+      unknown. Here we almost tread upon each other, and look into each other&rsquo;s
+      garments. Here the personal conditions of the author have much to do with
+      success; and then there are the newspapers, where either friend or enemy
+      has an assistant, whereas the being anonymous gives it the patent of
+      nobility. It is well never to know an author. What does his person matter
+      to us, if his book is only good?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Crush and confound the rabble dissolute That desecrate thy poet&rsquo;s
+      grave?&rsquo;&rdquo; read Otto, and the musical poem was at an end. All were enchanted
+      with it. Otto alone made some small objections: &ldquo;The Muses ought not to
+      come with &lsquo;trumpets and drums,&rsquo; and so many expressions similar to &lsquo;give a
+      blow on the chaps,&rsquo; etc., ought not to appear.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But if the poet will attack what is coarse,&rdquo; said Sophie, &ldquo;he must call
+      things by their proper names. He presents us with a specimen of the
+      prosaic filth, but in a soap-bubble. We may see it, but not seize upon it.
+      I consider that you are wrong!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The conception of idea and form,&rdquo; said Otto, &ldquo;does not seem to be
+      sufficiently presented to one; both dissolve into one. Even prose is a
+      form.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But the form itself is the most important,&rdquo; said the lady of the house;
+      &ldquo;with poetry as with sculpture, it is the form which gives the meaning.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, pardon me!&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;poetry is like the tree which God allows to
+      grow. The inward power expresses itself in the form; both are equally
+      important, but I consider the internal as the most holy. This is here the
+      poet&rsquo;s thought. The opinion which he expresses affects us as much as the
+      beautiful dress in which he has presented it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now commenced a contest upon form and material, such as was afterward
+      maintained throughout the whole of Copenhagen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shall always admire the &lsquo;Letters of a Wandering Ghost,&rsquo;&rdquo; said Sophie,&mdash;&ldquo;always
+      rave about these poems. To-night I shall dream of nothing but this work of
+      art.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      How little men can do that which they desire, did this very moment teach.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When we regard the fixed star through a telescope and lose ourselves in
+      contemplation, a little hair can conceal the mighty body, a grain of dust
+      lead us from these sublime thoughts. A letter came for Miss Sophie; a
+      traveller brought it from her mother: she was already in Funen, and
+      announced her safe arrival.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And the news?&rdquo; said the hostess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mamma has hired a new maid, or, rather, she has taken to be with her an
+      amiable young girl&mdash;the pretty Eva in Roeskelde. Mr. Thostrup and
+      Wilhelm related to us this summer several things about her which make her
+      interesting. We saw her on our journey hither, when mamma was prepossessed
+      by her well-bred appearance. Upon her return, the young girl has quite won
+      her heart. It really were a pity if such a pretty, respectable girl
+      remained in a public-house. She is very pretty; is she not, Mr. Thostrup?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Very pretty!&rdquo; answered Otto, becoming crimson, for Sophie said this with
+      an emphasis which was not without meaning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The following day, at an early hour, Otto found himself at the merchant&rsquo;s.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Spite of the changeable weather of our climate, all the ladies were in
+      their best dresses. Three persons must sit upon each seat. Hans Peter and
+      the lover had their place beside the coachman. It was a long time before
+      the cold meat, the provision for several days, was packed up, and the
+      whole company were seated. At length, when they had got out of the city,
+      Christiane recollected that they had forgotten the umbrellas, and that,
+      after all, it would be good to have them. The coachman must go back for
+      them, and meantime the carriage drew up before the Column of Liberty. The
+      poor sentinel must now become an object of Miss Grethe&rsquo;s interest. Several
+      times the soldier glanced down upon his regimentals. He was a Krähwinkler,
+      who had an eye to his own advantage. A man who rode past upon a load of
+      straw occupied a high position. That was very interesting.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto endeavored to give the conversation another direction. &ldquo;Have not you
+      seen the new poem which has just appeared, the &lsquo;Letters of a Wandering
+      Ghost?&rsquo;&rdquo; asked he, and sketched out their beauty and tendency.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Doubtless, very heavy blows are dealt!&rdquo; said Mr. Berger, &ldquo;the man must be
+      witty&mdash;Baggesen to the very letter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The &lsquo;Copenhagen Post&rsquo; is called the pump!&rdquo; said Hans Peter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is superb!&rdquo; cried Grethe. &ldquo;Who does it attack besides?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Folks in Soroe, and this &lsquo;Holy Andersen,&rsquo; as they call him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Does he get something?&rdquo; said Laide. &ldquo;That I will grant him for his milk
+      and water. He was so impolite toward the ladies!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I like them to quarrel in this way!&rdquo; said the merchant&rsquo;s lady. &ldquo;Heiberg
+      will doubtless get his share also, and then he will reply in something
+      merry.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said Mr. Berger, &ldquo;he always knows how to twist things in such a
+      manner that one must laugh, and then it is all one to us whether he is
+      right or not.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This book is entirely for Heiberg,&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;The author is anonymous,
+      and a clever man.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good Heavens! you are not the author, Mr. Thostrup?&rdquo; cried Julle, and
+      looked at him with a penetrating gaze. &ldquo;You can manage such things so
+      secretly! You think so highly of Heiberg: I remember well all the
+      beautiful things you said of his &lsquo;Walter the Potter&rsquo; and his &lsquo;Psyche.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto assured her that he could not confess to this honor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They reached Roeskelde in the forenoon, but Eva did not receive them. The
+      excursion to Lethraborg was arranged; toward evening they should again
+      return to the inn, and then Eva would certainly appear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The company walked in the garden at Lethraborg: the prospect from the
+      terrace was beautiful; they looked through the windows of the castle, and
+      at length came to the conclusion that it would be best to go in.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There are such beautiful paintings, people say!&rdquo; remarked the lover.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We must see them,&rdquo; cried all the ladies.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you often visit the picture-gallery of the Christiansborg?&rdquo; inquired
+      Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I cannot say that we do!&rdquo; returned Mrs. Berger. &ldquo;You well know that what
+      is near one seldom sees, unless one makes a downright earnest attempt, and
+      that we have not yet done. Besides, not many people go up: that wandering
+      about the great halls is so wearying.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There are splendid pieces by Ruysdal!&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Salvator Rosa&rsquo;s glorious &lsquo;Jonas&rsquo; is well worth looking at!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, we really must go at once, whilst our little Maja is here. It does
+      not cost more than the Exhibition, and we were there three times last
+      year. The view from the castle windows toward the canal, as well as toward
+      the ramparts, is so beautiful, they say.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The company now viewed the interior of Lethraborg, and then wandered
+      through the garden and in the wood. The trees had their autumnal coloring,
+      but the whole presented a variety of tints far richer than one finds in
+      summer. The dark fir-trees, the yellow beeches and oaks, whose outermost
+      branches had sent forth light green shoots, presented a most picturesque
+      effect, and formed a splendid foreground to the view over old Leire, the
+      royal city, now a small village, and across the bay to the splendid
+      cathedral.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That resembles a scene in a theatre!&rdquo; cried Mrs. Berger, and immediately
+      the company were deep in dramatic affairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Such a decoration they should have in the royal theatre!&rdquo; said Hans
+      Peter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, they should have many such!&rdquo; said Grethe. &ldquo;They should have some
+      other pieces than those they have. I know not how it is with our poets;
+      they have no inventive power. Relate the droll idea which thou hadst the
+      other day for a new piece!&rdquo; said she to her lover, and stroked his cheeks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O,&rdquo; said he, and affected a kind of indifference, &ldquo;that was only an idea
+      such as one has very often. But it might become a very nice piece. When
+      the curtain is drawn up, one should see close upon the lamps the
+      gable-ends of two houses. The steep roofs must go down to the stage, so
+      that it is only half a yard wide, and this is to represent a watercourse
+      between the two houses. In each garret a poor but interesting family
+      should dwell, and these should step forth into the watercourse, and there
+      the whole piece should be played.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But what should then happen?&rdquo; asked Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said the lover, &ldquo;I have not thought about that; but see, there is
+      the idea! I am no poet, and have too much to do at the counting-house,
+      otherwise one might write a little piece.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Heavens! Heiberg ought to have the idea!&rdquo; said Grethe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, then it would be a vaudeville,&rdquo; said the lover, &ldquo;and I cannot bear
+      them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, it might be made charming!&rdquo; cried Grethe. &ldquo;I see the whole piece! how
+      they clamber about the roofs! The idea is original, thou sweet friend!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      By evening the family were again in Roeskelde.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The merchant sought for Eva. Otto inquired after her, so did Hans Peter
+      also, and all three received the same answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is no longer here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0026" id="link2HCH0026">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXVI
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;I wish I was air, that I could beat my wings, could chase
+     the clouds, and try to fly over the mountain summits: that
+     would be life.&rdquo;&mdash;F. RÜCKERT.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The first evening after Otto&rsquo;s return to Copenhagen he spent with Sophie,
+      and the conversation turned upon his little journey. &ldquo;The pretty Eva has
+      vanished!&rdquo; said he.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You had rejoiced in the prospect of this meeting, had you not?&rdquo; asked
+      Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, not in the least!&rdquo; answered Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And you wish to make me believe that? She is really pretty, and has
+      something so unspeakably refined, that a young gentleman might well be
+      attracted by her. With my brother it is not all quite right in this
+      respect; but, candidly speaking, I am in great fear on your account, Mr.
+      Thostrup. Still waters&mdash;you know the proverb? I might have spared you
+      the trouble. The letter which I received a few evenings ago informed me of
+      her departure. Mamma has taken her with her. It seemed to her a sin to
+      leave that sweet, innocent girl in a public-house. The host and hostess
+      were born upon our estate, and look very much up to my mother; and as Eva
+      will certainly gain by the change, the whole affair was soon settled. It
+      is well that she is come under mamma&rsquo;s oversight.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The girl is almost indifferent to me!&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Almost!&rdquo; repeated Sophie. &ldquo;But this almost, how many degrees of warmth
+      does it contain? &lsquo;O Vérité! Où sont les autels et tes prêtres?&rsquo;&rdquo; added
+      she, and smiling raised her finger.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Time will show how much you are in error!&rdquo; answered Otto with much
+      calmness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady of the house now entered, she had made various calls; everywhere
+      the Ghost&rsquo;s Letters were the subject of conversation, and now the
+      conversation took the same direction.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was often renewed. Otto was a very frequent guest at the house. The
+      ladies sat at their embroidery frames and embroidered splendid pieces of
+      work, and Otto must again read the &ldquo;Letters of the Wandering Ghost;&rdquo; after
+      this they began &ldquo;Calderon,&rdquo; in whom Sophie found something resembling the
+      anonymous author. The world of poetry afforded subjects for discourse, and
+      every-day life intermingled its light, gay scenes; if Wilhelm joined them,
+      he must give them music, and all remarked that his fantasies were become
+      far richer, far softer. He had gained his touch from Weyse, said they. No
+      one thought how much one may learn from one&rsquo;s own heart. With this
+      exception he was the same joyous youth as ever. No one thought of him and
+      Eva together. Since that evening when the friends had almost quarreled, he
+      had never mentioned her name; but Otto had remarked how when any female
+      figure met them, Wilhelm&rsquo;s eyes flashed, and how, in society, he singled
+      out the most beautiful. Otto said jokingly to him, that he was getting
+      oriental thoughts. Oehlenschläger&rsquo;s &ldquo;Helge,&rdquo; and Goethe&rsquo;s Italian sonnets
+      were now Wilhelm&rsquo;s favorite reading. The voluptuous spirit of these poems
+      agreed with the dreams which his warm feelings engendered. It was Eva&rsquo;s
+      beauty&mdash;her beauty alone which had awoke this feeling in him; the
+      modesty and poverty of the poor girl had captivated him still more, and
+      caused him to forget rank and condition. At the moment when he would
+      approach her, she was gone. The poison was now in his blood. If is gay and
+      happy spirit did not meanwhile let him sink into melancholy and
+      meditation; his feeling for beauty was excited, as he himself expressed
+      it. In thought he pressed beauty to his heart, but only in thought&mdash;but
+      even this is sin, says the Gospel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto, on the contrary, moved in the lists of philosophy and poetry. Here
+      his soul conceived beauty&mdash;inspired, he expressed it; and Sophie&rsquo;s
+      eyes flashed, and rested with pleasure on him. This flattered him and
+      increased his inspirations. For many years no winter had been to him so
+      pleasant, had passed away so rich in change as this; he caught at the
+      fluttering joy and yet there were moments when the though pressed upon him&mdash;&ldquo;Life
+      is hastening away, and I do not enjoy it.&rdquo; In the midst of his greatest
+      happiness he experienced a strange yearning after the changing life of
+      travel. Paris glanced before his eyes like a star of fortune.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Out into the bustling world!&rdquo; said he so often to Wilhelm, that the same
+      thought was excited in him. &ldquo;In the spring we will travel!&rdquo; Now were plans
+      formed; circumstances were favorable. Thus in the coming spring, in April,
+      the still happier days should begin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We will fly to Paris!&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;to joy and pleasure!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Joy and pleasure were to be found at home, and were found: we will
+      introduce the evening which brought them; perhaps we shall also find
+      something more than joy and pleasure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0027" id="link2HCH0027">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXVII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;A midsummer day&rsquo;s entertainment&mdash;but how? In February? Yea,
+     some here and behold it!&rdquo;&mdash;DR. BALFUNGO.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      With us the students form no Burschenschafts, have no colors. The
+      professors do not alone in the chair come into connection with them; the
+      only difference is that which exists between young and old scholars. Thus
+      they come in contact with each other, thus they participate in their
+      mutual pleasures. We will spend an evening of this kind in the Students&rsquo; 
+      Club, and then see for ourselves whether Miss Sophie were right when she
+      wished she were a man, merely that she might be a student and member of
+      this club. We choose one evening in particular, not only that we may seek
+      a brilliant moment, but because this evening can afford us more than a
+      description.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An excursion to the park had often been discussed in the club. They wished
+      to hire the Caledonia steam-packet. But during the summer months the
+      number of members is less; the majority are gone to the provinces to visit
+      their relations. Winter, on the contrary, assembles them all. This time,
+      also, is the best for great undertakings. The long talked of excursion to
+      the park was therefore fixed for Carnival Monday, the 14th of February,
+      1831. Thus ran the invitations to the professors and older members. &ldquo;It
+      will be too cold for me,&rdquo; replied one. &ldquo;Must one take a carriage for one&rsquo;s
+      self?&rdquo; asked mother. No, the park was removed to Copenhagen. In the
+      Students&rsquo; Club itself, in the Boldhuus Street, No. 225, was the park-hill
+      with its green trees, its swings, and amusements. See, only the scholars
+      of the Black School could have such ideas!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The evening of the 114th of February drew near. The guests assembled in
+      the rooms on the first floor. Meanwhile all was arranged in the second
+      story. Those who represented jugglers were in their places. A thundering
+      cracker was the steamboat signal, and now people hastened to the park,
+      rushing up-stairs, where two large rooms had, with great taste and humor,
+      been converted into the park-hill. Large fir-trees concealed the walls&mdash;you
+      found yourself in a complete wood. The doors which connected the two rooms
+      were decorated with sheets, so that it looked as if you were going through
+      a tent. Hand-organs played, drums and trumpets roared, and from tents and
+      stages the hawkers shouted one against the other. It was a noise such as
+      is heard in the real park when the hubbub has reached its height. The most
+      brilliant requisites of the real park were found here, and they were not
+      imitated; they were the things themselves. Master Jakel&rsquo;s own puppets had
+      been hired; a student, distinguished by his complete imitation of the
+      first actors, represented them by the puppets. The fortress of
+      Frederiksteen was the same which we have already seen in the park. &ldquo;The
+      whole cavalry and infantry,&mdash;here a fellow without a bayonet, there a
+      bayonet without a fellow!&rdquo; The old Jew sat under his tree where he
+      announced his fiftieth park jubilee: here a student ate flax, there
+      another exhibited a bear; Polignac stood as a wax figure outside a
+      cabinet. The Magdalene convent exhibited its little boxes, the drum-major
+      beat most lustily, and from a near booth came the real odor of warm
+      wafer-cakes. The spring even, which presented itself in the outer room,
+      was full of significance. Certainly it was only represented by a tea-urn
+      concealed between moss and stones, but the water was real water, brought
+      from the well in Christiansborg. Astounding and full of effect was the
+      multitude of sweet young girls who showed themselves. Many of the youngest
+      students who had feminine features were dressed as ladies; some of them
+      might even be called pretty. Who that then saw the fair one with the
+      tambourine can have forgotten her? The company crowded round the ladies.
+      The professors paid court to them with all propriety, and, what was best
+      of all, some ladies who were less successful became jealous of the others.
+      Otto was much excited; the noise, the bustle, the variety of people, were
+      almost strikingly given. Then came the master of the fire-engines, with
+      his wife and little granddaughter; then three pretty peasant girls; then
+      the whole Botanical Society, with their real professor at their head. Otto
+      seated himself in a swing; an itinerant flute-player and a drummer
+      deafened him with dissonances. A young lady, one of the beauties, in a
+      white dress, and with a thin handkerchief over her shoulders, approached
+      and threw herself into his arms. It was Wilhelm! but Otto found his
+      likeness to Sophie stronger than he had ever before noticed it to be; and
+      therefore the blood rushed to his cheeks when the fair one threw her arms
+      around him, and laid her cheek upon his: he perceived more of Sophie than
+      of Wilhelm in this form. Certainly Wilhelm&rsquo;s features were coarser&mdash;his
+      whole figure larger than Sophie&rsquo;s; but still Otto fancied he saw Sophie,
+      and therefore these marked gestures, this reeling about with the other
+      students, offended his eyes. When Wilhelm seated himself on his knee, and
+      pressed his cheek to his, Otto felt his heart beat as in fever; it sent a
+      stream of fire through his blood: he thrust him away, but the fair one
+      continued to overwhelm him with caresses.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There now commenced, in a so-called Krähwinkel theatre, the comedy, in
+      which were given the then popular witticisms of Kellerman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady clung fast to Otto, and flew dancing with him through the crowd.
+      The heat, the noise, and, above all, the exaggerated lacing, affected
+      Wilhelm; he felt unwell. Otto led him to a bench and would have unfastened
+      his dress, but all the young ladies, true to their part, sprang forward,
+      pushed Otto aside, surrounded their sick companion and concealed her,
+      whilst they tore up the dress behind so that she might have air: but, God
+      forbid! no gentleman might see it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Toward evening a song was commenced, a shot was heard, and the last verse
+      announced:&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;The gun has been fired, the vessel must fly
+       To the town from the green wood shady.
+     Come, friends, now we to the table will hie,
+       A gentleman and a fair lady.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      And now all rushed with the speed of a steamboat downstairs, and soon sat
+      in gay rows around the covered tables.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm was Otto&rsquo;s lady&mdash;the Baron was called the Baroness; the
+      glasses resounded, and the song commenced:&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;These will drink our good king&rsquo;s health,
+       Will drink it here, his loyal students.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      And that patriotic song:&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;I know a land up in the North
+       Where it is good to be.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      It concluded with&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+                        &ldquo;An hurrah
+     For the king and the rescript!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      In joy one must embrace everything joyful, and that they did. Here was the
+      joy of youth in youthful hearts.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;No condition&rsquo;s like the student&rsquo;s;
+       He has chosen the better way!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      so ran the concluding verse of the following song, which ended with the
+      toast,&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;For her of whom the heart dreams ever,
+       But whom the lips must never name!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      It was then that Wilhelm seemed to glow with inward fire; he struck his
+      glass so violently against Otto&rsquo;s that it broke, and the wine was spilt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A health to the ladies!&rdquo; cried one of the signors.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A health to the ladies!&rdquo; resounded from the different rooms, which were
+      all converted into the banquet-hall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The ladies rose, stood upon their chairs, some even upon the table, bowed,
+      and returned thanks for the toast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no,&rdquo; whispered Otto to Wilhelm, at the same time pulling him down.
+      &ldquo;In this dress you resemble your sister so much, that it is quite horrible
+      to me to see you act a part so opposed to her character!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And your eyes,&rdquo; Said Wilhelm, smiling, &ldquo;resemble two eyes which have
+      touched my heart. A health to first love!&rdquo; cried he, and struck his glass
+      against Otto&rsquo;s so that the half of his wine was again lost.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+The champagne foamed, and amidst noise and laughter, as during the
+carnival joy, a new song refreshed the image of the nark which they had
+just left:&mdash;     &ldquo;Here if green trees were not growing
+       Fresh as on yon little hill,
+     Heard we not the fountains flowing,
+       We in sooth should see them still!
+     Tents were filled below, above,
+     Filled with everything but love!
+
+     ***
+
+     Here went gratis brushing-boys&mdash;     Graduated have they all!
+     Here stood, who would think it, sir?
+     A student as a trumpeter!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A health to the one whose eyes mine resemble!&rdquo; whispered Otto, carried
+      along with the merriment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That health we have already drunk!&rdquo; answered Wilhelm, &ldquo;but we cannot do a
+      good thing too often.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then you still think of Eva?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She was beautiful! sweet! who knows what might have happened had she
+      remained here? Her fate has fallen into mamma&rsquo;s hands, and she and the
+      other exalted Nemesis must now conduct the affair: I wash my hands of it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are you recovered?&rdquo; asked Otto. &ldquo;But when you see Eva again in the
+      summer?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I hope that I shall not fall sick,&rdquo; replied Wilhelm; &ldquo;I have a strong
+      constitution. But we must now hasten up to the dance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      All rushed from the tables, and up-stairs, where the park was arranged.
+      There was now only the green wood to be seen. Theatres and booths had been
+      removed. Gay paper-lamps hung among the branches, a large orchestra
+      played, and a half-bacchanalian wood-ball commenced. Wilhelm was Otto&rsquo;s
+      partner, but after the first dance the lady sought out for herself a more
+      lively cavalier.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto drew back toward the wall where the windows were concealed by the
+      boughs of Fir-tree. His eye followed Wilhelm, whose great resemblance to
+      Sophie made him melancholy; his hand accidentally glided through the
+      branches and touched the window-seat; there lay a little bird&mdash;it was
+      dead!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To increase the illusion they had bought a number of birds, which should
+      fly about during the park-scene, but the poor little creatures had died
+      from fright at the wild uproar. In the windows and corners they lay dead.
+      It was one of these birds that Otto found.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is dead!&rdquo; said he to Wilhelm, who approached him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, that is capital!&rdquo; returned the friend; &ldquo;here you have something over
+      which you may be sentimental!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto would not reply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Shall we dance a Scotch waltz?&rdquo; asked Wilhelm laughing, and the wine and
+      his youthful blood glowed in his cheeks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wish you would put on your own dress!&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;You resemble, as I
+      said before, your sister&rdquo;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And I am my sister,&rdquo; interrupted Wilhelm, in his wantonness. &ldquo;And as a
+      reward for your charming readings aloud, for your excellent conversation,
+      and the whole of your piquant amiability, you shall now be paid with a
+      little kiss!&rdquo; He pressed his lips to Otto&rsquo;s forehead; Otto thrust him back
+      and left the company.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Several hours passed before he could sleep; at length he was forced to
+      laugh over his anger: what mattered it if Wilhelm resembled his sister?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The following morning Otto paid her a visit. All listened with lively
+      interest to his description of the merry St. John&rsquo;s day in February. He
+      also related how much Wilhelm had resembled his sister, and how unpleasant
+      this had been to him; and they laughed. During the relation, however, Otto
+      could not forbear drawing a comparison. How great a difference did he now
+      find! Sophie&rsquo;s beauty was of quite another kind! Never before had he
+      regarded her in this light. Of the kisses which Wilhelm had given him, of
+      course, they did not speak; but Otto thought of them, thought of them
+      quite differently to what he had done before, and&mdash;the ways of Cupid
+      are strange! We will now see how affairs stand after advancing fourteen
+      days.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0028" id="link2HCH0028">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXVIII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+   &ldquo;Huzza for Copenhagen and for Paris! may they both flourish!&rdquo;
+                                     The Danes in Paris by HEIBERG.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm&rsquo;s cousin, Joachim, had arrived from Paris. We remember the young
+      officer, out of whose letters Wilhelm had sent Otto a description of the
+      struggle of the July days. As an inspired hero of liberty had he returned;
+      struggling Poland had excited his lively interest, and he would willingly
+      have combated in Warsaw&rsquo;s ranks. His mind and his eloquence made him
+      doubly interesting. The combat of the July days, of which he had been an
+      eye-witness, he described to them. Joachim was handsome; he had an elegant
+      countenance with sharp features, and was certainly rather pale&mdash;one
+      might perhaps have called him worn with dissipation, had it not been for
+      the brightness of his eyes, which increased in conversation. The fine dark
+      eyebrow, and even the little mustache, gave the countenance all expression
+      which reminded one of fine English steel-engravings. His figure was small,
+      almost slender, but the proportions were beautiful. The animation of the
+      Frenchman expressed itself in every motion, but at the same time there was
+      in him a certain determination which seemed to say: &ldquo;I am aware of my own
+      intellectual superiority!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He interested every one: Otto also listened with pleasure when Cousin
+      Joachim related his experiences, but when all eyes were turned toward the
+      narrator, Otto fixed his suddenly upon Sophie, and found that she could
+      moderate his attentions. Joachim addressed his discourse to all, but at
+      the points of interest his glance rested alone on the pretty cousin! &ldquo;She
+      interests him!&rdquo; said Otto to himself. &ldquo;And Cousin Joachim?&rdquo; Yes, he
+      relates well; but had we only traveled we should not be inferior to him!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Charles X. was a Jesuit!&rdquo; said Joachim; &ldquo;he strove after an unrestrained
+      despotism, and laid violent hands on the Charter. The expedition against
+      Algiers was only a glittering fire-work arranged to flatter the national
+      pride&mdash;all glitter and falseness! Like Peirronnet, through an embrace
+      he would annihilate the Charter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The conversation now turned from the Jesuits to the Charter and Polignac.
+      The minute particulars, which only an eyewitness can relate, brought the
+      struggle livingly before their eyes. They saw the last night, the
+      extraordinary activity in the squares where the balls were showered, and
+      in the streets where the barricades were erected. Overturned wagons and
+      carts, barrels and stones, were heaped upon each other&mdash;even the
+      hundred year-old trees of the Boulevards were cut down to form barricades:
+      the struggle began, Frenchman fought against Frenchman&mdash;for liberty
+      and country they sacrificed their life.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+      [Note:
+     &ldquo;Ceux qui pieusement sont morts pour la patrie
+     Ont droit qu&rsquo;à leur cerceuil la foule vienne et prie:
+     Entre le plus beaux noms, leur nom est le plus beau.
+     Toute gloire, près d&rsquo;eux, passe et tombe éphèmere
+     Et, comme ferait une mère,
+     La voix d&rsquo;un peuple entier les berce en leur tombeau!&rdquo;
+      &mdash;VICTOR HUGO.]
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      And he described the victory and Louis Philippe, whom he admired and
+      loved.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That was a world event,&rdquo; said the man of business. &ldquo;It electrified both
+      king and people. They still feel the movement. Last year was an
+      extraordinary year!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For the Copenhageners also,&rdquo; said Otto, &ldquo;there were three colors. These
+      things occupied the multitude with equal interest: the July Revolution,
+      the &lsquo;Letters of a Wandering Ghost,&rsquo; and Kellermann&rsquo;s &lsquo;Berlin Wit.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now you are bitter, Mr. Thostrup,&rdquo; said the lady of the house. &ldquo;The
+      really educated did not occupy themselves with these Berlin &lsquo;Eckensteher&rsquo; 
+      which the multitude have rendered national!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But they hit the right mark!&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;they met with a reception from
+      the citizens and people in office.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That I can easily believe,&rdquo; remarked Joachim; &ldquo;that is like the people
+      here!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is like the people abroad!&rdquo; said the hostess. &ldquo;In Paris they pass
+      over still more easily from a revolution, in which they themselves have
+      taken part, to a review by Jules Janin, or to a new step of Taglioni&rsquo;s,
+      and from that to &lsquo;une histoire scandaleuse!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, my gracious lady, of the last no one takes any notice&mdash;it
+      belongs to the order of the day!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That I can easily believe!&rdquo; said Miss Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The man of business now inquired after the Chamber. The cousin&rsquo;s answer
+      was quite satisfactory. The lady of the house wished to hear of the
+      flower-markets, and of the sweet little inclosed gardens in the Places.
+      Sophie wished to hear of Victor Hugo. She received a description of him,
+      of his abode in the Place Royale, and of the whole Europe littéraire
+      beside. Cousin Joachim was extremely interesting.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto did not pay another visit for two days.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where have you been for so long?&rdquo; asked Sophie, when he came again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;With my books!&rdquo; replied he: there lay a gloomy expression in his eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, you should have come half an hour earlier&mdash;our cousin was here!
+      He was describing to me the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. O, quite
+      excellently!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He is an interesting young man!&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The glorious garden!&rdquo; pursued Sophie, without remarking the emphasis with
+      which Otto had replied. &ldquo;Do you not remember, Mr. Thostrup, how Barthélemi
+      has spoken of it? &lsquo;Où tout homme, qui rêve à son pays absent, Retrouve ses
+      parfums et son air caressant.&rsquo; In it there is a whole avenue with cages,
+      in which are wild beasts,&mdash;lions and tigers! In small court-yards,
+      elephants and buffaloes wander about at liberty! Giraffes nibble the
+      branches of high trees! In the middle of the garden are the courts for
+      bears, only there is a sort of well in which the bears walk about; it is
+      surrounded by no palisades, and you stand upon the precipitous edge! There
+      our cousin stood!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But he did not precipitate himself down!&rdquo; said Otto, with indifference.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What is the matter?&rdquo; asked Sophie. &ldquo;Are you in your elegiac mood? You
+      look as I imagine Victor Hugo when he has not made up his mind about the
+      management of his tragic catastrophe!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is my innate singularity!&rdquo; replied Otto. &ldquo;I should have pleasure in
+      springing down among the bears of which you relate!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And in dying?&rdquo; asked Sophie. &ldquo;No, you must live. &lsquo;C&rsquo;est le bonheur de
+      vivre Qui fait la gloire de mourir.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You speak a deal of French to-day,&rdquo; said Otto, with a friendliness of
+      manner intended to soften the bitterness of the tone. &ldquo;Perhaps your
+      conversation with the lieutenant was in that language?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;French interests me the most!&rdquo; replied she. &ldquo;I will ask our cousin to
+      speak it often with me. His accent is excellent, and he is himself a very
+      interesting man!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No doubt of it!&rdquo; answered Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will remain and dine with us?&rdquo; said the lady of the house, who now
+      entered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto did not feel well.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These are only whims,&rdquo; said Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The ladies made merry, and Otto remained. Cousin Joachim came and was
+      interesting&mdash;very interesting, said all. He related of Paris, spoke
+      also of Copenhagen, and drew comparisons. The quietness of home had made
+      an especial impression on him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;People here,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;go about as if they bore some heavy grief, or
+      some joy, which they might not express. If one goes into a coffee-house,
+      it is just as if one entered a house of mourning. Each one seats himself,
+      a newspaper in his hand, in a corner. That strikes one when one comes from
+      Paris! One naturally has the thought,&mdash;Can these few degrees further
+      north bring so much cold into the blood? There is the same quiet in our
+      theatre. Now I love this active life. The only boldness the public permits
+      itself is hissing a poor author; but a wretched singer, who has neither
+      tone nor manner, a miserable actress, will be endured, nay, applauded by
+      good friends&mdash;an act of compassion. She is so fearful! she is so
+      good! In Paris people hiss. The decoration master, the manager, every one
+      there receives his share of applause or blame. Even the directors are
+      there hissed, if they manage badly.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are preaching a complete revolution in our theatrical kingdom!&rdquo; said
+      the lady of the house. &ldquo;The Copenhageners cannot ever become Parisians,
+      and neither should they.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The theatre is here, as well as there, the most powerful organ of the
+      people&rsquo;s life. It has the greatest influence, and ours stands high, very
+      high, when one reflects in what different directions it must extend its
+      influence. Our only theatre must accommodate itself, and represent, at the
+      same time, the Theatre Français, the grand Opera, the Vaudeville, and
+      Saint-Martin; it must comprehend all kinds of theatrical entertainments.
+      The same actors who to-day appear in tragedy, must to-morrow show
+      themselves in a comedy or vaudeville. We have actors who might compare
+      themselves with the best in Paris&mdash;only <i>one</i> is above all ours,
+      but, also, above all whom I have seen in Europe, and this one is
+      Mademoiselle Mars. You will, doubtless, consider the reason extraordinary
+      which gives this one, in my opinion, the first place. This is her age,
+      which she so completely compels you to forget. She is still pretty; round,
+      without being called fat. It is not through rouge, false hair, or false
+      teeth, that she procures herself youth; it lies in her soul, and from
+      thence it flows into every limb&mdash;every motion becomes charming! She
+      fills you with astonishment! her eyes are full of expression, and her
+      voice is the most sonorous which I know! It is indeed music! How can one
+      think of age when one is affected by an immortal soul? I rave about
+      Léontine Fay, but the old Mars has my heart. There is also a third who
+      stands high with the Parisians&mdash;Jenny Vertprè, at the Gymnase
+      Dramatique, but she would be soon eclipsed were the Parisians to see our
+      Demoiselle Pätges. She possesses talent which will shine in every scene.
+      Vertprè has her loveliness, her whims, but not her Proteus-genius, her
+      nobility. I saw Vertprè in &lsquo;La Reine de Seize Ans,&rsquo;&mdash;a piece which we
+      have not yet; but she was only a saucy soubrette in royal splendor&mdash;a
+      Pernille of Holberg&rsquo;s, as represented by a Parisian. We have Madame
+      Wexschall, and we have Frydendal! Were Denmark only a larger country,
+      these names would sound throughout Europe!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He now described the decorations in the &ldquo;Sylphide,&rdquo; in &ldquo;Natalia,&rdquo; and in
+      various other ballets, the whole splendor, the whole magnificence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But our orchestra is excellent!&rdquo; said Miss Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It certainly contains several distinguished men,&rdquo; answered Joachim; &ldquo;but
+      must one speak of the whole? Yes, you know I am not musical, and cannot
+      therefore express myself in an artistical manner about music, but certain
+      it is that something lay in my ear, in my feeling, which, in Paris,
+      whispered to me, &lsquo;That is excellent!&rsquo; Here, on the contrary, it cries,
+      &lsquo;With moderation! with moderation!&rsquo; The voice is the first; she is the
+      lady; the instruments, on the contrary, are the cavaliers who shall
+      conduct the former before the public. Gently they should take her by the
+      hand; she must stand quite foremost; but here the instruments thrust her
+      aside, and it is to me as if each instrument would have the first place,
+      and constantly shouted, &lsquo;Here am I! here am I!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That sounds very well!&rdquo; said Sophie; &ldquo;but one may not believe you! You
+      have fallen in love with foreign countries, and, therefore, at home
+      everything must be slighted.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By no means! The Danish ladies, for instance, appear the prettiest, the
+      most modest whom I have known.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Appear?&rdquo; repeated Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Joachim possesses eloquence,&rdquo; said the lady of the house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That has developed itself abroad!&rdquo; answered he: &ldquo;here at home there are
+      only two ways in which it can publicly develop itself&mdash;in the pulpit,
+      and at a meeting in the shooting-house. Yet it is true that now we are
+      going to have a Diet and a more political life. I feel already, in
+      anticipation, the effect; we shall only live for this life, the newspapers
+      will become merely political, the poets sing politics the painters choose
+      scenes from political life. &lsquo;C&rsquo;est un Uebergang!&rsquo; as Madame La Flèche
+      says. [Author&rsquo;s Note: Holberg&rsquo;s Jean de France.] Copenhagen is too small
+      to be a great, and too great to be a small city. See, there lies the
+      fault!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto felt an irresistible desire to contradict him in most things which he
+      said about home. But the cousin parried every bold blow with a joke.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Copenhagen must be the Paris of the North,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;and that it
+      certainly would become in fifty, or twice that number of years. The
+      situation was far more beautiful than that of the city of the Seine. The
+      marble church must be elevated, and become a Pantheon, adorned with the
+      works of Thorwaldsen and other artists; Christiansborg, a Louvre, whose
+      gallery you visit; Öster Street and Pedermadsen&rsquo;s passage, arcades such as
+      are in Paris, covered with glass roofs and flagged, shops on both sides,
+      and in the evening, when thousands of gas-lamps burnt, here should be the
+      promenade; the esplanades would be the Champs Elysées, with swings and
+      slides, music, and mâts de cocagne. [Author&rsquo;s Note: High smooth poles, to
+      the top of which victuals, clothes, or money are attached. People of the
+      lower classes then try to climb up and seize the prizes. The best things
+      are placed at the very top of the pole.] On the Peblinger Lake, as on the
+      Seine, there should be festive water excursions made. Voilà!&rdquo; exclaimed
+      he, &ldquo;that would be splendid!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That might be divine!&rdquo; said Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Animation and thought lay in the cousin&rsquo;s countenance; his fine features
+      became striking from their expression. Thus did his image stamp itself in
+      Otto&rsquo;s soul, thus did it place itself beside Sophie&rsquo;s image as she stood
+      there, with her large brown eyes, round which played thought and smiles,
+      whilst they rested on the cousin. The beautifully formed white hand, with
+      its taper fingers, played with the curls which fell over her cheeks. Otto
+      would not think of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0029" id="link2HCH0029">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXIX
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;And if I have wept alone, it is my own sorrow.&rdquo;&mdash;GOETHE
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Latterly Otto had been but seldom at Mr. Berger&rsquo;s. He had no interest
+      about the merchant&rsquo;s home. The family showed him every politeness and mark
+      of confidence; but his visits became every week more rare. Business
+      matters, however, led him one day there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Chance or fate, as we call it, if the shadow of a consequence shows
+      itself, caused Maren to pass through the anteroom when Otto was about
+      taking his departure. She was the only one of the ladies at home. In three
+      weeks she would return to Lemvig. She said that she could not boast of
+      having enjoyed Mr. Thostrup&rsquo;s society too often.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your old friends interest you no longer!&rdquo; added she, somewhat gravely.
+      With this exception she had amused herself very well in the city, had seen
+      everything but the stuffed birds, and these she should see to-morrow. She
+      had been seven times in the theatre, and had seen the &ldquo;Somnambule&rdquo; twice.
+      However, she had not seen &ldquo;Der Frieschütz,&rdquo; and she had an especial desire
+      to see this on account of the wolf-glen. At Aarhuus there was a place in
+      the wood, said she, called the wolf-glen; this she knew, and now wished to
+      see whether it resembled the one on the stage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;May I then greet Rosalie from you?&rdquo; she asked at length.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will still remain three weeks here,&rdquo; said Otto: &ldquo;it is too soon to
+      speak of leave-taking.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But you scarcely ever come here,&rdquo; returned she. &ldquo;You have better places
+      to go to! The Baron&rsquo;s sister certainly sees you oftener; she is said to be
+      a pretty and very clever girl: perhaps one may soon offer one&rsquo;s
+      congratulations?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto became crimson.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In spring you will travel abroad,&rdquo; pursued she; &ldquo;we shall not then see
+      you in Jutland: yes, perhaps you will never go there again! That will make
+      old Rosalie sad: she thinks so incredibly much of you. In all the letters
+      which I have received here there were greetings to Mr. Thostrup. Yes, I
+      have quite a multitude of them for you; but you do not come to receive
+      them, and I dare not pay a visit to such a young gentleman. For the sake
+      of old friendship let me, at least, be the first who can relate at home of
+      the betrothal!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How can you have got such a thought?&rdquo; replied Otto. &ldquo;I go to so many
+      houses where there are young ladies; if my heart had anything to do with
+      it, I should have a bad prospect. I have great esteem for Miss Sophie; I
+      speak with her as with you, that is all. I perceive that the air of
+      Copenhagen has affected you; here in the city they are always betrothing
+      people. This comes from the ladies in the house here. How could you
+      believe such stories?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Maren also joked about it, but after they had parted she seated herself in
+      a corner, drew her little apron over her head and wept; perhaps because
+      she should soon leave the lively city, where she had been seven times to
+      the theatre, and yet had not seen the wolf-glen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Betrothed!&rdquo; repeated Otto to himself, and thought of Sophie, of the
+      cousin, and of his own childhood, which hung like a storm-cloud in his
+      heaven. Many thoughts passed through his mind: he recollected the
+      Christmas Eve on which he had seen Sophie for the first time, when she, as
+      one of the Fates, gave him the number. He had 33, she 34; they were united
+      by the numbers following each other. He received the pedigree, and was
+      raised to her nobility. The whole joke had for him a signification. He
+      read the verse again which had accompanied it. The conclusion sounded
+      again and again in his ears:&mdash;&ldquo;From this hour forth thy soul high
+      rank hath won her, Nor will forget thy knighthood and thy honor!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Sophie!&rdquo; he exclaimed aloud, and the fire which had long smouldered in
+      his blood now burst forth in flames. &ldquo;Sophie! thee must I press to my
+      heart!&rdquo; He lost himself in dreams. Dark shapes disturbed them. &ldquo;Can she
+      then be happy? Can I? The picture which she received where the covering of
+      ice was broken and the faithful dog watched in vain, is also significant.
+      That is the fulfillment of hopes. I sink, and shall never return!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The image of the cousin mingled in his dreams. That refined countenance
+      with the little mustache looked forth saucily and loquaciously; and
+      Sophie&rsquo;s eyes he saw rest upon the cousin, whilst her white hand played
+      with the brown curls which fell over her cheek.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Sophie!&rdquo; sighed Otto, and fell asleep.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0030" id="link2HCH0030">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXX
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+           ...&rdquo;We live through others,
+     We think we are others; we seem
+     Others to be... And so think others of us.&rdquo;
+                                       SCHEFER.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      When the buds burst forth we will burst forth also! had Otto and Wilhelm
+      often said. Their plan was, in the spring to travel immediately to Paris,
+      but on their way to visit the Rhine, and to sail from Cologne to
+      Strasburg.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, one must see the Rhine first!&rdquo; said Cousin Joachim; &ldquo;when one has
+      seen Switzerland and Italy, it does not strike one nearly as much. That
+      must be your first sight; but you should not see it in spring, but toward
+      autumn. When the vines have their full variety of tint, and the heavy
+      grapes hang from the stems, see, it is then the old ruins stand forth.
+      These are the gardens of the Rhine! Another advantage which you have in
+      going there in autumn is that you then enter Paris in winter, and that one
+      must do; then one does not come post festum; then is the heyday of gayety&mdash;the
+      theatre, the soirées, and everything which can interest the beau monde.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Although Otto did not generally consider the cousin&rsquo;s words of much
+      weight, he this time entered wonderfully into his views. &ldquo;It would
+      certainly be the most prudent to commence their journey toward autumn,&rdquo; he
+      thought: &ldquo;there could be no harm in preparing themselves a little more for
+      it!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is always good!&rdquo; said Joachim; &ldquo;but, what is far more advantageous
+      abroad than all the preparations you can make at home, is said in a few
+      words&mdash;give up all intercourse with your own country-people! Nowadays
+      every one travels! Paris is not now further from us than Hamburg was some
+      thirty years ago. When I was in Paris I found there sixteen or seventeen
+      of my countrymen. O, how they kept together! Eleven of them dwelt in the
+      same hôtel: they drank coffee together, walked out together, went to the
+      restaurateur&rsquo;s together, and took together half a bench in the theatre.
+      That is the most foolish thing a person can do! I consider travelling
+      useful for every one, from the prince to the travelling journeyman. But we
+      allow too many people to travel! We are not rich, therefore restrictions
+      should be made. The creative artist, the poet, the engineer, and the
+      physician must travel; but God knows why theologians should go forth. They
+      can become mad enough at home! They come into Catholic countries, and then
+      there is an end of them! Wherefore should book-worms go forth? They shut
+      themselves up in the diligence and in their chambers, rummage a little in
+      the libraries, but not so much as a pinch of snuff do they do us any good
+      when they return! Those who cost the most generally are of the least use,
+      and bring the country the least honor! I, thank God! paid for my journey
+      myself, and am therefore free to speak my opinion!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      We will now hear what Miss Sophie said, and therefore advance a few days.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We keep you then with us till August!&rdquo; said she, once when she was alone
+      with Otto. &ldquo;That is wise! You can spend some time with us in Funen, and
+      gather strength for your journey. Yes, the journey will do you good!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I hope so!&rdquo; answered Otto. &ldquo;I am perhaps able to become as interesting as
+      your cousin, as amiable!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That would be requiring too much from you!&rdquo; said Sophie, bantering him.
+      &ldquo;You will never have his humor, his facility in catching up character. You
+      will only preach against the depravity of the Parisians; you will only be
+      able to appreciate the melancholy grandeur of Switzerland and the solitude
+      of the Hungarian forests.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You would make a misanthrope of me, which I by no means am.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But you have an innate talent for this character!&rdquo; answered Sophie.
+      &ldquo;Something will certainly be polished away by this journey, and it is on
+      account of this change that I rejoice.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Must one, then, have a light, fickle mood to please you?&rdquo; asked Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, certainly!&rdquo; answered Sophie, ironically.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then it is true what your cousin told me!&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;If one will be
+      fortunate with the ladies, one must at least be somewhat frivolous, fond
+      of pleasure, and fickle,&mdash;that makes one interesting. Yes, he has
+      made himself acquainted with the world, he has experience in everything!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, perfectly!&rdquo; said Sophie, and laughed aloud.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto was silent, with contracted brow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wish you sunshine!&rdquo; said Sophie, and smiling raised her finger. Otto
+      remained unchanged&mdash;he wrinkled his brow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You must change very much!&rdquo; said she, half gravely; and danced out of the
+      room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Three weeks passed by, rich in great events in the kingdom of the heart;
+      it was still a diplomatic secret: the eyes betrayed it by their pantomimic
+      language, the mouth alone was silent, and it is after all the deciding
+      power.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto visited the merchant&rsquo;s family. Maren had departed just the day
+      before. In vain had she awaited his visit throughout the three weeks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You quite forget your true friends!&rdquo; said the ladies. &ldquo;Believe us, Maja
+      was a little angry with you, and yet we have messages. Now she is sailing
+      over the salt sea.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was not precisely the case; she was already on land, and just at this
+      moment was driving over the brown heath, thinking of Copenhagen and the
+      pleasures there, and of the sorrow also&mdash;it is so sad to be forgotten
+      by a friend of childhood! Otto was so handsome, so clever&mdash;she did
+      not dream at all how handsome and clever she herself would appear at home.
+      Beauty and cleverness they had discovered in her before she left; now she
+      had been in the capital, and that gives relief.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The little birds fluttered round the carriage; perhaps they sang to her
+      what should happen in two years: &ldquo;Thou wilt be a bride, the secretary&rsquo;s
+      lovely little bride; thou shalt have both him and the musical-box! Thou
+      wilt be the grandest lady in the town, and yet the most excellent mother.
+      Thy first daughter shall be called Maja&mdash;that is a pretty name, and
+      reminds thee of past days!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0031" id="link2HCH0031">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXXI
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;The monastery is still called &lsquo;Andersskov&rsquo; (the wood of
+     Anders) in memory of its being the habitation of the pious
+     Anders.
+
+     &ldquo;The hill on which he awoke, comforted by sleep, is still
+     called &lsquo;Hvile höi&rsquo; (the hill of rest). A cross having a
+     Latin inscription, half-effaced, marks the spot.&rdquo;&mdash;J. L.
+     HEIBERG.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      It was spring, fresh, life-bearing spring! Only one day and one night, and
+      the birds of passage were back again; the woods made themselves once more
+      young with green, odorous leaves; the Sound had its swimming Venice of
+      richly laden vessels; only one day and one night, and Sophie was removed
+      from Otto&mdash;they were divided by the salt sea; but it was spring in
+      his heart; from it flew his thoughts, like birds of passage, to the island
+      of Funen, and there sang of summer. Hope gave him more &ldquo;gold and green
+      woods&rdquo; than the ships bear through the Sound, more than Zealand&rsquo;s bays can
+      show. Sophie at parting pressed his hand. In her eyes lay what his heart
+      might hope and dream.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He forgot that hope and dreams were the opposites of reality.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cousin Joachim had gone to Stockholm, and would not return either in the
+      spring or summer to Funen. On the contrary, Otto intended to spend a few
+      weeks at the country-seat; not before August would he and Wilhelm travel.
+      There would at least be one happy moment, and many perhaps almost as
+      happy. In his room stood a rose-bush, the first buds formed themselves,
+      and opened their red lips&mdash;as pure and tender as these leaves was
+      Sophie&rsquo;s cheek: he bent over the flower, smiled and read there sweet
+      thoughts which were related to his love. A rose-bud is a sweet mystery.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+                   &ldquo;The myriad leaves enmaze
+                    Small labyrinthine ways
+                    Where spicy odor flows,
+                    Thou lovelv bud o&rsquo; the rose!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      The day came on which Otto, after he had comfortably terminated his visits
+      of leave-taking, at midday, in the company of three young students
+      travelled away through Zealand. They had taken a carriage together as far
+      as Slagelse, where, like Abraham&rsquo;s and Lot&rsquo;s shepherds, they should
+      separate to the right and left. Otto remained alone, in order to travel
+      post that night to Nyborg. It was only four o&rsquo;clock in the afternoon, Otto
+      had no acquaintance here, therefore it was but to take a walk.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There still exist remains of the old Antvorskov convent, [Author&rsquo;s Note:
+      The convent was founded by Waldemar I., 1177.] do there not?&rdquo; asked he.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, but very little!&rdquo; answered the host. &ldquo;The convent became a castle,
+      the castle a private house, and now within the last few years, on account
+      of the stones, it has been still more pulled down. You will find nothing
+      old remaining, except here and there in the garden a piece of a red wall
+      standing out. But the situation is beautiful! If you will only take the
+      road toward the large village called Landsgrav, you are on the way to
+      Korsöer, and close to the cross of the holy Anders. It is a right pleasant
+      excursion!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Convent ruins and the holy cross!&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;that sounds quite
+      romantic!&rdquo; And he commenced his wanderings.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A few scholars from the Latin school, with their books held together by a
+      strait, and then a square built lancer, who greeted in military style an
+      elderly-young lady, who was seated behind a barricade of geraniums and
+      wall flowers, were the only individuals he met with on his way. Yet Otto
+      remarked that the windows were opened as he passed; people wanted to see
+      who the stranger might be who was going up the street.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A long avenue led from the town to the castle. On either side the way lay
+      detached houses, with little gardens. Otto soon reached the remains of old
+      Antvorskov. The way was red from the stones which were flung about, and
+      were now ground to dust. Huge pieces of wall, where the mortar and stone
+      were united in one piece, lay almost concealed among the high nettles.
+      Rather more distant stood a solitary house of two stories. It was narrow,
+      and whitewashed. A thick pilaster, such as one sees in churches, supported
+      the strong wall. This was half of the last wing of the castle,&mdash;a
+      mingling of the ancient and incident, of ruin and dwelling-house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto went into the garden, which was laid out upon the hill itself, and
+      its terraces. Here were only young trees; but the walks were everywhere
+      overgrown. The view stretched itself far over the plain, toward the Belt
+      and Funen. He descended from the terrace down to the lowest wall. In this
+      there yet remained a piece of an old tombstone, of the age of the convent,
+      on which you perceived the trace of a female form; and near to this the
+      figure of a skeleton, round which was twined a snake. Otto stood sunk in
+      contemplation, when an old man, with two water-buckets suspended from a
+      yoke on his shoulders, approached a near well.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The old man was very ready to commence a conversation. He told of
+      excavations, and of an underground passage which had not been discovered,
+      but which, according to his opinion, was certainly in existence. So far
+      they had only found a few walled-round spaces, which had most probably
+      been prisons. In one of these was an iron chain fastened into the wall.
+      But with regard to the underground passage, they had only not yet
+      discovered the right place, for it must exist. It led from here, deep
+      under the lake and forest, toward Soröe. There were large iron gates
+      below. At Christmas one could hear how they were swung to and fro.
+      &ldquo;Whoever should have that which is concealed there,&rdquo; said the old man,
+      &ldquo;would be a made man, and need not neither slip nor slide.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto looked at the solitary wing which rose up over the terrace. How
+      splendid it had been here in former times!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Close to the large wood, several miles in extent, which stretches itself
+      on the other side of Soröe, down to the shore of the King&rsquo;s Brook, lay the
+      rich convent where Hans Tausen spoke what the Spirit inspired him with.
+      Times changed; the convent vanished;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+                 &ldquo;Halls of state
+      Tower upon that spot elate;
+      Where the narrow cell once stood;&rdquo;
+      [Author&rsquo;s Note: Anders-skov, by Oehlenschläger.]
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      where the monks sang psalms, knights and ladies danced to the sound of
+      beating drums: but these tone&rsquo;s ceased; the blooming cheeks became dust.
+      It was again quiet. Many a pleasant time did Holberg ride over from Soröe,
+      through the green wood, to visit the steward of Antvorskov. Otto
+      recollected what one of his daughters, when an old woman, had related to a
+      friend of his. She was a child, and lay in the cradle, when old Holberg
+      came riding there, with a little wheaten loaf and a small pot of preserve
+      in his pocket&mdash;his usual provision on such little excursions. The
+      steward&rsquo;s young wife sat at her spinning-wheel. Holberg paced up and down
+      the room with the husband; they were discussing politics. This interested
+      the wife, and she joined in the conversation. Holberg turned round to her,&mdash;&ldquo;I
+      fancy the distaff speaks!&rdquo; said he. This the wife could never forget.
+      [Translator&rsquo;s Note: Rokkehoved, distaff, means also dunce in Danish.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto smiled at this recollection of the witty but ungallant poet, quitted
+      the garden, and went through a winding hollow way, where the luxuriant
+      briers hung in rich masses over the stone fence. Slagelse, with its high
+      hills in the background, looked picturesque. He soon reached Landsgrav.
+      The sun went down as he walked over the field where the wooden cross
+      stands, with its figure of the Redeemer, in memory of the holy Anders.
+      Near it he perceived a man, who appeared to kneel. One hand held fast by
+      the cross; in the other was a sharp knife, with which he was probably
+      cutting out his name. He did not observe Otto. Near the man lay a box
+      covered with green oil-cloth; and in the grass lay a knapsack, a pair of
+      boots, and a knotty stick. It must be a wandering journeyman, or else a
+      pedlar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto was about to return, when the stranger rose and perceived him. Otto
+      stood as if nailed to the earth. It was the German Heinrich whom he saw
+      before him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is not that Mr. Thostrup?&rdquo; said the man and that horrible grinning smile
+      played around his mouth. &ldquo;No, that I did not expect!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Does it go well with you, Heinrich?&rdquo; asked Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There&rsquo;s room for things to mend!&rdquo; replied Heinrich &ldquo;It goes better with
+      you! Good Lord, that you should become such a grand gentleman! Who would
+      have thought it, when you rode on my knee, and I pricked you in the arm?
+      Things go on strangely in this world! Have you heard of your sister? She
+      was not so much spoiled as you! But she was a beautiful child!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have neither seen her nor my parents!&rdquo; replied he, with a trembling
+      which he strove to conquer. &ldquo;Do you know where she is?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am always travelling!&rdquo; said Heinrich; &ldquo;but thus much I know, that she
+      is still in Funen. Yes, she must take one of us, an unpretending husband!
+      You can choose a genteel young lady for yourself. That&rsquo;s the way when
+      people are lucky. You will become a landed proprietor. Old Heinrich will
+      then no doubt obtain permission to exhibit his tricks on your estate? But
+      none of its will speak of former times!&mdash;of the red house on the
+      Odense water!&rdquo; This last he whispered quite low. &ldquo;I shall receive a few
+      shillings from you?&rdquo; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You shall have more!&rdquo; said Otto, and gave to him. &ldquo;But I wish us to
+      remain strangers to each other, as we are!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, certainly, certainly!&rdquo; said Heinrich, and nodded affirmatively with
+      his head, whilst his eyes rested on the gift Otto had presented him with.
+      &ldquo;Then you are no longer angry with my joke in Jutland?&rdquo; asked he with a
+      simpering smile, and kissed Otto&rsquo;s hand. &ldquo;I should not have known you
+      then. Had you not shown me your shoulder, on which I saw the letters O and
+      T which I myself had etched, it would never have occurred to me that we
+      knew each other! But a light suddenly flashed across me. I should have
+      said Otto Thostrup; but I said &lsquo;Odense Tugt-huus.&rsquo; [Note: Odense house of
+      correction.] That was not handsome of me, seeing you are such a good
+      gentleman!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, now adieu!&rdquo; said Otto, and extended to him unwillingly his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There, our Saviour looks down upon us!&rdquo; said the German Heinrich, and
+      fixed his eyes upon the figure on the cross. &ldquo;As certainly as He lives may
+      you rely upon the silence of my mouth. He is my Redeemer, who hangs there
+      on the cross, just as he is etched upon my skin, and as he stands along
+      the high-roads in my father-land. Here is the only place in the whole
+      country where the sign of the cross stands under the free heaven; here I
+      worship: for you must know, Mr. Thostrup, I am not of your faith, but of
+      the faith of the Virgin Mary. Here I have cut into the wood the holy sign,
+      such as is placed over every door in my father-land,&mdash;an I, an H, and
+      this S. In this is contained my own name; for H stands for Heinrich; I,
+      for I myself; and S means Sinner; that is, I, Heinrich, Sinner. Now I have
+      completed my worship, and you have given me a handsome skilling, I shall
+      now go to my bed at the public-house; and if the girl is pretty, and lets
+      one flatter her, I am still young enough, and shall fancy that I am Mr.
+      Thostrup, and have won that most glorious, elegant young lady! Hurrah! it
+      is a player&rsquo;s life which we lead!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto left him, but heard how Heinrich sang:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+           &ldquo;Tri, ri, ro,
+   The summer comes once mo!
+     To beer, boys! to beer
+   The winter lies in bands, O!
+     And he who won&rsquo;t come here,
+   We&rsquo;ll trounce him with our wands, O!
+            Yo, yo, yo,
+   The summer comes once mo!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      As, suddenly on a clear sunny day, a cloud can appear, extinguish the warm
+      sunshine, conceal the green coast, and change everything into gray mist
+      forms, so was it now with Otto, who had but just before felt himself so
+      happy and full of youthful joy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You can sleep quietly!&rdquo; said the host, when Otto returned to Slagelse;
+      &ldquo;you shall be wakened early enough to leave with the mail.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But his rest was like a delirium.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The post-horn sounded in the empty street; they rolled away&mdash;it was
+      at daybreak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is that a gallows?&rdquo; inquired one of the travellers, and pointed toward
+      the hill, where at this distance the cross looked like a stake.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is the cross of the holy Anders!&rdquo; replied Otto; and livingly stood
+      before him the recollections of the evening before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Does that really exist?&rdquo; said the stranger. &ldquo;I have read of it in the
+      &lsquo;Letters of a Wandering Ghost.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was a beautiful morning, the sun shone warmly, the sea was smooth as
+      a mirror, and so much the faster did the steamboat glide away. The vessel
+      with the mail, which had set sail two hours earlier, still lay not far
+      from land. The sails hung down loosely; not a breeze stirred them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The steamboat glided close past her; the passengers in the mail-vessel,
+      the greater portion coachmen, travelling journeymen, and peasants, stood
+      on the deck to see it. They waved greetings. One of the foremost leaned on
+      his knotty stick, pulled off his hat, and shouted, &ldquo;Good morning, my noble
+      gentlefolk!&rdquo; It was the German Heinrich; he then was going to Funen.
+      Otto&rsquo;s heart beat faster, he gazed down among the rushing waves which
+      foamed round the paddle, where the sunbeams painted a glorious rainbow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is lovely!&rdquo; said one of the strangers, close to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Very lovely!&rdquo; returned Otto, and stilled the sigh which would burst forth
+      from his breast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Scarcely two hours were fled&mdash;the cables were flung upon the Nyborg
+      bridge of boats, and the steamboat made fast to the island of Funen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0032" id="link2HCH0032">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXXII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;It is so sweet when friendly hands bid you a hearty
+     welcome, so dear to behold well-known features, wherever you
+     turn your eyes. Everything seems so home-like and quiet
+     about you and in your own breast.&rdquo;   HENRIETTE HAUCK.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Otto immediately hired a carriage, and reached the hall just about
+      dinner-time. In the interior court-yard stood two calashes and an Holstein
+      carriage; two strange coachmen, with lace round their hats, stood in
+      animated discourse when Otto drove in through the gate. The postilion blew
+      his horn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be quiet there!&rdquo; cried Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There are strangers at the hall!&rdquo; said the postilion; &ldquo;I will only let
+      them know that another is coming.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto gazed at the garden, glanced up toward the windows, where mine of the
+      ladies showed themselves only out of a side building a female head was
+      stretched out, whose hair was put back underneath a cap. Otto recognized
+      the grown-together eyebrows. &ldquo;Is she the first person I am to see here?&rdquo;
+       sighed he; and the carriage rolled into the inner court. The dogs barked,
+      the turkey-cocks gobbled, but not Wilhelm showed himself. The Kammerjunker
+      came&mdash;the excellent neighbor! and immediately afterward Sophie; both
+      exclaimed with smiles, &ldquo;Welcome!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See, here we have our man!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker; &ldquo;we can make use of
+      him in the play!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is glorious you are come!&rdquo; cried Sophie. &ldquo;We shall immediately put you
+      under arrest.&rdquo; She extended her hand to him&mdash;he pressed it to his
+      lips. &ldquo;We will have tableaux vivants this evening!&rdquo; said she: &ldquo;the pastor
+      has never seen any. We have no service from Wilhelm; he is in Svendborg,
+      and will not return for two days. You must be the officer; the
+      Kammerjunker will represent the Somnambulist, who comes with her light
+      through the window. Will you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Everything you desire!&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do not speak of it!&rdquo; returned Sophie, and laid her finger on her lips.
+      The mother descended the steps.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Dear Thostrup!&rdquo; said she, and pressed, with warm cordiality, both his
+      hands. &ldquo;I have really quite yearned after you. Now Wilhelm is away, you
+      must for two whole days put up with us alone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto went through the long passage where hung the old portraits; it was as
+      if these also wished welcome. It only seemed a night full of many dreams
+      which had passed since he was here; a year in the lapse of time is also
+      not so long as a winter&rsquo;s night in the life of man.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Here it was so agreeable, so home-like; no one could have seen by the
+      trees that since then they had stood stripped of leaves and covered with
+      snow; luxuriantly green they waved themselves in the sun&rsquo;s warmth, just as
+      when Otto last gazed out of this window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He had the red room as before. The dinner-bell rang.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Louise met him in the passage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thostrup!&rdquo; exclaimed she, with delight, and seized his hand. &ldquo;Now, it is
+      almost a year and a day since I saw you!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes much has happened in this year!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker. &ldquo;Come soon to
+      me, and you shall see what I have had made for pastime&mdash;a
+      bowling-green! Miss Sophie has tried her skill upon it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Kammerjunker took the mother to dinner. Otto approached Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Will you not take the Kammerjunker&rsquo;s sister?&rdquo; whispered she.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mechanically, Otto made his bow before Miss Jakoba.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Take one of the young ladies!&rdquo; said she; &ldquo;you would rather do that?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto bowed, cast a glance toward Sophie; she had the old pastor. Otto
+      smiled, and conducted Jakoba to table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Mamsell, renowned through her work-box, sat on his left hand. He
+      observed the company who, beside those we have already mentioned,
+      consisted of several ladies and gentlemen whom he did not know. One chair
+      was empty, but it was soon occupied; a young girl, quiet in her attire,
+      and dressed like Louise, entered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why do you come so late?&rdquo; asked Sophie, smiling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is only known to Eva and me!&rdquo; said Louise, and smiled at the young
+      girl.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Eva seated herself. It was, perhaps, the complete resemblance of their
+      dress which induced Otto to observe both her and Louise so closely, and
+      even against his own will to draw comparisons. Both wore a simple dark
+      brown dress, a small sea-green handkerchief round the neck. Louise seemed
+      to him enchanting&mdash;pretty one could not call her: Eva, on the
+      contrary, was ideal; there lay something in her appearance which made him
+      think of the pale pink hyacinth. Every human being has his invisible
+      angel, says the mythos; both are different and yet resemble each other.
+      Eva was the angel; Louise, on the contrary, the human being in all its
+      purity. Otto&rsquo;s eyes encountered those of Sophie&mdash;they were both
+      directed to the same point. &ldquo;What power! what beauty!&rdquo; thought he. Her
+      mind is far above that of Louise, and in beauty she is a gorgeous flower,
+      and not, like Eva, a fine, delicate hyacinth. He drew eloquence from these
+      eyes, and became interesting like the cousin, although he had not been in
+      Paris.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Kammerjunker spoke of sucking-pigs, but that also was interesting;
+      perhaps be drew his inspiration out of the same source as Otto. He spoke
+      of the power of green buckwheat, and how the swine which eat it become
+      mad. From this doubtless originated the legend of the devil entering into
+      the swine. It is only coal-black pigs which can digest green buckwheat; if
+      they have a single white speck upon them, they become ill at eating. &ldquo;This
+      is extraordinary,&rdquo; exclaimed he.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In his enthusiasm his discourse became almost a cry, which caused Miss
+      Jakoba to say that one might almost think that he himself had eaten green
+      buckwheat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto meantime cut out of the green melon-peel a man, and made him ride on
+      the edge of his glass; that withdrew Sophie&rsquo;s attention from the
+      Kammerjunker. The whole company found that this little cut-out figure was
+      very pretty; and the Mamsell begged that she might have it&mdash;it should
+      lie in her work-box.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Toward evening all were in preparation for the approaching tableaux.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Eva must represent Hero. With a torch in her hand she must kneel on a
+      table, which was to be draped so as to represent a balcony. The poor girl
+      felt quite unhappy at having to appear in this manner. Sophie laughed at
+      her fear, and assured her that she would be admired, and that therefore
+      she must and should.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Give way to my sister,&rdquo; said Louise, in a beseeching voice; and Eva was
+      ready, let down her long brown hair, and allowed Sophie to arrange the
+      drapery.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto must put on an officer&rsquo;s uniform. He presented himself to the
+      sisters.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That gold is not sewn fast on the collar,&rdquo; said Sophie, and undertook to
+      rectify it. He could easily keep the uniform on whilst she did this, said
+      she. Her soft hand touched Otto&rsquo;s cheek, it was like an electric shock to
+      him; his blood burned; how much he longed to press the hand to his lips!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They all burst out laughing when the Kammerjunker appeared in a white
+      petticoat which only reached a little below the knee, and in a large white
+      lady&rsquo;s dressing-jacket. Miss Sophie must arrange his hair. She did it
+      charmingly; her hand stroked the hair away from his brow, and glided over
+      his cheeks: he kissed it; she struck him in the face, and begged him not
+      to forget himself! &ldquo;We are ladies,&rdquo; said he, and rose in his full
+      splendor. They all laughed except Otto; he could not&mdash;he felt a
+      desire to beat him. The spectators arranged themselves in a dark room, the
+      folding doors were opened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Eva as Hero, in a white linen robe, her hair hanging down on her
+      shoulders, and a torch in her hand, gazed out over the sea. No painter
+      could have imagined anything more beautiful; the large dark-blue eyes
+      expressed tenderness and melancholy; it was Eva&rsquo;s natural glance, but here
+      you saw her quiet. The fine black eyebrows increased the expression, the
+      whole figure was as if breathed into the picture.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now followed a new picture&mdash;Faust and Margaret in the arbor; behind
+      stood Mephistophiles, with his devilish smile. The Kammerjunker&rsquo;s Mamsell
+      was Margaret. When the doors were opened she sent forth aloud cry, and ran
+      away; she would not stay, she was so afraid. The group was disarranged,
+      people laughed and found it amusing, but the Kammerjunker scolded aloud,
+      and swore that she should come in again; at that the laughter of the
+      spectators increased, and was not lessened when the Kammerjunker,
+      forgetting his costume as the Somnambule, half stepped into the frame in
+      which the pictures were represented, and seated the Mamsell on the bench.
+      This group was only seen for one moment: the dorors were again closed; the
+      spectators applauded, but a whistle was heard. Laughter, and the hum of
+      conversation, resounded through the room; and it was impossible to obtain
+      perfect quiet, although a new picture already shone in the frame. It was
+      Sophie as Correggio&rsquo;s &ldquo;Magdalene&rdquo;: her rich hair fell in waves over her
+      shoulders and round arms; before her lay the skull and the holy book.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto&rsquo;s blood flowed faster; never had he seen Sophie more beautiful. The
+      audience, however, could not entirely forget the comic scene which they
+      had just witnessed; there was heard a faint suppressed laughter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This at length was able to take its free course when the following picture
+      presented itself, where the Kammerjunker, as the Somnambule, his hand
+      half-concealing the extinguished light, showed himself at the open window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A most stormy burst of applause was awarded to the actors.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Miss Sophie has arranged the whole!&rdquo; cried the Kammerjunker, and now her
+      name sounded from the lips of all the audience.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Not before two days did Wilhelm return. He and Otto slept in the same
+      apartment. Otto told of the tableaux, and said how lovely Eva had been as
+      Hero.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That I can well believe,&rdquo; replied Wilhelm, but did not enter further into
+      the subject; he laughed about the Kammerjunker and the disarranged group.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto again named Eva, but Wilhelm lightly passed over this subject in his
+      replies. Otto could not fathom their connection.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Shall we not go to sleep?&rdquo; said Wilhelm; they wished each other
+      good-night, and it was quiet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The old man Sleep, as Tieck has described him, with the box out of which
+      he brings his dream-puppets, now commenced his nightly dramatic
+      adventures, which lasted until the sun shone in through the window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0033" id="link2HCH0033">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXXIII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;He draws nearer and nearer to her.
+     &lsquo;O, give my hope an answer by this pink-flower.&rsquo; 
+     She sighs: &lsquo;O, I will&mdash;no&mdash;I will not.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+                              The Dancer, by PALUDAN-MÜLLER
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shall get to know!&rdquo; thought Otto. &ldquo;This violent love cannot be
+      evaporated.&rdquo; He paid attention to every little occurrence. Eva was the
+      same quiet, modest creature as formerly&mdash;a house-fairy who exercised
+      a friendly influence over all. Wilhelm spoke with her, but not with
+      passion, neither with affected indifference. However, we cannot entirely
+      rely upon Otto&rsquo;s power of observation: his glance was directed too often
+      toward a dearer object&mdash;his attention was really directed to Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They walked in the garden.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Once as you certainly know,&rdquo; said Otto, &ldquo;your brother had a fancy for the
+      pretty Eva. Is it not, therefore, somewhat dangerous her living here? Has
+      your mother been prudent?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For Wilhelm I am quite unconcerned!&rdquo; answered Sophie. &ldquo;Only take care of
+      yourself! Eva is very amiable, and has very much changed for the better
+      since she came here. My sister Louise quite raves about her, and my mother
+      regards her almost as an adopted daughter. You have certainly remarked
+      that she is not kept in the background. Yet she is weak; she resembles the
+      tender mountain-flowers which grow in ice and snow, but which bow their
+      heads in the soft mountain air, when it is warmed by the sun. It really
+      seems to me that she is become weaker since she has enjoyed our care and
+      happy days. When I saw her at Roeskelde she was far more blooming.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps she thinks of your brother&mdash;thinks of him with quiet
+      sorrow?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That I do not think is the case,&rdquo; replied Sophie; &ldquo;otherwise Louise would
+      have heard something of it. She possesses Eva&rsquo;s entire confidence. You may
+      make yourself easy, if you are jealous!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What make you conjecture this? My thoughts are directed above, and not
+      beneath me!&rdquo; said he, with a kind of pride, &ldquo;I feel that I could never
+      fall in love with Eva. Feel love toward her? no! Even when I think of it,
+      I feel almost as though I had some prejudice against her. But you joke;
+      you will rally me, as you have so often done. We shall soon part! Only two
+      months longer shall I remain in Denmark! Two long years abroad! How much
+      may occur in that time! Will you think of me&mdash;really think of me,
+      Miss Sophie?&rdquo; He bent, and kissed her hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie became crimson. Both were silent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are you here!&rdquo; said the mother, who came out of a side walk.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto stooped lower, and broke one of the beautiful stocks which hung over
+      the border.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are you taking Louise&rsquo;s favorite flowers?&rdquo; said she, smiling. &ldquo;This bed
+      is declared to be inviolable.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was so unfortunate as to break it!&rdquo; said Otto, confused.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He wished to gather the dark-red pink for my table-garland!&rdquo; said Sophie.
+      &ldquo;If he took it, my conscience would be clear!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And they all three walked along speaking of cherries, gooseberries, of the
+      linen on the bleaching-ground, and of the warm summer&rsquo;s day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the evening Eva and the two sisters sat at their work, Otto and Wilhelm
+      had taken their seats beside them. They spoke of Copenhagen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie knew how to introduce a number of little anecdotes, which she had
+      gathered among the young ladies there. Otto entered into her ideas, and
+      knew cleverly how to support what she said. What in reality interested
+      young ladies was discussed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When a girl is confirmed, all manner of fancies awake!&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;She
+      experiences a kind of inclination for the heart of man; but this may not
+      be acknowledged, except for two friends to the clergyman and the
+      physician. For these she has quite a passion, especially for the former;
+      she stands in a kind of spiritual rapport with him. His physical
+      amiability melts into the spiritual. Thus her first love one may designate
+      clergyman-love.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is well said!&rdquo; exclaimed Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He preaches himself so deeply into her heart!&rdquo; pursued Otto. &ldquo;She melts
+      into tears, kisses his hand, and goes to church; but not for the sake of
+      God, but on account of the sweet clergyman!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, I know that so well!&rdquo; said Sophie, and laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fie! you do not mean so!&rdquo; said Louise; &ldquo;and I do not know how you can say
+      such a thing Mr. Thostrup! That is frightful! You do not in the least know
+      a young girl&rsquo;s soul! do not know the pure feeling with which she inclines
+      herself to the man who has laid open before her the holy things of
+      religion! Do not make sport of the innocent, the pure, which is so far
+      removed from every earthly impression!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I assure you,&rdquo; said Otto, smiling, &ldquo;were I a poet, I would make the
+      clergyman-love ridiculous in a hundred witty epigrams; and were I a
+      teacher, I would protest against it from the chair.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That would be scattering poison into a well!&rdquo; said Louise. &ldquo;You, as a
+      man, do not know the pure, the holy sentiment which exists in a young
+      girl&rsquo;s bosom. Eva, thou art certainly of my opinion?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Neither is this Mr. Thostrup&rsquo;s opinion?&rdquo; answered she, and looked at him
+      with a mild gravity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm laughed aloud.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0034" id="link2HCH0034">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXXIV
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Alas, I am no sturdy oak!
+     Alas, I&rsquo;m but the flower
+       That wakes the kiss of May!
+     And when has fled its little hour,
+       Will voice of Death obey.&rdquo;&mdash;RUCKERT.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The following afternoon came visitors&mdash;two young ladies from Nyborg,
+      friends of Sophie and Louise. Before dinner they would take a walk through
+      the wood to an inclosure where the flax was in bloom. Otto was to
+      accompany them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am also of the party!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, who just galloped into
+      the court-yard as the ladies, with Otto, were about setting out on their
+      excursion. Thus the whole company consisted of five ladies and two
+      gentlemen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The cows are not in the field over which we must go, are they?&rdquo; asked
+      Eva.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, my good girl!&rdquo; returned Sophie; &ldquo;you may be quite easy! Besides, we
+      have two gentlemen with us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes; but they would not be able to protect us from the unruly bullocks!&rdquo;
+       said Louise. &ldquo;But we have nothing to fear. Where we are going the cows do
+      not go until after they are milked. I am no heroine! Besides, it is not
+      long since one bullock nearly gored the cowherd to death. He also gored
+      Sidsel a great hole in her arm just lately: you remember the girl with her
+      eyebrows grown together?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There is also in the wood a wild sow, with eleven sucking pigs!&rdquo; said
+      Sophie, in ironical gravity; &ldquo;it would not be agree able to meet with
+      her!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is almost as dangerous as the bullocks!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, and
+      laughed at Eva.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The conversation took another turn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Shall we not visit Peter Cripple?&rdquo; asked Sophie. &ldquo;The gentlemen can then
+      see the smith&rsquo;s pretty daughter; she is really too beautiful to be his
+      wife!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is Peter Cripple married?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, the wedding will be held on Sunday!&rdquo; replied the Kammerjunker; &ldquo;but
+      the bride is already in the house. The bans were published last Sunday,
+      and they immediately commenced housekeeping together. This often takes
+      place even earlier, when a man cannot do without a wife. She has taken him
+      on account of his full money-bags!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, with the peasant it is seldom love which brings about the affair!&rdquo;
+       said Louise. &ldquo;Last year there was quite a young girl who married a man who
+      might have been her grandfather. She took him only, she said, because he
+      had such a good set of earthenware.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These were very brittle things to marry upon!&rdquo; remarked Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Meantime they were nearly come to the edge of the wood. Here stood a
+      little house; hops hung luxuriantly over the hedge, the cat stood with
+      bent back upon the crumbling edge of the well.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie, at the head of the whole company, stepped into the room, where
+      Peter Cripple sat on the table sewing; but, light and active as an elf, he
+      sprang down from the table to kiss her hand. The smith&rsquo;s pretty daughter
+      was stirring something in an iron pot in the hearth. St. John&rsquo;s wort,
+      stuck between the beams and the ceiling, shot forth in luxuriant growth,
+      prophesying long life to the inhabitants of the house. On the sooty
+      ceiling glittered herrings&rsquo; souls, as a certain portion of the herring&rsquo;s
+      entrails is called, and which Peter Cripple, following the popular belief,
+      had flung up to the ceiling, convinced that so long as they hung there he
+      should be freed from the ague.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto took no part in the conversation, but turned over a quantity of songs
+      which he found; they were stitched together in a piece of blue
+      tobacco-paper. The principal contents were, &ldquo;New, Melancholy Songs,&rdquo; &ldquo;Of
+      the Horrible Murder,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Audacious Criminal,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Devil in Salmon
+      Lane,&rdquo; &ldquo;Boat&rsquo;s Fall,&rdquo; and such things; which have now supplanted, among
+      the peasants, the better old popular songs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With Louise, Eva, and one of the ladies from Nyborg, Otto slowly preceded
+      the others, who had still some pleasantries to say before leaving Peter
+      Cripple and his bride.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Shall we not go over the inclosure to the cairn?&rdquo; said Louise. &ldquo;It is
+      clear to-day; we shall see Zealand. The others will follow us; here, from
+      the foot-path, they will immediately discover us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto opened the gate and they went through the inclosure. They had already
+      advanced a considerable way, when the Kammerjunker and his ladies reached
+      the foot-path from which they could see the others.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They are going to the cairn,&rdquo; said he.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then they will have a little fright!&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;Down in the corner of
+      the inclosure lie the young cattle. They may easily mistake them for cows,
+      and the wild bullocks!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Had we not better call them back?&rdquo; asked the other lady.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But we must frighten them a little,&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;Shout to them that
+      there are the cows!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, that I can do with a clear conscience!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker; and
+      he shouted as loud as he could, &ldquo;There are the cows! Turn back! turn
+      back!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Eva heard it the first. &ldquo;O God!&rdquo; said she, &ldquo;hear what they are calling to
+      us!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto glanced around, but saw no cows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They are standing still!&rdquo; said Sophie; &ldquo;call once again!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Kammerjunker shouted as before, and Sophie imitated the lowing of the
+      cows. At this noise the young cattle arose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Louise now became aware of them. &ldquo;O heavens!&rdquo; exclaimed she; &ldquo;there, down
+      in the corner of the inclosure, are all the cows!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let us run!&rdquo; cried Eva, and took to flight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For God&rsquo;s sake, do not run!&rdquo; cried Otto; &ldquo;walk slowly and quietly,
+      otherwise they may come!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come away, away!&rdquo; resounded from the wood.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Lord!&rdquo; shrieked Eva, when she saw the creatures raise their tails in
+      the air as soon as they perceived the fugitives.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now they are coming!&rdquo; cried the lady who accompanied them, and sent forth
+      a loud scream.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Eva fled first, as if borne by the wind; the lady followed her, and Louise
+      ran on after them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto now really saw all the cattle, which, upon the ladies flight, had
+      instinctively followed, chasing over the field after them in the same
+      direction.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nothing now remained for him but, like the others, to reach the gate. This
+      he opened, and had just closed again, when the cattle were close upon
+      them, but no one had eyes to see whether the cattle were little or big.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now there is no more danger!&rdquo; cried Otto, as soon as he had well closed
+      the gate; but the ladies still fled on, passing among the trees until they
+      reached the spot where the Kammerjunker and his two ladies awaited them
+      with ringing laughter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie was obliged to support herself against a tree through all the
+      amusement. It had been a most remarkable spectacle, this flight; Eva at
+      the head, and Mr. Thostrup rushing past them to open the gate. Louise was
+      pale as death, and her whole body trembled; the friend supported her arm
+      and forehead on a tree, and drew a long breath.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bah!&rdquo; again cried Sophie, and laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But where is Eva?&rdquo; asked Otto, and shouted her name.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She ran here before me!&rdquo; said Louise; &ldquo;she is doubtless leaning against a
+      tree, and recovering her strength.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Eva!&rdquo; cried Sophie. &ldquo;Where is my hero: &lsquo;I want a hero!&rsquo;&rdquo; [Author&rsquo;s Note:
+      Byron&rsquo;s Don Juan.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto returned to seek her. At this moment Wilhelm arrived.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Kammerjunker regretted that he had not seen the race with them, and
+      related the whole history to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O come! come!&rdquo; they heard Otto shout. They found him kneeling in the high
+      grass. Eva lay stretched out on the ground; she was as pale as death; her
+      head rested in Otto&rsquo;s lap.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;God in heaven!&rdquo; cried Wilhelm, and flung himself down before her. &ldquo;Eva!
+      Eva! O, she is dead! and thou art to blame for it, Sophie! Thou hast
+      killed her!&rdquo; Reproachfully he fixed his eyes on his sister. She burst into
+      tears, and concealed her face in her hands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto ran to the peasant&rsquo;s cottage and brought water. Peter Cripple himself
+      hopped like a mountain-elf behind him through the high nettles and
+      burdocks, which closed above and behind him again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Kammerjunker took Eva in his strong arms and carried her to the
+      cottage. Wilhelm did not leave hold of her hand. The others followed in
+      silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Try and get her home,&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;I myself will fetch the physician!&rdquo;
+       He rushed forth, and hastened through the wood to the ball, where he
+      ordered the men to bring out a sedan-chair for the invalid; then had
+      horses put into one of the lightest carriages, seated himself in it as
+      coachman, and drove away to Nyborg, the nearest town, which, however, was
+      distant almost twenty miles.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie was inconsolable. &ldquo;It is my fault!&rdquo; she said, and wept.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto found her sitting before the house, under an elder-tree. She could
+      not endure to see Eva&rsquo;s paleness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are innocent,&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;Believe me, to-morrow Eva will be
+      completely restored! She herself,&rdquo; added he, in an assuaging tone,
+      &ldquo;behaved in an imprudent manner. I warned her not to run. Her own terror
+      is to blame for all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no,&rdquo; returned Sophie; &ldquo;my folly, my extravagance, has caused the
+      whole misfortune!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now it is much better,&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, coming out of the house.
+      &ldquo;She must be devilish tender to fly before a few calves! I really must
+      laugh when I think of it, although it did come to such an end!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The men now arrived whom Wilhelm had sent with the sedan-chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Eva thought she could walk, if she might lean upon some one; but it would
+      be better, her friends thought, if she were carried.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Dost thou feel any pain?&rdquo; asked Louise, and gave her a sisterly kiss on
+      the brow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, none at all,&rdquo; replied Eva. &ldquo;Do not scold me for having frightened you
+      so. I am so fearful, and the bullock were close behind us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They were, God help me, only calves!&rdquo; answered the Kammerjunker; &ldquo;they
+      wished to play, and only ran because you ran!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was a foolish joke of mine!&rdquo; said Sophie, and seized Eva&rsquo;s hand. &ldquo;I am
+      very unhappy about it!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O no!&rdquo; said Eva, and smiled so pensively, yet happily. &ldquo;To-morrow I shall
+      be quite well again!&rdquo; Her eye seemed to seek some one.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto understood the glance. &ldquo;The physician is sent for. Wilhelm has
+      himself driven over for him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Toward the middle of the wood the mother herself approached them; she was
+      almost as pale as Eva.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All sought to calm her; Eva bowed her head to kiss the good lady&rsquo;s hand.
+      The Kammerjunker told the story to her, and she shook her head. &ldquo;What an
+      imprudent, foolish joke!&rdquo; said she; &ldquo;here you see the consequences!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Not before late in the afternoon did Wilhelm return with the physician; he
+      found his patient out of all danger, but prescribed what should still be
+      done. Quiet and the warm summer air would do the most for her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See,&rdquo; said Otto, when, toward evening he met Sophie in the garden,
+      &ldquo;to-day Wilhelm did not conceal his feelings!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I fear that you are right!&rdquo; returned Sophie. &ldquo;He loves Eva, and that is
+      very unfortunate. Tell me what you know about it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know almost nothing!&rdquo; said Otto, and told about little Jonas and the
+      first meeting with Eva.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, that he has told us already himself! But do you know nothing more?&rdquo;
+       Her voice became soft, and her eyes gazed full of confidence into Otto&rsquo;s.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He related to her the short conversation which he had had last autumn with
+      Wilhelm, how angry he had been with his candid warning, and how since then
+      they had never spoken about Eva.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I must confide my fear to our mother!&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;I almost now am glad
+      that he will travel in two months, although we shall then lose you also!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And Otto&rsquo;s heart beat; the secret of his heart pressed to his lips; every
+      moment he would speak it. But Sophie had always still another question
+      about her brother; they were already out of the garden, already in the
+      court-yard, and yet Otto had said nothing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Therefore was he so quiet when, late in the evening, he and Wilhelm
+      entered their chamber. Wilhelm also spoke no word, but his eye repeatedly
+      rested expectantly on Otto, as if waiting for him to break the silence.
+      Wilhelm stepped to the open window and drank in the fresh air, suddenly he
+      turned round, flung his arms round Otto, and exclaimed, &ldquo;I can no longer
+      endure it! I must say it to some one! I love her, and will never give her
+      up, let every one be opposed! I have now silently concealed my feelings
+      for some months; I can do so no longer, or I shall become ill, and for
+      that I am not made!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Does she know this?&rdquo; asked Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, and yes! I do not know what I should answer! Here at home I have
+      never spoken alone with her. The last time when Weyse played on the organ
+      at Roeskelde I had bought a pretty silk handkerchief, and this I took with
+      me for her; I know not, but I wished to give her pleasure. There came a
+      woman past with lovely stocks; I stood at the open window; she offered me
+      a bouquet, and I bought it. &lsquo;Those are lovely flowers!&rsquo; said Eva, when she
+      entered. &lsquo;They will fade with me!&rsquo; said I; &lsquo;put them in water and keep
+      there for yourself!&rsquo; She wished only to have a few, but I obliged her to
+      take them all: she blushed, and her eyes gazed strangely down into my
+      soul. I know not what sort of a creature I became, but it was impossible
+      for me to give her the handkerchief; it seemed to me that this would
+      almost be an offense. Eva went away with the flowers, but the next morning
+      it seemed to me that she was uneasy; I fancied I saw her color come and go
+      when I bade her adieu! She must have read the thoughts in my soul!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And the handkerchief?&rdquo; interrupted Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I gave it to my sister Sophie,&rdquo; said Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0035" id="link2HCH0035">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXXV
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+             &ldquo;Tell me
+     What would my heart?
+       My heart&rsquo;s with thee,
+     With thee would have a part.&rdquo;
+                GOETHE&rsquo;S West-östlicher Divan.
+
+     &ldquo;There stands the man again&mdash;
+     The man with gloomy mien.&rdquo;
+              Memories of Travel, by B. C. INGEMANN.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Several days passed; the fine crimson again returned to Eva&rsquo;s cheeks. The
+      first occasion of her going out with the others was to see the rape-stalks
+      burned. These were piled together in two immense stacks. In the morning,
+      at the appointed hour, which had been announced through the neighborhood
+      that no one might mistake it for a conflagration, the stalks were set fire
+      to. This took place in the nearest field, close beside the hall, where the
+      rape-seed was threshed upon an out-spread sail.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The landscape-painter, Dahl, has given us a picture of the burning
+      Vesuvius, where the red lava pours down the side of the mountain; in the
+      background one sees across the bay as far as Naples and Ischia: it is a
+      piece full of great effect. Such a splendid landscape is not to be found
+      in flat Denmark, where there are no great natural scenes, and yet this
+      morning presented even there a picture with the same brilliant coloring.
+      We will study it. In the foreground there is a hedge of hazels, the nuts
+      hang in great clusters, and contrast strongly with their bright green
+      against the dark leaves; the blue chicory-flower and the blood-red poppy
+      grew on the side of the ditch, upon which are some tall rails, over which
+      the ladies have to climb: the delicate sylph-like figure is Eva. In the
+      field, where nothing remains but the yellow stubble, stand Otto and
+      Wilhelm; two magnificent hounds wag their tails beside them. To the left
+      is a little lake, thickly overgrown with reeds and water-lilies, with the
+      yellow trollius for its border. In the front, where the wood retreats,
+      lie, like a great stack, the piled-together rape-stalks: the man has
+      struck fire, has kindled the outer side of them, and with a rapidity like
+      that of the descending lava the red fire flashes up the gigantic pile. It
+      crackles and roars within it. In a moment it is all a burning mound; the
+      red flames flash aloft into the blue air, high above the wood which is now
+      no longer visible. A thick black smoke ascends up into the clear air,
+      where it rests like a cloud. Out of the flames, and even out of the smoke,
+      the wind carries away large masses of fire, which, crackling and cracking,
+      are borne on to the wood, and which fill the spectator with apprehension
+      of their falling upon the nearest trees and burning up leaf and branch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let us go further off,&rdquo; said Sophie; &ldquo;the heat is too great here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They withdrew to the ditch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, how many nuts!&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm; &ldquo;and I do not get one of them! I
+      shall go after them if they be ripe.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But you have grapes and other beautiful fruit!&rdquo; said Eva smiling. &ldquo;We
+      have our beautiful things at home!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, it is beautiful, very beautiful at home!&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm;
+      &ldquo;glorious flowers, wild nuts; and there we have Vesuvius before us!&rdquo; He
+      pointed to the burning pile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; said Sophie; &ldquo;it seems to me much more like the pile upon which the
+      Hindoo widow lays herself alive to be burned! That must be horrible!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One should certainly be very quickly dead!&rdquo; said Eva.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Would you actually allow yourself to be burned to death, if you were a
+      Hindoo widow&mdash;after, for instance, Mr. Thostrup, or after Wilhelm,&rdquo;
+       said she, with a slight embarrassment, &ldquo;if he lay dead in the fire?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If it were the custom of the country, and I really had lost the only
+      support which I had in the world&mdash;yes, so I would!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, no, no!&rdquo; said Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In fact it is brilliant!&rdquo; exclaimed Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Burning is not, perhaps, the most painful of deaths!&rdquo; said Otto, and
+      plucked in an absent manner the nuts from the hedge. &ldquo;I know a story about
+      a true conflagration.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What is it like?&rdquo; asked Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet it is not a story to tell in a large company; it can only be heard
+      when two and two are together. When I have an opportunity, I shall tell
+      it!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, I know it!&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;You can relate it to one of my sisters
+      there, whichever you like best! Then I shall&mdash;yes, I must relate it
+      to Eva!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is too early in the day to hear stories told!&rdquo; said Louise; &ldquo;let us
+      rather sing a song!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, then we shall have to weep in the evening,&rdquo; replied Wilhelm. And they
+      had neither the song nor the story.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mamma came wandering with Vasserine, the old, faithful hound: they two
+      also wished to see how beautiful the burning looked. It succeeded
+      excellently with the rape-stalks; but the other burning, of which the
+      story was to be told, it did not yet arrive at an outbreak! It might be
+      expected, however, any hour in the day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the evening Otto walked alone through the great chestnut avenue. The
+      moon shone brightly between the tree-branches. When he entered the
+      interior court Wilhelm and Sophie skipped toward him, but softly, very
+      softly. They lifted their hands as if to impress silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come and see!&rdquo; said Sophie; &ldquo;it is a scene which might be painted! it
+      goes on merrily in the servants&rsquo; hall; one can see charmingly through the
+      window!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, come!&rdquo; said Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto stole softly forward. The lights shone forth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Within there was laughter and loud talking; one struck upon the table,
+      another sung,&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+        &ldquo;And I will away to Prussia land,
+             Hurrah!
+         And when I am come to Prussia land,
+             Hurrah!&rdquo;  [Note: People&rsquo;s song.]
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Otto looked in through the window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Several men and maids sat within at the long wooden table at the end of
+      this stood Sidsel in a bent attitude, her countenance was of a deep
+      crimson; she spoke a loud oath and laughed&mdash;no one imagined that they
+      were observed. All eyes were riveted upon a great fellow who, with his
+      shirt-sleeves rolled up, and a pewter tankard in his hand, was standing
+      there. It was the German Heinrich, who was exhibiting to them his
+      conjuring tricks. Otto turned pale; had the dead arisen from the bier
+      before him it could not have shocked him more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hocus-pocus Larifari!&rdquo; cried Heinrich within, and gave the tankard to a
+      half-grown fellow, of the age between boy and man.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If thou hast already a sweetheart,&rdquo; said he; &ldquo;then the corn which is
+      within it will be turned to flour; but if thou art still only a young
+      cuckoo, then it will remain only groats.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Anders Peersen!&rdquo; said all the girls laughing, &ldquo;now we shall see
+      whether thou art a regular fellow!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie stole away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The echoing laughter and clapping of hands announced the result.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it not the same person who was playing conjuring tricks in the park?&rdquo;
+       inquired Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, certainly,&rdquo; replied Otto; &ldquo;he is to me quite repulsive!&rdquo; And so
+      saying, he followed Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Late in the evening, when all had betaken themselves to rest, Wilhelm
+      proposed to Otto that they should make a little tour, as he called it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I fancy Meg Merrilies, as my sister calls Sidsel,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;has made a
+      conquest of the conjuror, although he might be her father. They have been
+      walking together down the avenue; they have been whispering a deal
+      together; probably he will to-night sleep in one of the barns. I must go
+      and look after him; he will be lying there and smoking his pipe, and may
+      set our whole place on fire. Shall we go down together? We can take
+      Vasserine and Fingel with us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let him sleep!&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;he will not be so mad as to smoke tobacco in
+      the straw! To speak candidly, I do not wish to be seen by him. He was
+      several times at my grandfather&rsquo;s house. I have spoken with him, and now
+      that I dislike him I do not wish to see him!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then I will go alone!&rdquo; said Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto&rsquo;s heart beat violently; he stood at the open window and looked out
+      over the dark wood, which was lit up by the moon. Below in the court he
+      heard Wilhelm enticing the dogs out. He heard yet another voice, it was
+      that of the steward, and then all was again silent. Otto thought upon the
+      German Heinrich and upon Sophie, his life&rsquo;s good and bad angels; and he
+      pictured to himself how it would be if she extended to him her hand&mdash;was
+      his bride! and Heinrich called forth before her the recollections which
+      made his blood curdle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It seemed to him as if something evil impended over him this night. &ldquo;I
+      feel a forewarning of it!&rdquo; said he aloud.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm came not yet back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Almost an hour passed thus. Wilhelm entered, both dogs were with him; they
+      were miry to their very sides.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did you meet any one?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, there was some one,&rdquo; said Wilhelm, &ldquo;but not in the barn. The stupid
+      dogs seemed to lose their nature; it was as if there was a somebody
+      stealing along the wall, and through the reeds in the moat. The hounds
+      followed in there; you can see how they look!&mdash;but they came the next
+      moment back again, whined, and hung down their ears and tails. I could not
+      make them go in again. Then the steward was superstitious! But, however,
+      it could only be either the juggler, or one of the servant-men who had
+      stilts. How otherwise any one could go in among the reeds without getting
+      up to their necks, I cannot conceive!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      All was again perfectly still without. The two friends went to the open
+      window, threw their arms over each other&rsquo;s shoulders, and looked out into
+      the silent night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0036" id="link2HCH0036">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXXVI.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Bring&rsquo; häusliche Hülfe
+     Incubus! incubus.
+     Tritt herhor und mache den Schluss.&rdquo;
+                             GOETHE&rsquo;s Faust.
+
+     &ldquo;Es giebt so bange Zeiten,
+     Es giebt so trüben Muth!&rdquo;&mdash;NOVALIS.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The next morning Wilhelm related his evening adventure at the
+      breakfast-table; the sisters laughed at it. The mother, on the contrary,
+      was silent, left the room, and after some time returned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There have been thieves here!&rdquo; said she, &ldquo;and one might almost imagine
+      that they were persons in the household itself. They have been at the
+      press where the table-linen is kept, and have not been sparing in their
+      levies. The beautiful old silver tankard, which I inherited from my
+      grandmother, is also missing. I would much sooner have given the value of
+      the silver than have lost that piece!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Will not the lady let it be tried by the sieve?&rdquo; asked the old servant:
+      &ldquo;that is a pretty sure way!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is nothing but superstition,&rdquo; answered she; &ldquo;in that way the
+      innocent may so easily be suspected.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As the lady pleases!&rdquo; said the servant, and shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the mean time a search through the house was instituted. The boxes of
+      the domestics were examined, but nothing was discovered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you would only let the sieve be tried!&rdquo; said the old servant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the afternoon Otto went into the garden; he fell into discourse with
+      the gardener, and they spoke of the theft which had occurred.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It vexes every one of us,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;because we think much of the lady,
+      and of the whole family. And some one must, nevertheless, be suspected. We
+      believe that it was Sidsel, for she was a good-for-nothing person! We
+      folks tried among ourselves with the sieve, but however, at the mention of
+      her name, if it did not move out of its place. We had set it upon the
+      point of a knife, and mentioned the name of every person about the place,
+      but it stood as if it were nailed quite fast. But there was really
+      something to see, which not one of us would have believed. I&rsquo;ll say no
+      more about it, although we had every one of us our own thoughts. I would
+      have taken my oath of it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto pressed him to mention the person who was suspected.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, to you perhaps, I may mention it,&rdquo; replied he; &ldquo;but you will not say
+      anything about it? As we were standing today, at noon, around the sieve,
+      and it did not move at Sidsel&rsquo;s name, she became angry, because a word bad
+      been let fall which could not be agreeable to her if she were innocent.
+      She drew herself up as if in a passion, and said to us, &lsquo;But there are
+      also in the hall a many people besides us, who may slip and slide! There
+      are strangers here, and the fine Mamsell, and the farmers. Yes, I suspect
+      no one, but every one ought to be named!&rsquo; 
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And so we did it. Yes, we mentioned even your name, Mr. Thostrup,
+      although we knew very well that you were guiltless of the charge; but we
+      would not excuse any one. The sieve stood quite entirely still until we
+      mentioned Eva&rsquo;s name, and then it moved. Not one of us actually could
+      believe it, and the servant Peter said also that it was because of the
+      draught from the chimney. We mentioned yet once more all the names, and
+      the sieve stood still until we came to Eva&rsquo;s, and then we perceived very
+      plainly a movement. The servant Peter at the same moment gave a great blow
+      to the sieve, so that it fell to the ground, and he swore that it was a
+      lie, and that he would answer for Eva. I would have done so too; but yet
+      it was very extraordinary with the sieve! Most of the folks, however, have
+      their own thoughts, but no one venture to express them to the gentry who
+      think so much of her. I cannot, however, rightly reconcile it to myself!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is innocent!&rdquo; said Otto; and it amazed him that any one should cast
+      the slightest suspicion on Eva. He thought of German Heinrich and Sidsel,
+      who alone appeared to him suspicious. There then occurred to him an
+      experiment of which he had heard from Rosalie. It now seemed to him
+      available, and, physiologically considered, much more certain than that
+      with the sieve.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Probably it may lead to a discovery,&rdquo; said he, after he had communicated
+      his whole plan to Sophie and the steward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, we mast try it!&rdquo; said she; &ldquo;it is excellent! I also will be put to
+      the proof, although I am initiated into the mystery.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, you, your sister, Wilhelm, Eva, we all of us must,&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;Only
+      I will not do the speaking: that the steward must do.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is proper, very proper!&rdquo; replied she: &ldquo;it shall be tried this
+      evening when it is dark.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The time came; the steward assembled the people.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now I know,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;how we shall find the thief!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      All were to remain in the first room: within a side-room, which was quite
+      dark, there stood in a corner on the right hand a copper kettle; to this
+      every person as they came in, one by one, were to go and lay their hand
+      down on the flat bottom of the kettle. The hand of every one who was
+      innocent would be brought out again white and pure, but the hand of the
+      criminal would be severely burned, and would become black as a coal.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He who now,&rdquo; said the steward, addressing them, &ldquo;has a good conscience,
+      may go with this and our Lord into the innermost room, lay his hand upon
+      the bottom of the kettle, and show it to me. Now I go to receive you all!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The daughters went, the friends, Eva, and all the household. The steward
+      questioned them as they came in: &ldquo;Answer me, upon thy conscience, did thy
+      hand touch the flat bottom of the kettle?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      All replied, &ldquo;Yes!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then show me your hand!&rdquo; said he; and they showed them, and all were
+      black: Sidsel&rsquo;s alone was white.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou art the thief!&rdquo; said the steward. &ldquo;Thy evil conscience has condemned
+      thee. Thou hast not touched the kettle; hast not laid thy hand upon it, or
+      it would have become as black as that of the others. The kettle was
+      blackened inside with turpentine smoke; they who came with a good
+      conscience, knowing that their hands would remain pure like their
+      consciences, touched the kettle fearlessly and their hands became black!
+      Thou hast condemned thyself! Confess, or it will go worse with thee!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Sidsel, uttered a horrible cry and fell down upon her knees.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O God, help me!&rdquo; said she, and confessed that she was the thief.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A chamber high up in the roof was prepared as a prison; here the
+      delinquent was secured until the affair, on the following day, should be
+      announced to the magistrate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou shalt be sent to Odense, and work upon the treadmill!&rdquo; said Wilhelm:
+      &ldquo;to that thou belongest!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The family assembled at the tea-table. Sophie joked about the day&rsquo;s
+      adventure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Poor Sidsel!&rdquo; said Eva.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In England she would be hanged,&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;that would be a fine
+      thing to see!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Horrible!&rdquo; replied Louise; &ldquo;they must die of terror in going to the
+      gallows.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, it is very merry,&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;Now you shall hear what glorious
+      music has been set to it by Rossini!&rdquo; And he played the march from &ldquo;Gazza
+      Ladra,&rdquo; where a young girl is led to the gallows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it not merry?&rdquo; asked he. &ldquo;Yes, he is a composer!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To me it seems precisely characteristic,&rdquo; answered Otto. &ldquo;They are not
+      the feelings of the girl which the composer wished to express; it is the
+      joy of the rude rabble in witnessing an execution&mdash;to them a charming
+      spectacle, which is expressed in these joyous tones: it is a tragic opera,
+      and therefore he chose exactly this character of expression!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is difficult to say anything against that,&rdquo; replied Wilhelm; &ldquo;yet what
+      you assert I have not heard from any other person.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When a soldier is executed they play some lively air,&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;the
+      contrast in this case brings forth the strongest effect!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The servant now entered, and said with a smile that Peter Cripple, the
+      &ldquo;new-married man,&rdquo; as he called him, was without and wished to speak to
+      the Baron Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is about a waltz,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;which the Baron had promised to him!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is late for him to come into the court!&rdquo; said Sophie &ldquo;the peasants
+      generally go to bed with the sun.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In the lobby stood the announced Peter in his stocking-feet, with his hat
+      in one hand and a great stick in the other. He knew, he said, that it was
+      still daytime with the gentlefolks; he was just coming past the hall and
+      thought that he could, perhaps, have that Copenhagen Waltz which the Baron
+      had promised him: he should want it to-morrow night to play at a wedding,
+      and, therefore, he wished to have it now that he might practice it first
+      of all.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie inquired after his young wife, and said something merry. Louise
+      gave him a cup of tea, which he drank in the lobby. Otto looked at him
+      through the open door; he made comical grimaces, and looked almost as if
+      he wished to speak with him. Otto approached him, and Peter thrust a piece
+      of paper into his hand, making at the same time a significant gesture
+      indicative of silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto stepped aside and examined the dirty piece of paper, which was folded
+      together like a powder and sealed with a lump of wax. On the outside
+      stood, in scarcely legible characters,
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+           &ldquo;TotH&rsquo; WeL-borne,
+               Mr. Odto Tustraab.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      He endeavored, in the first place, to read it in the moonlight; but that
+      was scarcely possible.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After considerable labor he made out the meaning of this letter, written,
+      as it was in a half-German, half-Danish gibberish, of the orthography of
+      which we have given a specimen in the direction. The letter was from the
+      German Heinrich. He besought Otto to meet him this evening in the wood
+      near Peter Cripple&rsquo;s house, and he would give to him an explanation which
+      should be worth the trouble of the walk. It would occasion, he said, much
+      trouble and much misery to Mr Thostrup if he did not go.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A strange anxiety penetrated Otto. How could he steal away without being
+      missed? and yet go he both must and should. An extraordinary anxiety drove
+      him forth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, the sooner the better!&rdquo; said he, hastening down the steps and
+      leaping in haste over the low garden-fence lest the gate should, perhaps,
+      make a noise. He was very soon in the wood: he heard the beating of his
+      own heart.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Eternal Father!&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;strengthen my soul! Release me from this
+      anxiety which overpowers me! Let all be for the best!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He had now reached Peter Cripple&rsquo;s house. A figure leaned against the
+      wall; Otto paused, measured it with his eye to ascertain who it was, and
+      recognized German Heinrich.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do you want with me?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Heinrich raised his hand in token of silence, beckoned him forward, and
+      opened a little gate which led to the back of the house. Otto mechanically
+      followed him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It goes on badly at the hall,&rdquo; said Heinrich. &ldquo;Sidsel is really put in
+      prison, and will be taken to-morrow to Odense, to the red house by the
+      river.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is what she has deserved!&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;I did not bring it about.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O no!&rdquo; answered Heinrich; &ldquo;in a certain way we bring nothing about; but
+      you can put in a good word for her. You must see that this punishment does
+      not befall her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But the punishment is merited!&rdquo; replied Otto; &ldquo;and how can I mix myself
+      up in the affair? What is it that you have to say to me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet, the good gentleman must not get angry!&rdquo; began Heinrich again; &ldquo;but I
+      am grieved about the girl. I can very well believe that he does not know
+      her, and therefore it gives him no trouble; but if I were now to whisper a
+      little word in his ear? She is your own sister, Mr. Thostrup!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      All grew dark before Otto&rsquo;s eyes; a chill as of death went through his
+      blood; his hands held firmly by the cold wall, or he must have sunk to the
+      earth; not a sound escaped his lips.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      German Heinrich laid his hand in a confidential manner upon his shoulder,
+      and continued in a jeering, agitated tone, &ldquo;Yes, it is hard for you to
+      hear! I also struggled a long time with myself before I could make up my
+      mind to tell you. But a little trouble is preferable to a great one. I had
+      some talk with her yesterday, but I did not mention you, although it
+      seemed queer to me at my heart that the brother should sit at the first
+      table with the young ladies, and the sister be farm swine-maiden. Now they
+      have put her in prison! I am very sorry for her and you too, Mr. Thostrup,
+      for it is disagreeable! If the magistrate come to-morrow morning, and she
+      fall into the claws of the red angel, it will not be so easy to set her at
+      liberty again! But yet you could, perhaps, help her; as, for instance,
+      to-night! I could make an opportunity&mdash;I would be in the great avenue
+      beyond the hall. If she could get thus far she would be safe; I would then
+      conduct her out of this part of the country. I may as well tell you that
+      we were yesterday half-betrothed! She goes with me; and you can persuade
+      the gracious lady at the hall to let the bird fly!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But how can I? how can I?&rdquo; exclaimed Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is, however, always your sister!&rdquo; said Heinrich, and they both
+      remained silent for a moment. &ldquo;Then I will,&rdquo; said Heinrich, &ldquo;if all be
+      still at the hall, wait in the avenue as the bell goes twelve.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I must!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto; &ldquo;I must! God help me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Jesu, Maria, help!&rdquo; said Heinrich, and Otto left him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is my sister! she, the most horrible of all!&rdquo; sighed he; his knees
+      trembled, and he leaned against a tree for support: his countenance was
+      like that of the dead; cold sweat-drops stood upon his brow. All around
+      him lay the dark night-like wood; only to the left glimmered, between the
+      bushes, the moonlight reflected from the lake.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Within its depths,&rdquo; sighed he, &ldquo;all would be forgotten&mdash;my grief
+      would be over! Yet, what is my sin? Had I an existence before I was born
+      upon this globe? Must I here be punished for sins which I then committed?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      His dark eye stared lifelessly out of his pale countenance. Thus sit the
+      dead upon their graves in the silent night; thus gazes the somnambulist
+      upon the living world around him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have felt this moment before&mdash;this moment which now is here; it
+      was the well-spring whence poison was poured over my youthful days! She is
+      my sister! She? unhappy one that I am!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Tears streamed from his eyes, it was a convulsive weeping; he cried aloud,
+      it was impossible to him to suppress his voice; he sank half down by the
+      tree and wept, for it was night in his soul: silent, bitter tears flowed,
+      as the blood flows when the heart is transpierced. Who could breathe to
+      him consolation? There lay no balsam in the gentle airs of the clear
+      summer night, in the fragrance of the wood, in the holy, silent spirit of
+      nature. Poor Otto!
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+             &ldquo;Weep, only weep! it gives repose,
+              A world is every tear that flows,&mdash;
+              A world of anguish and unrest,
+              That rolleth from the troubled breast.
+
+             &ldquo;And hast thou wept whilst tears can flow,
+              A tranquil peace thy heart will know;
+              For sorrow, trivial or severe,
+              Hath had its seat in every tear.
+
+             &ldquo;Think&rsquo;st thou that He, whose love beholds
+              The worm the smallest leaf enfolds,&mdash;
+              That He, whose power sustains the whole
+              Forgets a world&mdash;thy human soul?&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0037" id="link2HCH0037">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXXVII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Mourir! c&rsquo;est un instant de supplice: mais vivre?&rdquo;
+      &mdash;FRÉDÉRIC SOULIE.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The physician from Nyborg, who had been on a visit to a sick person in the
+      neighborhood, took this opportunity of calling on the family and inquiring
+      after Eva&rsquo;s health. They had prayed him to stay over the night there, and
+      rather to drive hone in the early morning than so late in the evening. He
+      allowed himself to be persuaded. Otto, on his return, found him and the
+      family in deep conversation. They were talking of the &ldquo;Letters of a
+      Wandering Ghost.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where have you been?&rdquo; asked Sophie, as Otto entered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You look so pale!&rdquo; said Louise; &ldquo;are you ill?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not feel well!&rdquo; replied Otto; &ldquo;I went therefore down into the garden
+      a little. Now I am perfectly recovered.&rdquo; And he took part in the
+      conversation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The overwhelming sorrow had dissolved itself in tears. His mind had raised
+      itself up again from its stupefaction, and sought for a point of light on
+      which to attach itself. They were talking of the immense caves of
+      Maastricht, how they stretch themselves out into deep passages and vast
+      squares, in which sound is lost, and where the light, which cannot reach
+      the nearest object, only glimmers like a point of fire. In order to
+      comprehend this vacuity and this darkness, the travellers let the guide
+      extinguish his torch, and all is night; they are penetrated, as it were,
+      with darkness; the hand feels after a wall, in order to have some
+      restraint, some thought on which to repose itself: the eye sees nothing;
+      the ear hears nothing. Horror seizes on the strongest mind: the same
+      darkness, the same desolate emotion, had Heinrich&rsquo;s words breathed into
+      Otto&rsquo;s soul; therefore he sank like the traveller to the earth: but as the
+      traveller&rsquo;s whole soul rivets itself by the eye upon the first spark which
+      glimmers, to kindle again the torch which is to lead him forth from this
+      grave, so did Otto attach himself to the first awakening thought of help.
+      &ldquo;Wilhelm? his soul is noble and good, him will I initiate into my painful
+      secret, which chance had once almost revealed to him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But this was again extinguished, as the first spark is extinguished which
+      the steel gives birth to. He could not confide himself to Wilhelm; the
+      understanding which this very confidence would give birth to between them,
+      must separate them from each other. It was humiliating, it was
+      annihilating. But for Sophie? No, how could he, after that, declare the
+      love of his heart? how far below her should he be placed, as the child of
+      poverty and shame! But the mother of the family? Yes, she was gentle and
+      kind; with a maternal sentiment she extended to him her hand, and looked
+      upon him as on a near relation. His thoughts raised themselves on high,
+      his hands folded themselves to prayer; &ldquo;The will of the Lord alone be
+      done!&rdquo; trembled involuntarily from his lips. Courage returned refreshingly
+      to his heart. The help of man was like the spark which was soon
+      extinguished; God was an eternal torch, which illumined the darkness and
+      could guide him through it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Almighty God! thou alone canst and willest!&rdquo; said he; &ldquo;to thou who
+      knowest the heart, do thou alone help and lead me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This determination was firmly taken; to no human being would he confide
+      himself; alone would he release the prisoner, and give her up to Heinrich.
+      He thought upon the future, and yet darker and heavier than hitherto it
+      stood before him. But he who confides in God can never despair the only
+      thing that was now to be done was to obtain the key of the chamber where
+      Sidsel was confined, and then when all in the house were asleep he would
+      dare that which must be done.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Courage and tranquillity return into every powerful soul when it once sees
+      the possibility of accomplishing its work. With a constrained vivacity
+      Otto mingled in the conversation, no one imagining what a struggle his
+      soul had passed through.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The disputation continued. Wilhelm was in one of his eloquent moods. The
+      doctor regarded the &ldquo;Letters of the Wandering Ghost&rdquo; as one of the most
+      perfect books in the Danish literature. Once Sophie had been of the same
+      opinion, now she preferred Cooper&rsquo;s novels to this and all other books.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;People so easily forget the good for the new,&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;if the new
+      is only somewhat astonishing, the many regard the author as the first of
+      writers. The nation is, aesthetically considered, now in its period of
+      development. Every really cultivated person, who stands among the best
+      spirits of his age, obtains, whilst he observes his own advance in the
+      intellectual kingdom, clearness with regard to the development of his
+      nation. This has, like himself, its distinct periods; in him some
+      important event in life, in it some agitating world convulsion, may
+      advance them suddenly a great leap forward. The public favor is unsteady;
+      to-day it strews palm-branches, to-morrow it cries, &lsquo;Crucify him!&rsquo; But I
+      regard that as a moment of development. You will permit me to make use of
+      an image to elucidate my idea. The botanist goes wandering through field
+      and wood, he collects flowers and plants; every one of these had, while he
+      gathered it, his entire interest, his whole thought&mdash;but the
+      impression which it made faded before that of its successor: nor is it
+      till after a longer time that he is able to enjoy the whole of his
+      treasures, and arrange them according to their worth and their rareness.
+      The public seizes alike upon flowers and herbs; we hear its assiduous
+      occupation with the object of the moment, but it is not yet come into
+      possession of the whole. At one time, that which was sentimental was the
+      foremost in favor, and that poet was called the greatest who best knew how
+      to touch this string; then it passed over to the peppered style of
+      writing, and nothing pleased but histories of knights and robbers. Now
+      people find pleasure in prosaic life, and Schröder and Iffland are the
+      acknowledged idols. For us the strength of the North opened heroes and
+      gods, a new and significant scene. Then tragedy stood uppermost with us.
+      Latterly we have begun to feel that this is not the flesh and blood of the
+      present times. Then the fluttering little bird, the vaudeville, came out
+      to us from the dark wood, and enticed us into our own chambers, where all
+      is warm and comfortable, where one has leave to laugh, and to laugh is now
+      a necessity for the Danes. One must not, like the crowd, inconsiderately
+      place that as foremost which swims upon the waters, but treasure the good
+      of every time, and arrange them side by side, as the botanist arranges his
+      plants. Every people must, under the poetical sunshine, have their
+      sentimental period, their berserker rage, their enjoyment of domestic
+      life, and their giddy flights beyond it; it must merge itself in
+      individuality before it can embrace the beauty of the whole. It is
+      unfortunate for the poet who believes himself to be the wheel of his age;
+      and yet he, with his whole crowd of admirers, is, as Menzel says, only a
+      single wheel in the great machine&mdash;a little link in the infinite
+      chain of beauty.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You speak like a Plato!&rdquo; said Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If we could accord as well in music as we do in poetry,&rdquo; said Otto, &ldquo;then
+      we should be entirely united in our estimation of the arts. I love that
+      music best which goes through the ear to the heart, and carries me away
+      with it; on the contrary, if it is to be admired by the understanding, it
+      is foreign to me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, that is your false estimation of the subject, dear friend!&rdquo; said
+      Wilhelm: &ldquo;in aesthetics you come at once to the pure and true; but in
+      music you are far away in the outer court, where the crowd is dancing,
+      with cymbals and trumpets, around the musical golden calf!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And now the aesthetic unity brought them into a musical disunity. On such
+      occasions, Otto was not one to be driven back from his position; he very
+      well knew how to bear down his assailant by striking and original
+      observations: but Otto, this evening, although he was animated enough&mdash;excited,
+      one might almost say&mdash;did not exhibit the calmness, the decision in
+      his thoughts and words, which otherwise would have given him the victory.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was a long hour, and one yet longer and more full of anxiety, which
+      commenced with supper. The conversation turned to the events of the day.
+      Otto mingled in it, and endeavored therefrom to derive advantage; it was a
+      martyrdom of the soul. Sophie praised highly his discovery.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If Mr. Thostrup had not been here,&rdquo; said she, &ldquo;then we should hardly have
+      discovered the thief. We must thank Mr. Thostrup for it, and really for a
+      merry, amusing spectacle.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They joked about it alai laughed, and Otto was obliged to laugh also.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And now she sits up there, like a captive, in the roof!&rdquo; said he; &ldquo;it
+      must be an uncomfortable night to her!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, she sleeps, perhaps, better than some of us others!&rdquo; said Wilhelm:
+      &ldquo;that will not annoy her!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is confined in the gable chamber, out in the court, is she not?&rdquo;
+       inquired Otto: &ldquo;there she has not any moonlight.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, surely she has!&rdquo; answered Sophie; &ldquo;it is in the gable to the right,
+      hooking toward the wood, that she is confined. We have placed her as near
+      to the moon as we could. The gable on the uppermost floor is our keep.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But is it securely locked?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There is a padlock and a great bar outside the door; those she cannot
+      force, and no one about the place will do such a piece of service for her.
+      They dislike her, every one of them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They rose up from the table; the bell was just on the stroke of eleven.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But the Baron must play us a little piece!&rdquo; said the physician.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then Mr. Thostrup will sing us the pretty Jutlandish song by
+      Steen-Blicher!&rdquo; exclaimed Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O yes!&rdquo; said the mother, and clapped Otto on the shoulder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm played.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do sing!&rdquo; said Wilhelm; all besought him to do so, and Otto sang the
+      Jutlandish song for them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See, you sang that with the proper humor,&rdquo; said Sophie, and clapped her
+      hands in applause. With that all arose, offered to him their hands, and
+      Wilhelm whispered to him, yet so that the sisters heard it, &ldquo;This evening
+      you have been right amiable!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto and Wilhelm went to their sleeping-room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But, my good friend,&rdquo; said Wilhelm, &ldquo;what did you really go into the
+      garden for? Be so good as to confess to me: you were not unwell! You did
+      not go only into the garden! you went into the wood, and you remained a
+      long time there! I saw it! You made a little visit to the handsome woman
+      while the fiddler was here, did you not? I do not trust you so entirely!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are joking!&rdquo; answered Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes,&rdquo; continued Wilhelm, &ldquo;she is a pretty little woman. Do you not
+      remember how, last year at the mowing-feast, I threw roses at her? Now she
+      is Peter Cripple&rsquo;s wife. When she comes with her husband then we have,
+      bodily, &lsquo;Beauty and the Beast.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      That which Otto desired was, that Wilhelm should now soon go to sleep,
+      and, therefore, he would not contradict him; he confessed even that the
+      young wife was handsome, but added that she, as Peter Cripple&rsquo;s wife, was
+      to him like a beautiful flower upon which a toad had set itself,&mdash;it
+      would be disgusting to him to press the flower to his lips.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The friends were soon in bed. They bade each other good night, and seemed
+      both of them to sleep; and with Wilhelm this was the case.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto lay awake; his pulse throbbed violently.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now the great hall clock struck twelve. All was still, quite still; but
+      Otto did not yet dare to raise himself. It struck a quarter past the hour.
+      He raised himself slowly, and glanced toward the bed where Wilhelm lay.
+      Otto arose and dressed himself, suppressing the while his very breathing.
+      A hunting-knife which hung upon the wall, and which belonged to Wilhelm,
+      he put in his pocket; and lifted up, to take with him, the fire-tongs,
+      with which he intended to break the iron staple that held the padlock. Yet
+      once more he looked toward Wilhelm, who slept soundly. He opened the door,
+      and went out without his shoes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He looked out from the passage-windows to see if lights were visible from
+      any part of the building. All was still; all was in repose. That which he
+      now feared most was, that one of the dogs might be lying in the lobby, and
+      should begin to bark. But there was not one. He mounted up the steps, and
+      went into the upper story.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Only once before had he been there; now all was in darkness. He felt with
+      his hands before him as he went.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length he found a narrow flight of stairs which led into a yet higher
+      story. The opening at the top was closed, and he was obliged to use his
+      whole strength to open it. At length it gave way with a loud noise. This
+      was not the proper entrance; that lay on the opposite side of the story,
+      and had he gone there he would have found it open, whereas this one had
+      not been opened for a long time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The violent efforts which he had made caused him great pain, both in his
+      neck and shoulders; but he was now at the very top of the building, close
+      before the door he sought, and the moonlight shone in through the opening
+      in the roof.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      By the help of the hunting-knife and the fire-tongs he succeeded in
+      forcing the door, and that without any very considerable noise. He looked
+      into a small, low room, upon the floor of which some dirty coverlets were
+      thrown.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sidsel slept deeply and soundly with open mouth. A thick mass of hair
+      escaped from beneath her cap, upon her brow; the moonlight fell, through
+      the window-pane in the roof, upon her face. Otto bowed himself over her
+      and examined the coarse, unpleasing features. The thick, black eyebrows
+      appeared only like one irregular streak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is my sister!&rdquo; was the thought which penetrated him. &ldquo;She lay upon
+      the same bosom that I did! The blood in these limbs has kinship with that
+      in mine! She was the repelled one, the rejected one!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He trembled with pain and anguish; but it was only for a short time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stand up!&rdquo; cried he, and touched the sleeper.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ih, jane dou! [Author&rsquo;s Note: An exclamation among the common people of
+      Funen, expressive of terror.] what is it?&rdquo; cried she, half terrified, and
+      fixed her unpleasant eyes wildly upon him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come with me!&rdquo; said Otto, and his voice trembled as he spoke. &ldquo;German
+      Heinrich waits in the avenue! I will help you out! Hence; to-morrow it
+      will be too late!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do you say?&rdquo; asked she, and still looked at him with a bewildered
+      mien.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto repeated his words.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you think that I can get away?&rdquo; asked she, and seized him by the arm,
+      as she hastily sprang up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Only silently and circumspectly!&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I should not have expected theft from you!&rdquo; said she. &ldquo;But tell me why
+      you do it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto trembled; it was impossible for him to tell her his reasons, or to
+      express the word,&mdash;&ldquo;Thou art my sister!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      His lips were silent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To many a fellow,&rdquo; said she, &ldquo;have I been kinder than I ought to have
+      been, but see whether any of them think about Sidsel! And you do it! You
+      who are so fine and so genteel!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto pressed together his eyelids; he heard her speak; an animal
+      coarseness mingled itself with a sort of confidential manner which was
+      annihilating to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is my sister!&rdquo; resounded in his soul.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come now! come now!&rdquo; and, descending the steps, she followed after him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know a better way!&rdquo; said she, as they came to the lowest story. She
+      seized his arm and they again descended a flight of steps.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suddenly a door opened itself, and Louise, still dressed, stepped forth
+      with a light. She uttered a faint cry, and her eye riveted itself upon the
+      two forms before her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But still more terribly and more powerfully did this encounter operate
+      upon Otto. His feet seemed to fail him, and, for a moment, every object
+      moved before his eyes in bright colors. It was the moment of his severest
+      suffering. He sprang forth toward Louise, seized her hand, and, pale as
+      death, with lifeless, staring eyes, half kneeling, besought of her, with
+      an agitated voice:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For God&rsquo;s sake, tell no one of that which you have seen! I am compelled
+      to serve her&mdash;she is my sister! If you betray my secret I am lost to
+      this world&mdash;I must die! It was not until this evening that I knew
+      this to be the case! I will tell you all, but do not betray me! And do you
+      prevent tomorrow any pursuit after her! O Louise! by the happiness of your
+      own soul feel for the misery of mine! I shall destroy myself if you betray
+      me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O God!&rdquo; stammered Louise. &ldquo;I will do all&mdash;all! I will be silent!
+      Conduct her hence, quick, that you may meet with no one!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She seized Otto&rsquo;s hand; he sank upon his knee before her, and looked like
+      a marble image which expressed manly beauty and sorrow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Louise bent herself with sisterly affection over him; tears flowed down
+      her cheeks; her voice trembled, but it was tranquillizing, like the
+      consolation of a good angel. With a glance full of confidence in her, Otto
+      tore himself away. Sidsel followed him and said not a word.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He led her to the lowest story and opened for her, silently, a window,
+      through which she could descend to the garden, and thence easily reach the
+      avenue where German Heinrich waited for her. To have accompanied her any
+      further was unnecessary; it would have been venturing too much without any
+      adequate cause. She stood now upon the window-sill&mdash;Otto put a little
+      money into her hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Lord is above us!&rdquo; said he, in a solemn voice. &ldquo;Never forget Him and
+      endeavor to amend your life! All may yet be well!&rdquo; He involuntarily
+      pressed her hand in his. &ldquo;Have God always in your thoughts!&rdquo; said he.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shall get safely away, however,&rdquo; said she, and descended into the
+      garden; she nodded, and vanished behind the hedge.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto stood for a while and listened whether any noise was heard, or
+      whether any dog barked. He feared for her safety. All was still.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Just as sometimes an old melody will suddenly awake in our remembrance and
+      sound in our ear, so awoke now a holy text to his thoughts. &ldquo;Lord, if I
+      should take the wings of the morning, and should fly to the uttermost
+      parts of the sea, thither thou wouldst lead me, and thy right hand would
+      hold me fast! Thou art near to us! Thou canst accomplish and thou willest
+      our well-being! Thou alone canst help us!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In silence he breathed his prayer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He returned to his chamber more composed in mind. Wilhelm seemed to sleep;
+      but as Otto approached his bed he suddenly raised himself, and looked,
+      inquiringly, around him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who is there?&rdquo; exclaimed he; &ldquo;you are dressed! where have you been?&rdquo; He
+      was urgent in his inquiry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto gave a joking reason.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let me have your hand!&rdquo; said he. Otto gave it to him, he felt his pulse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, quite correct!&rdquo; said he; &ldquo;the blood is yet in commotion. One sees
+      plain enough that there is no concealing things! Here was I sleeping in
+      all innocence, and you were running after adventures. You wicked bird!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The thoughts worked rapidly in Otto&rsquo;s soul. If Louise would only be
+      silent, no one would dream of the possibility of his having part in
+      Sidsel&rsquo;s flight. He must allow Wilhelm quietly to have his joke.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Was not I right?&rdquo; asked Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And if now you were so,&rdquo; replied Otto, &ldquo;will you tell it to any one?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you think that I could do such a thing?&rdquo; replied Wilhelm; &ldquo;we are all
+      of us only mortal creatures!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto gave him his hand. &ldquo;Be silent!&rdquo; he said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, certainly,&rdquo; said Wilhelm; and, according to his custom, strengthened
+      it with an oath. &ldquo;Now I have sworn it,&rdquo; said he; &ldquo;but when there is an
+      opportunity you must tell me more about it!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, certainly,&rdquo; said Otto, with a deep sigh. Before his friend he no
+      longer stood pure and guiltless.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They slept. Otto&rsquo;s sleep was only a hateful dream.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0038" id="link2HCH0038">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXXVIII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;...Wie entzückend
+     Und süss es ist, in einer schönen Seele,
+     Verherrlicht uns zu fühlen, es zu wissen,
+     Das uns&rsquo;re Fruede fremde Wangen röthet,
+     Und uns&rsquo;re Angst in fremdem Busen zittert,
+     Das uns&rsquo;re Leiden fremde Augen nässen.&rdquo;
+                                      SCHILLER.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How pale!&rdquo; said Wilhelm the next morning to Otto. &ldquo;Do you see, that is
+      what people get by night-wandering?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How so?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm made a jest of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You have been dreaming that!&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How do you mean?&rdquo; replied Wilhelm; &ldquo;will you make me fancy that I have
+      imagined it? I was really quite awake! we really talked about it; I was
+      initiated in it. Actually I have a good mind to give you a moral lecture.
+      If it had been me, how you would have preached!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They were summoned to breakfast. Otto&rsquo;s heart was ready to burst. What
+      might he not have to hear? What must he say?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie was much excited.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did you, gentlemen, hear anything last night?&rdquo; she inquired. &ldquo;Have you
+      both slept?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, certainly,&rdquo; replied Wilhelm, and looked involuntarily at Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The bird is flown, however!&rdquo; said she; &ldquo;it has made its escape out of the
+      dove-cote.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What bird?&rdquo; asked Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sidsel!&rdquo; replied she; &ldquo;and, what is oddest in the whole affair is, that
+      Louise has loosed her wings. Louise is quite up to the romantic. Think
+      only! she went up in the night to the topmost story, unlocked the
+      prison-tower, gave a moral lecture to Sidsel, and after that let her go!
+      Then in the morning comes Louise to mamma, relates the whole affair, and
+      says a many affecting things!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I do not understand it,&rdquo; said the mother, addressing Louise. &ldquo;How
+      you could have had the courage to go up so late at night, and go up to <i>her</i>!
+      But it was very beautiful of you! Let her escape! it is, as you say, best
+      that she should. We should all of us have thought of that last evening!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was so sorry for her!&rdquo; said Louise; &ldquo;and by chance it happened that I
+      had a great many things to arrange after you were all in bed. Everything
+      was so still in the house, it seemed to me as if I could hear Sidsel sigh;
+      certainly it was only my own imagination, but I could do no other than
+      pity her! she was so unfortunate! Thus I let her escape!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are you gone mad?&rdquo; inquired Wilhelm; &ldquo;what a history is this? Did you go
+      in the night up to the top of the house? That is an unseasonable
+      compassion!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was beautiful!&rdquo; said Otto, bending himself involuntarily, and kissing
+      Louise&rsquo;s hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, that is water to his mill!&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm. &ldquo;I think nothing of
+      such things!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We will not talk about it to anyone,&rdquo; said the mother. &ldquo;The steward shall
+      not proceed any further in it. We have recovered the old silver tankard,
+      and the losing that was my greatest trouble. We will thank God that we are
+      well rid of her! Poor thing! she will come to an unfortunate end!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are you still unwell, Mr. Thostrup?&rdquo; said Sophie, and looked at him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am a little feverish,&rdquo; replied he. &ldquo;I will take a very long walk, and
+      then I shall be better.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You should take a few drops,&rdquo; said the lady.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, he will come to himself yet!&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;he must take exercise!
+      His is not a dangerous illness.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto went into the wood. It was to him a temple of God; his heart poured
+      forth a hymn of thanksgiving. Louise had been his good angel. He felt of a
+      truth that she would never betray his secret. His thoughts clung to her
+      with confidence. &ldquo;Are you still unwell?&rdquo; Sophie had said. The tones of her
+      voice alone had been like the fragrance of healing herbs; in her eye he
+      had felt sympathy and&mdash;love. &ldquo;O Sophie!&rdquo; sighed he. Both sisters were
+      so dear to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He entered the garden and went along the great avenue; here he met Louise.
+      One might almost have imagined that she had sought for him: there was no
+      one but her to be seen in the whole avenue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto pressed her hand to his lips. &ldquo;You have saved my life!&rdquo; said he.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Dear Thostrup!&rdquo; answered she, &ldquo;do not betray yourself. Yon have come
+      happily out of the affair! Thank God! my little part in it has concealed
+      the whole. For the rest I have a suspicion. Yes, I cannot avoid it. May
+      not the whole be an error? It is possible that she is that which you said!
+      Tell me all that you can let me know. From this seat we can see everybody
+      who comes into the avenue. No one can hear us!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, to you alone I can confide it!&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;to you will I tell it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He now related that which we know about the manufactory, which he called
+      the house, in which German Heinrich had first seen him, and had tattooed
+      his initials upon his shoulder; their later meeting in the park, and
+      afterwards by St. Ander&rsquo;s Cross.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Louise trembled; her glance rested sympathizingly upon Otto&rsquo;s pale and
+      handsome countenance. He showed her the letter which had been brought to
+      him the last evening, and related to her what Heinrich had told him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It may be so,&rdquo; said Louise; &ldquo;but yet I have not been able to lose the
+      idea all the morning that you have been deceived. Not one of her features
+      resembles yours. Can brother and sister be so different as you and she?
+      Yet, be the truth as it may, promise me not to think too much about it.
+      There is a good Ruler above who can turn all things for the best.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These horrible circumstances,&rdquo; said Otto, &ldquo;have robbed me of the
+      cheerfulness of my youth. They thrust themselves disturbingly into my
+      whole future. Not to Wilhelm&mdash;no, not to any one have I been able to
+      confide them. You know all! God knows that you were compelled to learn
+      them. I leave myself entirely in your hands!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He pressed her hand silently, and with the earnest glance of confidence
+      and truth they looked at each other.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shall speedily leave my native country,&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;It may be forever.
+      I should return with sorrow to a home where no happiness awaited me. I
+      stand so entirely alone in the world!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But you have friends,&rdquo; said Louise; &ldquo;sincere friends. You must think with
+      pleasure of returning home to Denmark. My mother loves you as if she were
+      your own mother. Wilhelm and Sophie&mdash;yes, we will consider you as a
+      brother.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And Sophie?&rdquo; exclaimed Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, can you doubt it?&rdquo; inquired Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She knows me not as you know me; and if she did?&rdquo;&mdash;He pressed his
+      hands before his eyes and burst into tears. &ldquo;You know all: you know more
+      than I could tell her,&rdquo; sighed he. &ldquo;I am more unfortunate than you can
+      believe. Never can I forget her&mdash;never!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For Heaven&rsquo;s sake compose yourself!&rdquo; said Louise rising. &ldquo;Some one might
+      come, and you would not be able to conceal your emotion. All may yet be
+      well! Confide only in God in heaven!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do not tell your sister that which I have told you. Do not tell any one.
+      I have revealed to you every secret which my soul contains.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will be to you a good sister,&rdquo; said Louise, and pressed his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They silently walked down the avenue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sisters slept in the same room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At night, after Sophie had been an hour in bed, Louise entered the
+      chamber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou art become a spirit of the night,&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;Where hast thou
+      been? Thou art not going up into the loft again to-night, thou strange
+      girl? Had it been Wilhelm, Thostrup, or myself who had undertaken such a
+      thing, it would have been quite natural; but thou&rdquo;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Am I, then, so very different to you all?&rdquo; inquired Louise. &ldquo;I should
+      resemble my sister less than even Mr. Thostrup resembles her. You two are
+      so very different!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In our views, in our impulses, we very much resemble each other!&rdquo; said
+      Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He is certainly not happy,&rdquo; exclaimed Louise. &ldquo;We can read it in his
+      eyes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, but it is precisely that which makes him interesting!&rdquo; said Sophie;
+      &ldquo;he is thus a handsome shadow-piece in everyday life.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou speakest about it so calmly,&rdquo; said Louise, and bent over her sister,
+      &ldquo;I would almost believe that it was love.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Love!&rdquo; exclaimed Sophie, raising herself up in bed, for now Louise&rsquo;s
+      words had become interesting to her; &ldquo;whom dost thou think that he loves?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thyself,&rdquo; replied Louise, and seized her sister&rsquo;s hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps?&rdquo; returned Sophie. &ldquo;I also made fun of him! It certainly went on
+      better when our cousin was here. Poor Thostrup!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And thou, Sophie,&rdquo; inquired Louise, &ldquo;dost thou return his love?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is a regular confession that thou desirest,&rdquo; replied she. &ldquo;He is in
+      love&mdash;that all young men are. Our cousin, I can tell thee, said many
+      pretty things to me. Even the Kammerjunker flatters as well as he can, the
+      good soul! I have now resolved with myself to be a reasonable girl.
+      Believe me, however, Thostrup is in an ill humor!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If the Kammerjunker were to pay his addresses to you, would you accept
+      him?&rdquo; asked Louise, and seated herself upon her sister&rsquo;s bed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What can make you think of such a thing?&rdquo; inquired she. &ldquo;Hast thou heard
+      anything?&mdash;Thou makest me anxious! O Louise! I joke, I talk a deal;
+      but for all that, believe me, I am not happy!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They talked about the Kammerjunker, about Otto, and about the French
+      cousin. It was late in the night. Large tears stood in Sophie&rsquo;s eyes, but
+      she laughed for all that, and ended with a quotation from Jean Paul.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Half an hour afterward she slept and dreamed; her round white arm lay upon
+      the coverlet, and her lips moved with these words:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+           &ldquo;With a smile as if an angel
+            Had just then kissed her mouth.&rdquo; [Note: Christian Winther.]
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Louise pressed her countenance on the soft pillow, and wept.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0039" id="link2HCH0039">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXXIX
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+      &ldquo;A swarm of colors, noise and screaming,
+         Music and sights, past any dreaming,
+       The rattle of wheels going late and early,&mdash;
+         All draw the looker-on into the hurly-burly.&rdquo;
+                                         TH. OVERSKOU.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      A few days passed on. Otto heard nothing of German Heinrich or of his
+      sister. Peter Cripple seemed not to be in their confidence. All that he
+      knew was, that the letter which he had conveyed to Otto was to be unknown
+      to any one beside. As regarded German Heinrich, he believed that he was
+      now in another part of tire country; but that at St. Knud&rsquo;s fair, in
+      Odense, he would certainly find him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In Otto&rsquo;s soul there was an extraordinary combating. Louise&rsquo;s words, that
+      he had been deceived, gave birth to hopes, which, insignificant as the
+      grain of mustard-seed, shot forth green leaves.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;May not,&rdquo; thought he, &ldquo;German Heinrich, to further his own plans, have
+      made use of my fear? I must speak with him; he shall swear to me the
+      truth.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He compared in thought the unpleasing, coarse features of Sidsel, with the
+      image which his memory faintly retained of his little sister. She seemed
+      to him as a delicate creature with large eyes. He had not forgotten that
+      the people about them had spoken of her as of &ldquo;a kitten that they could
+      hardly keep alive.&rdquo; How then could she now be this square-built,
+      singularly plain being, with the eyebrows growing together? &ldquo;I must speak
+      with Heinrich,&rdquo; resolved he; &ldquo;she cannot be my sister! so heavily as that
+      God will not try me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      By such thoughts as these his mind became much calmer. There were moments
+      when the star of love mirrored itself in his life&rsquo;s sea.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His love for Sophie was no longer a caged bird within his breast; its
+      wings were at liberty; Louise saw its release; it was about to fly to its
+      goal.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      St. Knud&rsquo;s fair was at hand, and on that account the family was about to
+      set out for Odense. Eva was the only one who was to remain at home. It was
+      her wish to do so.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Odense is not worth the trouble of thy going to see,&rdquo; said Sophie; &ldquo;but
+      in this way thou wilt never increase thy geographical knowledge. In the
+      mean time, however, I shall bring thee a fairing&mdash;a husband of honey
+      cake, ornamented with almonds.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm thought that she should enjoy the passing pleasure, and go with
+      them; but Eva prayed to stay, and she had her will.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There is a deal of pleasure in the world,&rdquo; said Wilhelm, &ldquo;if people will
+      only enjoy it. If one day in Paris is a brilliant flower, a day at Odense
+      fair is also a flower. It is a merry, charming world that we live in! I am
+      almost ready to say with King Valdemar, that if I might keep&mdash;yes, I
+      will say, the earth, then our Lord might willingly for me keep heaven:
+      there it is much better than we deserve; and God knows whether we may not,
+      in the other world, have longings after the old world down here!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;After Odense fair?&rdquo; asked Sophie ironically.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto stood wrapped in his own thoughts. This day, he felt, would be one of
+      the most remarkable in his life. German Heinrich must give him an
+      explanation. Sophie must do so likewise Could he indeed meet with success
+      from them both? Would not sorrow and pain be his fairings?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The carriage rolled away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      From the various cross-roads came driving up the carriages of the gentry
+      and the peasants; the one drove past the other; and as the French and
+      English Channel collects ships from the Atlantic Ocean, so did the King&rsquo;s
+      Road those who drove in carriages, those who rode on horseback, and those
+      who went on foot.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Behind most of the peasant-vehicles were tied a few horses, that went
+      trotting on with them. Mamsells from the farms sat with large gloves on
+      their red arms and hands. They held their umbrellas before their faces on
+      account of the dust and the sun.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Kammerjunker&rsquo;s people must have set off earlier than we,&rdquo; said
+      Sophie, &ldquo;otherwise they would have called for us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto looked inquiringly at her. She thought on the Kammerjunker!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We shall draw up by Faugde church,&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;Mr. Thostrup can see
+      Kingo&rsquo;s [Author&rsquo;s Note: The Bishop of Funen, who died in 1703.] grave&mdash;can
+      see where the sacred poet lies. Some true trumpeting angels, in whom one
+      can rightly see how heavy the marble is, fly with the Bishop&rsquo;s staff and
+      hat within the chapel.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto smiled, and she thought also about giving him pleasure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The church was seen, the grave visited, and they rapidly rolled along the
+      King&rsquo;s Road toward Odense, the lofty tower of whose cathedral had hailed
+      them at some miles&rsquo; distance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We do not require alone from the portrait-painter that he should represent
+      the person, but that he should represent him in his happiest moment. To
+      the plain as well as to the inexpressive countenance must the painter give
+      every beauty which it possesses. Every human being has moments in which
+      something intellectual or characteristic presents itself. Nature, too,
+      when we are presented only with the most barren landscape, has the same
+      moments; light and shadow produce these effects. The poet must be like the
+      painter; he must seize upon these moments in human life as the other in
+      nature.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If the reader were a child who lived in Odense, it would require nothing
+      more from him than that he should say the words, &ldquo;St. Knud&rsquo;s fair;&rdquo; and
+      this, illumined by the beams of the imagination of childhood, would stand
+      before him in the most brilliant colors. Our description will be only a
+      shadow; it will be that, perhaps, which the many will find it to be.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Already in the suburbs the crowd of people, and the outspread earthenware
+      of the potters, which entirely covered the trottoir, announced that the
+      fair was in full operation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The carriage drove down from the bridge across the Odense River.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See, how beautiful it is here!&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Between the gardens of the city and a space occupied as a bleaching ground
+      lay the river. The magnificent church of St. Knud, with its lofty tower,
+      terminated the view.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What red house was that?&rdquo; inquired Otto, when they had lost sight of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is the nunnery!&rdquo; replied Louise, knowing what thought it was which
+      had arisen in his mind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There stood in the ancient times the old bishop&rsquo;s palace, where Beldenak
+      lived!&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;Just opposite to the river is the bell-well, where a
+      bell flew out of St. Albani&rsquo;s tower. The well is unfathomable. Whenever
+      rich people in Odense die, it rings down below the water!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is not a pleasant thought,&rdquo; said Otto, &ldquo;that it rings in the well when
+      they must die.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One must not take it in that way now!&rdquo; said Sophie, laughing, and turned
+      the subject. &ldquo;Odense has many lions,&rdquo; continued she, &ldquo;from a king&rsquo;s garden
+      with swans in it to a great theatre, which has this in common with La
+      Scala and many Italian ones, that it is built upon the ruins of a convent.
+      [Note: That of the Black Brothers.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In Odense, aristocracy and democracy held out the longest,&rdquo; said Wilhelm,
+      smiling; &ldquo;yet I remember, in my childhood, that when the nobles and the
+      citizens met on the king&rsquo;s birthday at the town-house ball, that we danced
+      by ourselves.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Were not, then, the citizens strong enough to throw the giddy nobles out
+      of the window?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You forget, Mr. Thostrup, that you yourself are noble!&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;I
+      was really the goddess of fate who gave to you your genealogical tree.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You still remember that evening?&rdquo; said Otto, with a gentle voice, and the
+      thoughts floated as gayly in his mind as the crowd of people floated up
+      and down in the streets through which they drove.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Somewhere about the middle of the city five streets met; and this point,
+      which widens itself out into a little square, is called the Cross Street:
+      here lay the hotel to which the family drove.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Two hours and a quarter too late!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, who came out to
+      meet them on the steps. &ldquo;Good weather for the fair, and good horses! I
+      have already been out at the West-gate, and have bought two magnificent
+      mares. One of them kicked out behind, and had nearly given me a blow on
+      the breast, so that I might have said I had had my fairing! Jakoba is
+      paying visits, drinking chocolate, and eating biscuits. Mamsell is out
+      taking a view of things. Now you know our story.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The ladies went to their chamber, the gentlemen remained in the saloon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, here you shall see a city and a fair, Mr. Thostrup!&rdquo; said the
+      Kammerjunker, and slapped Otto on the shoulder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Odense was at one time my principal chief-city,&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;and still
+      St. Knud&rsquo;s Church is the most magnificent I know. God knows whether St.
+      Peter&rsquo;s in Rome would make upon me, now that I am older, the impression
+      which this made upon me as a child!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In St. Knud&rsquo;s Church lies the Mamsell with the cats,&rdquo; said the
+      Kammerjunker.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The bishop&rsquo;s lady, you should say,&rdquo; returned Wilhelm. &ldquo;The legend
+      relates, that there was a lady of a Bishop Mus who loved her cats to that
+      degree that she left orders that they should be laid with her in the
+      grave. [Author&rsquo;s Note: The remains of the body, as well as the skeletons
+      of the cats, are still to be seen in a chapel on the western aisle of the
+      church.] We will afterward go and see them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, both the bishop&rsquo;s lady and the cats,&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, &ldquo;look
+      like dried fish! Then you must also see the nunnery and the military
+      library.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Hospital and the House of Correction!&rdquo; added Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The beating of a drum in the street drew them to the window. The city
+      crier, in striped linsey-woolsey jacket and breeches, and with a yellow
+      band across his shoulders, stood there, beat upon his drum, and proclaimed
+      aloud from a written paper many wonderful things which were to be seen in
+      the city.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He beats a good drum,&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It would certainly delight Rossini and Spontini to hear the fellow!&rdquo; said
+      Wilhelm. &ldquo;In fact Odense would be, at New Year&rsquo;s time, a city for these
+      two composers. You must know that at that season drums and fifes are in
+      their glory. They drum the New Year in. Seven or eight little drummers and
+      fifers go from door to door, attended by children and old women; at that
+      time they beat both the tattoo and the reveille. For this they get a few
+      pence. When the New Year is drummed-in in the city they wander out into
+      the country, and drum there for bacon and groats. The New Year&rsquo;s drumming
+      in lasts until about Easter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And then we have new pastimes,&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then come the fishers from Stige, [Author&rsquo;s Note: A fishing village in
+      Odense Fjord.] with a complete band, and carrying a boat upon their
+      shoulders ornamented with a variety of flags. After that they lay a board
+      between two boats, and upon this two of the youngest and the strongest
+      have a wrestling-match, until one of them falls into the water. The last
+      years they both have allowed themselves to tumble in. And this has been
+      done in consequence of one young man who fell in being so stung by the
+      jeers which his fall had occasioned that he left, that same day, the
+      fishing village, after which no one saw him. But all the fun is gone now!
+      In my boyhood the merriment was quite another thing. It was a fine sight
+      when the corporation paraded with their ensign and harlequin on the top!
+      And at Easter, when the butchers led about a bullock ornamented with
+      ribbons and Easter-twigs, on the back of which was seated a little winged
+      boy in a shirt. They had Turkish music, and carried flagons with them!
+      See! all that have I outlived, and yet I am not so old. Baron Wilhelm must
+      have seen the ornamented ox. Now all that is past and gone; people are got
+      so refined! Neither is St. Knud&rsquo;s fair that which it used to be.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For all that, I rejoice that it is not so!&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;But we will go
+      into the market and visit the Jutlanders, who are sitting there among the
+      heath with their earthenware. You will stand a chance there, Mr. Thostrup,
+      of meeting with an old acquaintance; only you must not have home-sickness
+      when you smell the heather and hear the ringing of the clattering pots!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The ladies now entered. Before paying any visits they determined upon
+      making the round of the market. The Kammerjunker offered his arm to the
+      mother. Otto saw this with secret gladness, and approached Sophie. She
+      accepted him willingly as an attendant; they must indeed get into the
+      throng.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As in the Middle Ages the various professions had their distinct streets
+      and quarters, so had they also here. The street which led to the market
+      place, and which in every-day life was called the &ldquo;Shoemaker Street,&rdquo;
+       answered perfectly to its name. The shoemakers had ranged their tables
+      side by side. These, and the rails which had been erected for the purpose,
+      were hung over with all kinds of articles for the feet; the tables
+      themselves were laden with heavy shoes and thick-soled boots. Behind these
+      stood the skillful workman in his long Sunday coat, and with his
+      well-brushed felt-hat upon his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Where the shoemakers&rsquo; quarter ended that of the hatters&rsquo; began, and with
+      this one was in the middle of the great market-place, where tents and
+      booths formed many parallel streets. The booth of galanterie wares, the
+      goldsmith&rsquo;s, and the confectioner&rsquo;s, most of them constructed of canvas,
+      some few of them of wood, were points of great attraction. Round about
+      fluttered ribbons and handkerchiefs; round about were noise and bustle.
+      Peasant-girls out of the same village went always in a row, seven or eight
+      inseparables, with their hands fast locked in each other; it was
+      impossible to break the chain; and if people tried to press through them,
+      the whole flock rolled together in a heap.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Behind the booths there lay a great space filled with wooden shoes, coarse
+      earthenware, turners&rsquo; and saddlers&rsquo; work. Upon tables were spread out
+      toys, generally rudely made and coarsely painted. All around the children
+      assayed their little trumpets, and turned about their playthings. The
+      peasant-girls twirled and twisted both the work-boxes and themselves many
+      a time before the bargain was completed. The air was heavy with all kinds
+      of odors, and was spiced with the fragrance of honey-cake.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Here acquaintances met each other-some peasant-maidens, perhaps, who had
+      been born in the same village, but since then had been separated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good day!&rdquo; exclaimed they, took each other by the hand, gave their arms a
+      swing, and laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Farewell!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      That was the whole conversation: such a one went on in many places.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is the heather!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto, as he approached the quarter where
+      the Jutland potters had their station; &ldquo;how refreshing is the odor!&rdquo; said
+      he, and stooping down seized a twig fresh and green, as if it had been
+      plucked only yesterday.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Aye, my Jesus though! is not that Mr. Otto!&rdquo; exclaimed a female voice
+      just beside him, and a young Jutland peasantwoman skipped across the
+      pottery toward him. Otto knew her. It was the little Maria, the eelman&rsquo;s
+      daughter, who, as we may remember at Otto&rsquo;s visit to the fisher&rsquo;s, had
+      removed to Ringkjoebing, and had hired herself for the hay and cornharvest&mdash;the
+      brisk Maria, &ldquo;the girl,&rdquo; as her father called her. She had been betrothed
+      in Ringkjoebing, and married to the rich earthenware dealer, and now had
+      come across the salt-water to Odense fair, where she should meet with Mr.
+      Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Her parents lived on my grandfather&rsquo;s estate,&rdquo; said Otto to Sophie, who
+      observed with a smile the young wife&rsquo;s delight in meeting with an
+      acquaintance of her childhood. The husband was busily employed in selling
+      his wares; he heard nothing of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, but how elegant and handsome you are become!&rdquo; said the young wife:
+      &ldquo;but see, I knew you again for all that! Grandmother, you may believe me,
+      thinks a deal about you! The old body, she is so brisk and lively; it does
+      not trouble her a bit that she cannot see! You are the second acquaintance
+      that I have met with in the fair. It&rsquo;s wonderful how people come here from
+      all parts of the world! The players are here too! You still remember the
+      German Heinrich? Over there in the gray house, at the corner of the
+      market, he is acting his comedy in the gateway.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am glad that I have seen you!&rdquo; said Otto, and nodded kindly. &ldquo;Greet
+      them at home, and the grandmother, for me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Greet them also from me!&rdquo; said Sophie smiling. &ldquo;You, Mr. Thostrup, must
+      for old acquaintance sake buy something. You ought also to give me a
+      fairing: I wish for that great jug there!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where are you staying!&rdquo; cried Wilhelm, and came back, whilst the rest
+      went forward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We would buy some earthenware,&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;Souvenir de Jutland. The
+      one there has a splendid picture on it!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You shall have it!&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;But if I requested a fairing from you, I
+      beseech of you, might I say&rdquo;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That it possibly might obtain its worth from my hand,&rdquo; said Sophie,
+      smiling. &ldquo;I understand you very well&mdash;a sprig of heather? I shall
+      steal!&rdquo; said she to the young wife, as she took a little sprig of heath
+      and stuck it into his buttonhole. &ldquo;Greet the grandmother for me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto and Sophie went.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That&rsquo;s a very laughing body!&rdquo; said the woman half aloud, as she looked
+      after them; her glance followed Otto, she folded her hands&mdash;she was
+      thinking, perhaps, on the days of her childhood.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At St. Knud&rsquo;s church-yard Otto and Sophie overtook the others. They were
+      going into the church. On the fair days this and all the tombs within it
+      were open to the public.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      From whichever side this church is contemplated from without, the
+      magnificent old building has, especially from its lofty tower and spire,
+      something imposing about it; the interior produces the same, nay, perhaps
+      a greater effect. But as the principal entrance is through the armory, and
+      the lesser one is from the side of the church, its full impression is not
+      felt on entering it; nor is it until you arrive at the end of the great
+      aisle that you are aware rightly of its grandeur. All there is great,
+      beautiful, and light. The whole interior is white with gilding. Aloft on
+      the high-vaulted roof there shine, and that from the old time, many golden
+      stars. On both sides, high up, higher than the side-aisles of the church,
+      are large Gothic windows, from which the light streams down. The
+      side-aisles are adorned with old paintings, which represent whole
+      families, women and children, all clad in canonicals, in long robes and
+      large ruffs. In an ordinary way, the figures are all ranged according to
+      age, the oldest first, and then down to the very least child, and stand
+      with folded hands, and look piously with downcast eyes and faces all in
+      one direction, until by length of time the colors have all faded away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Just opposite to the entrance of the church may be seen, built into the
+      wall, a stone, on which is a bas-relief, and before it a grave. This
+      attracted Otto&rsquo;s attention.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is the grave of King John and of Queen Christina, of Prince Francesco
+      and of Christian the Second,&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;they lie together in a small
+      vault!&rdquo; [Author&rsquo;s Note: On the removal of the church of the Grey Brothers,
+      the remains of these royal parents and two of their children were
+      collected in a coffin and placed here in St. Knud&rsquo;s Church. The memorial
+      stone, of which we have spoken, was erected afterwards.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Christian the Second!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto. &ldquo;Denmark&rsquo;s wisest and dearest
+      king!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Christian the Bad!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, amazed at the tone of
+      enthusiasm in which Otto had spoken.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Christian the Bad!&rdquo; repeated Otto; &ldquo;yes, it is now the mode to speak of
+      him thus, but we should not do so. We ought to remember how the Swedish
+      and Danish nobles behaved themselves, what cruelties they perpetrated, and
+      that we have the history of Christian the Second from one of the offended
+      party. Writers flatter the reigning powers. A prince must have committed
+      crimes, or have lost his power, if his errors are to be rightly presented
+      to future generations. People forget that which was good in Christian, and
+      have painted the dark side of his character, to the formation of which the
+      age lent its part.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Kammerjunker could not forget the Swedish bloodbath, the execution of
+      Torben Oxe, and all that can be said against the unfortunate king.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto drove him completely out of the field, in part from his enthusiasm
+      for Christian the Second, but still more because it was the Kammerjunker
+      with whom he was contending. Sophie took Otto&rsquo;s side, her eye sparkled
+      applause, and the victory could not be other than his.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What is it that the poet said of the fate of a king?&rdquo; said Sophie.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+                              &ldquo;Woe&rsquo;s me for him
+   Who to the world shows more of ill than good!
+   The good each man ascribes unto himself,
+   Whilst on him only rest the crimes o&rsquo; th&rsquo; age.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Had Christian been so fortunate as to have subdued the rebellious
+      nobles,&rdquo; continued Otto, &ldquo;could he have carried out his bold plans, then
+      they would have called him Christian the Great: it is not the active mind,
+      but the failure in any design, which the world condemns.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Louise nevertheless took the side of the Kammerjunker, and therefore these
+      two went together up the aisle toward the tomb of the Glorup family.
+      Wilhelm and his mother were already gone out of the church.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I envy you your eloquence!&rdquo; said Sophie, and looked with an expression of
+      love into Otto&rsquo;s face; she bent herself over the railing around the tomb,
+      and looked thoughtfully upon the stone. Thoughts of love were animated in
+      Otto&rsquo;s soul.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Intellect and heart!&rdquo; exclaimed he, &ldquo;must admire that which is great: you
+      possess both these!&rdquo; He seized her hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A faint crimson passed over Sophie&rsquo;s cheeks. &ldquo;The others are gone out!&rdquo;
+       she said; &ldquo;come, let us go up to the chancel.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Up to the altar!&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;that is a bold course for one&rsquo;s whole
+      life!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie looked jestingly at him. &ldquo;Do you see the monument there within the
+      pillars?&rdquo; asked she after a short pause; &ldquo;the lady with the crossed arms
+      and the colored countenance? In one night she danced twelve knights to
+      death, the thirteenth, whom she had invited for her partner, cut her
+      girdle in two in the dance and she fell dead to the earth!&rdquo; [Author&rsquo;s
+      Note: In Thiele&rsquo;s Danish Popular Tradition it is related that she was one
+      Margrethe Skofgaard of Sanderumgaard, and that she died at a ball, where
+      she had danced to death twelve knights. The people relate it with a
+      variation as above; it is probable that it is mingled with a second
+      tradition, for example, that of the blood-spots at Koldinghuus, which
+      relates that an old king was so angry with his daughter that he resolved
+      to kill her, and ordered that his knights should dance with her one after
+      another until the breath was out of her. Nine had danced with her, and
+      then came up the king himself as the tenth, and when he became weary he
+      cut her girdle in two, on which the blood streamed from her mouth and she
+      died.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She was a northern Turandot!&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;the stony heart itself was
+      forced to break and bleed. There is really a jest in having the marble
+      painted. She stands before future ages as if she lived&mdash;a stone
+      image, white and red, only a mask of beauty. She is a warning to young
+      ladies!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, against dancing!&rdquo; said Sophie, smiling at Otto&rsquo;s extraordinary
+      gravity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And yet it must be a blessed thing,&rdquo; exclaimed he, &ldquo;a very blessed thing,
+      amid pealing music, arm-in-arm with one&rsquo;s beloved, to be able to dance
+      life away, and to sink bleeding before her feet!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And yet only to see that she would dance with a new one!&rdquo; said Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto, &ldquo;that you could not do! that you will not do! O
+      Sophie, if you knew!&rdquo;&mdash;He approached her still nearer, bent his head
+      toward her, and his eye had twofold fire and expression in it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You must come with us and see the cats!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, and
+      sprang in between them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, it is charming!&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;You will have an opportunity, Mr.
+      Thostrup, of moralizing over the perishableness of female beauty!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In the evening, when we drive home together,&rdquo; thought Otto to himself
+      consolingly, &ldquo;in the mild summer-evening no Kammerjunker will disturb me.
+      It must, it shall be decided! Misfortune might subject the wildness of
+      childhood, but it gave me confidence, it never destroyed my independence;
+      Love has made me timid,&mdash;has made me weak. May I thereby win a
+      bride?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Gravely and with a dark glance he followed after Sophie and her guide.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0040" id="link2HCH0040">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XL
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;In vain his beet endeavors were;
+     Dull was the evening, and duller grew.&rdquo;&mdash;LUDOLF SCHLEF.
+
+     &ldquo;Seest thou how its little life
+       The bird hides in the wood?
+     Wilt thou be my little wife&mdash;
+       Then do it soon. Good!
+     &mdash;A bridegroom am I.&rdquo;&mdash;Arion.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Close beside St. Knud&rsquo;s Church, where once the convent stood, is now the
+      dwelling of a private man. [Author&rsquo;s Note: See Oehlenschläger&rsquo;s Jorney to
+      Funen.] The excellent hostess here, who once charmed the public on the
+      Danish stage as Ida Munster, awaited the family to dinner.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After dinner they wandered up and down the garden, which extended to the
+      Odense River.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the dusk of evening Otto went to visit the German Heinrich; he had
+      mentioned it to Louise, and she promised to divert attention from him
+      whilst he was away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The company took coffee in the garden-house; Otto walked in deep thought
+      in the avenue by the side of the river. The beautiful scene before him
+      riveted his eye. Close beside lay a water-mill, over the two great wheels
+      of which poured the river white as milk. Behind this was thrown a bridge,
+      over which people walked and drove. The journeyman-miller stood upon the
+      balcony, and whistled an air. It was such a picture as Christian Winther
+      and Uhland give in their picturesque poems. On the other side of the mill
+      arose tall poplars half-buried in the green meadow, in which stood the
+      nunnery; a nun had once drowned herself where now the red daisies grow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A strong sunlight lit up the whole scene. All was repose and summer
+      warmth. Suddenly Otto&rsquo;s ear caught the deep and powerful tones of an
+      organ; he turned himself round. The tones, which went to his heart, came
+      from St. Knud&rsquo;s Church, which lay close beside the garden. The sunshine of
+      the landscape, and the strength of the music, gave, as it were, to him
+      light and strength for the darkness toward which he was so soon to go.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sun set; and Otto went alone across the market-place toward the old
+      corner house, where German Heinrich practiced his arts. Upon this place
+      stood St. Albani&rsquo;s Church, where St. Knud, betrayed by his servant Blake,
+      [Author&rsquo;s Note: Whence has arisen the popular expression of &ldquo;being a false
+      Blake.&rdquo;] was killed by the tumultuous rebels. The common people believe
+      that from one of the deep cellars under this house proceeds a subterranean
+      passage to the so-called &ldquo;Nun&rsquo;s Hill.&rdquo; At midnight the neighboring
+      inhabitants still hear a roaring under the marketplace, as if of the
+      sudden falling of a cascade. The better informed explain it as being a
+      concealed natural water-course, which has a connection with the
+      neighboring river. In our time the old house is become a manufactory; the
+      broken windows, the gaps of which are repaired either with slips of wood
+      or with paper, the quantity of human bones which are found in the garden,
+      and which remain from the time when this was a church-yard, give to the
+      whole place a peculiar interest to the common people of Odense.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Entering the house at the front, it is on the same level as the
+      market-place; the back of the house, on the contrary, descends
+      precipitously into the garden, where there are thick old walls and
+      foundations. The situation is thus quite romantic; just beside it is the
+      old nunnery, with its dentated gables, and not far off the ruins, in whose
+      depths the common people believe that there resides an evil being, &ldquo;the
+      river-man,&rdquo; who annually demands his human sacrifice, which he announces
+      the night before. Behind this lie meadows, villas, and green woods.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the other side of the court, in a back gate-way, German Heinrich had
+      set up his theatre. The entrance cost eight skillings; people of condition
+      paid according to their own will.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto entered during the representation. A cloth constituted the whole
+      scenic arrangement. In the middle of the floor sat a horrible goblin, with
+      a coal-black Moorish countenance and crispy hair upon its head. An old
+      bed-cover concealed the figure, yet one saw that it was that of a woman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The audience consisted of peasants and street boys. Otto kept himself in
+      the background, and remained unobserved by Heinrich.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The representation was soon at an end, and the crowd dispersed. It was
+      then that Otto first came forward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We must speak a few words together!&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;Heinrich, you have not
+      acted honestly by me! The girl is not that which you represented her to
+      be; you have deceived me: I demand an explanation!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      German Heinrich stood silent, but every feature eloquently expressed first
+      amazement, and then slyness and cunning; his knavish, malicious eye,
+      measured Otto from top to toe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay; so then, Mr. Thostrup, you are convinced, are you, that I have been
+      cheating you?&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;If so, why do you come to me? In that case there
+      needs no explanation. Ask herself there!&rdquo; And so saying he pointed to the
+      black-painted figure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do not be too proud, Otto!&rdquo; said she, smiling; &ldquo;thou couldst yet
+      recognize thy sister, although she has a little black paint on her face!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto riveted a dark, indignant glance upon her, pressed his lips together,
+      and tried to collect himself. &ldquo;It is my firm determination to have the
+      whole affair searched into,&rdquo; said he, with constrained calmness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, but it will bring you some disagreeables!&rdquo; said Heinrich, and
+      laughed scornfully.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do not laugh in that manner when I speak to you!&rdquo; said Otto, with
+      flushing cheeks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Heinrich leaned himself calmly against the door which led into the garden.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am acquainted with the head of the police,&rdquo; said Otto, &ldquo;and I might
+      leave the whole business in his hands. But I have chosen a milder way; I
+      am come myself. I shall very soon leave Denmark; I shall go many hundred
+      miles hence shall, probably, never return; and thus you see the principal
+      ground for my coming to you is a whim: I will know wherefore you have
+      deceived me; I will know what is the connection between you and her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay; so, then, it is <i>that</i> that you want to know?&rdquo; said Heinrich,
+      with a malicious glance. &ldquo;Yes, see you, she is my best beloved; she shall
+      be my wife: but your sister she is for all that, and that remains so!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou couldst easily give me a little before thou settest off on thy
+      journey!&rdquo; said Sidsel, who seemed excited by Heinrich&rsquo;s words, and put
+      forth her painted face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto glanced at her with contracted eyebrows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said she, &ldquo;I say &lsquo;thou&rsquo; to thee: thou must accustom thyself to
+      that! A sister may have, however, that little bit of pleasure!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, you should give her your hand!&rdquo; said Heinrich, and laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wretch!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto, &ldquo;she is not that which you say! I will find out
+      my real sister! I will have proof in hand of the truth! I will show myself
+      as a brother; I will care for her future! Bring to me her baptismal
+      register; bring to me one only attestation of its reality&mdash;and that
+      before eight days are past! Here is my address, it is the envelope of a
+      letter; inclose in it the testimonial which I require, and send it to me
+      without delay. But prove it, or you are a greater villain than I took you
+      for.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let us say a few rational words!&rdquo; said Heinrich, with a constrained,
+      fawning voice. &ldquo;If you will give to me fifty rix-dollars, then you shall
+      never have any more annoyance with us! See, that would be a great deal
+      more convenient.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I abide by that which I have said!&rdquo; answered Otto; &ldquo;we will not have any
+      more conversation together!&rdquo; And so saying, he turned him round to go out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Heinrich seized him by the coat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do you want?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I mean,&rdquo; said Heinrich, &ldquo;whether you are not going to think about the
+      fifty rix-dollars?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Villain!&rdquo; cried Otto, and, with the veins swelling in his forehead, he
+      thrust Heinrich from him with such force, that he fell against the worm
+      eaten door which led into the garden; the panel of the door fell out, and
+      had not Heinrich seized fast hold on some firm object with both his hands,
+      he must have gone the same way. Otto stood for a moment silent, with
+      flashing eyes, and threw the envelope, on which his address was, at
+      Heinrich&rsquo;s feet, and went out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When Otto returned to the hotel, he found the horses ready to be put to
+      the carriage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have you had good intelligence?&rdquo; whispered Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have in reality obtained no more than I had before!&rdquo; replied he; &ldquo;only
+      my own feelings more strongly convince me than ever that I have been
+      deceived by him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He related to her the short conversation which had taken place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Kammerjunker&rsquo;s carriage was now also brought out; in this was more
+      than sufficient room for two, whereas in the other carriage they had been
+      crowded. The Kammerjunker, therefore, besought that they would avail
+      themselves of the more convenient seat which he could offer; and Otto saw
+      Sophie and her mother enter the Kammerjunker&rsquo;s carriage. This arrangement
+      would shortly before have confounded Otto, now it had much less effect
+      upon him. His mind was so much occupied by his visit to German Heinrich,
+      his soul was filled with a bitterness, which for the moment repelled the
+      impulse which he had felt to express his great love for Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have been made Heinrich&rsquo;s plaything&mdash;his tool!&rdquo; thought he. &ldquo;Now
+      he ridicules me, and I am compelled to bear it! That horrible being is not
+      my sister!&mdash;she cannot be so!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The street was now quiet. They mounted into the carriage. In the corner
+      house just opposite there was a great company; light streamed through the
+      long curtains, a low tenor voice and a high ringing soprano mingled
+      together in Mozart&rsquo;s &ldquo;Audiam, audiam, mio bene.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The bird may not flutter from my heart!&rdquo; sighed Otto, and seated himself
+      by the side of Louise. The carriage rolled away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The full moon shone; the wild spiraea sent forth its odor from the road
+      side; steam ascended from the moor-lands; and the white mist floated over
+      the meadows like the daughters of the elfin king.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Louise sat silent and embarrassed; trouble weighed down her heart. Otto
+      was also silent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Kammerjunker drove in first, cracked his whip, and struck up a wild
+      halloo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm began to sing, &ldquo;Charming the summer night,&rdquo; and the Kammerjunker
+      joined in with him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sing with us man,&rdquo; cried Wilhelm to the silent Otto, and quickly the two
+      companies were one singing caravan.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was late when they reached the hall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0041" id="link2HCH0041">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XLI
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Destiny often pulls off leaves, as we treat the vine, that
+     its fruits may be earlier brought to maturity.&rdquo;&mdash;JEAN PAUL.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      It was not until toward morning that Otto fell into sleep. Wilhelm and he
+      were allowed to take their own time in rising, and thus it was late in the
+      day before these two gentlemen made their appearance at the
+      breakfast-table; the Kammerjunker was already come over to the hall, and
+      now was more adorned than common.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Thostrup shall be one of the initiated!&rdquo; said the mother. &ldquo;It will be
+      time enough this evening for strangers to know of it. The Kammerjunker and
+      my Sophie are betrothed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See, it was in the bright moonlight, Mr. Thostrup, that I became such a
+      happy man!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, and kissed the tips of Sophie&rsquo;s
+      fingers. He offered his other hand to Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto&rsquo;s countenance remained unchanged, a smile played upon his lips. &ldquo;I
+      congratulate you!&rdquo; said he; &ldquo;it is indeed a joyful day! If I were a poet,
+      I would give you an ode!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Louise looked at him with an extraordinary expression of pain in her
+      countenance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm called the Kammerjunker brother-in-law, and smiling shook both his
+      hands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto was unusually gay, jested, and laughed. The ladies went to their
+      toilet, Otto into the garden.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He had been so convinced in his own mind that Sophie returned his passion.
+      With what pleasure had she listened to him! with what an expression had
+      her eye rested upon him! Her little jests had been to him such convincing
+      proofs that the hope which he nourished was no self-delusion. She was the
+      light around which his thoughts had circled. Love to her was to him a good
+      angel, which sung to him consolation and life&rsquo;s gladness in his dark
+      moments.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now, all was suddenly over. It was as if the angel had left him; the flame
+      of love which had so entirely filled his soul, was in a moment
+      extinguished to its last spark. Sophie was become a stranger to him; her
+      intellectual eye, which smiled in love on the Kammerjunker, seemed to him
+      the soulless eye of the automaton. A stupefying indifference went through
+      him, deadly as poison that is infused into the human blood.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The vain girl! she thought to make herself more important by repelling
+      from her a faithful heart! She should only see how changed her image is in
+      my soul. All the weaknesses which my love for her made me pass over, now
+      step forth with repulsive features! Not a word which she spoke fell to the
+      ground. The diamond has lost its lustre; I feel only its sharp corners!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie had given the preference to a man who, in respect of intellect,
+      stood far below Otto! Sophie, who seemed to be enthusiastic for art and
+      beauty, for everything glorious in the kingdom of mind, could thus have
+      deceived him!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We will now see the sisters in their chamber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Louise seemed pensive, she sat silently looking before her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie stood thoughtfully with a smile upon her lips.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Kammerjunker is very handsome, however!&rdquo; exclaimed she: &ldquo;he looks so
+      manly!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You ought to find him love-worthy!&rdquo; said Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; replied her sister, &ldquo;I have always admired these strong
+      countenances! He is an Axel&mdash;a northern blackbearded savage. Faces
+      such as Wilhelm&rsquo;s look like ladies&rsquo;! And he is so good! He has said, that
+      immediately after our marriage we shall make a tour to Hamburg. What dress
+      do you think I should wear?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When you make the journey to Hamburg?&rdquo; inquired Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O no, child! to-day I mean. Thostrup was indeed very polite! he
+      congratulated me! I felt, however, rather curious when it was told to him.
+      I had quite expected a scene! I was almost ready to beg of you to tell him
+      first of all. He ought to have been prepared. But he was, however, very
+      rational! I should not have expected it from him. I really wish him all
+      good, but he is an extraordinary character! so melancholy! Do you think
+      that he will take my betrothal to heart? I noticed that when I was kissed
+      he turned himself suddenly round to the window and played with the
+      flowers. I wish that he would soon go! The journey into foreign countries
+      will do him good&mdash;there he will soon forget his heart&rsquo;s troubles.
+      To-morrow I will write to Cousin Joachim; he will also be surprised!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Late in the afternoon came Jakoba, the Mamsell, the preacher, and yet a
+      few other guests.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the evening the table was arranged festively. The betrothed sat
+      together, and Otto had the place of honor&mdash;he sat on the other side
+      of Sophie. The preacher had written a song to the tune of &ldquo;Be thou our
+      social guardian-goddess;&rdquo; this was sung. Otto&rsquo;s voice sounded beautifully
+      and strong; he rang his glass with the betrothed pair, and the
+      Kammerjunker said that now Mr. Thostrup must speedily seek out a bride for
+      himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is found,&rdquo; answered Otto; &ldquo;but now that is yet a secret.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Health to the bride!&rdquo; said Sophie, and rung her glass; but soon again her
+      intellectual eye rested upon the Kammerjunker, who was talking about
+      asparagus and stall-feeding with clover, yet her glance brought him back
+      again to the happiness of his love.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was a very lively evening. Late in the night the party broke up. The
+      friends went to their chamber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My dear, faithful Otto!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, and laid his hand on his shoulder;
+      &ldquo;you were very lively and good-humored this evening. Continue always
+      thus!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I hope to do so,&rdquo; answered Otto: &ldquo;may we only always have as happy an
+      evening as this!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Extraordinary man!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, and shook his head. &ldquo;Now we will soon
+      set out on our journey, and catch for ourselves the happiness of the
+      glorious gold bird!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And not let it escape again!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto. &ldquo;Formerly I used to say,
+      To-morrow! to-morrow! now I say, To-day, and all day long! Away with
+      fancies and complainings. I now comprehend that which you once said to me,
+      that is. Man <i>can</i> be happy if he only <i>will</i> be so.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm took his hand, and looked into his face with a half-melancholy
+      expression.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are you sentimental?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I only affect that which I am not!&rdquo; answered Wilhelm; and with that,
+      suddenly throwing off the natural gravity of the moment, returned to his
+      customary gayety.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The following days were spent in visiting and in receiving visitors. On
+      every post-day Otto sought through the leathern bag of the postman, but he
+      found no letter from German Heinrich, and heard nothing from him. &ldquo;I have
+      been deceived,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;and I feel myself glad about it! She, the
+      horrible one, is not my sister!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There was a necessity for him to go away, far from home, and yet he felt
+      no longing after the mountains of Switzerland or the luxuriant beauty of
+      the south.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nature will only weaken me! I will not seek after it. Man it is that I
+      require: these egotistical, false beings&mdash;these lords of everything!
+      How we flatter our weaknesses and admire our virtues! Whatever serves to
+      advance our own wishes we find to be excellent. To those who love us, we
+      give our love in return. At the bottom, whom do I love except myself?
+      Wilhelm? My friendship for him is built upon the foundation,&mdash;I
+      cannot do without thee! Friendship is to me a necessity. Was I not once
+      convinced that I adored Sophie, and that I never could bear it if she were
+      lost to me? and yet there needed the conviction &lsquo;She loves thee not,&rsquo; and
+      my strong feeling was dead. Sophie even seems to me less beautiful; I see
+      faults where I formerly could only discover amiabilities! Now, she is to
+      me almost wholly a stranger. As I am, so are all. Who is there that feels
+      right lovingly, right faithfully for me, without his own interest leading
+      him to do so? Rosalie? My old, honest Rosalie? I grew up before her eyes
+      like a plant which she loved. I am dear to her as it! When her canary-bird
+      one morning lay dead in its cage, she wept bitterly and long; she should
+      never more hear it sing, she should never more look after its cage and its
+      food. It was the loss of it which made her weep. She missed that which had
+      been interesting to her. I also interested her. Interest is the name for
+      that which the world calls love. Louise?&rdquo; He almost spoke the name aloud,
+      and his thoughts dwelt, from a strong combination of circumstances, upon
+      it. &ldquo;She appears to me true, and capable of making sacrifices! but is not
+      she also very different from all the others? How often have I not heard
+      Sophie laugh at her for it&mdash;look down upon her!&rdquo; And Otto&rsquo;s better
+      feeling sought in vain for a shadow of self-love in Louise, a single
+      selfish motive for her noble conduct.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Away from Denmark! to new people! Happy he who can always be on the wing,
+      making new friendships, and speedily breaking them off! At the first
+      meeting people wear their intellectual Sunday apparel; every point of
+      light is brought forth; but soon and the festival-day is over, and the
+      bright points have vanished.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We will set off next week!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, &ldquo;and then it shall be&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+    &lsquo;Over the rushing blue waters away!
+     We will speed along shores that are verdant and gay!&rsquo; 
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Away over the moors, up the Rhine, through the land of champagne to the
+      city of cities, the life-animating Paris!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0042" id="link2HCH0042">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XLII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;A maiden stood musing, gentle and mild. I grasped the hand
+     of the friendly child, but the lovely fawn shyly
+     disappeared.... From the Rhine to the Danish Belt,
+     beautiful and lovely maidens are found in palaces and tents;
+     yet nobody pleases me.&rdquo;&mdash;SCHMIDT VON LÜBECK.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The last day at home was Sophie&rsquo;s birthday. In the afternoon the whole
+      family was invited to the Kammerjunker&rsquo;s, where Jakoba and the Mamsell
+      were to be quite brilliant in their cookery.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A table filled with presents, all from the Kammerjunker, awaited Miss
+      Sophie; it was the first time that he had ever presented to her a birthday
+      gift, and he had now, either out of his own head or somebody&rsquo;s else,
+      fallen on the very good idea of making her a present for every year which
+      she had lived. Every present was suited to the age for which it was
+      intended, and thus he began with a paper of sugar-plums and ended with
+      silk and magnificent fur; but between beginning and end there were things,
+      of which more than the half could be called solid: gold ear-rings, a boa,
+      French gloves, and a riding-horse. This last, of course, could not stand
+      upon the table. It was a joy and a happiness; people walked about, and
+      separated themselves by degrees into groups.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The only one who was not there was Eva. She always preferred remaining at
+      home; and yet, perhaps, to-day she might have allowed herself to have been
+      overpersuaded, had she not found herself so extremely weak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Silently and alone she now sat at home in the great empty parlor. It was
+      in the twilight; she had laid down her work, and her beautiful, thoughtful
+      eyes looked straight before her: thoughts which we may not unveil were
+      agitating her breast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suddenly the door opened, and Wilhelm stood before her. Whilst the others
+      were walking he had stolen away. He knew that Eva was alone at home;
+      nobody would know that he visited her, nobody would dream of their
+      conversation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You here!&rdquo; exclaimed Eva, when she saw him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was compelled to come,&rdquo; answered he. &ldquo;I have slipped away from the
+      others; no one knows that I am here. I must speak with you, Eva. To-morrow
+      I set off; but I cannot leave home calmly and happily without knowing&mdash;what
+      this moment must decide.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Eva rose, her checks crimsoned, she cast down her eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Baron Wilhelm!&rdquo; stammered she, &ldquo;it is not proper that I should remain
+      here!&rdquo; She was about to leave the room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Eva!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, and seized her hand, &ldquo;you know that I love you! My
+      feelings are honorable! Say Yes, and it shall be holy to me as an oath.
+      Then I shall begin my journey glad at heart, as one should do. Your assent
+      shall stand in my breast, shall sound in my ear, whenever sin and
+      temptation assail me! It will preserve me in an upright course, it will
+      bring me back good and unspoiled. My wife must you be! You have soul, and
+      with it nobility! Eva! in God&rsquo;s name, do not make a feeble, life-weary,
+      disheartened being of me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Heavens!&rdquo; exclaimed she, and burst into tears, &ldquo;I cannot, and&mdash;will
+      not! You forget that I am only a poor girl, who am indebted for everything
+      to your mother! My assent would displease her, and some time or other you
+      would repent of it! I cannot!&mdash;I do not love you!&rdquo; added she, in a
+      tremulous voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm stood speechless.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Eva suddenly rang the bell.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What are you doing?&rdquo; exclaimed he.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The servant entered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bring in lights!&rdquo; said she; &ldquo;but first of all you must assist me with
+      these flowers down into the garden. It will do them good to stand in the
+      dew.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The servant did as she bade; she herself carried down one of the pots, and
+      left the room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not love you!&rdquo; repeated Wilhelm to himself, and returned to the
+      company which he had left, and where he found all gayety and happiness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The supper-table was spread in the garden; lights burned in the open air
+      with a steady flame; it was a summer-evening beautiful as the October of
+      the South; the reseda sent forth its fragrance; and when Sophie&rsquo;s health
+      was drunk cannon were fired among the lofty fir-trees, the pines of the
+      North.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The next morning those countenances were dejected which the evening before
+      had been so gay. The carriage drew up to the door. The dear mother and
+      sisters wept; they kissed Wilhelm, and extended their hands to Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Farewell!&rdquo; said Louise; &ldquo;do not forget us!&rdquo; and her tearful glance rested
+      upon Otto. Eva stood silent and pale.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will not forget me!&rdquo; whispered Otto, as he seized Louise&rsquo;s hand. &ldquo;I
+      will forget your sister!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The carriage rolled away; Wilhelm threw himself back into a corner. Otto
+      looked back once more; they all stood at the door, and waved their white
+      handkerchiefs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0043" id="link2HCH0043">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XLIII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;In one short speaking silence all conveys&mdash;
+     And looks a sigh, and weeps without a tear.&rdquo;
+                                   MRS. BROWNING.
+
+     &ldquo;Forgive us our debts as we
+       The debts of others forgive;
+     And lead us not in tempting ways;
+       Apart from evil let us live.&rdquo;
+                    A. VON CHAMISSO.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      We will not accompany the friends, but will remain behind in Funen, where
+      we will make a bolder journey than they, namely, we will go back
+      one-and-twenty years. We will allow the circumstances of Otto&rsquo;s birth
+      again to come before us. It is a leap backward that we take from 1830 to
+      1810. We are in Odense, that old city, which takes its name from Odin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The common people there have still a legend about the origin of the name
+      of the city. Upon Naesbyhoved&rsquo;s Hill [Author&rsquo;s Note: Not far from the
+      city, by the Odense Channel; it is described in Wedel Simonsen&rsquo;s City
+      Ruins.] there once stood a castle; here lived King Odin and his wife:
+      Odense city was not then in existence, but the first building of it was
+      then begun. [Author&rsquo;s Note: The place is given as being that of the now
+      so-called Cross Street.] The court was undecided as to the name which
+      should be given to the city. After long indecision it was at last agreed
+      that the first word which either King or Queen should speak the next
+      morning should be the name given to it. In the early morning the Queen
+      awoke and looked out from her window over the wood. The first house in the
+      city was erected to the roof, and the builders had hung up a great
+      garland, glittering with tinsel, upon the rooftree. &ldquo;Odin, see!&rdquo; exclaimed
+      the Queen; and thenceforward the city was called Odensee, which name,
+      since then, has been changed by daily speech to Odense.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When people ask the children in Copenhagen whence they have come, they
+      reply, out of the Peblingsöe. The little children of Odense, who know
+      nothing about the Peblingsöe, say that they are fetched out of Rosenbaek,
+      a little brook which has only been ennobled within the few last years,
+      just as in Copenhagen is the case with Krystal Street, which formerly had
+      an unpleasant name. This brook runs through Odense, and must, in former
+      times, when united with the Odense River, have formed an island where the
+      city at that time stood; hence some people derive the name of Odense from
+      Odins Ei, or Odins Ö, that is, Odin&rsquo;s Island. Be it then as it might, the
+      brook flows now, and in 1810, when the so-called Willow-dam, by the West
+      Gate, was not filled up, it stood, especially in spring, low and watery.
+      It often overflowed its banks, and in so doing overflowed the little
+      gardens which lay on either side. It thus ran concealed through the city
+      until near the North Gate, where it made its appearance for a moment and
+      then dived again in the same street, and, like a little river, flowed
+      through the cellars of the old justice-room, which was built by the
+      renowned Oluf Bagger. [Author&rsquo;s Note: He was so rich that once, when
+      Frederick the Second visited him, he had the room heated with cinnamon
+      chips. Much may be found about this remarkable man in the second
+      collection of Thiele&rsquo;s Popular Danish Legends. His descendants still live
+      in Odense, namely, the family of the printer Ch. Iversen, who has
+      preserved many curiosities which belonged to him.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was an afternoon in the summer of 1810; the water was high in the
+      brook, yet two washerwomen were busily employed in it; reed-matting was
+      fast bound round their bodies, and they beat with wooden staves the
+      clothes upon their washing-stools. They were in deep conversation, and yet
+      their labor went on uninterruptedly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said one of them, &ldquo;better a little with honor, than much with
+      dishonor. She is sentenced; to-morrow she is to go about in the pillory.
+      That is sure and certain! I know it from the trumpeter&rsquo;s Karen, and from
+      the beggar-king&rsquo;s [Author&rsquo;s Note: Overseer of the poor.] wife: neither of
+      them go about with lies.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ih, my Jesus!&rdquo; exclaimed the other, and let her wooden beater fall, &ldquo;is
+      Johanne Marie to go in the pillory, the handsome girl? she that looked so
+      clever and dressed herself so well?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, it is a misfortune!&rdquo; said the first; &ldquo;a great misfortune it must be!
+      No, let every one keep his own! say I every day to my children. After the
+      sweet claw comes the bitter smart. One had much better work till the blood
+      starts from the finger-ends.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ih, see though!&rdquo; said the other; &ldquo;there goes the old fellow, Johanne
+      Marie&rsquo;s father. He is an honest man; he was so pleased with his daughter,
+      and to-morrow he must himself bind her to the pillory! But can she really
+      have stolen?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She has herself confessed,&rdquo; returned she; &ldquo;and the Colonel is severe. I
+      fancy the Gevaldiger is going there.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Colonel should put the bridle on his own son. He is a bad fellow! Not
+      long ago, when I was washing yarn there, and was merry, as I always am, he
+      called me &lsquo;wench.&rsquo; If he had said &lsquo;woman,&rsquo; I should not have troubled
+      myself about it, for it has another meaning; but &lsquo;wench,&rsquo; that is rude!
+      Ei, there sails the whole affair!&rdquo; screamed she suddenly, as the sheet
+      which she had wound round the washing-stool got loose and floated down the
+      stream: she ran after it, and the conversation was broken off.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The old man whom they had seen and compassionated, went into a great house
+      close by, where the Colonel lived. His eyes were cast upon the ground; a
+      deep, silent suffering lay in his wrinkled face; he gently pulled at the
+      bell, and bowed himself deeply before the black-appareled lady who opened
+      to him the door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We know her&mdash;it was the old Rosalie, then twenty years younger than
+      when we saw her upon the western coast of Jutland.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good old man!&rdquo; said she, and laid her hand kindly on his shoulder.
+      &ldquo;Colonel Thostrup is severe, but he is not, however, inhuman; and that he
+      would be if he let you tomorrow do your office. The Colonel has said that
+      the Gevaldiger should stay at home.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No!&rdquo; said the old man, &ldquo;our Lord will give me strength. God be thanked
+      that Johanne Marie&rsquo;s mother has closed her eyes: she will not see the
+      misery! We are not guilty of it!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Honest man!&rdquo; said Rosalie. &ldquo;Johanne was always so good and clever; and
+      now&rdquo;&mdash;she shook her head&mdash;&ldquo;I would have sworn for her, but she
+      has confessed it herself!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The law must have its course!&rdquo; said the old man, and tears streamed down
+      his cheeks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At that moment the door opened, and Colonel Thostrup, a tall, thin man,
+      with a keen eye, stood before them. Rosalie left the room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gevaldiger,&rdquo; said the Colonel, &ldquo;to-morrow you will not be required to act
+      in your office.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Colonel,&rdquo; returned the old man, &ldquo;it is my duty to be there, and, if I may
+      say a few words, people would speak ill of me if I kept away.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      On the following forenoon, from the early morning, the square where lay
+      the council-house and head-watch, was filled with people; they were come
+      to see the handsome girl led forth in the pillory. The time began to
+      appear long to them, and yet no sign was seen of that which they expected.
+      The sentinel, who went with measured step backward and forward before the
+      sentry-box, could give no intelligence. The door of the council-house was
+      closed, and everything gave occasion to the report which suddenly was put
+      into circulation, that the handsome Johanne Marie had been for a whole
+      hour in the pillory within the council-house, and thus they should have
+      nothing at all to see. Although it is entirely opposed to sound reason
+      that punishment should be inflicted publicly, it met with much support,
+      and great dissatisfaction was excited.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is shabby!&rdquo; said a simple woman, in whom we may recognize one of the
+      washerwomen; &ldquo;it is shabby thus to treat the folks as if they were fools!
+      Yesterday I slaved like a horse, and here one has stood two whole hours by
+      the clock, till I am stiff in the legs, without seeing anything at all!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is what I expected,&rdquo; said another woman; &ldquo;a fair face has many
+      friends! She has known how to win the great people to her side!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do not you believe,&rdquo; inquired a third, &ldquo;that she has been good friends
+      with the Colonels son?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes; formerly I would have said No, because she always looked so steady,
+      and against her parents there is not a word to be said; but as she has
+      stolen, as we know she has, she may also have been unsteady. The Colonel&rsquo;s
+      son is a wild bird; riots and drinks does he in secret! We others know
+      more than his father does: he had held too tight a hand over him. Too
+      great severity causes bad blood!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;God help me, now it begins!&rdquo; interrupted another woman, as a detachment
+      of soldiers marched out of the guard-house, and at some little distance
+      one from the other inclosed an open space. The door of the council-house
+      now opened, and two officers of police, together with some of the guard,
+      conducted out the condemned, who was placed in the pillory. This was a
+      sort of wooden yoke laid across the shoulders of the delinquent; a piece
+      of wood came forward from this into which her hands were secured: above
+      all stood two iron bars, to the first of which was fastened a little bell;
+      to the other a long fox&rsquo;s tail, which hung down the lack of the condemned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl seemed hardly more than nineteen, and was of an unusually
+      beautiful figure; her countenance was nobly and delicately formed, but
+      pale as death: yet there was no expression either of suffering or shame,&mdash;she
+      seemed like the image of a penitent, who meekly accomplishes the imposed
+      penance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her aged father, the Gevaldiger, followed her slowly; his eye was
+      determined; no feature expressed that which went forward in his soul: he
+      silently took his place beside one of the pillars before the guard house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A loud murmur arose among the crowd when they saw the beautiful girl and
+      the poor old father, who must himself see his daughter&rsquo;s disgrace.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A spotted dog sprang into the open space; the girl&rsquo;s monotonous tread, as
+      she advanced into the middle of the square, the ringing of the little
+      bell, and the fox-tail which moved in the wind, excited the dog, which
+      began to bark, and wanted to bite the fox&rsquo;s tail. The guards drove the dog
+      away, but it soon came back again, although it did not venture again into
+      the circle, but thrust itself forward, and never ceased barking.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Many of those who already had been moved to compassion by the beauty of
+      the girl and the sight of the old father, were thrown again by this
+      incident into a merry humor; they laughed and found the whole thing very
+      amusing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The hour was past, and the girl was now to be released. The Gevaldiger
+      approached her, but whilst he raised his hand to the yoke the old man
+      tottered, and sank, in the same moment, back upon the hard stone pavement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A shriek arose from those who stood around; the young girl alone stood
+      silent and immovable; her thoughts seemed to be far away. Yet some people
+      fancied they saw how she closed her eyes, but that was only for a moment.
+      A policeman released her from the pillory, her old father was carried into
+      the guard-house, and two policemen led her into the council-house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See, now it is over!&rdquo; said an old glover, who was among the spectators;
+      &ldquo;the next time she&rsquo;ll get into the House of Correction.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, it is not so bad there,&rdquo; answered another; &ldquo;they sing and are merry
+      there the whole day long, and have no need to trouble themselves about
+      victuals.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, but that is prison fare.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is not so bad&mdash;many a poor body would thank God for it; and
+      Johanne Marie would get the best of it. Her aunt is the head-cook, and the
+      cook and the inspector they hang together. It&rsquo;s my opinion, however, that
+      this affair will take the life out of the old man. He got a right good
+      bump as he fell on the stone-pavement; one could hear how it rung again.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The crowd separated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The last malicious voice had prophesied truth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Three weeks afterward six soldiers bore a woven, yellow straw coffin from
+      a poor house in East Street. The old Gevaldiger lay, with closed eyes and
+      folded hands, in the coffin. Within the chamber, upon the bedstead, sat
+      Johanne Marie, with a countenance pale as that of the dead which had been
+      carried away. A compassionate neighbor took her hand, and mentioned her
+      name several times before she heard her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Johanne, come in with me; eat a mouthful of pease and keep life in you;
+      if not for your own sake, at least for that of the child which lies under
+      your heart.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl heaved a wonderfully deep sigh. &ldquo;No, no!&rdquo; said she, and closed
+      her eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Full of pity, the good neighbor took her home with her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A few days passed on, and then one morning two policemen entered the poor
+      room in which the Gevaldiger had died. Johanne Marie was again summoned
+      before the judge.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A fresh robbery had taken place at the Colonel&rsquo;s. Rosalie said that it was
+      a long time since she had first missed that which was gone, but that she
+      thought it best to try to forget it. The Colonel&rsquo;s violent temper and his
+      exasperation against Johanne Marie, who, as he asserted, by her bad
+      conduct, had brought her old, excellent father to the grave, insisted on
+      summoning her before the tribunal, that the affair might be more narrowly
+      inquired into.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rosalie, who had been captivated by the beauty of the girl and by her
+      modest demeanor, and who was very fond of her, was this time quite calm,
+      feeling quite sure that she would deny everything, because, in fact, the
+      theft had only occurred within the last few days. The public became aware
+      of this before long, and the opinion was that Johanne Marie could not
+      possibly have been an actor in it; but, to the astonishment of the greater
+      number, she confessed that she was the guilty person, and that with such
+      calmness as amazed every one. Her noble, beautifully formed countenance
+      seemed bloodless; her dark-blue eyes beamed with a brilliancy which seemed
+      like that of delirium; her beauty, her calmness, and yet this obduracy in
+      crime, produced an extraordinary impression upon the spectators.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She was sentenced to the House of Correction in Odense. Despised and
+      repulsed by the better class of her fellow-beings, she went to her
+      punishment. No one had dreamed that under so fair a form so corrupt a soul
+      could have been found. She was set to the spinning-wheel; silent and
+      introverted, she accomplished the tasks that were assigned her. In the
+      coarse merriment of the other prisoners she took no part.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t let your heart sink within you, Johanne Marie,&rdquo; said German
+      Heinrich, who sat at the loom; &ldquo;sing with us till the iron bars rattle!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Johanne, you brought your old father to the grave,&rdquo; said her relation,
+      the head-cook; &ldquo;how could you have taken such bad courses?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Johanne Marie was silent; the large, dark eyes looked straight before her,
+      whilst she kept turning the wheel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Five months went on, and then she became ill&mdash;ill to death, and gave
+      birth to twins, a boy and a girl&mdash;two beautiful and well-formed
+      children, excepting that the girl was as small and delicate as if its life
+      hung on a thread.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The dying mother kissed the little ones and wept; it was the first time
+      that the people within the prison had seen her weep. Her relation the cook
+      sat alone with her upon the bed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Withdraw not your hand from the innocent children,&rdquo; said Johanne Marie;
+      &ldquo;if they live to grow up, tell them some time that their mother was
+      innocent. My eternal Saviour knows that I have never stolen! Innocent am
+      I, and innocent was I when I went out a spectacle of public derision, and
+      now when I sit here!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ih, Jesus though! What do you say?&rdquo; exclaimed the woman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The truth!&rdquo; answered the dying one. &ldquo;God be gracious to me!&mdash;my
+      children!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She sank back upon the couch, and was dead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0044" id="link2HCH0044">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XLIV
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Ah! wonderfully beautiful is God&rsquo;s earth, and worthy it is
+     to live contented.&rdquo;&mdash;HÖLTY.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      We now return to the hall in Funen, to the family which we left there; but
+      autumn and winter are gone whilst we have been lingering on the past. Otto
+      and Wilhelm have been two months away. It is the autumn of 1832.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The marriage of the Kammerjunker and Sophie was deferred, according to her
+      wish, until the second of April, because this day is immortal in the
+      annals of Denmark. In the house, where there now were only the mother,
+      Louise, and Eva, all was quiet. Through the whole winter Eva had become
+      weaker; yet she did not resemble the flowers which wither; there was no
+      expression of illness about her&mdash;it was much more as if the spiritual
+      nature overpowered the bodily; she resembled an astral lamp which, filled
+      with light, seems almost resembled be an ethereal existence. The dark-blue
+      eyes had an expression of soul and feeling which attracted even the simple
+      domestics at the hall. The physician assured them that her chest was
+      sound, and that her malady was to him a riddle. A beautiful summer, he
+      thought, would work beneficially upon her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm and Otto wrote alternately. It was a festival-day whenever a
+      letter came; then were maps and plans of the great cities fetched out, and
+      Louise and Eva made the journey with them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To-day they are here, to-morrow they will be there,&rdquo; cried they.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How I envy them both, to see all these glorious things!&rdquo; said Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The charming Switzerland!&rdquo; sighed Eva. &ldquo;How refreshing the air must be to
+      breathe! How well one must feel one&rsquo;s self there!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you could only go there, Eva,&rdquo; said Louise, &ldquo;then you would certainly
+      get better.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here all are so kind to me; here I am so happy!&rdquo; answered she. &ldquo;I am
+      right thankful to God for it. How could I have hoped for such a home as
+      this? God reward you and your good mother for your kindness to me. Once I
+      was so unhappy; but now I have had a double repayment for all my sorrow,
+      and all the neglect I have suffered. I am so happy, and therefore I would
+      so willingly live!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, and you shall live!&rdquo; said Louise. &ldquo;How came you now to think about
+      dying? In the summer you will perfectly recover, the physician says. Can
+      you hide from me any sorrow? Eva, I know that my brother loves you!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He will forget that abroad!&rdquo; said Eva. &ldquo;He must forget it! Could I be
+      ungrateful? But we are not suited for each other!&rdquo; She spoke of her
+      childhood, of long-passed, sorrowful days. Louise laid her arm upon her
+      shoulder: they talked till late in the evening, and tears stood in
+      Louise&rsquo;s eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Only to you could I tell it!&rdquo; said Eva. &ldquo;It is to me like a sin, and yet
+      I am innocent. My mother was so too&mdash;my poor mother! Her sin was
+      love. She sacrificed all; more than a woman should sacrifice. The old
+      Colonel was stern and violent. His wrath often became a sort of frenzy, in
+      which he knew not what he did. The son was young and dissipated; my mother
+      a poor girl, but very handsome, I have heard. He seduced her. She had
+      become an unfortunate being, and that she herself felt. The Colonel&rsquo;s son
+      robbed his father and an old woman who lived in the family: that which had
+      been taken was missed. The father would have murdered the son, had he
+      discovered the truth; the son, therefore, sought in his need help from my
+      poor mother. He persuaded her to save him by taking the guilt on herself.
+      The whole affair as regarded her was, he intended, only to come from the
+      domestics. She thought that with her honor all was lost. She, indeed, had
+      already given him the best of which she was possessed. In anguish of
+      heart, and overpowered by his prayers, she said, &lsquo;Yes; my father has been
+      angry and undone already.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Eva burst into tears.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou dear, good girl!&rdquo; said Louise, and kissed her forehead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My poor mother,&rdquo; continued Eva, &ldquo;was condemned to an undeserved
+      punishment. I cannot mention it. For that reason I have never had a desire
+      to go to Odense. The old lady in the Colonel&rsquo;s family concealed, out of
+      kindness, her loss; but by accident it was discovered. The Colonel was
+      greatly embittered. My mother was overwhelmed by shame and misfortune: the
+      first error had plunged her into all this. She was taken to the House of
+      Correction in Odense. The Colonel&rsquo;s son shortly afterward went away in a
+      vessel. My unhappy mother was dispirited: nobody knew that she had
+      endured, out of despair and love, a disgrace which she had not deserved.
+      It was not until she lay upon her death-bed, when I and my brother were
+      born, that she told a relation that she was innocent. Like a criminal, in
+      the early morning she was carried to the grave in a coffin of plaited
+      straw. A great and a noble heart was carried unacknowledged to the dead!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You had a brother?&rdquo; inquired Louise, and her heart beat violently. &ldquo;Did
+      he die? and where did you, poor children, remain?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The cook in the house kept us with her. I was small and weak; my brother,
+      on the contrary, was strong, and full of life. He lived mostly among the
+      prisoners. I sat in a little room with my doll. When we were in our
+      seventh year, we were sent for to the old Colonel. His son died abroad;
+      but before his death he had written to the old man, confessing to him his
+      crime, my mother&rsquo;s innocence, and that we were his children! I resembled
+      my father greatly. The old gentleman, as soon as he saw me, was very
+      angry, and said, &lsquo;I will not have her!&rsquo; I remained with my foster-mother.
+      I never saw my brother after that time. The Colonel left the city, and
+      took him with him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O God!&rdquo; cried Louise; &ldquo;you have still some papers on this subject? Do you
+      not know your brother? It is impossible that it should be otherwise! You
+      are Otto&rsquo;s sister!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Heavens!&rdquo; exclaimed Eva; her hands trembled, and she became as pale as
+      a corpse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are fainting!&rdquo; cried Louise, throwing her arm around her waist and
+      kissing her eyes and her cheeks. &ldquo;Eva! he is your brother! the dear, good
+      Otto! O, he will be so happy with you! Yes, your eyes are like his! Eva,
+      you beloved girl!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Louise related to her all that Otto had confided to her. She told her
+      about German Heinrich, and how Otto had assisted Sidsel away, and how they
+      had met.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Eva burst into tears. &ldquo;My brother! O Father in heaven, that I may but
+      live! live and see him! Life is so beautiful! I must not die!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Happiness will make you strong! There is no doubt but that he is your
+      brother! We must tell it to mamma. O Heavens! how delighted she will be!
+      and Otto will no longer suffer and be unhappy! He may be proud of you, and
+      happy in you! O, come, come!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She led Eva out with her to her mother, who was already in bed; but how
+      could Louise wait till next morning?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;May the Lord bless thee, my good child!&rdquo; said the lady, and pressed a
+      kiss upon her forehead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Eva related now how the Colonel had, given a considerable sum to her
+      foster-mother; but that was all she was to receive, he had said.
+      Afterward, when the foster-mother died, Eva had still two hundred
+      rix-dollars; and on consideration of this the sister of the deceased had
+      taken Eva to live with her. With her she came to Copenhagen and to
+      Nyboder, and at that time she was ten years old. There she had to nurse a
+      little child&mdash;her brother she called it&mdash;and that was the little
+      Jonas. As she grew older, people told her that she was handsome. It was
+      now four years since she was followed one evening by two young men, one of
+      whom we know&mdash;our moral Hans Peter. One morning her foster-mother
+      came to her with a proposal which drove her to despair. The merchant had
+      seen her, and wished to purchase the beautiful flower. Upon this Eva left
+      her home, and came to the excellent people at Roeskelde; and from that day
+      God had been very good to her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She sank down upon her knees before the elderly lady&rsquo;s bed. She was not
+      among strangers: a mother and a sister wept with the happy one.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O that I might live!&rdquo; besought Eva, in the depths of her heart. As a
+      glorified one she stood before them. Her joy beamed through tears.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The next morning she felt herself singularly unwell. Her feet trembled;
+      her cheeks were like marble. She seated herself in the warm sunshine which
+      came in through the window. Outside stood the trees with large,
+      half-bursting buds. A few mild nights would make the wood green. But
+      summer was already in Eva&rsquo;s heart; there was life&rsquo;s joy and gladness. Her
+      large, thoughtful eyes raised themselves thankfully to heaven.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let me not die yet, good God!&rdquo; prayed she; and her lips moved to a low
+      melody, soft as if breezes passed over the outstretched chords:&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+           &ldquo;The sunshine warm, the odorous flowers,
+            Of these do not bereave me!
+            I breathe with joy the morning hours,
+            Let not the grave receive me!
+            There can no pleasant sunbeams fall,
+            No human voice come near me;
+            There should I miss the flow&rsquo;rets small,
+            There have no friends to cheer me.
+
+            Now, how to value life I know&mdash;
+            I hold it as a treasure;
+            There is no love i&rsquo; th&rsquo; grave below,
+            No music, warmth, or pleasure.
+            On it the heavy earth is flung,
+            The coffin-lid shuts tightly!
+            My blood is warm, my soul is young!
+            Life smiles&mdash;life shines so brightly!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      She folded her hands: all became like flowers and gold before her eyes.
+      Afar off was the sound of music: she reeled and sank down upon the sofa
+      which was near her. Life flowed forth from her heart, but the sensation
+      was one of bliss; a repose, as when the weary bow down their heads for
+      sleep.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here is a letter!&rdquo; cried Louise, full of joy, and found her white and
+      cold. Terrified, she called for help, and bent over her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Eva was dead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0045" id="link2HCH0045">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XLV
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Knowest thou the mountain and its cloudy paths? where the
+     mule is seeking its misty way.&rdquo;&mdash;GOETHE.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The letter was from Wilhelm; every line breathed life&rsquo;s joy and gladness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;MIA CARA SORELLA!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Does it not sound beautifully? It is Italian! Now then, I am in that
+      so-often-sung-of Paradise, but of the so much-talked-about blue air, I
+      have as yet seen nothing of consequence. Here it is gray, gray as in
+      Denmark. To be sure Otto says that it is beautiful, that we have the
+      heaven of home above us, but I am not so poetical. The eating is good, and
+      the filth of the people strikes one horribly after being in Switzerland,
+      the enchanting Switzerland! Yes, there is nature! We have made a crusade
+      through it, you may think. But now you shall hear about the journey, and
+      the entrance into &lsquo;la bella Italia,&rsquo; which is yet below all my
+      expectations. I cannot at all bear these feeble people; I cannot endure
+      this monk-odor and untruthfulness. We are come direct from the scenery of
+      Switzerland, from clouds and glaciers, from greatness and power. We
+      travelled somewhat hastily through the valley of the Rhone; the weather
+      was gray, but the whole obtained therefrom a peculiar character. The woods
+      in the lofty ridges looked like heather; the valley itself seemed like a
+      garden filled with vegetables, vineyards, and green meadows. The clouds
+      over and under one another, but the snow-covered mountains peeped forth
+      gloriously from among them, It was a riven cloud-world which drove past,&mdash;the
+      wild chase with which the daylight had disguised itself. It kissed in its
+      flight Pissevache, a waterfall by no means to be despised. In Brieg we
+      rested some time, but at two o&rsquo;clock in the morning began again our
+      journey over the Simplon. This is the journey which I will describe to
+      you. Otto and I sat in the coupée. Fancy us in white blouses, shawl-caps,
+      and with green morocco slippers, for the devil may travel in slippers&mdash;they
+      are painful to the feet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We both of us have mustaches! I have seduced Otto. They become us
+      uncommonly well, and give us a very imposing air; and that is very good
+      now that we are come into the land of banditti, where we must endeavor to
+      awe the robbers. Thus travelled we. It was a dark night, and still as
+      death, as in the moment when the overture begins to an opera. Soon,
+      indeed, was the great Simplon curtain to be rolled up, and we to behold
+      the land of music. Immediately on leaving the city, the road began to
+      ascend; we could not see a hand before us; around us tumbled and roared
+      the water-courses,&mdash;it was as if we heard the pulse of Nature beat.
+      Close above the carriage passed the white clouds; they seemed like
+      transparent marble slabs which were slid over us. We had the gray dawn
+      with us, whilst deep in the valley lay yet the darkness of night; in an
+      hour&rsquo;s time it began to show itself there among the little wooden houses.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is a road hewn out of the rocks. The giant Napoleon carried it through
+      the backbone of the earth. The eagle, Napoleon&rsquo;s bird, flew like a living
+      armorial crest over the gigantic work of the master. There it was cold and
+      gray; the clouds above us, the clouds below us, and in the middle space
+      steep rocky walls.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At regular distances houses (relais) are erected for the travellers; in
+      one of these we drank our coffee. The passengers sat on benches and tables
+      around the great fire-place, where the pine logs crackled. More than a
+      thousand names were written on the walls. I amused myself by writing
+      mamma&rsquo;s, yours, Sophie&rsquo;s, and Eva&rsquo;s; now they stand there, and people will
+      fancy that you have been on the Simplon. In the lobby I scratched in that
+      of Mamsell, and added &lsquo;Without her workbox.&rsquo; Otto was thinking about you.
+      We talked in our, what the rest would call &lsquo;outlandish speech,&rsquo; when I all
+      at once exclaimed, &lsquo;It is really Eva&rsquo;s birthday!&rsquo; I remembered it first.
+      In Simplon town we determined to drink her health.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We set off again. Wherever the glaciers might fall and destroy the road
+      the rocks have been sprung, and formed into great galleries, through which
+      one drives without any danger. One waterfall succeeds another. There is no
+      balustrade along the road, only the dark, deep abyss where the pine-trees
+      raise themselves to an immense height, and yet only look like rafters on
+      the mighty wall of rock. Before we had advanced much further, we came to
+      where trees no longer grew. The great hospice lay in snow and cloud. We
+      came into a valley. What solitude! what desolation! only naked crags! They
+      seemed metallic, and all had a green hue. The utmost variety of mosses
+      grew there; before us towered up an immense glacier, which looked like
+      green bottle-glass ornamented with snow. It was bitterly cold here, and in
+      Simplon the stoves were lighted; the champagne foamed, Eva&rsquo;s health was
+      drunk, and, only think! at that very moment an avalanche was so gallant as
+      to fall. That was a cannonade; a pealing among the mountains! It must have
+      rung in Eva&rsquo;s ears. Ask her about it. I can see how she smiles.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We now advanced toward Italy, but cold was it, and cold it remained. The
+      landscape became savage; we drove between steep crags. Only fancy, on both
+      sides a block of granite several miles long, and almost as high, and the
+      road not wider than for two carriages to pass, and there you have a
+      picture of it. If one wanted to see the sky, one was obliged to put one&rsquo;s
+      head out of the carriage and look up, and then it was as if one looked up
+      from the bottom of the deepest well, dark and narrow. Every moment I kept
+      thinking, &lsquo;Nay, if these two walls should come together!&rsquo; We with carriage
+      and horses were only like ants on a pebble. We drove through the ribs of
+      the earth! The water roared; the clouds hung like fleeces on the gray,
+      craggy walls. In a valley we saw boys and girls dressed in sheep-skins,
+      who looked as wild as if they had been brought up among beasts.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Suddenly the air became wondrously mild. We saw the first fig-tree by the
+      road-side. Chestnuts hung over our heads; we were in Isella, the boundary
+      town of Italy. Otto sang, and was wild with delight; I studied the first
+      public-house sign, &lsquo;Tabacca e vino.&rsquo; 
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How luxuriant became the landscape! Fields of maize and vineyards! The
+      vine was not trained on frames as in Germany!&mdash;no, it hung in
+      luxuriant garlands, in great huts of leaves! Beautiful children bounded
+      along the road, but the heavens were gray, and that I had not expected in
+      Italy. From Domo d&rsquo;Ossola, I looked back to my beloved Switzerland! Yes,
+      she turns truly the most beautiful side toward Italy. But there was not
+      any time for me to gaze; on we must. In the carriage there sat an old
+      Signorina; she recited poetry, and made: with her eyes &lsquo;che bella cosa!&rsquo; 
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;About ten o&rsquo;clock at night we were in Baveno, drank tea, and slept,
+      whilst Lago Maggiore splashed under our window. The lake and the Borromaen
+      island we were to see by daylight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Lord God!&rsquo; thought I, &lsquo;is this all?&rsquo; A scene as quiet and riant as this
+      we&mdash;have at home! Funen after this should be called Isola bella, and
+      the East Sea is quite large enough to be called Lago Maggiore. We went by
+      the steamboat past the holy Borromeus [Author&rsquo;s Note: A colossal statue on
+      the shore of Lago Maggiore.] to Sesto de Calende; we had a priest on
+      board, who was very much astonished at our having come from so far. I
+      showed him a large travelling map which we had with us, where the Lago
+      Maggiore was the most southern, and Hamburg the most northern point. &lsquo;Yet
+      still further off,&rsquo; said I; &lsquo;more to the north!&rsquo; and he struck his hands
+      together when he perceived that we were from beyond the great map. He
+      inquired whether we were Calvinists.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We sped through glorious scenes. The Alps looked like glass mountains in
+      a fairy tale. They lay behind us. The air was warm as summer, but light as
+      on the high mountains. The women wafted kisses to us; but they were not
+      handsome, the good ladies!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell the Kammerjunker that the Italian pigs have no bristles, but have a
+      coal-black shining skin like a Moor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Toward night we arrived at Milan, where we located ourselves with
+      Reichmann, made a good supper, and had excellent beds; but I foresee that
+      this bliss will not last very long. On the other side of the Apennines we
+      shall be up to the ears in dirt, and must eat olives preserved in oil; but
+      let it pass. Otto adapts himself charmingly to all things; he begins to be
+      merry&mdash;that is, at times! I, too, have had a sort of vertigo&mdash;I
+      am taken with Italian music; but then there is a difference in hearing it
+      on the spot. It has more than melody; it has character. The luxuriance in
+      nature and in the female form; the light, fluttering movement of the
+      people, where even pain is melody, has won my heart and my understanding.
+      Travelling changes people!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Kiss mamma for me! Tell Eva about the health-drinking on the Simplon, and
+      about the falling avalanche: do not forget that; that is precisely the
+      point in my letter! Tell me too how Eva blushed, and smiled, and said, &lsquo;He
+      thought of me!&rsquo; Yes, in fact it is very noble of me. My sweet Sophie and
+      her Kammerjunker, Jakoba and Mamsell, must have a bouquet of greetings,
+      which you must arrange properly. If you could but see Otto and me with our
+      mustaches! We make an impression, and that is very pleasant. If the days
+      only did not go on so quickly&mdash;if life did not pass so rapidly!
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+           &ldquo;&lsquo;Questa vita mortale
+             Che par si bella, a quasi piuma al vento
+             Che la porta a la perde in un momento,&rsquo; [Note: Guarini]
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      as we Italians say. Cannot you understand that?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thy affectionate brother,
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;WILHELM.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto wrote in the margin of the letter, &ldquo;Italy is a paradise! Here the
+      heavens are three times as lofty as at home. I love the proud pine-trees
+      and the dark-blue mountains. Would hat everybody could see the glorious
+      objects!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm added to this, &ldquo;What he writes about the Italian heavens is stupid
+      stuff. Ours at home is just as good. He is an odd person, as you very well
+      know!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Addic! A rivederci!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0046" id="link2HCH0046">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XLVI
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Thou art master in thy world.
+     Hast thou thyself, then thou hast all!&rdquo;
+      &mdash;WAHLMANN.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In the summer of 1834 the friends had been absent for two years. In the
+      last year, violet-colored gillyflowers had adorned a grave in the little
+      country church-yard.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;A heart which overflowed with love,
+     Was gone from earth to love and God,&rdquo;
+      were the words which might be read upon the grave-stone.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      A withered bouquet of stocks had been found by Louise, with the
+      certificate of Eva&rsquo;s birth and her hymn-book. These were the flowers which
+      Wilhelm had given her that evening at Roeskelde. Among the dry leaves
+      there lay a piece of paper, on which she had written,&mdash;&ldquo;Even like
+      these flowers let the feelings die away in my soul which these flowers
+      inspire it with!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And now above her grave the flowers which she had loved sent forth their
+      fragrance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was Sunday; the sun shone warm; the church-goers, old and young,
+      assembled under the great lime-tree near Eva&rsquo;s grave. They expected their
+      young preacher, who to-day was to preach for the third time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentlefolks would also certainly be there, they thought, because the
+      young Baron was come back out of foreign parts, and with him the other
+      gentleman, who certainly was to have Miss Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Our new preacher is worth hearing,&rdquo; said one of the peasant women; &ldquo;such
+      a young man, who actually preaches the old faith! as gentle and as meek in
+      conversation as if he were one of ourselves! And in the pulpit, God help
+      us! it went quite down into my legs the last time about the Day of
+      Judgment!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There is Father!&rdquo; [Note: The general term applied to the preacher by the
+      Danish peasants.] exclaimed the crowd, and the heads of old and young were
+      uncovered. The women courtesied deeply as a young man in priest-robes went
+      into the church-door. His eyes and lips moved to a pious smile, the hair
+      was smooth upon his pale forehead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good day, children!&rdquo; said he.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was Hans Peter. He had, indeed, had &ldquo;the best characters,&rdquo; and thus had
+      received a good living, and now preached effectively about the devil and
+      all his works.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The singing of the community sounded above the grave where the sun shone,
+      where the stocks sent forth their fragrance, and where Eva slept: she
+      whose last wish was to live.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;There is no love i&rsquo; th&rsquo; grave below,
+     No music, warmth, or pleasure.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      The earth lay firm and heavy upon her coffin-lid.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      During the singing of the second hymn a handsome carriage drove up before
+      the church-yard. The two friends, who were only just returned to their
+      home in Denmark, entered the church, together with the mother and Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Travelling and two years had made Wilhelm appear somewhat older; there was
+      a shadow of sadness in his otherwise open and life-rejoicing countenance.
+      Otto looked handsomer than formerly; the gloomy expression in his face was
+      softened, he looked around cheerfully, yet thoughtfully, and a smile was
+      on his lips when he spoke with Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There was in the sermon some allusion made to those who had returned home;
+      for the rest, it was a flowery discourse interlarded with many texts from
+      the Bible. The community shed tears; the good, wise people, they
+      understood it to mean that their young lord was returned home uninjured
+      from all the perils which abound in foreign lands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The preacher was invited to dinner at the hall. The Kammerjunker and
+      Sophie came also, but it lasted &ldquo;seven long and seven wide,&rdquo; as Miss
+      Jakoba expressed herself, before they could get through all the unwrapping
+      and were ready to enter the parlor, for they had with them the little son
+      Fergus, as he was called, after the handsome Scotchman in Sir Walter
+      Scott&rsquo;s &ldquo;Waverley.&rdquo; That was Sophie&rsquo;s wish. The Kammerjunker turned the
+      name of Fergus to Gusseman, and Jacoba asserted that it was a dog&rsquo;s name.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now you shall see my little bumpkin!&rdquo; said he, and brought in a
+      square-built child, who with fat, red cheeks, and round arms, stared
+      around him. &ldquo;That is a strong fellow! Here is something to take hold of!
+      Tralla-ralla-ralla!&rdquo; And he danced him round the room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie laughed and offered her hand to Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm turned to Mamsell. &ldquo;I have brought something for you,&rdquo; said he,
+      &ldquo;something which I hope may find a place in the work-box&mdash;a man made
+      of very small mussel-shells; it is from Venice.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Heavens! from all that way off!&rdquo; said she and courtesied.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After dinner they walked in the garden.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm spoke already of going the following year again to Paris.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Satan!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker. &ldquo;Nay, I can do better with Mr. Thostrup.
+      He is patriotic. He lays out his money in an estate. It is a good bargain
+      which you have made, and in a while will be beautiful; there is hill and
+      dale.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There my old Rosalie shall live with me,&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;there she will find
+      her Switzerland. The cows shall have bells on their necks.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lord God! shall they also be made fools of?&rdquo; exclaimed Jakoba: &ldquo;that is
+      just exactly as if it were Sophie.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They went through the avenue where Otto two years before had wept, and had
+      related all his troubles to Louise. He recollected it, and a gentle sigh
+      passed his lips whilst his eyes rested on Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, do you feel yourself happy at home?&rdquo; asked she; &ldquo;a lovelier summer&rsquo;s
+      day than this you certainly have not abroad.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Every country has its own beauties,&rdquo; replied Otto. &ldquo;Our Denmark is not a
+      step child of Nature. The people here are dearest to me, for I am best
+      acquainted with them. They, and not Nature, it is that makes a land
+      charming. Denmark is a good land; and here also will I look for my
+      happiness.&rdquo; He seized Louise&rsquo;s hand; she blushed, and was silent. Happy
+      hours succeeded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This circle assembled every Sunday; on the third, their delight was
+      greater, was more festal than on any former occasion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nature herself had the same expression. The evening was most beautiful;
+      the full moon shone, magnificent dark-blue clouds raised themselves like
+      mountains on the other side the Belt. Afar off sailed the ships, with
+      every sail set to catch the breeze.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Below the moon floated a coal-black cloud, which foretold a squall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A little yacht went calmly over the water. At the helm sat a boy&mdash;half
+      a child he seemed: it was Jonas, the little singing-bird, as Wilhelm had
+      once called him. Last Whitsuntide he had been confirmed, and with his
+      Confirmation all his singer-dreams were at an end: but that did not
+      trouble him; on the contrary, it had lain very heavy upon his heart that
+      he was not to be a fifer. His highest wish had been to see himself as a
+      regimental fifer, and then he should have gone to his Confirmation in his
+      red uniform, with a sabre at his side, and a feather in his hat half as
+      tall as himself. Thus adorned, he might have gone with the girls into the
+      King&rsquo;s Garden and upon the Round Tower, the usual walk for poor children
+      in Copenhagen. On Confirmation-day they ascend the high tower, just as if
+      it were to gain from it a free view over the world. Little Jonas, however,
+      was confirmed as a sailor, and he now sat at the helm on this quiet night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Upon the deck lay two persons and slept; a third went tranquilly up and
+      down. Suddenly he shook one of the sleepers, and caught hold on the sail.
+      A squall had arisen with such rapidity and strength, that the vessel in a
+      moment was thrown on her side. Mast and sail were below the water. Little
+      Jonas uttered a shriek. Not a vessel was within sight. The two sleepers
+      had woke in time to cling to the mast. With great force they seized the
+      ropes, but in vain; the sail hung like lead in the water. The ship did not
+      right herself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Joseph, Maria!&rdquo; exclaimed one of them, a man with gray hairs and
+      unpleasing features. &ldquo;We sink! the water is in the hold!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      All three clambered now toward the hinder part of the vessel, where a
+      little boat floated after. One of them sprang into it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My daughter!&rdquo; cried the elder, and bent himself toward the narrow
+      entrance into the cabin. &ldquo;Sidsel, save thy life!&rdquo; and so saying, he sprang
+      into the boat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We must have my daughter out,&rdquo; cried he. One of the ship&rsquo;s cabin windows
+      was under water; he burst in the other window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We are sinking!&rdquo; cried he, and a horrible scream was heard within.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The old man was German Heinrich, who was about to come with this vessel
+      from Copenhagen to Jutland: Sidsel was his daughter, and therefore he
+      wished now to save her life a second time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The water rushed more and more into the ship. Heinrich thrust his arm
+      through the cabin-window, he grasped about in the water within; suddenly
+      he caught hold on a garment, he drew it toward him; but it was only the
+      captain&rsquo;s coat, and not his daughter, as he had hoped.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The ship sinks!&rdquo; shrieked the other, and grasped wildly on the rope which
+      held the boat fast: in vain he attempted to divide it with his
+      pocket-knife. The ship whirled round with the boat and all. Air and water
+      boiled within it, and, as if in a whirlpool, the whole sunk into the deep.
+      The sea agitated itself into strong surges over the place, and then was
+      again still. The moon shone tranquilly over the surface of the water as
+      before. No wreck remained to tell any one of the struggle which there had
+      been with death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The bell tolled a quarter past twelve; and at that moment the last light
+      at the hall was extinguished.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will go to Paris,&rdquo; said Wilhelm, &ldquo;to my glorious Switzerland; here at
+      home one is heavy-hearted; the gillyflowers on the grave have an odor full
+      of melancholy recollections. I must breathe the mountain air; I must
+      mingle in the tumult of men, and it is quite the best in the world.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto closed his eyes; he folded his hands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Louise loves me,&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;I am so happy that I fear some great
+      misfortune may soon meet me; thus it used always to be. Whilst German
+      Heinrich lives I cannot assure myself of good! If he were away, I should
+      be perfectly tranquil, perfectly happy!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
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+</pre>
+  </body>
+</html>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of O. T., by Hans Christian Andersen
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: O. T.
+       A Danish Romance
+
+Author: Hans Christian Andersen
+
+Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7513]
+Posting Date: August 3, 2009
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK O. T. ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nicole Apostola
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+O. T.
+
+A Danish Romance
+
+by Hans Christian Andersen
+
+Author of the "Improvisatore" and the "Two Baronesses"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+     "Quod felix faustumque sit!"
+
+There is a happiness which no poet has yet properly sung, which no
+lady-reader, let her be ever so amiable, has experienced or ever will
+experience in this world. This is a condition of happiness which alone
+belongs to the male sex, and even then alone to the elect. It is a
+moment of life which seizes upon our feelings, our minds, our whole
+being. Tears have been shed by the innocent, sleepless nights been
+passed, during which the pious mother, the loving sister, have put up
+prayers to God for this critical moment in the life of the son or the
+brother.
+
+Happy moment, which no woman, let her be ever so good, so beautiful,
+or intellectual, can experience--that of becoming a student, or, to
+describe it by a more usual term, the passing of the first examination!
+
+The cadet who becomes an officer, the scholar who becomes an academical
+burgher, the apprentice who becomes a journeyman, all know, in a greater
+or less degree, this loosening of the wings, this bounding over the
+limits of maturity into the lists of philosophy. We all strive after
+a wider field, and rush thither like the stream which at length loses
+itself in the ocean.
+
+Then for the first time does the youthful soul rightly feel her freedom,
+and, therefore, feels it doubly; the soul struggles for activity, she
+comprehends her individuality; it has been proved and not found too
+light; she is still in possession of the dreams of childhood, which have
+not yet proved delusive. Not even the joy of love, not the enthusiasm
+for art and science, so thrills through all the nerves as the words,
+"Now am I a student!"
+
+This spring-day of life, on which the ice-covering of the school is
+broken, when the tree of Hope puts forth its buds and the sun of Freedom
+shines, falls with us, as is well known, in the month of October, just
+when Nature loses her foliage, when the evenings begin to grow darker,
+and when heavy winter-clouds draw together, as though they would say
+to youth,--"Your spring, the birth of the examination, is only a dream!
+even now does your life become earnest!" But our happy youths think not
+of these things, neither will we be joyous with the gay, and pay a visit
+to their circle. In such a one our story takes its commencement.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+     "At last we separate:
+     To Jutland one, to Fuenen others go;
+     And still the quick thought comes,
+     --A day so bright, so full of fun,
+     Never again on us shall rise."--CARL BAGGER.
+
+It was in October of the year 1829. Examen artium had been passed
+through. Several young students were assembled in the evening at the
+abode of one of their comrades, a young Copenhagener of eighteen, whose
+parents were giving him and his new friends a banquet in honor of the
+examination. The mother and sister had arranged everything in the nicest
+manner, the father had given excellent wine out of the cellar, and the
+student himself, here the rex convivii, had provided tobacco, genuine
+Oronoko-canaster. With regard to Latin, the invitation--which was, of
+course, composed in Latin--informed the guests that each should bring
+his own.
+
+The company, consisting of one and twenty persons--and these were only
+the most intimate friends--was already assembled. About one third of the
+friends were from the provinces, the remainder out of Copenhagen.
+
+"Old Father Homer shall stand in the middle of the table!" said one of
+the liveliest guests, whilst he took down from the stove a plaster bust
+and placed it upon the covered table.
+
+"Yes, certainly, he will have drunk as much as the other poets!" said
+an older one. "Give me one of thy exercise-books, Ludwig! I will cut him
+out a wreath of vine-leaves, since we have no roses and since I cannot
+cut out any."
+
+"I have no libation!" cried a third,--"Favete linguis." And he sprinkled
+a small quantity of salt, from the point of a knife, upon the bust, at
+the same time raising his glass to moisten it with a few drops of wine.
+
+"Do not use my Homer as you would an ox!" cried the host. "Homer shall
+have the place of honor, between the bowl and the garland-cake! He is
+especially my poet! It was he who in Greek assisted me to laudabilis
+et quidem egregie. Now we will mutually drink healths! Joergen shall be
+magister bibendi, and then we will sing 'Gaudeamus igitur,' and 'Integer
+vitae.'"
+
+"The Sexton with the cardinal's hat shall be the precentor!" cried
+one of the youths from the provinces, pointing toward a rosy-cheeked
+companion.
+
+"O, now I am no longer sexton!" returned the other laughing. "If thou
+bringest old histories up again, thou wilt receive thy old school-name,
+'the Smoke-squirter.'"
+
+"But that is a very nice little history!" said the other. "We called him
+'Sexton,' from the office his father held; but that, after all, is not
+particularly witty. It was better with the hat, for it did, indeed,
+resemble a cardinal's hat. I, in the mean time, got my name in a more
+amusing manner."
+
+"He lived near the school," pursued the other; "he could always slip
+home when we had out free quarters of an hour: and then one day he
+had filled his mouth with tobacco smoke, intending to blow it into
+our faces; but when he entered the passage with his filled cheeks the
+quarter of an hour was over, and we were again in class: the rector was
+still standing in the doorway; he could not, therefore, blow the smoke
+out of his mouth, and so wished to slip in as he was. 'What have you
+there in your mouth?' asked the rector; but Philip could answer nothing,
+without at the same time losing the smoke. 'Now, cannot you speak?'
+cried the rector, and gave him a box on the ear, so that the smoke burst
+through nose and mouth. This looked quite exquisite; the affair caused
+the rector such pleasure, that he presented the poor sinner with the
+nota bene."
+
+"Integer vitae!" broke in the Precentor, and harmoniously followed the
+other voices. After this, a young Copenhagener exhibited his dramatic
+talent by mimicking most illusively the professors of the Academy, and
+giving their peculiarities, yet in such a good-natured manner that it
+must have amused even the offended parties themselves. Now followed the
+healths--"Vivant omnes hi et hae!"
+
+"A health to the prettiest girl!" boldly cried one of the merriest
+brothers. "The prettiest girl!" repeated a pair of the younger ones, and
+pushed their glasses toward each other, whilst the blood rushed to their
+cheeks at this their boldness, for they had never thought of a beloved
+being, which, nevertheless, belonged to their new life. The roundelay
+now commenced, in which each one must give the Christian name of his
+lady-love, and assuredly every second youth caught a name out of the
+air; some, however, repeated a name with a certain palpitation of the
+heart. The discourse became more animated; the approaching military
+exercises, the handsome uniform, the reception in the students' club,
+and its pleasures, were all matters of the highest interest. But there
+was the future philologicum and philosophicum--yes, that also was
+discussed; there they must exhibit their knowledge of Latin.
+
+"What do you think," said one of the party, "if once a week we
+alternately met at each other's rooms, and held disputations? No Danish
+word must be spoken. This might be an excellent scheme."
+
+"I agree to that!" cried several.
+
+"Regular laws must be drawn up."
+
+"Yes, and we must have our best Latin scholar, the Jutlander, Otto
+Thostrup, with us! He wrote his themes in hexameters."
+
+"He is not invited here this evening," remarked the neighbor, the young
+Baron Wilhelm of Funen, the only nobleman in the company.
+
+"Otto Thostrup!" answered the host. "Yes, truly he's a clever fellow,
+but he seems to me so haughty. There is something about him that does
+not please me at all. We are still no dunces, although he did receive
+nine prae caeteris!"
+
+"Yet it was very provoking," cried another, "that he received the only
+Non in mathematics. Otherwise he would have been called in. Now he will
+only have to vex himself about his many brilliant characters."
+
+"Yes, and he is well versed in mathematics!" added Wilhelm "There was
+something incorrect in the writing; the inspector was to blame for
+that, but how I know not. Thostrup is terribly vehement, and can set
+all respect at defiance; he became angry, and went out. There was only
+a piece of unwritten paper presented from him, and this brought him a
+cipher, which the verbal examination could not bring higher than non.
+Thostrup is certainly a glorious fellow. We have made a tour together
+in the steamboat from Helsingoeer to Copenhagen, and in the written
+examination we sat beside each other until the day when we had
+mathematics, and then I sat below him. I like him very much, his pride
+excepted; and of that we must break him."
+
+"Herr Baron," said his neighbor, "I am of your opinion. Shall not we
+drink the Thou-brotherhood?"
+
+"To-night we will all of us drink the Thou!" said the host; "it is
+nothing if comrades and good friends call each other _you_."
+
+"Evoe Bacchus!" they joyously shouted. The glasses were filled, one arm
+was thrown round that of the neighbor, and the glasses were emptied,
+whilst several commenced singing "dulce cum sodalibus!"
+
+"Tell me what thou art called?" demanded one of the younger guests of
+his new Thou-brother.
+
+"What am I called?" replied he. "With the exception of one letter, the
+same as the Baron."
+
+"The Baron!" cried a third; "yes, where is he?"
+
+"There he stands talking at the door; take your glasses! now have all of
+us drank the Thou-brotherhood?"
+
+The glasses were again raised; the young Baron laughed, clinked his
+glass, and shouted in the circle, "Thou, Thou!" But in his whole bearing
+there lay something constrained, which, however, none of the young
+men remarked, far less allowed themselves to imagine that his sudden
+retreat, during the first drinking, perhaps occurred from the
+sole object of avoiding it. But soon was he again one of the most
+extravagant; promised each youth who would study theology a living on
+his estate when he should once get it into his own hands; and proposed
+that the Latin disputations should commence with him, and on the
+following Friday. Otto Thostrup, however, should be of the party--if he
+chose, of course being understood; for he was a capital student, and his
+friend they had made a journey together and had been neighbors at the
+green table.
+
+Among those who were the earliest to make their valete amici was the
+Baron. Several were not yet inclined to quit this joyous circle. The
+deepest silence reigned in the streets; it was the most beautiful
+moonlight. In most houses all had retired to rest--only here and there
+was a light still seen, most persons slept, even those whose sense
+of duty should leave banished the god of sleep: thus sat a poor
+hackney-coachman, aloft upon his coach-box, before the house where he
+awaited his party, and enjoyed, the reins wound about his hand, the
+much-desired rest. Wilhelm (henceforth we will only call the young Baron
+by his Christian name) walked alone through the street. The wine had
+heated his northern blood--besides which it never flowed slowly; his
+youthful spirits, his jovial mood, and the gayety occasioned by the
+merry company he had just quitted did not permit him quietly to pass
+by this sleeping Endymion. Suddenly it occurred to him to open the
+coach-door and leap in; which having done, he let the glass fall and
+called out with a loud voice, "Drive on!" The coachman started up out
+of his blessed sleep and asked, quite confused, "Where to?" Without
+reflecting about the matter, Wilhelm cried, "To the Ship in West
+Street." The coachman drove on; about half-way, Wilhelm again opened the
+coach-door, a bold spring helped him out, and the coach rolled on.
+It stopped at the public-house of the Ship. The coachman got down
+and opened the door; there was no one within; he thrust his head
+in thoroughly to convince himself; but no, the carriage was empty!
+"Extraordinary!" said the fellow; "can I have dreamed it? But still
+I heard, quite distinctly, how I was told to drive to the Ship! Lord
+preserve us! now they are waiting for me!" He leaped upon the box and
+drove rapidly back again.
+
+In the mean time Wilhelm had reached his abode in Vineyard Street; he
+opened a window to enjoy the beautiful night, and gazed out upon the
+desolate church-yard which is shut in by shops. He had no inclination
+for sleep, although everything in the street, even the watchmen not
+excepted, appeared to rejoice the gift of God. Wilhelm thought upon the
+merry evening party, upon his adventure with the poor hackney-coachman,
+then took down his violin from the wall and began to play certain
+variations.
+
+The last remaining guests from the honorable carousal, merrier than when
+Wilhelm left them, now came wandering up the street. One of them jodeled
+sweetly, and no watchman showed himself as a disturbing principle. They
+heard Wilhelm violin and recognized the musician.
+
+"Play us a Francaise, thou up there!" cried they.
+
+"But the watchman?" whispered one of the less courageous.
+
+"Zounds, there he sits!" cried a third, and pointed toward a sleeping
+object which leaned its head upon a large wooden chest before a closed
+booth.
+
+"He is happy!" said the first speaker. "If we had only the strong
+Icelander here, he would soon hang him up by his bandelier upon one of
+the iron hooks. He has done that before now; he has the strength of a
+bear. He seized such a lazy fellow as this right daintily by his girdle
+on one of the hooks at the weighing-booth. There hung the watchman
+and whistled to the others; the first who hastened to the spot was
+immediately hung up beside him, and away ran the Icelander whilst the
+two blew a duet."
+
+"Here, take hold!" cried one of the merry brothers, quickly opening the
+chest, the lid of which was fastened by a peg. "Let us put the watchman
+into the chest; he sleeps indeed like a horse!" In a moment, the four
+had seized the sleeper, who certainly awoke during the operation, but
+he already lay in the chest. The lid flew down, and two or three of the
+friends sprang upon it whilst the peg was stuck in again. The watchman
+immediately seized his whistle and drew the most heart-rending tones
+from it. Quickly the tormenting spirits withdrew themselves; yet not so
+far but that they could still hear the whistle and observe what would
+take place.
+
+The watchmen now came up.
+
+"The deuce! where art thou?" cried they, and then discovered the place.
+
+"Ah, God help me!" cried the prisoner. "Let me out, let me out! I must
+call!"
+
+"Thou hast drunk more than thy thirst required, comrade!" said the
+others. "If thou hast fallen into the chest, remain lying there, thou
+swine!" And laughing they left him.
+
+"O, the rascals!" sighed he, and worked in vain at opening the lid.
+Through all his powerful exertions the box fell over. The young men now
+stepped forth, and, as though they were highly astonished at the whole
+history which he related to them, they let themselves be prevailed upon
+to open the box, but only upon condition that he should keep street
+free from the interference of the other watchmen whilst they danced a
+Francaise to Wilhelm's violin.
+
+The poor man was delivered from his captivity, and must obligingly play
+the sentinel whilst they arranged them for the dance. Wilhelm was called
+upon to play, and the dance commenced; a partner, however, was wanting.
+Just then a quiet citizen passed by. The gentleman who had no partner
+approached the citizen with comic respect, and besought him to take part
+in the amusement.
+
+"I never dance!" said the man, laughing, and wished to pursue his way.
+
+"Yes," replied the cavalier, "yet you must still do me this pleasure,
+or else I shall have no dance." Saying this he took hold of him by the
+waist and the dance commenced, whether the good man would or no.
+
+"The watchman should receive a present from every one!" said they, when
+the Francaise was at an end. "He is an excellent man who thus keeps
+order in the street, so that one can enjoy a little dance."
+
+"These are honest people's children!" said the watchman to himself,
+whilst he with much pleasure thrust the money into his leathern purse.
+
+All was again quiet in the street; the violin was also silent.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+     "Who looks into the shadowy realm of my heart?"
+                                    A. V. CHAMISSO.
+
+In the former chapter we heard mention made of a young student, Otto
+Thostrup, a clever fellow, with nine prae caeteris, as his comrades
+said, but also of a proud spirit, of which he must be broken. Not at
+the disputations, which have been already mentioned, will we make his
+acquaintance, although there we must be filled with respect for the good
+Latin scholar; not in large companies, where his handsome exterior and
+his speaking, melancholy glance must make him interesting; as little in
+the pit of the Opera although his few yet striking observations there
+would show him to be a very intellectual young man; but we will seek
+him out for the first time at the house of his friend, the young Baron
+Wilhelm. It is the beginning of November: we find them both with their
+pipes in their mouths; upon the table lie Tibullus and Anacreon, which
+they are reading together for the approaching philologicum.
+
+In the room stands a piano-forte, with a number of music-books; upon the
+walls hang the portraits of Weyse and Beethoven, for our young Baron is
+musical, nay a composer himself.
+
+"See, here we have again this lovely, clinging mist!" said Wilhelm. "Out
+of doors one can fairly taste it; at home it would be a real plague to
+me, here it only Londonizes the city."
+
+"I like it!" said Otto. "To me it is like an old acquaintance from
+Vestervovov. It is as though the mist brought me greetings from the sea
+and sand-hills."
+
+"I should like to see the North Sea, but the devil might live there!
+What town lies nearest to your grandfather's estate?"
+
+"Lernvig," answered Otto. "If any one wish to see the North Sea
+properly, they ought to go up as far as Thisted and Hjoerring. I have
+travelled there, have visited the family in Boerglum-Kloster; and,
+besides this, have made other small journeys. Never shall I forget one
+evening; yes, it was a storm of which people in the interior of the
+country can form no conception. I rode--I was then a mere boy, and a
+very wild lad--with one of our men. When the storm commenced we found
+ourselves among the sand-hills. Ah! that you should have seen! The sand
+forms along the strand high banks, which serve as dikes against the sea;
+these are overgrown with sea-grass, but, if the storm bursts a single
+hole, the whole is carried away. This spectacle we chanced to witness.
+It is a true Arabian sand-storm, and the North Sea bellowed so that
+it might be heard at the distance of many miles. The salt foam flew
+together with the sand into our faces."
+
+"That must have been splendid!" exclaimed Wilhelm, and his eyes
+sparkled. "Jutland is certainly the most romantic part of Denmark.
+Since I read Steen-Blicher's novels I have felt a real interest for that
+country. It seems to me that it must greatly resemble the Lowlands of
+Scotland. And gypsies are also found there, are they not?"
+
+"Vagabonds, we call them," said Otto, with an involuntary motion of the
+mouth. "They correspond to the name!"
+
+"The fishermen, also, on the coast are not much better! Do they
+still from the pulpit pray for wrecks? Do they still slay shipwrecked
+mariners?"
+
+"I have heard our preacher, who is an old man, relate how, in the first
+years after he had obtained his office and dignity, he was obliged to
+pray in the church that, if ships stranded, they might strand in his
+district; but this I have never heard myself. But with regard to what
+is related of murdering, why, the fishermen--sea-geese, as they are
+called--are by no means a tender-hearted people; but it is not as bad
+as that in our days. A peasant died in the neighborhood, of whom it was
+certainly related that in bad weather he had bound a lantern under
+his horse's belly and let it wander up and down the beach, so that the
+strange mariner who was sailing in those seas might imagine it some
+cruising ship, and thus fancy himself still a considerable way from
+land. By this means many a ship is said to have been destroyed. But
+observe, these are stories out of the district of Thisted, and of an
+elder age, before my power of observation had developed itself; this was
+that golden age when in tumble-down fishers' huts, after one of these
+good shipwrecks, valuable shawls, but little damaged by the sea, might
+be found employed as bed-hangings. Boots and shoes were smeared with the
+finest pomatum. If such things now reach their hands, they know better
+how to turn them into money. The Strand-commissioners are now on the
+watch; now it is said to be a real age of copper."
+
+"Have you seen a vessel stranded?" inquired Wilhelm, with increasing
+interest.
+
+"Our estate lies only half a mile from the sea. Every year about this
+time, when the mist spreads itself out as it does to-day and the storms
+begin to rage, then was it most animated. In my wild spirits, when I
+was a boy, and especially in the midst of our monotonous life, I truly
+yearned after it. Once, upon a journey to Boerglum-Kloster, I experienced
+a storm. In the early morning; it was quite calm, but gray, and we
+witnessed a kind of Fata Morgana. A ship, which had not yet risen above
+the horizon, showed itself in the distance, but the rigging was turned
+upside down; the masts were below, the hull above. This is called the
+ship of death, and when it is seen people are sure of bad weather and
+shipwreck. Later, about midday, it began to blow, and in an hour's time
+we had a regular tempest. The sea growled quite charmingly; we travelled
+on between sand-hills--they resemble hills and dales in winter time, but
+here it is not snow which melts away; here never grows a single green
+blade; a black stake stands up here and there, and these are rudders
+from wrecks, the histories of which are unknown. In the afternoon arose
+a storm such as I had experienced when riding with the man between
+the sand-hills. We could not proceed farther, and were obliged on this
+account to seek shelter in one of the huts which the fishermen hail
+erected among the white sand-hills. There we remained, and I saw the
+stranding of a vessel: I shall never forget it! An American ship lay not
+a musket-shot from land. They cut the mast; six or seven men clung fast
+to it in the waters. O, how they rocked backward and forward in the
+dashing spray! The mast took a direction toward the shore; at length
+only three men were left clinging to the mast; it was dashed upon land,
+but the returning waves again bore it away; it had crushed the arms and
+legs of the clinging wretches--ground them like worms! I dreamed of this
+for many nights. The waves flung the hull of the vessel up high on the
+shore, and drove it into the sand, where it was afterward found. Later,
+as we retraced our steps, were the stem and sternpost gone: you saw two
+strong wooden walls, between which the road took its course. You even
+still travel through the wreck!"
+
+"Up in your country every poetical mind must become a Byron," said
+Wilhelm. "On my parents' estate we have only idyls; the whole of Funen
+is a garden. We mutually visit each other upon our different estates,
+where we lead most merry lives, dance with the peasant-girls at the
+brewing-feast, hunt in the woods, and fish in the lakes. The only
+melancholy object which presents itself with us is a funeral, and the
+only romantic characters we possess are a little hump-backed musician,
+a wise woman, and an honest schoolmaster, who still firmly believes, as
+Jeronimus did, that the earth is flat, and that, were it to turn round,
+we should fall, the devil knows where!"
+
+"I love nature in Jutland!" exclaimed Otto. "The open sea, the
+brown heath, and the bushy moorland. You should see the wild moor in
+Vendsyssel--that is an extent! Almost always wet mists float over its
+unapproachable interior, which is known to no one. It is not yet fifty
+years since it served as an abode for wolves. Often it bursts into
+flames, for it is impregnated with sulphuric gas,--one can see the fire
+for miles."
+
+"My sister Sophie ought to hear all this!" said Wilhelm. "You would make
+your fortune with her! The dear girl! she has the best head at home, but
+she loves effect. Hoffman and Victor Hugo are her favorites. Byron rests
+every night under her pillow. If you related such things of the west
+coast of Jutland, and of heaths and moors, you might persuade her to
+make a journey thither. One really would not believe that we possessed
+in our own country such romantic situations!"
+
+"Is she your only sister?" inquired Otto.
+
+"No," returned Wilhelm, "I have two--the other is named Louise; she
+is of quite an opposite character: I do not know of which one ought to
+think most. Have you no brothers or sisters?" he asked of Otto.
+
+"No!" returned the latter, with his former involuntary, half-melancholy
+expression. "I am an only child. In my house it is solitary and silent.
+My grandfather alone is left alive. He is an active, strong man,
+but very grave. He instructed me in mathematics, which he thoroughly
+understands. The preacher taught me Latin, Greek, and history: two
+persons, however, occupied themselves with my religious education--the
+preacher and my old Rosalie. She is a good soul. How often have I teased
+her, been petulant, and almost angry with her! She thought so much of
+me, she was both mother and sister to me, and instructed me in religion
+as well as the preacher, although she is a Catholic. Since my father's
+childhood she has been a sort of governante in the house. You should
+have seen her melancholy smile when she heard my geography lesson, and
+we read of her dear Switzerland, where she was born, and of the south
+of France, where she had travelled as a child. The west coast of Jutland
+may also appear very barren in comparison with these countries!"
+
+"She might have made you a Catholic! But surely nothing of this still
+clings to you?"
+
+"Rosalie was a prudent old creature; Luther himself need not have been
+ashamed of her doctrine. Whatever is holy to the heart of man, remains
+also holy in every religion!"
+
+"But then, to erect altars to the Madonna!" exclaimed Wilhelm; "to pray
+to a being; whom the Bible does not make a saint!--that is rather too
+much. And their tricks with burning of incense and ringing of bells!
+Yes, indeed, it would give me no little pleasure to cut off the heads of
+the Pope and of the whole clerical body! To purchase indulgence!--Those
+must, indeed, be curious people who can place thorough faith in such
+things! I will never once take off my hat before the Madonna!"
+
+"But that will I do, and in my heart bow myself before her!" answered
+Otto, gravely.
+
+"Did I not think so? she has made you a Catholic!"
+
+"No such thing! I am as good a Protestant as you yourself: but
+wherefore should we not respect the mother of Christ? With regard to the
+ceremonials of Catholicism, indulgence, and all these additions of the
+priesthood, I agree with you in wishing to strike off the heads of all
+who, in such a manner, degrade God and the human understanding. But in
+many respects we are unjust: we so easily forget the first and greatest
+commandment, 'Love thy neighbor as thyself!' We are not tolerant.
+Among our festivals we have still one for the Three Kings--it is yet
+celebrated by the common people; but what have these three kings done?
+They knelt before the manger in which Christ lay, and on this account we
+honor them. On the contrary, the mother of God has no festival-day; nay,
+the multitude even smile at her name! If you will only quietly listen to
+my simple argument, we shall soon agree. You will take off your hat and
+bow before the Madonna. Only two things are to be considered--either
+Christ was entirely human, or He was, as the Bible teaches us, a divine
+being. I will now admit the latter. He is God Himself, who in some
+inexplicable manner, is born to us of the Virgin Mary. She must
+therefore be the purest, the most perfect feminine being, since God
+found her worthy to bring into the world the Son, the only one; through
+this she becomes as holy as any human being can, and low we must bow
+ourselves before the pure, the exalted one. Take it for granted that
+Christ was human, like ourselves, otherwise He cannot, according to my
+belief, call upon us to imitate Him; neither would it be great, as God,
+to meet a corporeal death, from which He could remove each pain. Were He
+only a man, born of Mary, we must doubly admire Him; we must bow in the
+dust before His mighty spirit, His enlightening and consoling doctrine.
+But can we then forget how much the mother has must have influenced the
+child, how sublime and profound the soul must have been which spoke to
+His heart? We must reverence and honor her! Everywhere in the Scriptures
+where she appears we see an example of care and love; with her whole
+soul she adheres to her Son. Think how uneasy she became, and sought for
+Him in the temple--think of her gentle reproaches! The words of the Son
+always sounded harsh in my ears. 'Those are the powerful expressions of
+the East!' said my old preacher. The Saviour was severe, severe as
+He must be! Already there seemed to me severity in His words! She
+was completely the mother; she was it then, even as when she wept at
+Golgotha. Honor and reverence she deserves from us!"
+
+"These she also receives!" returned Wilhelm; and striking him upon
+the shoulder he added, with a smile, "you are, according to the Roman
+Catholic manner, near exalting the mother above the Son! Old Rosalie has
+made a proselyte; after all, you are half a Catholic!"
+
+"That am I not!" answered Otto, "and that will I not be!"
+
+          "See! the thunder-cloud advances!"
+
+resounded below in the court: the sweet Neapolitan song reached the
+ears of the friends. They stepped into the adjoining room and opened the
+window. Three poor boys stood below in the wind and rain, and commenced
+the song. The tallest was, perhaps, fourteen or fifteen years old, his
+deep, rough voice seemed to have attained its strength and depth more
+through rain and bad weather than through age. The dirty wet clothes
+hung in rags about his body; the shoes upon the wet feet, and the hat
+held together with white threads, were articles of luxury. The other two
+boys had neither hat nor shoes, but their clothes were whole and clean.
+The youngest appeared six or seven years old; his silvery white hair
+formed a contrast with his brown face, his dark eyes and long brown
+eyelashes. His voice sounded like the voice of a little girl, as fine
+and soft, beside the voices of the others, as the breeze of an autumnal
+evening beside that of rude November weather.
+
+"That is a handsome boy!" exclaimed the two friends at the same time.
+
+"And a lovely melody!" added Otto.
+
+"Yes, but they sing falsely!" answered Wilhelm: "one sings half a tone
+too low, the other half a tone too high!"
+
+"Now, thank God that I cannot hear that!" said Otto. "It sounds sweetly,
+and the little one might become a singer. Poor child!" added he gravely:
+"bare feet, wet to the very skin; and then the elder one will certainly
+lead him to brandy drinking! Within a month, perhaps, the voice will
+be gone! Then is the nightingale dead!" He quickly threw down some
+skillings, wrapped in paper.
+
+"Come up!" cried Wilhelm, and beckoned. The eldest of the boys flew up
+like an arrow; Wilhelm, however, said it was the youngest who was meant.
+The others remained standing before the door; the youngest stepped in.
+
+"Whose son art thou?" asked Wilhelm. The boy was silent, and cast down
+his eyes in an embarrassed manner. "Now, don't be bashful! Thou art of
+a good family--that one can see from thy appearance! Art not thou thy
+mother's son? I will give thee stockings and--the deuce! here is a pair
+of boots which are too small for me; if thou dost not get drowned in
+them they shall be thy property: but now thou must sing." And he seated
+himself at the piano-forte and struck the keys. "Now, where art thou?"
+he cried, rather displeased. The little one gazed upon the ground.
+
+"How! dost thou weep; or is it the rain which hangs in thy black
+eyelashes?" said Otto, and raised his head: "we only wish to do thee a
+kindness. There--thou hast another skilling from me."
+
+The little one still remained somewhat laconic. All that they learned
+was that he was named Jonas, and that his grandmother thought so much of
+him.
+
+"Here thou hast the stockings!" said Wilhelm; "and see here! a coat with
+a velvet collar, a much-to-be-prized keepsake! The boots! Thou canst
+certainly stick both legs into one boot! See! that is as good as having
+two pairs to change about with! Let us see!"
+
+The boy's eyes sparkled with joy; the boots he drew on, the stockings
+went into his pocket, and the bundle he took under his arm.
+
+"But thou must sing us a little song!" said Wilhelm, and the little one
+commenced the old song out of the "Woman-hater," "Cupid never can be
+trusted!"
+
+The lively expression in the dark eyes, the boy himself in his wet,
+wretched clothes and big boots, with the bundle under his arm; nay, the
+whole had something so characteristic in it, that had it been painted,
+and had the painter called the picture "Cupid on his Wanderings," every
+one would have found the little god strikingly excellent, although he
+were not blind.
+
+"Something might be made of the boy and of his voice!" said Wilhelm,
+when little Jonas, in a joyous mood, had left the house with the other
+lads.
+
+"The poor child!" sighed Otto. "I have fairly lost my good spirits
+through all this. It seizes upon me so strangely when I see misery and
+genius mated. Once there came to our estate in Jutland a man who played
+the Pandean-pipes, and at the same time beat the drum and cymbals: near
+him stood a little girl, and struck the triangle. I was forced to weep
+over this spectacle; without understanding how it was, I felt the misery
+of the poor child. I was myself yet a mere boy."
+
+"He looked so comic in the big boots that I became quite merry, and not
+grave," said Wilhelm. "Nevertheless what a pity it is that such gentle
+blood, which at the first glance one perceives he is, that such a pretty
+child should become a rude fellow, and his beautiful voice change into
+a howl, like that with which the other tall Laban saluted us. Who knows
+whether little Jonas might not become the first singer on the Danish
+stage? Yes, if he received education of mind and voice, who knows? I
+could really have, pleasure in attempting it, and help every one on in
+the world, before I myself am rightly in the way!"
+
+"If he is born to a beggar's estate," said Otto, "let him as beggar live
+and die, and learn nothing higher. That is better, that is more to be
+desired!"
+
+Wilhelm seated himself at the piano-forte, and played some of his own
+compositions. "That is difficult," said he; "every one cannot play
+that."
+
+"The simpler the sweeter!" replied Otto.
+
+"You must not speak about music!" returned the friend "upon that you
+know not how to pass judgment. Light Italian operas are not difficult to
+write."
+
+In the evening the friends separated. Whilst Otto took his hat, there
+was a low knock at the door. Wilhelm opened it. Without stood a poor old
+woman, with pale sharp features; by the hand she led a little boy--it
+was Jonas: thus then it was a visit from him and his grandmother.
+
+The other boys had sold the boots and shoes which had been given him.
+They ought to have a share, they maintained. This atrocious injustice
+had induced the old grandmother to go immediately with little Jonas to
+the two good gentlemen, and relate how little the poor lad had received
+of flint which they had assigned to him alone.
+
+Wilhelm spoke of the boy's sweet voice, and thought that by might make
+his fortune at the theatre; but then he ought not now to be left running
+about with bare feet in the wind and rain.
+
+"But by this means he brings a skilling home," said the old woman.
+"That's what his father and mother look to, and the skilling they can
+always employ. Nevertheless she had herself already thought of bringing
+him out at the theatre,--but that was to have been in dancing, for they
+got shoes and stockings to dance in, and with these they might also run
+home; and that would be an advantage."
+
+"I will teach the boy music!" said Wilhelm; "he can come to me
+sometimes."
+
+"And then he will, perhaps, get a little cast-off clothing, good sir,"
+said the grandmother; "a shirt, or a waistcoat, just as it happens?"
+
+"Become a tailor, or shoemaker," said Otto, gravely, and laid his hand
+upon the boy's head.
+
+"He shall be a genius!" said Wilhelm.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+                         "Christmas-tide,
+     When in the wood the snow shines bright."
+                             OEHLENSCHLAeGER'S Helge
+
+We again let several weeks pass by; it was Christmas Eve, which brings
+us the beautiful Christmas festival. We find the two friends taking a
+walk.
+
+Describe to an inhabitant of the south a country where the earth appears
+covered with the purest Carrara marble, where the tree twigs resemble
+white branches of coral sprinkled with diamonds, and above a sky as blue
+as that belonging to the south, and he will say that is a fairy land.
+Couldst thou suddenly remove him from his dark cypresses and olive-trees
+to the north, where the fresh snow lies upon the earth, where the white
+hoar-frost has powdered the trees over, and the sun shines down from the
+blue heaven, then would he recognize the description and call the north
+a fairy land.
+
+This was the splendor which the friends admired. The large trees upon
+the fortification-walls appeared crystallized when seen against the blue
+sky. The Sound was not yet frozen over; vessels, illuminated by the red
+evening sun, glided past with spread sails. The Swedish coast seemed to
+have approached nearer; one might see individual houses in Landskrona.
+It was lovely, and on this account there were many promenaders upon the
+walls and the Langelinie.
+
+"Sweden seems so near that one might swim over to it!" said Wilhelm.
+
+"The distance would be too far," answered Otto; "but I should love to
+plunge among the deep blue waters yonder."
+
+"How refreshing it is," said Wilhelm, "when the water plays about one's
+cheeks! Whilst I was at home, I always swam in the Great Belt. Yes, you
+are certainly half a fish when you come into the water."
+
+"I!" repeated Otto, and was silent; but immediately added, with a kind
+of embarrassment which was at other times quite foreign to him, and from
+which one might infer how unpleasant confessing any imperfection was to
+him, "I do not swim."
+
+"That must be learned in summer!" said Wilhelm.
+
+"There is so much to learn," answered Otto; "swimming will certainly be
+the last thing." He now suddenly turned toward the fortress, and
+stood still. "Only see how melancholy and quiet!" said he, and led the
+conversation again to the surrounding scenery. "The sentinel before the
+prison paces so quietly up and down, the sun shines upon his bayonet!
+How this reminds me of a sweet little poem of Heine's; it is just as
+though he described this fortress and this soldier, but in the warmth
+of summer: one sees the picture livingly before one, as here; the weapon
+glances in the sun, and the part ends so touchingly,--'Ich wollt', er
+schoesse mich todt!' It is here so romantically beautiful! on the right
+the animated promenade, and the view over the Sund; on the left, the
+desolate square, where the military criminals are shot, and close upon
+it the prison with its beam-fence. The sun scarcely shines through those
+windows. Yet, without doubt, the prisoner can see us walking here upon
+the wall."
+
+"And envy our golden freedom!" said Wilhelm.
+
+"Perhaps he derides it," answered Otto. "He is confined to his chamber
+and the small courts behind the beam-lattice; we are confined to the
+coast; we cannot fly forth with the ships into the mighty, glorious
+world. We are also fastened with a chain, only ours is somewhat longer
+than that of the prisoner. But we will not think of this; let us go down
+to where the beautiful ladies are walking."
+
+"To see and to be seen," cried Wilhelm. "'Spectatum veniunt; veniunt
+spectentur ut ipsae,' as Ovid says."
+
+The friends quitted the wall.
+
+"There comes my scholar, little Jonas!" cried Wilhelm. "The boy was
+better dressed than at his last appearance; quickly he pulled his little
+cap off and stood still: a young girl in a wretched garb held him by the
+hand.
+
+"Good day, my clever lad!" said Wilhelm, and his glance rested on the
+girl: she was of a singularly elegant form; had she only carried herself
+better she would have been a perfect beauty. It was Psyche herself who
+stood beside Cupid. She smiled in a friendly manner; the little lad had
+certainly told her who the gentlemen were; but she became crimson, and
+cast down her eyes when Wilhelm looked back after her: he beckoned to
+Jonas, who immediately came to him. The girl was his sister, he said,
+and was called Eva. Wilhelm nodded to her, and the friends went on.
+
+"That was a beautiful girl!" said Wilhelm, and looked back once more. "A
+rosebud that one could kiss until it became a full blown rose!"
+
+"During the experiment the rosebud might easily be broken!" answered
+Otto; "at least such is the case with the real flower. But do not look
+back again, that is a sin!"
+
+"Sin?" repeated Wilhelm; "no, then it is a very innocent sin! Believe
+me, it flatters the little creature that we should admire her beauty.
+I can well imagine how enchanting a loving look from a rich young
+gentleman may be for a weak, feminine mind. The sweet words which one
+can say are as poison which enters the blood. I have still a clear
+conscience. Not ONE innocent soul have I poisoned!"
+
+"And yet you are rich and young enough to do so," returned Otto, not
+without bitterness. "Our friends precede us with a good example: here
+come some of our own age; they are acquainted with the roses!"
+
+"Good evening, thou good fellow!" was the greeting Wilhelm received from
+three or four of the young men.
+
+"Are you on Thou-terms with all these?" inquired Otto.
+
+"Yes," answered Wilhelm; "we became so at a carouse. There all drank the
+Thou-brotherhood. I could not draw myself back. At other times I do
+not willingly give my 'thou' to any but my nearest friends. _Thou_ has
+something to my mind affectionate and holy. Many people fling it to the
+first person with whom they drink a glass. At the carouse I could not
+say no."
+
+"And wherefore not?" returned Otto; "that would never have troubled me."
+
+The friends now wandered on, arm-in-arm. Later in the evening we again
+meet with them together, and that at the house of a noble family, whose
+name and rank are to be found in the "Danish Court Calendar;" on which
+account it would be wanting in delicacy to mention the same, even in a
+story the events of which lie so near our hearts.
+
+Large companies are most wearisome. In these there are two kinds of
+rank. Either you are riveted to a card-table, or placed against the
+wall where you must stand with your hat in your hand, or, later in the
+evening, with it at your feet, nay, even must stand during supper. But
+this house was one of the most intellectual. Thou who dost recognize the
+house wilt also recognize that it is not to be reckoned with those,--
+
+               "Where each day's gossiping stale fish
+                Is served up daily for thy dish."
+
+This evening we do not become acquainted with the family, but only with
+their beautiful Christmas festival.
+
+The company was assembled in a large apartment; the shaded lamp burned
+dimly, but this was with the intention of increasing the effect when
+the drawing-room doors should open and the children joyfully press in
+together.
+
+Wilhelm now stepped to the piano-forte; a few chords produced stillness
+and attention. To the sounds of low music there stepped forth from
+the side-doors three maidens arrayed in white; each wore a long veil
+depending from the back of her head,--one blue, the other red, and the
+third white. Each carried in her arms an urn, and thus they represented
+fortune-tellers from the East. They brought good or ill luck, which each
+related in a little verse. People were to draw a number, and according
+to this would he receive his gift from the Christmas-tree. One of the
+maidens brought blanks--but which of them? now it was proved whether you
+were a child of fortune. All, even the children, drew their uncertain
+numbers: exception was only made with the family physician and a few
+elderly ladies of the family; these had a particular number stuck into
+their hands--their presents had been settled beforehand.
+
+"Who brings me good luck?" inquired Otto, as the three pretty young
+girls approached him. The one with a white veil was Wilhelm's eldest
+sister, Miss Sophie, who was this winter paying a visit to the family.
+She resembled her brother. The white drapery about her head increased
+the expression of her countenance. She rested her gaze firmly upon Otto,
+and, perhaps, because he was the friend of her brother, she raised her
+finger. Did she wish to warn or to challenge him? Otto regarded it as
+a challenge, thrust his hand into the urn, and drew out number 33. All
+were now provided. The girls disappeared, and the folding-doors of the
+drawing-room were opened.
+
+A dazzling light streamed toward the guests. A splendid fir-tree,
+covered with burning tapers, and hung over with tinsel-gold, gilt eggs
+and apples, almonds and grapes, dazzled the eye. On either side of the
+tree were grottoes of fir-trees and moss, hung with red and blue paper
+lamps. In each grotto was an altar; upon one stood John of Bologna's
+floating Mercury; upon the other, a reduced cast in plaster of
+Thorwaldsen's Shepherd-boy. The steps were covered with presents, to
+which were attached the different numbers.
+
+"Superbe! lovely!" resounded from all sides; and the happy children
+shouted for joy. People arranged themselves in a half-circle, one row
+behind the other. One of the cousins of the family now stepped forth,
+a young poet, who, if we mistake not, has since then appeared among the
+Anonymouses in "The New Year's Gift of Danish Poets." He was appareled
+this evening as one of the Magi, and recited a little poem which
+declared that, as each one had himself drawn out of the urn of Fate,
+no one could be angry, let him have procured for himself honor or
+derision--Fate, and not Merit, being here the ruler. Two little boys,
+with huge butterfly wings and in flowing garments, bore the presents to
+the guests. A number, which had been purposely given to one of the elder
+ladies, was now called out, and the boys brought forward a large, heavy,
+brown earthen jug. To the same hung a direction the length of two sheets
+of paper, upon which was written, "A remedy against frost." The jug was
+opened, and a very nice boa taken out and presented to the lady.
+
+"What number have you?" inquired Otto of Wilhelm's sister, who, freed
+from her long veil, now entered the room and took her place near him.
+
+"Number 34," she answered. "I was to keep the number which remained over
+when the others had drawn."
+
+"We are, then, neighbors in the chain of Fate," returned Otto; "I have
+number 33."
+
+"Then one of us will receive something very bad!" said Sophie. "For, as
+much as I know, only every other number is good." At this moment their
+numbers were called out. The accompanying poem declared that only a
+poetical, noble mind deserved this gift. It consisted of an illuminated
+French print, the subject a simple but touching idea. You saw a frozen
+lake, nothing but one expanse of ice as far as the horizon. The ice was
+broken, and near to the opening lay a hat with a red lining, and beside
+it sat a dog with grave eyes, still and expectant. Around the broken
+opening in the ice were seen traces of the dog having scratched into the
+hard crust of ice. "Il attend toujours" was the simple motto.
+
+"That is glorious!" exclaimed Otto. "An affecting thought! His master
+has sunk in the depth, and the faithful log yet awaits him. Had that
+picture only fallen to my lot!"
+
+"It is lovely!" said Sophie, and a melancholy glance made the young girl
+still more beautiful.
+
+Soon after Wilhelm's turn came.
+
+           "Open the packet, thou shalt see
+            The very fairest gaze on thee!"
+
+ran the verse. He opened the packet, and found within a small mirror.
+"Yes, that was intended for a lady," said he; "in that case it would
+have spoken the truth! in my hands it makes a fool of me.
+
+"For me nothing certainly remains but my number!" said Otto to his
+neighbor, as all the gifts appeared to be distributed.
+
+"The last is number 33," said the cousin, and drew forth a roll of
+paper, which had been hidden among the moss. It was unrolled. It was an
+old pedigree of an extinct race. Quite at the bottom lay the knight with
+shield and armor, and out of his breast grew the many-branched tree with
+its shields and names. Probably it had been bought, with other rubbish,
+at some auction, and now at Christmas, when every hole and corner was
+rummaged for whatever could be converted into fun or earnest, it had
+been brought out for the Christmas tree. The cousin read the following
+verse:--
+
+         "Art thou not noble?--then it in far better;
+          This tree unto thy father is not debtor;
+          Thyself alone is thy ancestral crown.
+          From thee shall spring forth branches of renown,
+          And if thou come where blood gives honor's place,
+          This tree shall prove thee first of all thy race!
+          From this hour forth thy soul high rank hath won her,
+          Not will forget thy knighthood and thy honor."
+
+"I congratulate you," said Wilhelm, laughing. "Now you will have to pay
+the nobility-tax!"
+
+Several of the ladies who stood near him, smiling, also offered a
+kind of congratulation. Sophie alone remained silent, and examined
+the present of another lady--a pretty pincushion in the form of a gay
+butterfly.
+
+The first row now rose to examine more nearly how beautifully the
+Christmas tree was adorned. Sophie drew one of the ladies away with her.
+
+"Let us look at the beautiful statues," said she; "the Shepherd-boy and
+the Mercury."
+
+"That is not proper," whispered the lady; "but look there at the
+splendid large raisins on the tree!"
+
+Sophie stepped before Thorwaldsen's Shepherd-boy. The lady whispered to
+a friend, "It looks so odd that she should examine the figures!"
+
+"Ah!" replied the other, "she is a lover of the fine arts, as you well
+know. Only think! at the last exhibition she went with her brother
+into the great hall where all the plaster-casts stand, and looked at
+them!--the Hercules, as well as the other indecent figures! they were
+excellent, she said. That is being so natural; otherwise she is a nice
+girl."
+
+"It is a pity she is a little awry."
+
+Sophie approached them; both ladies made room for her, and invited
+her most lovingly to sit clown beside them. "Thou sweet girl!" they
+flatteringly exclaimed.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+     "Hark to trumpets and beaten gongs,
+     Squeaking fiddles, shouts and songs.
+          Hurra! hurra!
+          The Doctor is here;
+     And here the hills where fun belongs."
+                             J. L. HEIBERG.
+
+We will not follow the principal characters of our story step for step,
+but merely present the prominent moments of their lives to our readers,
+be these great or small; we seize on them, if they in any way contribute
+to make the whole picture more worthy of contemplation.
+
+The winter was over, the birds of passage had long since returned; the
+woods and fields shone in the freshest green, and, what to the friends
+was equally interesting, they had happily passed through their examen
+philologicum. Wilhelm, who, immediately after its termination, had
+accompanied his sister home, was again returned, sang with little Jonas,
+reflected upon the philosophicum, and also how he would thoroughly
+enjoy the summer,--the summer which in the north is so beautiful, but
+so short. It was St. John's Day. Families had removed from Copenhagen to
+their pretty country-seats on the coast, where people on horseback
+and in carriages rushed past, and where the highway was crowded with
+foot-passengers. The whole road presented a picture of life upon the
+Paris Boulevard. The sun was burning, the dust flew up high into the
+air; on which account many persons preferred the pleasanter excursion
+with the steamboat along the coast, from whence could be seen the
+traffic on the high-road without enduring the annoyance of dust and
+heat. Boats skimmed past; brisk sailors, by the help of vigorous strokes
+of the oar, strove to compete with the steam-packet, the dark smoke from
+which, like some demon, partly rested upon the vessel, partly floated
+away in the air.
+
+Various young students, among whom were also Wilhelm and Otto, landed
+at Charlottenlund, the most frequented place of resort near Copenhagen.
+Otto was here for the first time; for the first time he should see the
+park.
+
+A summer's afternoon in Linken's Bad, near Dresden, bears a certain
+resemblance to Charlottenlund, only that the Danish wood is larger; that
+instead of the Elbe we have the Sound, which is here three miles broad,
+and where often more than a hundred vessels, bearing flags of all the
+European nations, glide past. A band of musicians played airs out of
+"Preciosa;" the white tents glanced like snow or swans through the green
+beech-trees. Here and there was a fire-place raised of turf, over which
+people boiled and cooked, so that the smoke rose up among the trees.
+Outside the wood, waiting in long rows, were the peasants' vehicles,
+called "coffee-mills," completely answering ho the couricolo of the
+Neapolitan and the coucou of the Parisian, equally cheap, and overladen
+in the same manner with passengers, therefore forming highly picturesque
+groups. This scene has been humorously treated in a picture by
+Marstrand. Between fields and meadows, the road leads pleasantly toward
+the park; the friends pursued the foot-path.
+
+"Shall I brush the gentlemen?" cried five or six boys, at the same time
+pressing upon the friends as they approached the entrance to the park.
+Without waiting for an answer, the boys commenced at once brushing the
+dust from their clothes and boots.
+
+"These are Kirsten Piil's pages," said Wilhelm, laughing; "they take
+care that people show themselves tolerably smart. But now we are brushed
+enough!" A six-skilling-piece rejoiced these little Savoyards.
+
+The Champs Elysees of the Parisians on a great festival day, when
+the theatres are opened, the swings are flying, trumpets and drums
+overpowering the softer music, and when the whole mass of people, like
+one body, moves itself between the booths and tents, present a companion
+piece to the spectacle which the so-called Park-hill affords. It
+is Naples' "Largo dei Castello," with its dancing apes, shrieking
+Bajazzoes, the whole deafening jubilee which has been transported to a
+northern wood. Here also, in the wooden booths, large, tawdry pictures
+show what delicious plays you may enjoy within. The beautiful female
+horse-rider stands upon the wooden balcony and cracks with her whip,
+whilst Harlequin blows the trumpet. Fastened to a perch, large, gay
+parrots nod over the heads of the multitude. Here stands a miner in his
+black costume, and exhibits the interior of a mine. He turns his
+box, and during the music dolls ascend and descend. Another shows the
+splendid fortress of Frederiksteen: "The whole cavalry and infantry who
+have endured an unspeakable deal; here a man without a weapon, there a
+weapon without a man; here a fellow without a bayonet, here a bayonet
+without a fellow; and yet they are merry and contented, for they have
+conquered the victory." [Note: Literal translation of the real words of
+a showman.] Dutch wafer-cake booths, where the handsome Dutch women,
+in their national costume, wait on the customers, entice old and young.
+Here a telescope, there a rare Danish ox, and so forth. High up, between
+the fresh tree boughs, the swings fly. Are those two lovers floating up
+there? A current of air seizes the girl's dress and shawl, the young
+man flings his arm round her waist; it is for safety: there is then less
+danger. At the foot of the hill there is cooking and roasting going on;
+it seems a complete gypsy-camp. Under the tree sits the old Jew--this is
+precisely his fiftieth jubilee; through a whole half-century has he sung
+here his comical Doctor's song. Now that we are reading this he is dead;
+that characteristic countenance is dust, those speaking eyes are closed,
+his song forgotten tones. Oehlenschlaeger, in his "St. John's Eve," has
+preserved his portrait for us, and it will continue to live, as Master
+Jakel (Punch), our Danish Thespis, will continue to live. The play and
+the puppets were transferred from father to son, and every quarter of an
+hour in the day the piece is repeated. Free nature is the place for the
+spectators, and after every representation the director himself goes
+round with the plate.
+
+This was the first spectacle which exhibited itself to the friends.
+Not far off stood a juggler in peasant's clothes, somewhat advanced in
+years, with a common ugly countenance. His short sleeves were rolled
+up, and exhibited a pair of hairy, muscular arms. The crowd, withdrawing
+from Master Jakel when the plate commenced its wanderings, pushed Otto
+and Wilhelm forward toward the low fence before the juggler's table.
+
+"Step nearer, my gracious gentlemen, my noble masters!" said the
+juggler, with an accentuation which betrayed his German birth. He opened
+the fence; both friends were fairly pushed in and took their places upon
+the bench, where they, at all events, found themselves out of the crowd.
+
+"Will the noble gentleman hold this goblet?" said the juggler, and
+handed Otto one from his apparatus. Otto glanced at the man: he was
+occupied with his art; but Otto's cheek and forehead were colored with a
+sudden crimson, which was immediately afterward supplanted by a deathly
+paleness: his hand trembled, but this lasted only a moment; he gathered
+all his strength of mind together and appeared the same as before.
+
+"That was a very good trick!" said Wilhelm.
+
+"Yes, certainly!" answered Otto; but he had seen nothing whatsoever. His
+soul was strangely affected. The man exhibited several other tricks, and
+then approached with the plate. Otto laid down a mark, and then rose to
+depart. The juggler remarked the piece of money: a smile played about
+his mouth; he glanced at Otto, and a strange malicious expression lay in
+the spiteful look which accompanied his loudly spoken thanks: "Mr. Otto
+Thostrup is always so gracious and good!"
+
+"Does he know you?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"He has the honor!" grinned the juggler, and proceeded.
+
+"He has exhibited his tricks in the Jutland villages, and upon my
+father's estate," whispered Otto.
+
+"Therefore an acquaintance of your childhood?" said Wilhelm.
+
+"Of my childhood," repeated Otto, and they made themselves a way through
+the tumult.
+
+They met with several young noblemen, relatives of Wilhelm, with the
+cousin who had written the verses for the Christmas tree; also several
+friends from the carouse, and the company increased. They intended, like
+many others, to pass the night in the wood, and at midnight drink out of
+Kirsten Piil's well. "Only with the increasing darkness will it become
+thoroughly merry here," thought they: but Otto had appointed to be in
+the city again toward evening. "Nothing will come out of that!" said the
+poet; "if you wish to escape, we shall bind you fast to one of us."
+
+"Then I carry him away with me on my back," replied Otto; "and still run
+toward the city. What shall I do here at night in the wood?"
+
+"Be merry!" answered Wilhelm. "Come, give us no follies, or I shall grow
+restive."
+
+Hand-organs, drums, and trumpets, roared against each other; Bajazzo
+growled; a couple of hoarse girls sang and twanged upon the guitar:
+it was comic or affecting, just as one was disposed. The evening
+approached, and now the crowd became greater, the joy more noisy.
+
+"But where is Otto?" inquired Wilhelm. Otto had vanished in the crowd.
+Search after him would help nothing, chance must bring them together
+again. Had he designedly withdrawn himself? no one knew wherefore, no
+one could dream what had passed within his soul. It became evening.
+The highway and the foot-path before the park resembled two moving gay
+ribbons.
+
+In the park itself the crowd perceptibly diminished. It was now the
+high-road which was become the Park-hill. The carriages dashed by each
+other as at a race; the people shouted and sung, if not as melodiously
+as the barcarole of the fisher men below Lido, still with the thorough
+carnival joy of the south. The steamboat moved along the coasts. From
+the gardens surrounding the pretty country-houses arose rockets into the
+blue sky, the Moccoli of the north above the Carnival of the Park.
+
+Wilhelm remained with his young friends in the wood, and there they
+intended, with the stroke of twelve, to drink out of Kirsten's well.
+Men and women, girls and boys of the lower class, and jovial young men,
+meet, after this manner, to enjoy St. John's Eve. Still sounded the
+music, the swings were in motion, lamps hung out, whilst the new moon
+shone through the thick tree boughs. Toward midnight the noise died
+away; only a blind peasant still scratched upon the three strings which
+were left on his violin; some servant-girls wandered, arm-in-arm, with
+their sweethearts, and sang. At twelve o'clock all assembled about
+the well, and drank the clear, ice-cold water. From no great distance
+resounded, through the still night, a chorus of four manly voices. It
+was as if the wood gods sang in praise of the nymph of the well.
+
+Upon the hill all was now deserted and quiet. Bajazzo and il Padrone
+slept behind the thin linen partition, under a coverlid. The moon set,
+but the night was clear; no clear, frosty winter night has a snore
+beautiful starry heaven to exhibit. Wilhelm's party was merry, quickly
+flew the hours away; singing in chorus, the party wandered through the
+wood, and down toward the strand. The day already dawned; a red streak
+along the horizon announced its approach.
+
+Nature sang to them the mythos of the creation of the world, even as she
+had sung it to Moses, who wrote down this voice from God, interpreted
+by Nature. Light banished the darkness, heaven and earth were parted; at
+first birds showed themselves in the clear air; later rose the beasts of
+the field; and, last of all, appeared man.
+
+"The morning is fairly sultry," said Wilhelm; "the sea resembles a
+mirror: shall we not bathe?"
+
+The proposal was accepted.
+
+"There we have the Naiades already!" said one of the party, as a
+swarm of fishermen's wives and daughters, with naked feet, their green
+petticoats tucked up, and baskets upon their backs, in which they
+carried fish to Copenhagen, came along the road. The gay young fellows
+cast toward the prettiest glances as warm and glowing as that cast by
+the sun himself, who, at this moment, came forth and shone over the
+Sound, where a splendid three-masted vessel had spread all her sails to
+catch each breeze. The company reached the strand.
+
+"There is some one already swimming out yonder," said Wilhelm. "He
+stands it bravely. That is an excellent swimmer!"
+
+"Here lie his clothes," remarked another.
+
+"How!" exclaimed Wilhelm: "this is Otto Thostrup's coat! But Otto cannot
+swim; I have never been able to persuade him to bathe. Now, we will out
+and make a nearer acquaintance."
+
+"Yes, certainly it is he," said another; "he is now showing his skill."
+
+"Then he must have been all night in the wood," exclaimed Wilhelm. "Yes,
+indeed, he's a fine bird. Does he fly us? He shall pay for this. Good
+night in the water, or in any other improper place? To quit friends
+without saying a word does not appertain to the customs of civilized
+people. Since you, therefore, show yourself such a man of nature, we
+will carry away your garments; it cannot annoy you in puris naturalibus
+to seek us out in the wood."
+
+Otto raised his head, but was silent.
+
+"Now, will you not come forth?" cried Wilhelm. "Only kneeling before
+each of us can you receive the separate articles of your dress, so
+that you may again appear as a civilized European." And saying this he
+divided the clothes among the others; each one held an article in his
+hand.
+
+"Leave such jokes!" cried Otto with singular earnestness. "Lay down the
+clothes, and retire!"
+
+"Aye, that we will, presently," returned Wilhelm. "You are a fine
+fellow! You cannot swim, you say. Now, if you should not kneel"--
+
+"Retire!" cried Otto, "or I will swim out into the stream, and not
+return again!"
+
+"That might be original enough," answered Wilhelm. "Swim forth, or come
+and kneel here!"
+
+"Wilhelm!" cried Otto, with an affecting sigh, and in a moment swam
+forth with quick strokes.
+
+"There he shoots away," said one of the party. "How he cuts the waves!
+He is a splendid swimmer!"
+
+Smiling they gazed over the expanse; Otto swam even farther out.
+
+"But where will he swim to?" exclaimed, somewhat gravely, one of the
+spectators. "He will certainly lose his strength before he returns the
+same distance."
+
+They unmoored the boat. Otto swam far out at sea; with quick strokes of
+the oars they rowed after him.
+
+"Where is he now?" cried Wilhelm shortly afterwards; "I see him no
+longer."
+
+"Yes, there he comes up again," said another; "but his strength is
+leaving him."
+
+"On! on!" cried Wilhelm; "he will be drowned if we do not come to his
+help. Only see--he sinks!"
+
+Otto had lost all power; his head disappeared beneath the water. The
+friends had nearly reached him; Wilhelm and several of the best swimmers
+flung from themselves boots and coats, sprang into the sea, and dived
+under the water. A short and noiseless moment passed. One of the
+swimmers appeared above water. "He is dead!" were the first words heard.
+Wilhelm and the three others now appeared with Otto; the boat was near
+oversetting as they brought him into it. Deathly pale lay he there,
+a beautifully formed marble statue, the picture of a young gladiator
+fallen in the arena.
+
+The friends busied themselves about him, rubbing his breast and hands,
+whilst two others rowel toward the land.
+
+"He breathes!" said Wilhelm.
+
+Otto opened his eyes; his lips moved; his gaze became firmer; a deep
+crimson spread itself over his breast and countenance; he raised himself
+and Wilhelm supported him. Suddenly a deep sigh burst from his breast;
+he thrust Wilhelm from him, and, like a madman, seized an article of
+dress to cover himself with; then, with a convulsive trembling of the
+lips, he said to Wilhelm, who held his hand, "I HATE YOU!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+     --"Art thou Prometheus, pierced with wounds?
+     The Vulture thou that tugs at his heart?"
+                   J. CHR. V. ZEDLITZ'S Todtenkraenze.
+
+Not half an hour after this adventure a carriage rolled toward the
+city--a large carriage, containing three seats, but, beside the
+coachman, there was only one person within. This was Otto; his lips were
+pale; death, it is true, had touched them. Alone he dashed forward; his
+last words to Wilhelm had been his only ones.
+
+"He has lost his wits," said one of the friends.
+
+"It is a fit of madness," answered another, "such as he was seized with
+at the examination, when he only sent in a scrap of white paper for
+the mathematical examination, because he felt himself offended by the
+inspector."
+
+"I could quite vex myself about my stupid joke," said Wilhelm. "I ought
+to have known him better; he is of a strange, unhappy character. Give me
+your hands! We will mention to no one what has occurred; it would only
+give occasion to a deal of gossip, and wound him deeply, and he is an
+excellent, glorious fellow."
+
+They gave their hands upon it, and drove toward the city.
+
+The same day, toward evening, we again seek Otto. We find him in his
+chamber. Silent, with crossed arms, he stands before a print, a copy of
+Horace Vernet's representation of Mazeppa, who, naked and bound upon a
+wild horse, rushes through the forest. Wolves thrust forth their heads
+and exhibit their sharp teeth.
+
+"My own life!" sighed Otto. "I also am bound to this careering wild
+horse. And no friend, not a single one! Wilhelm, I could kill thee! I
+could see you all lying in your blood! O, Almighty God!" He pressed his
+hands before his face and threw himself into a seat; his eyes, however,
+again directed themselves toward the picture; it exhibited a moment
+similar to the condition of his own mind.
+
+The door now opened, and Wilhelm stood before him.
+
+"How do you find yourself, Thostrup?" he inquired. "We are still friends
+as before?" and he wished to give his hand. Otto drew back his. "I have
+done nothing which could so much offend you," said Wilhelm; "the whole
+was merely a joke! Give me your hand, and we will speak no more of the
+affair!"
+
+"To the man whom I hate, I never reach my hand," replied Otto and his
+lips were white like his cheeks.
+
+"A second time to-day you speak these words to me," said Wilhelm, and
+the blood rushed to his face. "We were friends, wherefore cannot we be
+so still? Have people slandered me to you? Have they told lies about me?
+Only tell me faithfully, and I shall be able to defend myself."
+
+"You must fight with me!" said Otto; and his glance became more gloomy.
+Wilhelm was silent; there reigned a momentary stillness. Otto suppressed
+a deep sigh. At length Wilhelm broke silence, and said, with a grave
+and agitated voice,--"I am so thoughtless, I joke so often, and regard
+everything from the ridiculous side. But for all that I have both heart
+and feeling. You must have known how much dearer you were to me than
+most other people. You are so still, although you offend me. At this
+moment your blood is in a fever; not now, but after a few days, you
+yourself will best see which of us is the offended party. You demand
+that I fight with you; I will if your honor requires this satisfaction:
+but you must lay before me an acceptable reason. I will know wherefore
+we risk our lives. Let some days pass by; weigh all with your
+understanding and your heart! It will still depend upon yourself whether
+we remain friends as before. Farewell!" And Wilhelm went.
+
+Each of his words had penetrated to Otto's heart. A moment he stood
+silent and undecided, then his limbs trembled involuntarily, tears
+streamed from his eyes--it was a convulsive fit of weeping; he pressed
+his head back. "God, how unfortunate I am!" were his only words.
+
+So passed some minutes; he had ceased to weep, and was calm; suddenly he
+sprang up, shot the bolt in the door, drew down the blinds, lighted his
+candle, and once more looked searchingly around: the key-hole was also
+stopped up. He then flung his coat away from him and uncovered the upper
+part of his body.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+     "The towers pass by, even before we perceive them."
+                    OEHLENSCHLAeER'S Journey to Fuenen.
+
+Early the following morning, whilst Wilhelm still slept and dreamed of
+his beloved sisters, well-known footsteps sounded on the stairs, the
+door opened, and Otto stepped into the sleeping-room. Wilhelm opened his
+eyes. Otto was pale; a sleepless night and sorrow of heart had breathed
+upon his brow and eyes.
+
+"Thostrup!" cried Wilhelm, with joyous surprise, and stretched forth
+his hand toward him, but it again sank; Otto seized it, and pressed it
+firmly in his own, adding at the same time, with gravity,--"You have
+humbled me! Is that sufficient satisfaction for you?"
+
+"We are then friends!" said Wilhelm. "Friends must be very indulgent
+toward each other. Yesterday you were a little strange, to-morrow I may
+be so; that is the way in which one retaliates."
+
+Otto pressed his hand. "We will never speak again of the occurrence of
+yesterday!"
+
+"Never!" repeated Wilhelm, affected by the strange gravity of his
+friend.
+
+"You are a noble, a good creature!" said Otto, and bent over him; his
+lips touched Wilhelm's forehead.
+
+Wilhelm seized his hand, and gazed frankly into his eye. "You are not
+happy!" exclaimed he. "If I cannot assist you, I can, at least, dear
+Otto, honestly share the grief of a friend!"
+
+"Even on that very point we may never speak!" replied Otto. "Farewell!
+I have determined on travelling home; we have only vacation for a few
+weeks, and I have not been in Jutland since I became a student. Even a
+month's sojourn there cannot throw me back; I am well prepared for the
+philosophicum."
+
+"And when will you set out?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"To-morrow, with the steamboat. It is hot and sultry here in the city:
+my blood becomes heated: it will, also, soon be a year since I saw my
+family."
+
+"Thostrup!" exclaimed Wilhelm, through whom a thought suddenly flashed,
+"I should also like to see my family; they have written to me to come.
+Listen: make your journey through Funen, and only remain three or four
+days with us. My mother's carriage shall convey you then to Middelfart.
+Say 'Yes,' and we will set out this evening."
+
+"That cannot be done!" replied Otto; but half an hour later, as both
+sat together over the tea-table, and Wilhelm repeated his wish, Otto
+consented, but certainly more through a feeling of obligation than
+through any pleasure of his own. Toward evening, therefore, they set out
+in the beautiful summer night to travel through Zealand.
+
+Smartly dressed families wandered pleasantly through the city gate
+toward the summer theatre and Fredericksberg. The evening sun shone
+upon the column of Liberty; the beautiful obelisk, around which stand
+Wiedewelt's statues, one of which still weeps,
+
+             "In white marble clothing,
+                Hand upon the breast,
+                Ever grief-oppressed,
+              Looking down upon the gloomy sea,"
+
+where were closed the eyes of the artist. Was it the remembrance which
+here clouded Otto's glance, as his eye rested upon the statues as they
+drove past, or did his own soul, perhaps, mirror itself in his eyes?
+
+"Here it is gay and animated!" said Wilhelm, wishing to commence a
+conversation. "Vesterbro is certainly your most brilliant suburb. It
+forms a city by itself,--a little state! There upon the hill lies the
+King's Castle, and there on the left, between the willows, the poet's
+dwelling, where old Rahbek lived with his Kamma!"
+
+"Castle and poet's dwelling!" repeated Otto; "the time will be when they
+will inspire equal interest!"
+
+"That old place will soon be pulled down!" said Wilhelm; "in such a
+beautiful situation, so near the city, a splendid villa will be raised,
+and nothing more remind one of Philemon and Baucis!"
+
+"The old trees in the park will be spared!" said Otto; "in the garden
+the flowers will scent the air, and remind one of Kamma's flowers.
+Rahbek was no great poet, but he possessed a true poet's soul, labored
+faithfully in the great vineyard, and loved flowers as Kamma loved
+them."
+
+The friends hail left Fredericksberg behind them. The white walls of the
+castle glanced through the green boughs; behind Soendermark, the large,
+wealthy village stretched itself out. The sun had set before they
+reached the Dam-house, where the wild swans, coming from the ocean,
+build in the fresh water fake. This is the last point of beauty; nothing
+but lonely fields, with here and there a cairn, extend to the horizon.
+
+The clear summer's night attracted their gaze upward; the postilion blew
+his horn, and the carriage rolled toward the town of Roeskilde, the St.
+Denis of Denmark, where kings turn to dust; where Hroar's spring still
+flows, and its waters mingle with those of Issefjords.
+
+They drove to a public-house to change horses. A young girl conducted
+the friends into the public room; she lighted the way for them. Her
+slender figure and her floating gait drew Wilhelm's attention toward
+her; his hand touched her shoulder, she sprang aside and fixed her
+beautiful grave eyes upon him; but their expression became milder, she
+smiled and colored at the same time.
+
+"You are the sister of little Jonas!" cried Wilhelm, recognizing the
+young girl he had seen with him at Christmas.
+
+"I must also thank you," said she, "for your kindness toward the poor
+boy!" She quickly placed the lights on the table, and left the room with
+a gentle glance.
+
+"She is beautiful, very beautiful!" exclaimed Wilhelm. "That was really
+quite a pleasant meeting."
+
+"Is it then you, Herr Baron, who honor me thus?" cried the host,
+stepping in--an elderly man with a jovial countenance. "Yes, the Baron
+will doubtless visit his dear relations in hunch? It is now some little
+time since you were there."
+
+"This is our host!" said Wilhelm to Otto. "He and his wife were born
+upon my parent's estate."
+
+"Yes," said the host, "in my youth I have shot many a snipe and wild
+duck with the Herr Baron's father. But Eva should spread the table; the
+gentlemen will certainly take supper, and a glass of good punch the Herr
+Baron will certainly not despise, if he is like his blessed father."
+
+The young girl spread the cloth in an adjoining room.
+
+"She is pretty!" Wilhelm whispered to the old man.
+
+"And just as pious and innocent as she is pretty!" returned he; "and
+that is saying much, as she is a poor girl, and from Copenhagen. She is
+of good service to us, and my wife says Eva shall not leave us until she
+is well married."
+
+Wilhelm invited the host to join them at a glass. The old man became
+more animated, and now confided to him, half mysteriously, what made Eva
+so honorable in the eyes of his wife, and what was, indeed, really very
+nice of her. "My old woman," said he, "was in Copenhagen, in search of a
+waiting-girl. Yes, there are enough to be had, and they are fine girls;
+but mother has her own thoughts and opinions: she has good eyes--that
+she has! Now, there came many, and among others Eva; but, good Lord! she
+was very poorly clad, and she looked feeble and weak, and what service
+could one get out of her! But she had a good countenance, and the poor
+girl wept and besought mother to take her, for she was not comfortable
+at home, and would not remain at Copenhagen. Now, mother knows how
+to make use of her words: it is unfortunate that she is not at home
+to-night; how pleased she would have been to see the Herr Baron! Yes,
+what I would say is, she so twisted her words about, that Eva confessed
+to her why she wished to leave home. You see the girl is petty; and the
+young gallant gentlemen of Copenhagen had remarked her smooth face,--and
+not alone the young, but the old ones also! So an old gentleman--I could
+easily name him, but that has nothing to do with the affair--a very
+distinguished man in the city, who has, besides, a wife and children,
+had said all sorts of things to her parents; and, as eight hundred
+dollars is a deal of money to poor people, one can excuse them: but
+Eva wept, and said she would rather spring into the castle-ditch. They
+represented all sorts of things to the poor girl; she heard of the
+service out here with us. She wept, kissed my old woman's hand, and thus
+came to us; and since then we have had a deal of service from Eva, and
+joy also!"
+
+Some minutes after Eva stepped in, Otto's eye rested with a melancholy
+expression upon the beautiful form: never had he before so gazed upon a
+woman. Her countenance was extraordinarily fine, her nose and forehead
+nobly formed, the eyebrows dark, and in the dark-blue eyes lay something
+pensive, yet happy: one might employ the Homeric expression, "smiling
+through tears," to describe this look. She announced that the carriage
+was ready.
+
+A keen observer would soon have remarked what a change the host's
+relation had worked in the two friends. Wilhelm was no longer so free
+toward poor Eva. Otto, on the contrary, approached her more,--and at
+their leave-taking they offered her a greater present than they would
+otherwise have given.
+
+She stood with Otto at the door, and assisted him on with his travelling
+cloak.
+
+"Preserve your heart pure!" said he, gravely; "that is more than
+beauty!"
+
+The young girl blushed, and gazed at him with astonishment; in such a
+manner had no one of his age ever before spoken to her.
+
+"The poor girl!" said Otto; "but I think she is come to good people."
+
+"She has a strange glance!" said Wilhelm. "Do you know that there
+is really a certain affinity between you and her? It was to me quite
+striking."
+
+"That is a compliment which I cannot accept," returned Otto, smiling.
+"Yet, perhaps, I might resemble her."
+
+It was not yet three o'clock when the friends reached Ringsted.
+
+"I have never before been so far in Zealand," said Otto.
+
+"Shall I be your guide?" returned Wilhelm. "Ringsted has a street and an
+inn, and one is very badly served there, as you will soon both see and
+experience yourself. Meanwhile, one can think of Hagbarth and Signe;
+not far from here, at Sigersted, he hung his mantle on the oak, and
+Signelil's abode stood in flames. Now only remain fields and meadows, a
+cairn, and the old popular song. Then we rush past the friendly Soroe,
+that mirrors itself with the wood in the lake, which forms itself
+into so many bays; but we do not see much of it. We have here another
+romantic spot, an old castle converted into a church, high up on the
+hill near the lake, and close to it the dismal place of execution.
+We then reach Slagelse, an animated little town; with the Antvorskov
+convent, the poet Frankenau's grave, and a Latin school, celebrated on
+account of its poets. It was there Baggesen and Ingemann learned their
+Latin. When I once questioned the hostess regarding the lions of the
+town, she would only acknowledge two,--Bastholm's library, and the
+English fire-engine. The curtain in the theatre represents an alley
+with a fountain, the jets of which are painted as if spouting out of
+the prompter's box; or is this, perhaps, the English fire-engine? I
+know not. The scene-decoration for towns represents the market-place of
+Slagelse itself, so that the pieces thus acquire a home-feeling. This is
+the modern history of the little town; and, with regard to its older
+and romantic history, learn that the holy Anders was preacher here! Yes,
+indeed, that was a man! He has been also sung of by our first poets. We
+end with Korsoeer, where Baggesen was born and Birckner lies buried. In
+the more modern history of this town, King Solomon and Joergen the hatter
+play a considerable role. Besides this, I know that the town is said
+once to have possessed a private theatre; but this soon was done for,
+and the decorations were sold; a miller bought them, and patched his
+windmill sails with them. Upon one sail was a piece of a wood, upon
+another a shred of a room, or a street; and so they rushed round one
+after the other. Perhaps this is mere slander, for I have my information
+from Slagelse; and neighboring towns never speak well of each other."
+
+In this manner Wilhelm gossiped on, and the friends travelled over the
+way he had described. Slagelse, and the peasant village of Landsgrav,
+they had already behind them, when Wilhelm ordered the coachman to
+diverge from the high-road toward the right.
+
+"Where will you take us to?" asked Otto.
+
+"I will give you a pleasure!" returned Wilhelm. "We shall reach the
+weariful Korsoeer early enough: the steamboat leaves at ten, and it is
+not yet seven. You shall be surprised--I know well that you are half a
+Catholic; I will conduct you where you may believe yourself carried back
+several centuries, and may imagine yourself in a Catholic country. That
+is right pleasant, is it not?"
+
+Otto smiled. The friends alighted from the coach and walked over a
+corn-field. They found themselves upon a hill, the whole landscape
+spread itself out before them--they saw the Belt, with Sprogoee and
+Funen. The surrounding country was certainly flat, but the variety of
+greens, the near meadow, the dark stretch of wood in the neighborhood
+of Korsoeer, the bay itself, and all this seen in a warm morning light,
+produced effect. The friends diverged to the right; and before them,
+upon a hill, stood a large wooden cross, with the figure of the
+Crucified One. Above the cross was built a small roof to carry off the
+rain,--such as one may yet find in Bavaria. The figure of the Redeemer
+was of wood, painted with strong, tawdry colors; a withered garland of
+corn-flowers still hung around his bowed head.
+
+"It is extraordinary," said Otto, "to find in our time, in the year
+1830, such a Catholic symbol in Lutheran Denmark! And yet--yes, you will
+laugh at me, but I find it lovely: it affects me, moves me to worship."
+
+"That tawdry, tasteless figure!" cried Wilhelm. "Only see how coarse!
+the hair is covered with tar to keep off the rain! The peasants here
+have their peculiar superstition. If they allow the cross to fall they
+have no luck with their lands. It was upon this hill that the holy
+Anders, the celebrated preacher of Slagelse, awoke. He visited the
+sepulchre of Christ, but through praying there too long the ship sailed
+without him, and he was forced to stay behind. Then came a man and took
+him upon his horse, and they would ride to Joppa: the holy Anders fell
+asleep; but when he awoke he lay here, and heard the bells ringing in
+Slagelse. Upon a foal, only one night old, he rode round the extensive
+city lands, whilst King Waldemar lay in his bath. He could hang his
+glove upon the beams of the sun. This hill, where he awoke, was called
+Rest-hill; and the cross, with the figure of the Redeemer erected
+upon it, which still stands here, reminds us of the legend of the holy
+Anders."
+
+A little peasant girl at this moment mounted the hill, but paused when
+she perceived the strangers.
+
+"Don't be afraid, my child!" said Wilhelm. "What hast thou there? a
+garland! shall it hang here upon the cross? Only come, we will help
+thee."
+
+"It should hang over our Lord," said the little one, holding, in an
+embarrassed manner, the garland of pretty blue cornflowers in her hand.
+Otto took the garland, and hung it up in place of the faded one.
+
+"That was our morning adventure!" said Wilhelm, and soon they were
+rolling in the deep sand toward Korsoeer, toward the hill where the poet
+watched the sun and moon sink into the sea, and wished that he had wings
+that he might catch them.
+
+Melancholy and silent lies the town on the flat coast, the old castle
+turned into a farm-house--high grass grows upon the walls. In a storm,
+when the wind blows against the city, the surf beats against the
+outermost houses. High upon the church stands a telegraph; the black
+wooden plates resemble mourning-flags hung above the sinking town. Here
+is nothing for the stranger to see, nothing except a grave--that of the
+thinker Birckner. The friends drove to the public-house on the
+strand. No human being met them in the street except a boy, who rung a
+hand-bell.
+
+"That calls to church," said Wilhelm. "Because there are no bells in the
+tower, they have here such a wandering bell-ringer as this. Holla! there
+lies the inn!"
+
+"Baron Wilhelm!" cried a strong voice, and a man in a green jacket with
+pockets in the breast, the mighty riding-boots splashed above the tops,
+and with whip in hand, approached them, pulled his horse-hair cap, and
+extended his hand to Wilhelm.
+
+"The Kammerjunker from Funen!" said Wilhelm; "my mother's neighbor, one
+of the most industrious and rich noblemen in all Funen."
+
+"You will come one of the first days to me!" said the Kammerjunker; "you
+shall try my Russian steam-bath: I have erected one upon my estate. All
+who visit me, ladies and gentlemen without any exception, must try it!"
+
+"And do the cherry-trees bear well this year?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"No, no," answered the Kammerjunker, "they are good for nothing; but
+the apples are good! All the old trees in the hill-garden stand in full
+splendor: I've brought them into condition! Two years ago there was not,
+on all the trees together, a bushel of fruit. But I had all the horses
+which had to be bled led under the trees, and had the warm blood
+sprinkled upon the roots; this happened several times, and it has been a
+real inoculation for life."
+
+"The wind is certainly favorable," said Otto, whom this conversation
+began to weary.
+
+"No, just the contrary!" said the Kammerjunker. "The vane upon the
+little house yonder lies; it points always to Nyborg, always shows a
+good wind for us when we want to leave. In Nyborg is also a vane, which
+stands even as firmly as this, and prates to the folk there of good
+wind. I regard both vanes as a kind of guide-post, which merely says,
+There goes the way! No, if we had had a wind I should have gone with the
+boat, and not with the little splashing thing, as the seamen call the
+steamboat. The carriage is doubtless awaiting the young gentleman in
+Nyborg?" pursued he. "I will join company with you--my brown horse
+waits for me at Schalburg. You should see him! He has sinews like steel
+springs, and legs like a dancing-master! He is my own brown."
+
+"No one knows that we are coming," answered Wilhelm. "We shall,
+therefore, take a carriage from Nyborg."
+
+"We will join company," said the Kammerjunker, "and then you will pay me
+a visit with the young gentleman. You shall sleep in the black chamber!
+Yes, you will give me the pleasure?" said he to Otto. "If you are a
+lover of the antique, my estate will afford you pleasure; you find there
+moats, towers, guard-rooms, ghosts, and hobgoblins, such as belong to an
+old estate. The black chamber! after all, it is not quite secure there;
+is it, Herr Baron?"
+
+"No, the deuce remain a night with you!" said Wilhelm; "one gets to bed
+late, and even then it is not permitted one to close one's eyes. You,
+your sister, and the Mamsell,--yes, you are a pretty clover-leaf!
+Yes, Thostrup, you cannot believe what pranks are hatched upon the
+Kammerjunker's estate! One must be prepared for it! It is said to be
+haunted, but if the dead will not take that trouble the living do. The
+Kammerjunker is in the plot with his women-folk. They sewed me lately
+live cockchafers into my pillow, and they crawled and scrambled about
+till I did not know what the deuce it could be! A live cock they had
+also placed under my bed, and just in the morning, when I would go to
+sleep, the creature began to crow!"
+
+"The women-folk had done that," said the Kammerjunker. "Did they not
+the very same night fasten a door-bell to the head of my bed? I never
+thought of it; fat Laender slept in the same room, and had fastened
+along the wall a string to the bell. I awoke with the ringing. 'What the
+devil is that bell?' said I, and glanced about the room, for I could not
+conceive what it was. 'Bell?' asked Laender--'there is no bell here!'
+The ringing also ceased. I thought I must have dreamed, or that our
+merry evening must have left some buzzing in my ears. Again it began to
+ring. Laender looked so innocent all the time, I could not comprehend
+myself; I thought it must be my imagination. I became quite
+fainthearted, I denied my own hearing, and said, 'No, I have only
+dreamed!' and commenced reckoning and counting to employ my mind; but
+that did no good, and it nearly drove me mad! I sprang out of bed, and
+then I found out the trick: but how Laender grinned! he was swollen and
+red in the face with his mirth."
+
+"Do you play such jokes on your estate?" inquired Otto, addressing
+himself to Wilhelm.
+
+"No, not such refined ones!" returned the Kammerjunker; "perhaps a piece
+of wood, or a silly mask, is laid in your bed. Miss Sophie gives us
+other clever things for amusement--tableaux and the magic-lantern. I was
+once of the party. Yes, what was it I represented? Ah, I played, Heaven
+help me! King Cyrus: had a paper crown on my head, and Miss Sophie's
+cloak about me, the wrong side turned outward, for it is lined with
+sable. I looked like Satan!"
+
+The steamboat passengers were summoned on board, the company went down
+to the vessel, and soon it was cutting through the waves of the Belt.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+     "See now, Fuenen signifieth _fine_,
+       And much in that word lies;
+     For Fuenen is the garden fine,
+       Where Denmark glads its eyes."
+
+The nakedness which the last aspect of Zealand presents occasions one
+to be doubly struck by the affluent abundance and luxuriance with which
+Funen steps forth. Green woods, rich corn-fields, and, wherever the eye
+rests, noblemen's seats and churches. Nyborg itself appears a lively
+capital in comparison with the still melancholy Korsoeer. One now
+perceives people upon the great bridge of boats, on the ramparts, and
+in the broad streets with their high houses; one sees soldiers, hears
+music, and, what is especially animating upon a journey, one comes to
+an excellent inn. The drive out through the arched gateway is an
+astonishment; it is the same length and breadth as one of the gates of
+Copenhagen. Villages and peasants' houses here assume a more well-to-do
+aspect than in Zealand, where one often on the way-side imagines one
+sees a manure-heap heaped upon four poles, which upon nearer examination
+one finds is the abode of a family. On the highroads in Funen one
+perceives only clean houses; the window-frames are painted; before the
+doors are little flower-gardens, and wherever flowers are grown,
+as Bulwer strikingly remarks, the peasant is in a higher state of
+civilization; he thinks of the beautiful. In the ditches along the
+highway one sees lilac with their white and lilac flowers. Nature
+herself has here adorned the country with a multitude of wild poppies,
+which for splendor of color might vie with the most admired and
+beautiful in a botanic garden. Especially in the neighborhood of Nyborg
+do they grow in exceeding abundance.
+
+"What a dazzling color!" exclaimed Otto, as the friends rolled past
+these beautiful red flowers.
+
+"That is a proud color!" said the Kammerjunker, who rode near them upon
+his brown steed, "a proud color! but they are manured with the blood
+of Andalusian horses. It was just here where the battle between these
+beasts took place. You know that sit the year 1808 the Spaniards lay
+in Funen; the English ships were cruising about in the Belt, and Romana
+fled with his whole army on board, but they could net take their horses
+with them. These were the most splendid Andalusian creatures that eyes
+ever saw. The Spaniards took off their bridles, and left them here to
+scamper about the fields like wild horses. The horses of Nyborg chanced
+also to graze here, and as soon as the Andalusian steeds became aware of
+ours they arranged themselves in a row, and fell upon the Danish horses:
+that was a combat! At length they fell upon each other, and fought until
+they fell bleeding to earth. Whilst still a boy I saw little skull of
+one of these beasts. This is the last adventure left us from the visit
+of the Spaniards to Denmark. In the village through which we shall
+now pass are some outer remembrances. Remark the young lads and
+lasses,--they are of a darker complexion than the inhabitants of other
+Funen valleys; that is Spanish blood, it is said. It was in this village
+that the story took its rise of the preacher's servant-girl, who wept
+and was so inconsolable at the departure of the Spaniards. But not on
+account of her bridegroom did she weep,--not over her own condition. The
+preacher consoled her, and then she said she only wept to think that
+if the innocent child resembled its father it certainly would speak
+Spanish, and then not a soul would understand it! Yes, such histories as
+this have we in Funen!" said he laughingly to Otto.
+
+With similar relations, and some agricultural observations, according as
+they were called forth by surrounding objects, did our excellent landed
+proprietor amuse our young gentlemen. They were already distant several
+miles from Nyborg, when he suddenly broke off in the midst of a very
+interesting discourse upon a characteristic of a true inhabitant of
+Funen, which is, that whenever he passes a field of buckwheat he moves
+his mouth as if chewing, and made Wilhelm observe a Viennese carriage,
+which approached them by a neighboring road. To judge from the coachman
+and the horses, it must be the family from the hall.
+
+This was the case--they returned from paying a visit. Where the roads
+crossed they met each other. Otto immediately recognized Miss Sophie,
+and near to her sat an elderly lady, with a gentle, good-humored
+countenance; this was the mother. Now there was surprise and joy. Sophie
+blushed--this blush could not have reference to the brother; was it
+then the Kammerjunker? No: that appeared impossible! therefore, it must
+concern Otto. The mother extended her hand to him with a welcome, whilst
+at the same time she invited the Kammerjunker to spend the afternoon
+with them. There lay, in the manner with which she proposed this, so
+much attention and consideration, that Otto felt the man was here held
+in greater esteem, and was otherwise regarded than he, during their
+short acquaintance, had imagined possible.
+
+Sophie added, smiling, "You must stay!" To which the Kammerjunker
+replied with an apology for his travelling-dress.
+
+"We are not strangers!" said the mother; "it is only a family meal!
+You see the usual circle. You, Mr. Thostrup," added she, with a most
+obliging manner, "I know so well from Wilhelm's letters, that we are no
+strangers. The gentlemen are acquainted with each other!"
+
+"I accept the invitation," said the Kammerjunker, "and I will now
+show you into what a gallop I can put my steed! It is Carl Rise,
+[Translator's Note: Name of one of the heroes in Waldemar the Conqueror,
+a romance by Ingemann.] as you see, young lady--you called him so
+yourself!"
+
+"Yes, ride forward," said Sophie, smiling. "By that means you will
+oblige my sister. She might otherwise be quite frightened, did she
+see such a mighty caravan approach the house, did she had not properly
+prepared the dinner-table."
+
+"As my gracious young lady commands!" said the rider, and sprang
+forward.
+
+The country became more woody; the road passed various small lakes,
+almost overgrown with water-lilies and shaded by old trees; the
+old-fashioned, indented gable-ends of the hall now peeped forth. They
+drove through an avenue of wild chestnut-trees; the stone pavement here
+threatened to smash the carriage axles. On the right lay the forge,
+through the open door of which flew the sparks. A little girl, with bare
+feet, opened a gate, and they now found themselves in a large open space
+before the red-painted out-buildings. The ground was covered with straw,
+and all the cows of the farm were collected here for milking. Here they
+were obliged to drive, step by step, until by the gateway they reached
+the larger courtyard, which was inclosed by the barns and the principal
+building itself. This was surrounded by broad ditches, almost grown over
+with reeds. Over a solid bridge, resting upon pillars of masonry, and
+through a principal wing which bore the armorial bearings and initials
+of the old possessor, they arrived in the innermost court, which was
+shut in by three wings, the antique one already mentioned, and two
+others: the fourth side was inclosed by a low trellis-work which
+adjoined the garden, where the canals lost themselves in a small lake.
+
+"That is an interesting old court!" exclaimed Otto.
+
+"O, that is not to be compared with the Kammerjunker's!" returned
+Wilhelm: "you should first see his!"
+
+"Yes, you must come over some of these days," said the Kammerjunker.
+"Silence, Fingal! Silence, Valdine!" cried he to the barking dogs. A
+couple of turkey-cocks spread their feathers out, and gobbled with all
+their might. Men and women servants stood at the door: that was their
+reception!
+
+"Thostrup will have the red room, will he not?" said Wilhelm, and the
+friends ascended the stairs together.
+
+A pale young girl, not free from freckles, but with eyes full of soul,
+hastened toward them; this was Wilhelm's youngest sister. She pressed
+her brother to her breast, and took Otto's hand with kindness. She is
+not beautiful! was the first impression she made upon him. His chamber
+was vaulted, and the walls painted in the style of Gobelin tapestry;
+they represented the whole of Olympus. On the left was an old
+fire-place, with decorations and a gilt inscription; on the right
+stood an antiquated canopy-bed, with red damask hangings. The view was
+confined to the moat and the interior court. But a few minutes and Otto
+and Wilhelm were summoned to table. A long gallery through two wings of
+the hall, on one side windows, on the other entrances to the rooms,
+led to the dining-room. The whole long passage was a picture-gallery.
+Portraits the size of life, representing noble knights and ladies
+shining forth in red powdered periwigs, children adorned like their
+elders, with tulips in their hands, and great hounds by their sides,
+together with some historical pieces, decorated the walls.
+
+"Have we no garland on the table?" asked Sophie, as she entered the
+dining-room with the others.
+
+"Only a weak attempt to imitate my sister!" said Louise, smiling.
+
+"But there is not a single flower in the garland! What economy! And yet
+it is sweet!"
+
+"How tasteful!" exclaimed Otto, examining the garland which Louise had
+laid.
+
+All kinds of green leaves, with their innumerable shades, a few yellow
+linden-leaves, and some from the copper-beech, formed, through their
+varied forms and colors, a tasteful garland upon the white table-cloth.
+
+"You receive a thistle and a withered leaf!" whispered Wilhelm, as Otto
+seated himself.
+
+"But yet the most beautiful!" answered he. "The copper beech contrasts
+so sweetly with the whitish-green thistle and the yellow leaf."
+
+"My sister Sophie," said Louise, "lays us each day a different
+garland;--it is such a pretty decoration! If she is not here we get
+none; that would have been the case to-day, but when I learned that
+Wilhelm was coming, and that we," she added, with a friendly glance,
+"should have two other guests, I in great haste, made an attempt, and"--
+
+"And wished to show how nicely it could be made without robbing your
+flowers!" interrupted Sophie, laughing. "In reality, I am very cruel! I
+cut all the heads of her favorites off. To-morrow, as a parody upon her
+garland of to-day, will I make one of green cabbage and pea-shells!"
+
+"Madeira or port wine?" asked the Kammerjunker, and led the conversation
+from flowers to articles of food and drink.
+
+"One feels one's self comfortable here at the hall! Miss Louise cares
+for the body, and Miss Sophie for the soul!"
+
+"And mamma bestows a good cup of coffee," said the mother; "you must
+also praise me a little!"
+
+"I give music after dinner!" cried Wilhelm; "and thus the whole family
+will have shown their activity!"
+
+"But no voluntaries!" said the Kammerjunker; "no voluntaries, dear
+friend! No, a brisk song, so that one can hear what it is! but none
+of your artificial things!" A right proper blow on the shoulders was
+intended to soften his expression.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+     "She sees if the cloth is clean and white
+     --If the bed has pillows and sheets;
+     If the candle fits in the candlestick....
+
+     "Modest she is, although you know
+       She makes the whole of the place;
+     And in she slips in the evening glow,
+       To light the room with her merry face "--OEHLENSCHLAeGER
+
+A quiet, busy house-fairy was Louise; the beautiful, fragrant flowers
+were her favorites. Good-humoredly she smiled at the raillery of her
+sister, quietly listened to each thoughtless jest; but if any one, in
+joke, touched upon what was holy to her soul, she was aroused from her
+calmness and attained a certain eloquence.
+
+We will now become more nearly acquainted with the sisters, and on this
+account pass over to one of the following days.
+
+An abode together of a week, at a country-seat, will often bring about
+a greater intimacy than if, throughout a whole winter, people had met
+in large companies in cities. Otto soon felt himself at home; he was
+treated as a near relative. Wilhelm related all he knew of the beautiful
+Eva, and Sophie discovered that she was a romantic character. Mamma
+pitied the poor child, and Louise wished she had her on the estate: an
+inn was, after all, no proper place for a respectable girl. They then
+spoke of the winter enjoyments in Copenhagen, of art, and the theatre.
+Louise could not speak much with them upon these subjects, although
+she had seen one play, "Dyveke:" the amiable nature of the actress had
+spoken deeply to her heart.
+
+Several days had passed; the sky was gray; the young people assembled
+round the table; they were at no loss for a subject of conversation. All
+those who have brothers or sons who study well, have remarked how much
+they are especially fascinated by the lectures on natural philosophy and
+astronomy; the world, as it were, expands itself before the intellectual
+eye. We know that the friends, during the past summer, had participated
+in these lectures, and, like the greater number, were full of
+these subjects, from the contemplation of a drop of water, with its
+innumerable animalculae, to the distance and magnitude of stars and
+planets.
+
+To most of us these are well-known doctrines; to the ladies, also, this
+was nothing entirely new: nevertheless, it interested them; perhaps
+partly owing to Otto's beautiful eloquence. The gray, rainy weather led
+the conversation to the physical explanation of the origin of our globe,
+as the friends, from Orsted's lectures, conceived it to have been.
+
+"The Northern and Grecian myths agree also with it!" sail Otto. "We must
+imagine, that in infinite space there floated an eternal, unending mist,
+in which lay a power of attraction. The mist condensed itself now to
+one drop--our globe was one enormous egg-shaped drop; light and warmth
+operated upon this huge world egg, and hatched, not alone ONE creature,
+but millions. These must die and give way to new ones, but their corpses
+fell as dust to the centre: this grew; the water itself condensed, and
+soon arose a point above the expanse of ocean. The warmth of the sun
+developed moss and plants; fresh islands presented themselves;
+for centuries did a more powerful development and improvement show
+themselves, until the perfection was attained which we now perceive!"
+
+"But the Bible does not teach us thus!" said Louise.
+
+"Moses invented his account of the creation," answered Otto; "we keep to
+Nature, who has greater revelations than man."
+
+"But the Bible is to you a holy book?" asked Louise, and colored.
+
+"A venerable book!" returned Otto. "It contains the profoundest
+doctrines, the most interesting histories, but also much which belongs
+not at all to a holy book."
+
+"How can you say such things?" exclaimed Louise.
+
+"Do not touch upon religion in her presence," said Sophie; "she is a
+pious soul, and believes, without desiring to know wherefore."
+
+"Yes," said Wilhelm, "this winter she became quite angry, and, as I
+believe, for the first time angry with me, because I maintained that
+Christ was a man."
+
+"Wilhelm!" interrupted the young girl, "do not speak of that; I feel
+myself unhappy at this thought; I can and will not see the Holy brought
+down to my level, and to that of every-day life. It lies in my nature
+that I commit a sin if I think otherwise than I have learned and than my
+heart allows me. It is profane, and if you speak longer of religion in
+this strain I shall leave the room."
+
+At this moment the mother entered. "The festival has commenced," said
+she; "I have been forced to give my brightest silver skilling. Does Mr.
+Thostrup know the old custom which is observed here in the country, when
+beer is brewed for the mowing-feast?"
+
+A piercing cry, as from a horde of savages, at this moment reached the
+ears of the party.
+
+The friends descended.
+
+In the middle of the brew-house stood a tub, around which danced all the
+female servants of the estate, from the dairymaids down to the girl
+who tended the swine; their iron-bound wooden shoes dashed against the
+uneven flag-stones. The greater number of the dancers were without their
+jackets, but with their long chemise-sleeves and narrow bodices. Some
+screamed, others laughed, the whole was blended together in a howl,
+whilst they danced hand in hand around the tub in which the beer should
+be brewed. The brewing-maid now flung into it the silver skilling, upon
+which the girls, like wild Maenades, tore off each other's caps, and
+with bacchanalian wildness whirled round the tub. By this means
+should the beer become stronger, and work more intoxicatingly at the
+approaching mowing-feast.
+
+Among the girls, one especially distinguished herself by her Strong
+frame of body, and her long black hair, which, now that her cap was torn
+off, hung in disorder over her red face. The dark eyebrows were grown
+together. All seemed to rage most violently within her, and in truth she
+assumed something wild, nay almost brutal. Both arms she raised high in
+the air, and with outstretched fingers she whirled around.
+
+"That is disgusting!" whispered Otto: "they all look like crazy people."
+
+Wilhelm laughed at it. The wild merriment was lost in a joyous burst of
+laughter. The girl with the grown-together eyebrows let fall her arms;
+but still there lay in her glance that wild expression, which the loose
+hair and uncovered shoulders made still more striking. Either one of the
+others had had the misfortune to scratch her lip, or else she herself
+had bitten it in bacchanalian wildness until it bled: she accidentally
+glanced toward the open door where stood the friends. Otto's countenance
+became clouded, as was ever the case when anything unpleasant affected
+him. She seemed to guess his thoughts, and laughed aloud. Otto stepped
+aside; it was as though he in anticipation felt the shadow which this
+form would one day cast across his life.
+
+When he and Wilhelm immediately afterward returned to Sophie and Louise,
+he related the unpleasant impression which the girl had made upon him.
+
+"O, that is my Meg Merrilies!" exclaimed Sophie. "Yes, spite of her
+youth, do you not find that she has something of Sir Walter Scott's
+witch about her? When she grows older, she will be excellent. She has
+the appearance of being thirty, whereas she is said not to be more than
+twenty years old: she is a true giantess."
+
+"The poor thing!" said Louise; "every one judges from the exterior. All
+who are around her hate her, I believe, because her eyebrows are grown
+together, and that is said to be a sign that she is a nightmare:
+
+     [Note: This superstition of the people is mentioned in
+     Thieles's Danish traditions: "When a girl at midnight
+     stretches between four sticks the membrane in which the foal
+     lies when it is born, and then creeps naked through it, she
+     will bear her child without pains; but all the boys she
+     conceives will become were-wolves, and all the girls
+     nightmares. You will know them in the daytime by their
+     eyebrows grown together over the nose. In the night she
+     creeps in through the key-hole, and places herself upon the
+     sleeper's bosom. The same superstition is also found in
+     German Grimm speaks thus about it: If you say to the
+     nightmare,--
+
+         Old hag, come to-morrow,
+         And I from you will borrow,
+
+     it retreats directly, and comes the next morning in the
+     shape of a man to borrow something."]
+
+they are angry with her, and how could one expect, from the class to
+which she belongs, that she should return scorn with kindness? She is
+become savage, that she may not feel their neglect. In a few days, when
+we have the mowing-feast, you yourself will see how every girl gets a
+partner; but poor Sidsel may adorn herself as much as she likes, she
+still stands alone. It is truly hard to be born such a being!"
+
+"The unfortunate girl!" sighed Otto.
+
+"O, she does not feel it!" said Wilhelm: "she cannot feel it; for that
+she is too rude, too much of an animal."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+     "Were the pease not tender, and the vegetables fresh and
+     sweet as sugar What was the matter with the hams, the smoked
+     goose-breasts, and the herrings? What with the roasted lamb,
+     and the refreshing red-sprinkled head-lettuce? Was not the
+     vinegar sharp, and the nut-oil balmy? Was not the butter as
+     sweet as a nut, the red radishes tender? What?"--VOSS'S
+     Louise.
+
+"Mr. Thostrup shall see the Kammerjunker's old country-seat; to-morrow
+we must go over."
+
+Louise could not go with them, a hundred small duties chained her to the
+house. The most important of them all was ironing.
+
+"But that the house-maid can do," said Sophie. "Do come with us."
+
+"When thou seest thy linen nice and neat in thy drawers," returned
+Louise, "thou wilt certainly pardon me for remaining at home."
+
+"Yes, thou art a glorious girl!" said Sophie; "thou dost deserve to have
+been known by Jean Paul, and made immortal in one of his books. Thou
+dost deserve the good fortune of being sung of by such a poet."
+
+"Dost thou call it good fortune," answered the sister, "when the whole
+world directs its attention to one person?--that must be painful!
+unhappy! No, it is much better not to be remarked at all. Take my
+greetings with you, and ask for my Claudius back; they have had it now a
+whole half year."
+
+"There, they have kept half my sister's library," said Sophie, smiling
+to Otto. "You must know she has only two books: Mynster's Sermons, and
+the 'Wandsbecker Boten.'"
+
+The carriage rolled away through the chestnut avenue. "There upon the
+hill, close by the wood, did I act the elf-maiden," said Sophie. "I was
+not yet confirmed; there were strangers staying with us at the hall,
+and we wandered in the beautiful moonlight through the wood. Two of my
+friends and I hastened toward the hill, took hold of each other's hands
+and danced in a ring. The day after, two persons of the congregation
+told the preacher about three elfin-maidens, clad in white, who had
+danced upon the hill in the moonlight. The elfin-maidens were we; but
+that our backs were hollow as baking-troughs, and that the hill glanced
+like silver, was their own invention."
+
+"And in this oak," exclaimed Wilhelm, "when a boy, I killed the first
+bird which fell from my shot. It was a crow, and was very honorably
+interred."
+
+"Yes, beneath my sister's weeping-willow," said Sophie. "We buried it
+in an old chapeaubras, adorned with white bows; the grave was decorated
+with peony-leaves and yellow lilies. Wilhelm, who was then a big boy,
+made an oration, and Louise strewed flowers."
+
+"You were little fools!" said the mother. "But see, who comes here?"
+
+"O, my little Dickie, my dwarf of Kenilworth!" exclaimed Sophie, as a
+little hump-backed man, with thin legs and an old face, approached. He
+was dressed as a peasant, and bore upon his back a little knapsack of
+red calfskin, the hairy side turned outward: in this he carried his
+violin.
+
+"Is he called Dickie?" asked Otto.
+
+"No, that is only a joke of Sophie's," pursued Wilhelm; "she must always
+make suitable people romantic. He is called commonly 'Musikanti.' The
+inhabitant of Funen Italianizes most names; otherwise he is called Peter
+Cripple."
+
+"You will hear his tones," said Sophie. "The day after to-morrow, when
+we have the mowing-feast, he will he number one. He understands
+music with which you are scarcely acquainted; he will play you the
+'Shoemaker's Dance' as well as 'Cherry-soup:' such dances as these have
+people here in the country."
+
+"We are now beyond my lands, and upon our neighbor's," said the old
+lady. "You will see a thorough old mansion."
+
+"Now, I should like to know how the inhabitants will please Mr.
+Thostrup," said Sophie. "The Kammerjunker you know; he is an excellent
+country gentleman. His sister, on the contrary, is a little peculiar:
+she belongs to that class of people who always, even wily the best
+intentions, say unpleasant things. She has for this quite a rare
+talent--you will soon experience this; but she does not intend anything
+so bad. She can also joke! Thank God that you will not remain there
+over night, otherwise you would experience what she and the Mamsell can
+invent!"
+
+"Yes, the Mamsell is my friend!" said Wilhelm. "You will see her
+work-box with all the curiosities. That little box plays a great part:
+it is always taken out with her when she pays a visit--for the sake of
+conversation it is brought out; all is then looked through, and every
+article goes the round of the company. Yes, there are beautiful things
+to be seen: a little wheelbarrow with a pincushion, a silver fish, and
+the little yard-measure of silk ribbon."
+
+"Yes, and the amber heart!" said Sophie; "the little Napoleon of cast
+iron, and the officer who is pasted fast to the bottom of the box: that
+is a good friend in Odense, she lately told to me in confidence."
+
+"See what beautiful stone fences the Kammerjunker has made!" said the
+mother. "And how beautifully the cherry-trees grow! He is an industrious
+man!"
+
+They approached the garden. It was laid out in the old French style,
+with straight walks, pyramids of box, and white painted stone figures:
+satyrs and goddesses peeped through the green foliage. You now caught
+sight of a high tower with a spire; and soon the whole of the old
+mansion presented itself to view. The water was conveyed away from the
+broad moats, where the weeping willows with bowed heads and uncovered
+roots stood in the warm sunshine. A number of work-people were busily
+employed in clearing the moats of mud, which was wheeled in barrows on
+both sides.
+
+They soon reached the principal court-yard. The barns and the
+out-buildings lay on the opposite side. A crowd of dogs rushed forth
+barking toward the carriage--all possible races, from the large Danish
+hound, which is known to the Parisian, down to the steward's little
+pug-dog, which had mixed with this company. Here stood the greyhound,
+with his long legs, beside the turnspit. You saw all varieties, and each
+had its peculiar and melodious bark. A couple of peacocks, with bright
+outspread tails, raised at the same time a cry, which must have made an
+impression. The whole court-yard had a striking air of cleanliness. The
+grass was weeded from between the stones; all was swept and arranged
+in its appointed order. Before the principal flight of steps grew four
+large lime-trees; their tops, from youth bent together and then clipped
+short, formed in spring and summer two large green triumphal arches. On
+the right stood upon an upright beam, which was carved and formed into
+a pillar, a prettily painted dove-cot; and its gay inhabitants fluttered
+and cooed around. The peacock-pigeon emulated the peacock in spreading
+its tail; and the cropper-pigeon elevated itself upon its long legs, and
+drew itself up, as though it would welcome the strangers with the air of
+a grand gentleman. The reddish-brown tiles and the bright window-panes
+were the only things which had a modern air. The building itself, from
+the stone window-seats to the old-fashioned tower through which you
+entered, proclaimed its antiquity. In the vaulted entrance-hall stood
+two immense presses: the quantity of wood which formed them, and the
+artistical carving, testified to their great age. Above the door were
+fastened a couple of antlers.
+
+The Kammerjunker's sister, Miss Jakoba, a young lady of about thirty,
+neither stout nor thin, but with a strange mixture of joviality and
+indolence, approached them. She appeared to rejoice very much in the
+visit.
+
+"Well, you are come over, then!" said she to Wilhelm. "I thought you had
+enough to do with your examination."
+
+Wilhelm smiled, and assured her that after so much study people required
+relaxation.
+
+"Yes, you doubtless study in handsome boots!" said the young lady, and
+in a friendly manner turned toward Sophie. "Good heavens, miss!" she
+exclaimed, "how the sun has burnt your nose! That looks horrible! Don't
+you ever wear a veil? you, who otherwise look so well!"
+
+Otto was a stranger to her. He escaped such unpleasant remarks. "They
+should spend the whole day there," insisted Miss Jakoba; but mamma spoke
+of being at home by noon.
+
+"Nothing will come of that!" said Jakoba. "I have expected you; and we
+have cooked a dinner, and made preparations, and I will not have had
+all this trouble in vain. There are some especial dishes for you, and of
+these you shall eat." This was all said in such a good-humored tone that
+even a stranger could not have felt himself offended. The Kammerjunker
+was in the fields looking after his flax; he would soon be back. Squire
+Wilhelm could in the mean time conduct Mr. Thostrup about the premises:
+"he would otherwise have nothing to do," said she.
+
+No one must remain in the sitting-room; it was so gloomy there! The
+walls were still, as in by-gone days, covered with black leather, upon
+which were impressed gold flowers. No, they should go to the hall--that
+had been modernized since the Baroness was last there. The old
+chimney-piece with carved ornaments was removed, and a pretty porcelain
+stove had taken its place. The walls were covered with new paper from
+Paris. You could there contemplate all the public buildings of that
+city,--Notre Dame, Saint Sulpice, and the Tuileries. Long red curtains,
+thrown over gilt rods, hung above the high windows. All this splendor
+was admired.
+
+"I prefer the antique sitting-room, after all," said Sophie; "the old
+chimney-piece and the leather hangings. One fairly lives again in the
+days of chivalry!"
+
+"Yes, you have always been a little foolish!" said Jakoba, but softened
+her words by a smile and a pressure of the hand. "No, the hall is more
+lively. Ah!" she suddenly exclaimed; "Tine has placed her work-box in
+the window! That is disorder!"
+
+"O, is that the celebrated work-box, with its many fool's tricks?"
+inquired Wilhelm, as he laughingly took it up.
+
+"There are neither fools nor tricks in the box," said Jakoba. "But only
+look in the mirror in the lid, and then you will perhaps see one of the
+two."
+
+"No rude speeches, my young lady!" said Wilhelm; "I am an academical
+burgher!"
+
+The Kammerjunker now entered, attired in the same riding dress in which
+we made his acquaintance. He had visited his hay and oats, had seen
+after the people who were working at the fences, and had been also in
+the plantation. It had been a warm forenoon.
+
+"Now, Miss Sophie," said he, "do you see how I am clearing out the
+court? It costs me above five hundred dollars; and still they are
+the peasants of the estate who clear away the mud. But I shall get a
+delicate manure-heap, so fit and rich that it's quite a pleasure. But,
+Jakoba, where is the coffee?"
+
+"Only let it come in through the door," said Jakoba, somewhat angrily.
+"You certainly ate something before you went from home. Let me attend to
+the affairs of the ladies, and do thou attend to the gentlemen, so that
+they may not stand and get weary."
+
+The Kammerjunker conducted the friends up the winding stone stairs into
+the old tower.
+
+"All solid and good!" said he. "We no longer build in this manner. The
+loop-holes here, close under the roof, were walled up already in my
+father's time. But only notice this timber!"
+
+The whole loft appeared a gigantic skeleton composed of beams, one
+crossing the other. On either side of the loft was a small vaulted
+chamber, with a brick fire-place. Probably these chambers had been used
+as guard-rooms; a kind of warder's walk led from these, between the
+beam-palisade and the broad wall.
+
+"Yes, here," said the Kammerjunker, "they could have had a good lookout
+toward the enemy. Look through my telescope. You have here the whole
+country from Vissenberg to Munkebobanke, the Belt, and the heights
+of Svendborg. Only see! The air is clear. We see both Langeland and
+Zealand. Here one could, in 1807, have well observed the English fleet."
+
+The three climbed up the narrow ladder and came past the great clock,
+the leaden weights of which, had they fallen, would have dashed through
+the stone steps, and soon the gentlemen sat on the highest point. The
+Kammerjunker requested the telescope, placed it and exclaimed:--
+
+"Did I not think so? If one has not them always under one's eyes they
+begin playing pranks! Yes, I see it very well! There, now, the fellows
+who are working at the fences have begun to romp with the girls! they do
+nothing! Yes, they don't believe that I am sitting here in the tower and
+looking at them!"
+
+"Then a telescope is, after all, a dangerous weapon!" exclaimed Wilhelm.
+"You can look at people when they least expect it. Fortunately, our seat
+lies hidden behind the wood: we are, at all events, safe."
+
+"Yes, that it is, my friend," returned the other; "the outer sides of
+the garden are still bare. Did I not, last autumn, see Miss Sophie quite
+distinctly, when she was gathering service-berries in her little basket?
+And then, what tricks did she not play? She certainly did not think that
+I sat here and watched tier pretty gambols!"
+
+They quitted the tower, and passed through the so-called Knight's Hall,
+where immense beams, laid one on the other, supported the roof. At
+either end of the hall was a huge fireplace, with armorial bearings
+painted above: the hall was now used as a granary; they were obliged to
+step over a heap of corn before reaching the family pew in the little
+chapel, which was no longer used for divine service.
+
+"This might become a pretty little room," said the Kammerjunker, "but we
+have enough, and therefore we let this, for curiosity's sake, remain in
+its old state. The moon is worth its money!" and he pointed toward the
+vaulted ceiling, where the moon was represented as a white disk, in
+which the painter, with much naivete, had introduced a man bearing a
+load of coals upon his back; in faithful representation of the popular
+belief regarding the black spot in the moon, which supposes this to be
+a man whom the Lord has sent up there because he stole his neighbor's
+coal. "That great picture on the right, there," pursued he, "is Mrs.
+Ellen Marsviin; I purchased it at an auction. One of the peasants put
+up for it; I asked him what he would do with this big piece of
+furniture--he could never get it in through his door. But do you know
+what a speculation he had? It was not such a bad one, after all. See!
+the rain runs so beautifully off the painted canvas, he would have a
+pair of breeches made out of it, to wear in rainy weather behind the
+plough; they would keep the rain off! I thought, however, I ought to
+prevent the portrait of the highly honorable Mrs. Ellen Marsviin being
+so profaned. I bought it: now she hangs there, and looks tolerably
+well pleased. The peasant got a knight instead--perhaps one of my own
+ancestors, who was now cut up into breeches. See, that is what one gets
+by being painted!"
+
+"But the cupboard in the pillar there?" inquired Otto.
+
+"There, certainly, were Bibles and Prayer-books kept. Now I have in it
+what I call sweetmeats for the Chancery-counselor Thomsen: old knives of
+sacrifice, coins and rings, which I have found in the horse-pond and up
+yonder in the cairns: not a quarter of a yard below the turf we found
+one pot upon another; round each a little inclosure of stones--a flat
+stone as covering, and underneath stood the pot, with burnt giants'
+bones, and a little button or the blade of a knife. The best things are
+already gone away to Copenhagen, and should the Counselor come, he will,
+God help me! carry away the rest. That may be, then, willingly, for I
+cannot use the stuff, after all."
+
+After coffee, the guests wandered through the old garden: the clearing
+away of the mud was more closely observed, the dairy and pig-sty
+visited, the new threshing-machine inspected. But now the Russian bath
+should be also essayed; "it was heated!" But the end of the affair was,
+that only the Kammerjunker himself made use of it. The dinner-table
+was prepared, and then he returned. "But here something is wanting!"
+exclaimed he; left the room, and returned immediately with two large
+bouquets, which he stuck into an ale-glass which he placed upon the
+table. "Where Miss Sophie dines, the table must be ornamented with
+flowers: certainly we cannot lay garlands, as you do!" He seated himself
+at the end of the table, and wished, as he himself said, to represent
+the President Lars: they had had the "Wandsbecker Boten" half a year in
+the house, and it would certainly please Miss Sophie if they betrayed
+some acquaintance with books. This Lars and the flowers, here, meant
+quite as much as in the south a serenade under the windows of the fair
+one.
+
+When, toward evening, the carriage for their return drew up before the
+door, Otto still stood contemplating some old inscriptions which were
+built into the tower-wall.
+
+"That you can look at another time," said Jakoba; "now you must be of
+use a little!" And she reached him the ladies' cloaks.
+
+Amidst promises of a return visit and the parting yelping of the dogs
+the carriage rolled away.
+
+"I have fairly fallen in love with the old place!" said Sophie.
+
+"The Kaminerjunker gains much upon nearer acquaintance," said Otto.
+
+They bad now reached the furthest extremity of the garden. A flower-rain
+showered itself over them and the carriage. The Kammerjunker, Jakoba,
+and the Mamsell, had taken a shorter way, and now waved an adieu to the
+travellers, whilst at the same time they scattered hyacinths and stocks
+over them. With a practiced hand Jakoba threw, as a mark of friendship,
+a great pink straight into Otto's face. "Farewell, farewell!" sounded
+from both sides, and, accompanied by the sound of the evening-bell from
+the near village, for it was sunset, the carriage rolled away.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+     "Dance and stamp
+     Till the shoe-soles drop!"
+                      --Danish Popular Song.
+
+On the following day should the much-talked-of mowing-festival take
+place. It was the hay-harvest which occasioned all this merriment.
+[Author's Note: It is true that serfdom is abolished, but the peasant
+is still not quite free; neither can he be so. For his house and land he
+must pay a tribute, and this consists in labor. His own work must give
+way to that of his lord. His wagon, which he has had prepared to bring
+home his own harvest, must, if such be commanded, go to the nobleman's
+land, and there render service. This is, therefore, a kind of tax which
+he pays, and for the faithful payment of which he is rewarded by a
+harvest and mowing-feast; at the latter he receives a certain quantity
+of brandy, and as much ale as he can drink. The dance generally takes
+place in the middle of the court-yard, and the dancers themselves must
+pay their musicians.]
+
+During three afternoons in succession, in the inner court and under free
+heaven, should a ball be held. Along the walls, rough planks, laid upon
+logs of wood, formed a row of benches. At both ends of the court lay
+two barrels of the newly brewed ale, which had received more malt than
+usual, and which, besides, through the silver skilling, and the magic
+dance of the maidens round the tub, had acquired extraordinary strength.
+A large wooden tankard, containing several measures of brandy, stood
+upon a table; the man who watched the bleaching-ground was placed as
+a kind of butler to preside at this sideboard. A bread-woman, with new
+white bread from Nyborg upon her barrow, wheeled into the court, and
+there established her stall for every one; for it was only liquors the
+guests received gratis.
+
+The guests now entered the court by pairs; the men, part in jackets,
+part in long coats which hung down to their ankles. Out of the
+waistcoat-pocket protruded a little nosegay of sweet-williams and musk.
+The girls carried their "posies," as they called them, in their neatly
+folded pocket-handkerchiefs. Two musicians--one quite a young blade,
+in a laced coat with a stiff cravat, mid the other the well-known Peter
+Cripple, "Musikanti" as he was called--led the procession. They both
+played one and the same piece, but each according to his own manner. It
+was both good and old.
+
+They now began to draw lots, who should dance before the door of the
+family and who before that of the steward; after which the two parties
+drew lots for the musicians. The girls seated themselves in a row upon
+the bench, from whence they were chosen. The gallantry accorded with the
+ball-room,--the hard stone pavement. Not even had the grass been pulled
+up, but that would be all right after dancing there the first day. "Nay,
+why art thou sitting there?" spoken with a kind of morose friendliness,
+was the invitation to dance; and this served for seven dances. "Only
+don't be melancholy!" resounded from the company, and now the greater
+portion moved phlegmatically along, as if in sleep or in a forced dance:
+the girl with her eyes staring at her own feet, her partner with his
+head bent toward one side, and his eyes in a direct line with the girl's
+head-dress. A few of the most active exhibited, it is true, a kind of
+animation, by stamping so lustily upon the stone pavement that the dust
+whirled up around them. That was a joy! a joy which had occupied them
+many weeks, but as yet the joy had not reached its height; "but that
+will soon come!" said Wilhelm, who, with his sister and Otto, had taken
+his place at an open window.
+
+The old people meanwhile kept to the ale-barrels, and the brandy. The
+latter was offered to the girls, and they were obliged, at least, to
+sip. Wilhelm soon discovered the prettiest, and threw them roses. The
+girls immediately sprang to the spot to collect the flowers: but the
+cavaliers also wished to have them, and they were the stronger;
+they, therefore, boldly pushed the ladies aside, so that some seated
+themselves on the stone pavement and got no roses: that was a merry bit
+of fun! "Thou art a foolish thing! It fell upon thy shoulder and thou
+couldst not catch it!" said the first lover to his lady, and stuck the
+rose into his waistcoat-pocket.
+
+All got partners--all the girls; even the children, they leaped about to
+their own singing out upon the bridge. Only ONE stood forlorn,--Sidsel,
+with the grown-together eyebrows; she smiled, laughed aloud; no one
+would become her partner. Peter Cripple handed his violin to one of the
+young men and asked him to play, for he himself wished to stretch his
+legs a little. The girls drew back and talked with each other; but Peter
+Cripple stepped quietly forward toward Sidsel, flung his arms around
+her, and they danced a whirling dance. Sophie laughed aloud at it, but
+Sidsel directed her extraordinary glance maliciously and piercingly
+toward her. Otto saw it, and the girl was doubly revolting and frightful
+in his eyes. With the increasing darkness the assembly became more
+animated; the two parties of dancers were resolved into one. At length,
+when it was grown quite dark, the ale barrels become empty, the tankard
+again filled and once more emptied, the company withdrew in pairs,
+singing. Now commenced the first joy, the powerful operation of the ale.
+They now wandered through the wood, accompanying each other home, as
+they termed it; but this was a wandering until the bright morning.
+
+Otto and Wilhelm were gone out into the avenue, and the peasants shouted
+to them a grateful "Good night!" for the merry afternoon.
+
+"Now works the witchcraft!" said Wilhelm; "the magical power of the ale!
+Now begins the bacchand! Give your hand to the prettiest girl, and she
+will immediately give you her heart!"
+
+"Pity," answered Otto, "that the Maenades of the north possess only that
+which is brutal in common with those of the south!"
+
+"See, there goes the smith's pretty daughter, to whom I threw the best
+rose!" cried Wilhelm. "She has got two lovers, one under either arm!"
+
+"Yes, there she goes!" simpered a female voice close to them. It was
+Sidsel, who sat upon the steps of a stile almost concealed in the
+darkness, which the trees and the hedge increased still more.
+
+"Has Sidsel no lover?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"Hi, hi, hi," simpered she; "the Herr Baron and the other gentleman
+seek, doubtless, for a little bride. Am I beautiful enough? At night all
+cats are gray!"
+
+"Come!" whispered Otto, and drew Wilhelm away from her. "She sits like
+some bird of ill omen there in the hedge."
+
+"What a difference!" exclaimed Wilhelm, as he followed; "yes, what a
+difference between this monster, nay, between the other girls and Eva!
+She was, doubtless, born in the same poverty, in similar circumstances,
+and yet they are like day and night. What a soul has been given to Eva!
+what inborn nobility! It must be, really, more than a mere freak of
+Nature!"
+
+"Only do not let Nature play her freaks with you!" said Otto, smiling,
+and raised his hand. "You speak often of Eva."
+
+"Here it was association of ideas," answered Wilhelm. "The contrast
+awoke remembrance."
+
+Otto entered his chamber--he opened the window; it was a moonlight
+night. From the near wood resounded laughter and song. They came from
+the young men and girls, who, on their wandering, gave themselves up
+to merriment. Otto stood silent and full of thought in the open window.
+Perhaps it was the moon which lent her paleness to his countenance.
+On what did he reflect? Upon his departure, perhaps? Only one more day
+would he remain here, where he felt himself so much at home; but then
+the journey was toward his own house, to his grandfather, to Rosalie,
+and the old preacher, who all thought so much of him. Otto stood
+listening and silent. The wind bore the song more distinctly over from
+the wood.
+
+"That is their joy, their happiness!" said he. "It might have been my
+joy also, my happiness!" lay in the sigh which he heaved. His lips did
+not move, his thoughts alone spoke their silent language. "I might have
+stood on a level with these; my soul might have been chained to the
+dust, and yet it would have been the same which I now possess, with
+which I long to compass all worlds! the same, endowed with this
+sentiment of pride, which drives me on to active exertion. My fate
+wavered whether I should become one such as these or whether I should
+rise into that circle which the world calls the higher. The mist-form
+did not sink down into the mire, but rose above into the high refreshing
+air. And am I become happy through this?" His eye stared upon the bright
+disk of the moon. Two large tears rolled over his pale cheeks. "Infinite
+Omnipotence! I acknowledge Thy existence! Thou dost direct all; upon
+Thee will I depend!"
+
+A melancholy smile passed over his lips; he stepped back into the
+chamber, folded his hands, prayed, and felt rest and peace.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+     "The travellers roll through the world of men,
+     Like rose leaves in a stream.
+     The past will ne'er come back again,
+     But fade into a dream."--B. S. INGEMANN.
+
+The following day, the last before Otto's departure, whilst he and
+Wilhelm were walking in the garden, Sophie approached them with a
+garland made of oak-leaves: this was intended for Otto; they were now
+really to lose him.
+
+"Sophie will scarcely be up so early to-morrow morning," said Louise;
+"she is, therefore, obliged to present her garland to-day. I am never
+missing at the breakfast-table, as you well know; and I shall then bring
+my bouquet."
+
+"I shall preserve both until we meet again," returned Otto; "they are
+vignettes to my beautiful summer-dream. When I again sit in Copenhagen,
+when the rain patters and the winter approaches with cold and a joyless
+sky, I shall still see before me Funen with its green woods, flowers,
+and sunshine; it will appear to me that it must still be so there, and
+that the garland and bouquet are only withered because they are with me
+in the winter cold."
+
+"In Copenhagen we shall meet again!" said Sophie.
+
+"And I shall see you again with the swallows!" said Louise, "when my
+flowers spring up again, when we have again warm summer days! As far
+as I am concerned, you belong to the summer, and not to the cold, calm
+winter."
+
+Early on the following morning was Sophie, after all, at the breakfast
+table. That was to honor Otto. Mamma showed herself as the carriage
+was at the door. Wilhelm would accompany him as far as Odense. It was,
+therefore, a double leave taking, here and there.
+
+"We will always remain friends, faithful friends!" said Wilhelm, when
+they parted.
+
+"Faithful friends!" repeated Otto, and they rolled away toward
+Middelfart; thus far should mamma's own carriage convey the excellent
+Otto. Wilhelm remained behind in Odense; his coachman drove Otto, and
+they discoursed upon the way. They passed Vissenberg: the high, wooded
+hills there have received the name of the Funen Alps. The legend relates
+of robbers who had here deep passages underneath the high-road, where
+they hung bells which rang when any one passed above. The inhabitants
+are still looked upon with suspicion. Vissenberg appears a kind of Itri,
+between Copenhagen and Hamburg. [Author's Note: "Itri," Fra Diavolo's
+birthplace, lies in the Neapolitan States, on the highway between
+Rome and Naples. The inhabitants are not, without reason, suspected of
+carrying on the robber's trade.] Near the church there formerly lay a
+stone, on which Knud, the saint, is said to have rested himself when
+flying from the rebellious Jutlanders. In the stone remained the
+impression of where he had sat; the hard stone had been softer than the
+hearts of the rebellious people.
+
+This, and similar legends, the coachman knew how to relate; he was born
+in this neighborhood, but not in Vissenberg itself, where they make the
+false notes. [Author's Note: A number of years ago a band of men were
+seized in Vissenberg who had forged bank-notes.] Every legend gains
+in interest when one hears it in the place with which it is connected.
+Funen is especially rich in such relations.
+
+"That cairn elevates itself at Christmas upon four red posts, and one
+can then see the dance and merriment of the goblins within. Through that
+peasant's farm there drives every night a glowing coach, drawn by four
+coal-black horses. Where we now see a pond overgrown with reeds and
+roots there once stood a church, but it sank as the godless desecrated
+it; at midnight we still hear their sighs, and hymns of repentance."
+
+It is true that the narrator mixed up together certain leg-ends which
+related to other places in the country--that he took little springs, and
+mingled his own thoughts with his relations; but Otto listened to him
+with great interest. The discourse turned also upon the family at the
+hall.
+
+"Yes, they are very much liked!" said the coachman; "the gentleman may
+believe we know how to value them."
+
+"And now, which of the young ladies is the best?" asked Otto.
+
+"Yes, every one is best served by Miss Louise," returned the fellow.
+
+"Miss Sophie is the prettiest," said Otto.
+
+"Yes, she is also very good,--she belongs to the learned ones! She knows
+German, that she does! she can act comedy very excellently! I once
+got permission with the rest of the people to be up-stairs in the
+sitting-room--we stood behind the family; she did not manage her affairs
+at all badly."
+
+However much the old legends interested Otto, it seemed as though he
+listened with more pleasure to the simple reasonings of the coachman
+upon the family who were become so dear to him. Words and thoughts were
+busied about the objects there. Wilhelm, however, was and still remained
+the dearest; he recollected with what mildness Wilhelm had stretched
+forth his hand in reconciliation, when he himself had thrust him
+from him. Already the happy summer days which he had spent at the
+country-seat, the whole visit, appeared a beautiful but short dream.
+
+Otto felt an inward impulse to express his gratitude; his pride even,
+which was a fundamental feature of his character, commanded him to do
+this. Wilhelm's affection, his desire for a continued friendship, Otto
+thought he must reward; and on this account he added the following words
+to the few lines which he gave the coachman before his passage over the
+Little Belt:--
+
+"Wilhelm, in future we will say thou to each other; that is more
+confidential!" "He is the first to whom I have given my thou," said
+Otto, when the letter was dispatched. "This will rejoice him: now,
+however, I myself have for once made an advance, but he deserves it."
+
+A few moments later it troubled him. "I am a fool like the rest!" said
+he, and wished he could annihilate the paper. He was summoned on board.
+The Little Belt is only a river between the two countries; he soon found
+himself upon Jutland ground; the whip cracked, the wheels turned round,
+like the wheels of fortune, up and down, yet ever onward.
+
+Late in the evening he arrived at an inn. From his solitary chamber
+his thoughts flew in opposite directions; now toward the solitary
+country-seat of his grandfather, among the sand-hills; now toward the
+animated mansion in Funen, where the new friends resided. He had
+opened his box and taken out what lay quite at the top, the garland of
+oak-leaves and the beautiful bouquet of flowers of this morning.
+
+Most people maintain that one dreams at night of that which one has
+thought much about. According to this, Otto must have thought a deal
+about the North Sea, for of it he dreamed the whole night,--not of the
+young ladies.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+     "The heat-lark warbles forth his sepulchral melodies."
+                                            S. S. BLICHER.
+
+The peninsula of Jutland possesses nothing of the natural beauty
+which Zealand and Funen present--splendid beeches and odoriferous
+clover-fields in the neighborhood of the salt sea; it possesses at
+once a wild and desolate nature, in the heath-covered expanses and the
+far-stretching moors. East and west are different; like the green, sappy
+leaf, and grayish white sea-weed on the sea shore. From the Woods of
+Marselisborg to the woods south of Coldinger Fjord, is the land rich
+and blooming; it is the Danish Nature in her greatness. Here rises the
+Heaven Mountain, with its wilderness of coppice and heather; from here
+you gaze over the rich landscape, with its woods and lakes, as far down
+as the roaring Cattegat.
+
+The western coast, on the contrary, lies without a tree, without bushes,
+with nothing but white sand-hills stretching along the roaring ocean,
+which scourges the melancholy coast with sand-storms and sharp winds.
+Between these contrasts, which the east and west coasts present, the
+Hesperides and Siberia, lies the vast heath which stretches itself from
+the Lyneborg sand to the Skagen's reef. No hedge shows here the limits
+of possession. Among the crossing tracks of carriage wheels must thou
+seek thy way. Crippled oaks, with whitish-green moss overgrown to the
+outermost branches, twist themselves along the ground, as if fearing
+storms and the sea-mist. Here, like a nomadic people, but without
+flocks, do the so-called Tartar bands wander up and down, with their
+peculiar language and peculiar ceremonies. Suddenly there shows itself
+in the interior of the heathy wilderness a colony--another, a strange
+people, German emigrants, who through industry compel the meagre country
+to fruitfulness.
+
+From Veile, Otto wished to take the road through Viborg, as the most
+direct and the shortest to his grandfather's estate, which lay between
+Nisumfjord and Lemvig.
+
+The first heath-bushes accosted him as dear friends of his childhood.
+The beautiful beech-woods lay behind him, the expanse of heath began;
+but the heath was dear to him: it was this landscape which formed the
+basis of many dear recollections.
+
+The country became ever higher with brown heights, beyond which nothing
+was visible; houses and farms became more rare, the cherry orchards
+transformed themselves into cabbage-gardens. Only single spots were free
+from heather, and here grew grass, but short, and like moss or duckweed
+which grows upon ponds: here birds congregated by hundreds, and
+fluttered twittering into the air as the carriage drove past.
+
+"You know where to find the green spot in the heath, and how to become
+happy through it," sighed Otto. "Could I only follow your example!"
+
+At a greater distance rose bare hills, without ling or ploughed land;
+the prickly heath looked brown and yellow on the sharp declivities. A
+little boy and girl herded sheep by the way-side; the boy played the
+Pandean pipe, the little girl sang a psalm,--it was the best song which
+she knew how to sing to the traveller, in order to win a little present
+from him.
+
+The day was warm and beautiful, but the evening brought the cold mist
+from the sea, which, however, in the interior of the country loses
+something of its power.
+
+"That is a kiss of welcome from my home," said Otto; "the death-kiss of
+the mermaid! In Funen they call it the elf maiden."
+
+Within the last few years a number of children have been sent from the
+Orphan Asylum to the heath, in order that, instead of Copenhagen
+rogues, they may become honest Jutland peasants. Otto had a boy of this
+description for his coachman. The lad was very contented, and yet Otto
+became low-spirited from his relation. Recollections from his own life
+stirred within his breast. "Return thanks to God," said he, and gave the
+lad a considerable present; "on the heath thou hast shelter and a home;
+in Copenhagen, perhaps, the sandy beach would have been thy nightly
+resting-place, hunger and cold the gifts which the day would bring
+thee."
+
+The nearer he approached the west, the more serious became his frame of
+mind; it was as if the desolate scenery and cold sea-mist entered his
+soul. The pictures of the gay country-seat at Funen were supplanted by
+recollections of his home with his grandfather. He became more and more
+low-spirited. It was only when a single mile separated him from his
+home that the thought of surprising his dear friends conquered his
+melancholy.
+
+He caught sight of the red roof of the house, saw the willow
+plantations, and heard the bark of the yard-dog. Upon the hillock before
+the gate stood a group of children. Otto could no longer endure the slow
+driving through the deep ruts. He sprang out of the carriage, and ran
+more than he walked. The children on the hillock became aware of him,
+and all looked toward the side from whence he came.
+
+The slow driving, and his being absorbed in melancholy fancies, had
+relaxed his powerful frame; but now in one moment all his elasticity
+returned: his cheeks glowed, and his heart beat loudly.
+
+From the court resounded singing--it was the singing of a psalm. He
+stepped through the gateway. A crowd of peasants stood with bared heads:
+before the door stood a carriage, some peasants were just raising a
+coffin into it. In the doorway stood the old preacher, and spoke with a
+man clad in black.
+
+"Lord Jesus! who is dead?" were Otto's first words, and his countenance
+became pale like that of a corpse.
+
+"Otto!" all exclaimed.
+
+"Otto!" exclaimed also the old preacher, astonished; then seized his
+hand, and said gravely, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away;
+blessed be the name of the Lord!"
+
+"Let me see the face of the dead!" said Otto. Not a tear came to his
+eye; surprise and sorrow were too great.
+
+"Shall I take out the screws?" inquired the man who had just screwed up
+the coffin.
+
+"Let him sleep the eternal rest!" said the preacher.
+
+Otto stared at the black coffin in which his grandfather lay. The
+carriage drove away with it. Otto followed after with the preacher,
+heard him throw earth upon it, heard words which he did not comprehend,
+saw the last corner of the coffin, and it was then removed from his
+sight. All was as a dream to him.
+
+They returned back to the preacher's abode; a pale figure approached
+him: it was Rosalie--old Rosalie.
+
+"We have here no abiding-place, we all hasten toward futurity!" said
+the old preacher. "Strengthen yourself now with meat and drink! The body
+cannot suffer like the soul. We have accompanied him to His sleeping
+chamber; his bed was well prepared! I have prayed the evening prayer; he
+sleeps in God, and will awaken to behold His glory. Amen!"
+
+"Otto! thou dear Otto!" said Rosalie. "The bitterest day brings me this
+joy! How have I thought of thee! Amongst strangers shouldst thou receive
+the tidings of his death! with no one who could feel for thy sorrow!
+where thou shouldst see no eye weep for what thou hast lost! Now thou
+art here! now, when I believed thee so far distant--it is a miracle!
+Thou couldst only have received the letter to-day which carried the
+intelligence of thy grandfather's death to thee!"
+
+"I wished to surprise you," said Otto. "A melancholy surprise awaited
+me!"
+
+"Sit down, my child!" said the preacher, and drew him toward the covered
+table. "When the tree falls which gave us shade and fruit, from which
+we, in our own little garden, have planted shoots and sown seeds, we may
+well look on with sadness and feel our loss: but we must not forget our
+own garden, must not forget to cherish that which we have won from the
+fallen tree: we must not cease to live for the living! I miss, like you,
+the proud tree, which rejoiced my soul and my heart, but I know that it
+is planted in a better garden, where Christ is the gardener."
+
+The preacher's invitation to remain with him, during his stay, in his
+house, Otto declined. Already this first night he wished to establish
+himself in his own little chamber in the house of mourning. Rosalie also
+would return.
+
+"We have a deal to say to each other," said the old preacher, and laid
+his hand upon Otto's shoulder. "Next summer you will hardly press my
+hand, it will be pressed by the turf."
+
+"To-morrow I will come to you," said Otto, and drove back with the old
+Rosalie to the house.
+
+The domestics kissed the hand and coat of the young master--he wished to
+prevent this; the old woman wept. Otto stepped into the room; here had
+stood the corpse, on account of which the furniture had been removed,
+and the void was all the more affecting. The long white mourning
+curtains fluttered in tire wind before the open window. Rosalie led
+him by the hand into the little sleeping-room where the grandfather had
+died. Here everything yet stood as formerly--the large book case, with
+the glass doors, behind which the intellectual treasure was preserved:
+Wieland and Fielding, Millot's "History of the World," and Von der
+Hagen's "Narrenbuch," occupied the principal place: these books had
+been those most read by the old gentleman. Here was also Otto's earliest
+intellectual food, Albertus Julius, the English "Spectator," and Evald's
+writings. Upon the wall hung pikes and pistols, and a large old sabre,
+which the grandfather had once worn. Upon the table beneath the mirror
+stood an hour-glass; the sand had run out. Rosalie pointed toward the
+bed. "There he died," said she, "between six and seven o'clock in the
+evening. He was only ill three days; the two last he passed in delirium:
+he raised himself in bed, and shook the bed posts; I was obliged to let
+two strong men watch beside him. 'To horse! to horse!' said he; 'the
+cannons forward!' His brain dreamed of war and battles. He also spoke of
+your blessed father severely and bitterly! Every word was like the stab
+of a knife; he was as severe toward him as ever!"
+
+"And did the people understand his words?" asked Otto with a wrinkled
+brow.
+
+"No, for the uninitiated they were dark words; and even had they
+possessed any meaning, the men would have believed it was the sickness
+which spoke out of him. 'There stands the mother with the two children!
+The one shall fall upon the flank of the enemy and bring me honor and
+joy. The mother and daughter I know not!' That was all which I heard him
+say about you and your mother and sister. By noon on the third day the
+fever had spent itself; the strong, gloomy man was become as weak and
+gentle as a child; I sat beside his bed. 'If I had only Otto here!' said
+he. 'I have been severely attacked, Rosalie, but I am now much better:
+I will go to sleep; that strengthens one.' Smilingly he closed his eyes
+and lay quite still: I read my prayers, withdrew gently so as not to
+wake him; he lay there unchanged when I returned. I sat a little while
+beside his bed; his hands lay upon the coverlid; I touched them, they
+were ice-cold. I was frightened, touched his brow, his face--he was
+dead! he had died without a death-struggle!"
+
+For a long time did they converse about the dead man; it was near
+midnight when Otto ascended the narrow stairs which led to the little
+chamber in the roof, where as child and boy he had slept. All stood here
+as it had done the year before, only in nicer order. Upon the wall hung
+the black painted target, near to the centre of which he had once shot.
+His skates lay upon the chest of drawers, near to the nodding plaster
+figure. The long journey, and the overpowering surprise which awaited
+him on his return, had strongly affected him: he opened the window;
+a large white sand-hill rose like a wall straight up before it, and
+deprived him of all view. How often, when a child, had the furrows
+made by rain in the sand, and the detached pieces, presented to him
+pictures,--towns, towers, and whole marching armies. Now it was only a
+white wall, which reminded him of a winding-sheet. A small streak of the
+blue sky was visible between the house and the steep slope of the hill.
+Never before had Otto felt, never before reflected, what it was to stand
+alone in the world, to be lovingly bound to no one with the band of
+consanguinity.
+
+"Solitary, as in this silent night do I stand in the world! solitary in
+the mighty crowd of human beings! Only ONE being can I call mine! only
+ONE being press as kindred to my heart! And I shudder at the thought of
+meeting with this being--I should bless the thought that she was dead!
+Father! thou didst ruin one being and make three miserable. I have
+never loved thee; bitterness germinated within my breast when I
+became acquainted with thee! Mother! thy features have died out of my
+recollection; I revere thee! Thou wast all love; to love didst thou
+offer up thy life--more than life! Pray for me with thy God! Pray for
+me, ye dead! if there is immortality; if the flesh is not alone born
+again in grass and the worm; if the soul is not lost in floods of air!
+We shall be unconscious of it: eternally shall we sleep! eternally!"
+Otto supported his forehead upon the window-frame, his arm sank
+languidly, "Mother! poor mother! thou didst gain by death, even if it
+be merely an eternal sleep,--asleep without dreams! We have only a short
+time to live, and yet we divide our days of life with sleep! My body
+yearns after this short death! I will sleep--sleep like all my beloved
+ones! They do not awaken!" He threw himself upon the bed. The cold air
+from the sea blew through the open window. The wearied body conquered;
+he sank into the death-like sleep, whilst his doubting soul, ever
+active, presented him with living dreams.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+     "Man seems to me a foolish being; he drives along over the
+     waves of time, endlessly thrown up and down, and descrying a
+     little verdant spot, formed of mud and stagnant moor and of
+     putrid green mouldiness, he cries out, Land! He rows
+     thither, ascends--and sinks and sinks--and is no more to be
+     seen."--The Golden Fleece of GRILLPARZER.
+
+Old Rosalie was pouring out coffee when Otto came down the next morning.
+Peace and resignation to the will of God lay in her soft countenance.
+Otto was pale, paler than usual, but handsomer than Rosalie had seen him
+before: a year had rendered him older and more manly; a handsome, crisp
+beard curled over his chin; manly gravity lay in his eyes, in which,
+at his departure, she had only remarked their inborn melancholy glance.
+With a kind of satisfaction she looked upon this beautiful, melancholy
+countenance, and with cordial affection she stretched forth her hand
+toward him.
+
+"Here stands thy chair, Otto; and here thy cup. I will drink to thy
+welcome. It seems to me long since I saw thee, and yet it is, now I have
+thee again, only a short time. Were that place only not empty!" and
+she pointed to the place at the table which the grandfather had used to
+occupy.
+
+"If I had only seen him!" said Otto.
+
+"His countenance was so gentle in death," said Rosalie. "The severity
+and gravity which had settled in his eyes were softened away. I was
+myself present when he was dressed. He had his uniform on, which he
+always wore upon occasions of ceremony, the sabre by his side and the
+great hat upon his head. I knew that this was his wish!" Quietly she
+made the sign of the cross.
+
+"Are all my grandfather's papers sealed?" inquired Otto.
+
+"The most important--those which have the greatest interest for thee,"
+said Rosalie, "are in the hands of the preacher. Last year, the day
+after thy departure, he gave them to the preacher; thy father's last
+letter I know is amongst them."
+
+"My father!" said Otto, and glanced toward the ground. "Yes," continued
+he, "there is truth in the words of Scripture,--the sins of the fathers
+are visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generation!"
+
+"Otto!" said Rosalie, with a beseeching and reproachful look, "thy
+grandfather was a severe man. Thou last known him, hast seen his darkest
+moments, and yet then age and cares had softened him: his love to thee
+calmed every outbreak. Had he only loved thy father as he loved thee,
+things would, perhaps, have ended better: but we may not judge!"
+
+"And what have I done?" said Otto. "Thou, Rosalie, knowest the
+history of my life. Is it not as if a curse rested upon me? I was a
+high-spirited boy, I often occasioned thee tears; yet didst thou always
+place thyself between me and punishment. It was my evil blood, the blood
+of my birth in which the curse lay, that drove me on!"
+
+"But thou didst become good and full of love, as thou art now!" said
+Rosalie.
+
+"Only when I became acquainted with myself and my destiny. In the
+thoughtlessness of childhood, unacquainted with myself and the world,
+did I myself have that sign of my misery, which now presses down my
+soul, cut into my flesh. Yes, Rosalie! I remember this very well,
+and have clearly preserved this, my earliest recollection before
+my grandfather took me, and I came here a boy. I remember the great
+building from whence I was brought, the number of people who there
+worked, sang, and laughed, and who told me extraordinary stories of how
+badly people were treated in the beautiful world. This was my parents'
+home, thought I, when I began to ponder upon parents and their
+connection with children. It was a large manufactory which they
+possessed, thought I; I remembered the number of work-people. All played
+and romped with me. I was wild and full of boisterous spirits a boy of
+only six years old, but with the perseverance and will of one of ten.
+Rosalie, thou sawest many proofs of the evil which lay in my blood; it
+bordered upon insolence. I remembered well the strong, merry Heinrich,
+who always sang at his loom; he showed me and the others his tattooed
+breast, upon which he had his whole mournful history imprinted. Upon
+his arm were his own and his bride's names. That pleased me; I wished to
+have my name also on my arm. 'It is painful!' said he; 'then thou wilt
+pipe, my lad!' That was spur enough to make me desire it. I allowed him
+to puncture my skin, to puncture an O and a T upon my shoulder, and
+did not cry,--no, not once whilst the powder burnt into it; but I was
+praised, and was proud to bear the initials--proud of them until three
+years ago, when I met Heinrich here. I recognized him, but he did not
+recognize me. I showed him my shoulder, and besought him to read the
+name, this O and T: but he did not say Otto Thostrup; he named a name
+which destroyed the happiness of my childhood, and has made me miserable
+forever!"
+
+"It was a fearful day!" said Rosalie. "Thou didst demand from me an
+explanation, thy grandfather gave it thee, and thou wast no longer the
+Otto thou hadst formerly been. Yet wherefore speak of it? Thou art good
+and wise, noble and innocent. Do not fill thy heart with sorrow from a
+time which is past, and which, for thy sake, shall be forgotten."
+
+"But Heinrich still lives!" said Otto; "I have met with him, have spoken
+with him: it was as if all presence of mind forsook me."
+
+"When and where?" asked Rosalie.
+
+Otto related of his walk with Wilhelm in the park, and of the juggler,
+in whom he had recognized Heinrich. "I tore myself from my friends,
+I wandered the whole night alone in the wood. O Rosalie, I thought
+of death! I thought of death as no Christian ought to do. A beautiful
+morning followed, I wandered beside the sea which I love, and in which
+I have so often dived. Since that explanation of the initials on my
+shoulder was suggested, that explanation which reminded me of my unhappy
+birth, I have never uncovered them before any one. O, I have rubbed
+thorn with a stone, until they were bloody! The letters are gone, but
+still I imagine I can read them in the deep scar--that in it I see a
+Cain's mark! That morning the desire to bathe came upon me. The fresh
+current infused life once more into my soul. Just then Wilhelm and
+several acquaintance came down; they called to me and carried off my
+clothes; my blood boiled; all my unhappiness, which this night had
+stirred within my soul, again overwhelmed me: it was as though the
+obliterated initials on my shoulder would reveal themselves in the scar
+and betray the secret of my grief. Disgust of life seized upon me. I
+no longer knew what I shouted to them, but it seemed to me as if I must
+swim out into the stream and never return. I swam until it became night
+before my eyes. I sank, and Wilhelm rescued me! Never since then have
+we spoken of this hour! O Rosalie! long is it since I have been able to
+open my heart as before thee at this moment. What use is it to have a
+friend if one cannot lay before him one's whole thoughts? To no one
+have I been able to unfold them but to thee, who already knowest them. I
+suffer, as a criminal and yet am I innocent,--just as the misshapen, the
+deformed man, is innocent of his ugliness!"
+
+"I do not possess thy knowledge, Otto," said Rosalie, and pressed his
+hand; "have never rejoiced in such a clear head as thine; but I have
+that which thou canst not as yet possess--experience. In trouble,
+as well as in joy, youth transforms the light cobweb into the cable.
+Self-deception has changed the blood in thy veins, the thoughts in thy
+soul; but do not forever cling to this one black spot! Neither wilt
+thou! it will spur thee on to activity, will enervate thy soul, not
+depress thee! The melancholy surprise of thy grandfather's death, whom
+thou didst believe active and well, has now made thee dejected, and thy
+thoughts so desponding. But there will come better days! happy days!
+Thou art young, and youth brings health for the soul and body!"
+
+She led Otto into the garden, where the willow plantations protected the
+other trees from the sharp west wind. The gooseberry-bushes bore fruit,
+but it was not yet ripe: one bush Otto had planted when a cutting; it
+was now large. Rosalie had tied the twigs to a palisade, so that, as an
+espalier, it could thoroughly drink in the sun's rays. Otto regarded the
+fetters more than the good intention.
+
+"Let it grow free!" said he; "if that brittle palisade should tumble
+down, the twigs would be broken." And he cut the bands.
+
+"Thou art still the old Otto," said Rosalie.
+
+They went into her little room, where the crucifix, and before it a
+small vase of flowers, adorned the table. Above the cross hung a garland
+of withered heather.
+
+"Two years ago didst thou give me that, Otto!" said Rosalie. "There
+were no more flowers, there was nothing green but the heath, and thou
+twinedst a garland of it for me. Afterward I would not take it down from
+the crucifix."
+
+They were interrupted by a visit. It was from the old preacher.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+     "His coal was coarse, its fashion old;
+       He asked no dress of greater worth
+     Than that which kept from storm and cold
+       The Baptist when he preached on earth."
+                               C. J. BORE.
+
+Not alone of Otto's affairs, but also of "the city yonder," as the
+preacher called Copenhagen, would he speak. Only once a week came the
+"Viborg Collector" to hint, and the Copenhagen papers were a whole month
+going their round. "One would willingly advance with the time," said he.
+Yesterday, at the interment, he had not found it seemly to gratify his
+desire of hearing dear Otto talk about the city, but to-day he thought
+it might well be done, and therefore he would not await Otto's visit but
+come over to pay one himself.
+
+"Thou hast certainly seen our good king?" was his first question. "Lord
+help the anointed one! he is then as vigorous and active as ever--my
+good King Frederik!" And now he must relate a trait which had touched
+his heart, and which, in his opinion, deserved a place in the annals of
+history. This event occurred the last time that the king was in Jutland;
+he had visited the interior of the country and the western coast also.
+When he was leaving a public-house the old hostess ran after him, and
+besought that the Father would, as a remembrance, write his name with
+chalk upon a beam. The grand gentlemen wished to deter her, but she
+pulled at the king's coat; and when he had learned her wish he nodded in
+a friendly manner, and said, "Very willingly!" and then turned back and
+wrote his name on the beam. Tears came into the old man's eyes; he wept,
+and prayed for his king. He now inquired whether the old tree was still
+standing in the Regent's Court, and then spoke of Nyerup and Abrahamson,
+whom he had known in his student days.
+
+In fact, after all, he was himself the narrator; each of his questions
+related to this or that event in his own life, and he always returned
+to this source--his student-days. There was then another life, another
+activity, he maintained. His royal idea of beauty had been Queen
+Matilda. [Translator's Note: The unhappy wife of Christian VII. and
+daughter of our George III.] "I saw her often on horseback," said he.
+"It was not then the custom in our country for ladies to ride. In her
+country it was the fashion; here it gave rise to scandal. God gave
+her beauty, a king's crown, and a heart full of love; the world gave
+her--what it can give--a grave near to the bare heath!"
+
+Whilst he so perpetually returned to his own recollections, his share of
+news was truly not new, but he was satisfied. Copenhagen appeared to him
+a whole world--a royal city; but Sodom and Gomorrah had more than one
+street there.
+
+Otto smiled at the earnestness with which he said this.
+
+"Yes, that I know better than thou, my young friend!" continued the old
+preacher. "True, the devil does not go about like a roaring lion, but
+there he has his greatest works! He is well-dressed, and conceals his
+claws and his tail! Do not rely upon thy strength! He goes about, like
+the cat in the fable, 'pede suspenso,' sneakingly and cautiously! It is,
+after all, with the devil as it is with a Jutland peasant. This fellow
+comes to the city, has nothing, runs about, and cleans shoes and boots
+for the young gentlemen, and by this means he wins a small sum of money.
+He knows how to spare. He can now hire the cellar of the house in
+which thou livest, and there commence some small trade. The trade is
+successful, very successful. It goes on so well that he can hire the
+lower story; then he gains more profit, and before thou canst look about
+thee he buys the whole house. See, that is the way with the Jutland
+peasant, and just the same with the devil. At first he gets the cellar,
+then the lower story, and at last the whole house!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+     "Sure 'tis fair in foreign land,
+         But not so fair as home;
+
+     Let me but see thy mountains grand
+         Glaciers and snowy dome!
+
+     Let me but hear the sound that tells
+     Of climbing cattle, dressed with bells."
+                               The Switzer's Homesickness.
+
+Not until after breakfast did the preacher pass over to Otto's affairs.
+His grandfather's will made him the sole heir to the large property; a
+man in Copenhagen, the merchant Berger, should be his guardian, since
+the preacher did not wish to undertake the office. Rosalie was not
+forgotten: her devotion and fidelity had won for her a relative's right.
+Her last days should be free from care: she had truly striven to remove
+all care from the dead whilst yet he lived. An old age free from care
+awaited her; but Otto wished that she should also have a happy old age.
+He imparted his plan to the preacher; but the latter shook his head,
+thought it was not practicable, and regarded it as a mere fancy--a whim.
+But such it was not.
+
+Some days passed by. One afternoon Rosalie sat upon a small wooden bench
+under the cherry-trees, and was making mourning for the winter.
+
+"This is the last summer that we shall sit here," said she; "the last
+summer that this is our home. Now I am become equally rooted to this
+spot; it grieves me that I must leave it."
+
+"Thou wast forced to leave thy dear Switzerland," said Otto; "that was
+still harder!"
+
+"I was then young," answered she. "The young tree may be easily
+transplanted, but the old one has shot forth deeper roots. Denmark is a
+good land--a beautiful land!"
+
+"But not the west coast of Jutland!" exclaimed Otto. "For thy green
+pasture hast thou here heath; for thy mountains, low sand-hills."
+
+"Upon the Jura Mountains there is also heath," said Rosalie. "The heath
+here often reminds me of my home on the Jura. There also is it cold, and
+snow can fall already in August. The fir-trees then stand as if powdered
+over."
+
+"I love Switzerland, which I have never seen," pursued Otto. "Thy
+relation has given me a conception of the picturesque magnificence of
+this mountain-land. I have a plan, Rosalie. I know that in the heart
+of a mountaineer homesickness never dies. I remember well how thy eyes
+sparkled when thou toldest of the walk toward Le Locle and Neufchatel;
+even as a boy I felt at thy words the light mountain air. I rode with
+thee upon the dizzy height, where the woods lay below us like potato
+fields. What below arose, like the smoke from a charcoal-burner's kiln,
+was a cloud in the air. I saw the Alpine chain, like floating cloud
+mountains; below mist, above dark shapes with glancing glaciers."
+
+"Yes, Otto," said Rosalie, and her eyes sparkled with youthful fire; "so
+looks the Alpine chain when one goes from Le Locle to Neulfchatel: so
+did I see it when I descended the Jura for the list time. It was in
+August. The trees, with their autumnal foliage, stood yellow and red
+between the dark firs; barberries and hips grew among the tall fern.
+The Alps lay in such a beautiful light, their feet blue as heaven, their
+peaks snow-white in the clear sunshine. I was in a sorrowful mood; I
+was leaving my mountains! Then I wrote in my book--O, I remember it so
+well!--The high Alps appear to me the folded wings of the earth: how
+if she should raise them! how if the immense wings should unfold, with
+their gay images of dark woods, glaciers, and clouds! What a picture! At
+the Last Judgment will the earth doubtless unfold these pinions, soar
+up to God, and in the rays of His sunlight disappear! I also have been
+young, Otto," pursued she, with a melancholy smile. "Thou wouldst have
+felt still more deeply at the sight of this splendor of nature. The lake
+at the foot of the mountains was smooth as a mirror; a little boat with
+white sails swam, like a swan, upon its expanse. On the road along which
+we drove were the peasants beating down chestnuts; the grapes hung in
+large black bunches. How an impression such as this can root itself in
+the memory! It is five and thirty years since, and yet I still see that
+boat with the white sail, the high Alps, and the black grapes."
+
+"Thou shalt see thy Switzerland again, Rosalie," exclaimed Otto; "again
+hear the bells of the cows upon the green pastures! Thou shalt go once
+more to the chapel in Franche Compte, shalt visit thy friends at Le
+Locle, see the subterranean mill, and the Doub fall."
+
+"The mill wheel yet goes round, the water dashes down as in my youth;
+but the friends are gone, my relatives dispersed! I should appear
+a stranger there; and when one has reached my age, nature cannot
+satisfy--one must have people!"
+
+"Thou knowest, Rosalie, my grandfather has settled a sum upon thee so
+long as thou livest. Now I have thought thou couldst spend thy latter
+days with thy beloved ones at home, in the glorious Switzerland. In
+October I take my philosophicum; the following summer I would then
+accompany thee. I must also see that splendid mountain-land,--know
+something more of the world than I have yet known. I know how thy
+thoughts always dwell upon Switzerland. Thither will I reconduct thee;
+thou wilt feel thyself less lonely there than here in Denmark."
+
+"Thou art carried away by the thoughts of youth, as thou shouldst and
+must be, thou dear, sweet soul!" said Rosalie, smiling. "At my age it is
+not so easy."
+
+"We will make short days' journeys," said Otto, "go with the steamboat
+up the Rhine--that is not fatiguing; and from Basel one is soon in
+Franche Compte on the Jura."
+
+"No, upon the heath, near Vestervovov, as it is called here, will old
+Rosalie die; here I have felt myself at home, here I have two or three
+friends. The family at Lemvig have invited me, have for me a place at
+table, a little room, and friendly faces. Switzerland would be no
+longer that Switzerland which I quitted. Nature would greet me as an old
+acquaintance; it would be to me music, once more to hear the ringing of
+the cows' bells; it would affect me deeply, once again to kneel in the
+little chapel on the mountain: but I should soon feel myself a greater
+stranger there than here. Had it been fifteen years ago, my sister would
+still have been living, the dear, pious Adele! She dwelt with my uncle
+close on the confines of Neufchatel, as thou knowest, scarcely a quarter
+of a mile from Le Locle--_the town_, as we called it, because it was the
+largest place in the neighborhood. Now there are only distant relations
+of mine living, who have forgotten me. I am a stranger there. Denmark
+gave me bread, it will also give me a grave!"
+
+"I thought of giving thee a pleasure!" said Otto.
+
+"That thou dost by thy love to me!" returned she.
+
+"I thought thou wouldst have shown me thy mountains, thy home, of which
+thou hast so often spoken!"
+
+"That can I still do. I remember every spot, every tree--all remains so
+clear in my recollection. Then we ascend together the Jura higher and
+higher; here are no more vineyards to be found, no maize, no chestnuts
+only dark pines, huge cliffs, here and there a beech, as green and large
+as in Denmark. Now we have the wood behind us, we are many feet
+above the sea; thou canst perceive this by the freshness of the air.
+Everywhere are green meadows; uninterruptedly reaches our ear the
+ringing of the cow-bells. Thou as yet seest no town, and yet we are
+close upon Le Locle. Suddenly the road turns; in the midst of the
+mountain-level we perceive a small valley, and in this lies the town,
+with its red roofs, its churches, and large gardens. Close beneath the
+windows rises the mountain-side, with its grass and flowers; it looks
+as though the cattle must be precipitated upon the houses. We go through
+the long street, past the church; the inhabitants are Protestants--it
+is a complete town of watchmakers. My uncle and Adele also sat the whole
+day, and worked at wheels and chains. That was for Monsieur Houriet,
+in Le Locle. His daughters I know; one is called Rosalie, like myself.
+Rosalie and Lydia, they will certainly have forgotten me! But it is true
+that we are upon our own journey! Now, thou seest, at the end of the
+town we do not follow the broad road--that leads to Besancon; we remain
+in the lesser one, here in the valley where the town lies. The beautiful
+valley! The green mountain-sides we keep to our right; on it are
+scattered houses, with large stones upon their steep wooden roofs, and
+with little gardens tilled with plum-trees. Steep cliff-walls shut in
+the valley; there stands up a crag; if thou climbest it thou canst look
+straight into France: one sees a plain, flat like the Danish plains. In
+the valley where we are, close under the rock, lies a little house; O, I
+see it distinctly! white-washed and with blue painted window-frames: at
+the gate a great chained dog. I hear him bark! We step into that quiet,
+friendly little house! The children are playing about on the ground.
+O, my little Henry-Numa-Robert! Ah, it is true that now he is older and
+taller than thou! We descend the steps toward the cellar. Here stand
+sacks and chests of flour; under the floor one hears a strange roaring;
+still a few steps lower, and we must light the lamp, for here it is
+dark. We find ourselves in a great water-mill, a subterranean mill. Deep
+below in the earth rushes a river--above no one dreams of it; the water
+dashes down several fathoms over the rushing wheel, which threatens to
+seize our clothes and whirl us away into the circle. The steps on which
+we stand are slippery: the stone walls drip with water, and only a step
+beyond the depth appears bottomless! O, thou wilt love this mill as I
+love it! Again having reached the light of day, and under free heaven,
+one only perceives the quiet, friendly little house. Dost thou know,
+Otto, often as thou hast sat quiet and dreaming, silent as a statue,
+have I thought of my mill, and the repose which it presented? and yet
+how wildly the stream roared in its bosom, how the wheels rushed round,
+and how gloomy it was in the depth!"
+
+"We will leave the mill!" said Otto, and sought to lead her from her
+reflections back to her own relation. "We find ourselves in the wood,
+where the ringing of the evening-bell reaches our ear from the little
+chapel in Franche Compte."
+
+"There stands my father's house!" said Rosalie. "From the corner-window
+one looks over the wood toward Aubernez, [Author's Note: A village in
+the canton Neufchatel, lying close upon the river Doub, where it forms
+the boundary between Switzerland and France.] where the ridge leads over
+the Doub. The sun shines upon the river, which, far below, winds along,
+gleaming like the clearest silver."
+
+"And the whole of France spreads itself out before us!" said Otto.
+
+"How beautiful! O, how beautiful!" exclaimed Rosalie, and her eyes
+sparkled as she gazed before her; but soon her glance became sad, and
+she pressed Otto's hand. "No one will welcome me to my home! I know
+neither their joys nor their sorrows--they are not my own family! In
+Denmark--I am at home. When the cold sea-mist spreads itself over the
+heath I often fancy I am living among my mountains, where the heather
+grows. The mist seems to me then to be a snow-cloud which rests over
+the mountains, and thus, when other people are complaining of the bad
+weather, I am up among my mountains!"
+
+"Thou wilt then remove to the family at Lemvig?" asked Otto.
+
+"There I am welcome!" returned she.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+     "Look at the calming sea. The waves still tremble in the
+     depths, and stem to fear the gale.--Over my head is hovering
+     the shadowy mist.--My curls are wet with the filling dew."
+     --OSSIAN.
+
+Otto had not as yet visited the sand-hills on the strand, the fishermen,
+or the peasants, among whom formerly he had spent all his spare time.
+
+The beautiful summer's day drove him forth, his heart yearned to drink
+in the summer warmth.
+
+Only the roads between the larger towns are here tolerable, or rather
+as tolerable as the country will allow. The by-ways were only to be
+discerned by the traces of cart-wheels, which ran on beside each other;
+at certain places, to prevent the wheels sinking into the deep sand,
+ling had been spread; where this is not the case, and the tracks cross
+each other, a stranger would scarcely find the way. Here the landmark
+places its unseen boundary between neighboring possessions.
+
+Every farm, every cottage, every hill, was an old acquaintance to Otto.
+He directed his steps toward Harbooere, a parish which, one may say,
+consists of sand and water, but which, nevertheless, is not to be
+called unfruitful. A few of the inhabitants pursue agriculture, but the
+majority consists of fishermen, who dwell in small houses and have no
+land.
+
+His first encounter upon his wandering was with one of those large
+covered wagons with which the so-called eelmen, between the days of St.
+John and St. Bartholomew, go with eels toward the small towns lying
+to the south and east, and then, laden with apples and garden produce,
+return home--articles which are rapidly consumed by the common people.
+The eelman stopped when he saw and recognized Otto.
+
+"Welcome, Mr. Otto!" said he. "Yes, you are come over abut a sad affair!
+That Major Thostrup should have gone off so! But there was nothing else
+to be expected from him he was old enough."
+
+"Death demands his right!" replied Otto, and pressed the man's hand.
+"Things go, doubtless, well with you, Morten Chraenseu?"
+
+"The whole cart full of eels, and some smoked carp! It is also good to
+meet with you, Mr. Otto. Upon the land a preacher is very good, but
+not upon the sea, as they say at home. Yes, you are certainly now a
+preacher, or will become one?"
+
+"No, I am not studying to become a preacher!" answered Otto.
+
+"No! will you then become a lawyer? It strikes me you are clever
+enough--you have no need to study any more! You will just go and say
+a few words to them at home? The grandmother sits and spins yarn for
+eel-nets. She has now the cataract on the other eye, but her mouth is as
+well as ever; she does not let herself grow dumb, although she does sit
+in the dark. Mother provides the baits; she has also enough to do with
+the hooks."
+
+"But Maria, the lively little Maria?" said Otto.
+
+"The girl? She has gone this year with the other fishergirls to
+Ringkjoebing, to be hired for the hay and corn harvest; we thought we
+could do without her at home. But now, God willing! I must travel on."
+Cordially he shook Otto's hand, and pursued his slow journey.
+
+The brothers of the eelman were active fishermen, as their father
+had been before them; and although they were all married they lived
+together. The swarm of children was not insignificant; young and old
+formed one family, in which the old grandmother had the first voice.
+
+Otto approached the dwelling; before it lay a little plot of land,
+planted with potatoes and carrots, and also beds of onions and thyme.
+Two large bull-dogs, with sharp teeth and wicked eyes, rushed toward
+Otto. "Tyv! Grumsling!" shrieked a voice, and the dogs let fall their
+tails and drew back, with a low growl, toward the house. Here at the
+threshold sat an old woman in a red woolen jacket, with a handkerchief
+of the same material and same color about her neck, and upon her head
+a man's black felt hat. She spun. Otto immediately recognized the old
+blind grandmother.
+
+"God's peace be in the house!" said he.
+
+"That voice I have not heard for a year and a day!" replied the old
+woman, and raised her head, as if she would see him with her dead eyes.
+"Are not you Major Thostrup's Otto? You resemble him in the voice. I
+thought, truly, that if you came here you would pay us a visit. Ide
+shall leave the baits and put on the kettle, that you may have a cup of
+coffee. Formerly you did not use to despise our entertainment. You have
+not grown proud with your journey, have you? The coffee-vetch [Author's
+Note: Astragalus baeticus is used as a substitute for coffee, and is
+principally grown upon the sand-hills west of Holmsland. It is first
+freed from the husk, and then dried and roasted a little.] is good; it
+is from Holmsland, and tastes better than the merchant's beans." The
+dogs still growled at Otto. "Cannot you stupid beasts, who have still
+eyes in your heads to see with, recognize that this is the Major's
+Otto?" cried she wrathfully, and gave them several good blows with her
+hand.
+
+Otto's arrival created a great stir in the little household that he was
+welcome, you might see by every countenance.
+
+"Yes," said the grandmother, "now you are grown much wiser in the town,
+could, very likely, were it needful, write an almanac! You will very
+likely have found for yourself a little bride there, or will you fetch
+one out of Lemvig? for no doubt she must be from a town! Yes, I have
+known him ever since he was a little fellow; yonder, on the wall, he
+made, out of herrings' heads, the living devil, just as he lives and
+breathes. He thrust our sucking-pig into the eel-cart, between the
+casks. We sought a whole day after the sucking-pig without finding him,
+and he was forced to make the journey with them to Holstebro. Yes,
+he was a wild fellow! Later, when he was obliged to learn so much, he
+became sad. Yes, yes, within the last years his books have overdone
+him!"
+
+"Yes, many a time has he put out to sea with my husband!" pursued one of
+the daughters-in-law. "One night he remained out with him. How anxious
+the French Mamsell at the hall was about him!"
+
+"He was never haughtty," said the grandmother. "He nibbled his dried
+fish with the fresh fish, and drank a little cup of water, although he
+was used to better things at home. But to-day we have white bread, fresh
+and good; it came yesterday from Lemvig."
+
+The brandy-glass, with its wooden, red-painted foot, was placed before
+Otto. Under the bed there was an anker of brandy,--"a little stock," as
+all stranded goods are here called.
+
+Otto inquired after the married sons. They were with their men on the
+shore, ready to embark on their fishing expedition, The grandmother
+would accompany him thither; they were not yet departed: she should
+first take them provisions.
+
+The old woman took her stick, the dog sprang forward, and now commenced
+their wandering among the sand-hills, where their huts or booths, built
+with rafters and smeared with earth, stood. Around lay the refuse of
+fish,--heads and entrails, thrown about. The men were just then busied
+in carrying the trough and fishing-tackle [Author's Note: A "Bakke"
+consists of three lines, each of 200 Danish ells, or about 135 yards,
+and of 200 fishing-hooks; the stretched "Bakke" is thus about 200 yards,
+with 600 hooks; these are attached to the line with strings half an
+ell long and as thick as fine twine. To each "Bakke" belongs a square
+trough, on which it is carried on board. To a larger fishing-boat are
+reckoned six lots of hooks; each lot has eight to nine "Bakkes."] on
+board.
+
+The open sea lay before them, almost as bright as a mirror, for the wind
+was easterly. Near to them paused a horseman; he was partly dressed
+like a peasant, with riding-breeches on, which were buttoned down at the
+sides.
+
+"Have you heard the news?" he cried to Otto. "I come from Ringkjoebing.
+At Merchant Cohen's I have read the German paper; there is a revolution
+in France! Charles X. is fled with the whole royal family. Yes, in
+Paris, there is fine work!"
+
+"The French are a wild people!" said the grandmother. "A king and a
+queen they have beheaded in my time; now they will do the same with
+these. Will our dear Lord suffer that such things be done to His
+anointed?"
+
+"There will be war again!" said one of the fishermen.
+
+"Then more horses will go out of the country," said the stranger,
+pressed Otto's hand, and vanished behind the sandhills.
+
+"Was not that the horse-dealer from Varde?" inquired Otto.
+
+"Yes, he understands languages," said the fisherman; "and thus he
+is acquainted with foreign affairs sooner than we. Then they are now
+fighting in France! Blood flows in the streets; it will not be so in
+Denmark before the Turk binds his horse to the bush in the Viborg Lake.
+And then, according to the prophecy of the sibyl, it will be near the
+end of the world."
+
+Meanwhile, everything was prepared for their embarkation. If Mr. Otto
+would take the further oar, and was inclined to pass the night on the
+sea, there was a place for him in the boat. But he had promised Rosalie
+to be back before evening. The grandmother now prayed, kneeling with the
+others, and immediately after quick strokes of the oars the flat boat
+rowed away from the shore. The fate of France was forgotten; their
+calling occupied the fishermen.
+
+The old woman seemed to listen to the strokes of the oars; her dead
+eyes rested immovably on the sea. A sea-mew passed close to her in
+its flight. "That was a bird!" said she. "Is there no one here beside
+ourselves?"
+
+"No; no one at all," answered Otto, carelessly.
+
+"Is no one in the hut, no one behind the sand-hills?" again asked
+the grandmother. "It was not on account of the dried meat that I came
+here--it was not to wet my face on the shore; I speak with you alone,
+which I could not do in the house. Give me your hand! Now that the old
+man rests in the grave, you yourself will guide the rudder; the estate
+will be sold, and you will not come again to the west coast. Our Lord
+has made it dark before my eyes before He has closed my ears and given
+me leave to go. I can no longer see you, but I have you in my thought
+as you looked before you left our land. That you are handsomer now I
+can easily imagine; but gayer you are not! Talk you certainly can, and I
+have heard you laugh; but that was little better than the two last years
+you were here. Once it was different with you--no fairy could be wilder
+than you!"
+
+"With years one becomes more quiet," said Otto, and gazed with
+astonishment at the blind woman, who did not leave go his hand. "As a
+boy I was far too merry--that could not continue; and that I should now
+be grave, I have, as you will see, sufficient reason--I have lost my
+last support."
+
+"Yes, truly, truly!" repeated she slowly, and as if pondering; then
+shook her head. "That is not the reason. Do you not believe in the power
+of the devil? our Lord Christ forgive me! do not you believe in the
+power of wicked men? There is no greater difference between the human
+child and the changeling brat which the underground spirits lay in his
+stead in the cradle, than there is between you when you were a boy and
+you as you became during the last year of your stay here. 'That comes
+from books, from so much learning,' said I to other people. Could I only
+have said so to myself! But you shall become gay; the trouble of your
+heart shall wither like a poisonous weed. I know whence it sprung, and
+will, with God's help, heal it. Will you solemnly promise, that no soul
+in the world shall learn what we speak of in this hour?"
+
+"What have you to say to me?" asked Otto, affected by the extraordinary
+earnestness of the old woman.
+
+"The German Heinrich, the player! You remember him well? He is to blame
+for your grief! Yes, his name drives the blood more quickly through your
+pulse. I feel it, even if I cannot see your face."
+
+"The German Heinrich!" repeated Otto, and his hand really trembled.
+Had Heinrich, then, when he was here three years ago, told her and the
+fishermen that which no human being must know,--that which had destroyed
+the gayety of his youth? "What have I to do with the German Heinrich?"
+
+"Nothing more than a pious Christian has to do with the devil!" replied
+she, and made the sign of the cross. "But Heinrich has whispered an evil
+word in your ear; he has banished your joyous humor, as one banishes a
+serpent."
+
+"Has he told you this?" exclaimed Otto, and breathed more quickly. "Tell
+me all that he has said!"
+
+"You will not make me suffer for it!" said she. "I am innocent, and yet
+I have cooperated in it: it was only a word but a very unseemly word,
+and for it one must account at the day of judgment!"
+
+"I do not understand you!" said Otto, and his eyes glanced around to see
+whether any one heard. They were quite alone. In the far distance the
+boat with the fishermen showed itself like a dark speck.
+
+"Do you remember how wild you were as a boy? How you fastened bladders
+to the cat's legs and tail, and flung her out of the loft-window that
+she might fly? I do not say this in anger, for I thought a deal of you;
+but when you became too insolent one might wall say, 'Can no one, then,
+curb this lad?' See, these words I said!--that is my whole fault, but
+since then have lain heavy on my heart. Three years ago came the German
+Heinrich, and stayed two nights in our house; God forgive it us! Tricks
+he could play, and he understood more than the Lord's Prayer--more than
+is useful to a man. With one trick you were to assist him, but when
+he gave you the goblet you played your own tricks, and he could make
+nothing succeed. You would also be clever. Then he cast an evil eye upon
+you, although he was still so friendly and submissive, because you
+were a gentleman's child. Do you remember--no, you will certainly have
+forgotten--how you once took the baits of the hooks off and hung my
+wooden shoes on instead? Then I said in anger, and the anger of man
+is never good, 'Can no one, then, tame this boy for me? He was making
+downright fun of you to your own face,' said I to the player. 'Do you
+not know some art by which you can tame this wild-cat?' Then he laughed
+maliciously, but I thought no more of the matter. The following day,
+however, he said, 'Now I have curbed the lad! You should only see how
+tame he is become; and should he ever again turn unruly, only ask him
+what word the German Heinrich whispered in his ear, and you shall. Then
+see how quiet he will become. He shall not mock this trick!' My heart
+was filled with horror, but I thought afterward it really meant
+nothing. Ei! ei! from the hour he was here you are no longer the same as
+formerly; that springs from the magical word he whispered in your ear.
+You cannot pronounce the word, he told me; but by it you have been
+enchanted: this, and not book-learning, has worked the change. But you
+shall be delivered! If you have faith, and that you must have, you shall
+again become gay, and I, spite of the evil words which I spoke, be able
+to sleep peacefully in my grave. If you will only lay this upon your
+heart, now that the moon is in its wane, the trouble will vanish out of
+your heart as the disk of the moon decreases!" And saying this she drew
+out of her pocket a little leather purse, opened it and took out a
+piece of folded paper. "In this is a bit of the wood out of which our
+Saviour's cross was made. This will draw forth the sorrow from your
+heart, and bear it, as it bore Him who took upon Himself the sorrow of
+the whole world!" She kissed it with pious devotion, and then handed it
+to Otto.
+
+The whole became clear to him. He recollected how in his boyish
+wantonness he had caused Heinrich's tricks to miscarry, which occasioned
+much pleasure to the spectators, but in Heinrich displeasure: they soon
+again became friends, and Otto recognized in him the merry weaver of the
+manufactory, as he called his former abode. They were alone, Otto asked
+whether he did not remember his name: Heinrich shook his head. Then Otto
+uncovered his shoulder, bade him read the branded letters, and heard the
+unhappy interpretation which gave the death-blow to his gayety. Heinrich
+must have seen what an impression his words made upon the boy: he gained
+through them an opportunity of avenging himself, and at the same time
+of bringing himself again into repute: as a sorcerer. He had tamed him,
+whispered he to the old woman,--he had tamed the boy with a single word.
+At any future wantonness of Otto's, gravity and terror would immediately
+return should any one ask him, What word did the German Heinrich whisper
+into thy ear? "Only ask him," had Heinrich said.
+
+In a perfectly natural manner there lay, truly, enchantment in
+Heinrich's words, even although it were not that enchantment which the
+superstition of the old woman would have signified. A revelation of
+the connection of affairs would have removed her doubts, but here an
+explanation was impossible to Otto. He pressed her hand, besought her to
+be calm; no sorrow lay heavy on his heart, except the loss of his dear
+grandfather.
+
+"Every evening have I named your name it my prayers," said the old
+grandmother. "Each time when the harbingers of bad weather showed
+themselves, and my sons were on the sea, so that we hung out flags or
+lighted beacons as signals, did I think of the words which had escaped
+my lips, and which the wicked Heinrich had caught up; I feared lest our
+Lord might cause my children to suffer for my injustice."
+
+"Be calm, my dear old woman!" said Otto. "Keep for yourself the holy
+cross, on the virtue of which you rely; may it remove each sorrow from
+your own heart!"
+
+"No, I am guilty of my own sorrow! yours has a stranger laid upon your
+heart! Only the sorrow of the guiltless will the cross bear."
+
+The beautiful sentiment which, unconsciously to her, lay in these words,
+affected Otto. He accepted the present, preserved it, sought to calm
+the old woman, and once more at parting glanced toward the splendid sea
+expanse which formed its own boundary.
+
+It was almost evening before he reached the house where Rosalie awaited
+him. His last scene with the blind fisher-woman had again thrown him
+into his gloomy mood. "After all, she really knows nothing!" said he to
+himself. "This Heinrich is my evil angel! might he only die soon!" It
+was in Otto's soul as if he could shoot a ball through Heinrich's heart.
+"Did he only lie buried under the heather, and with him my secret! I
+will have blood! yes, there is something devilish in man! Were Heinrich
+only dead! But others live who know my birth,--my sister! my poor,
+neglected sister, she who had the same right to intellectual development
+as myself! How I fear this meeting! it will be bitter! I must away. I
+will hence--here will my life-germ be stifled! I have indeed fortune--I
+will travel! This animated France will drive away these whims, and--I
+am away, far removed from my home. In the coming spring I shall be
+a stranger among strangers!" And his thoughts melted into a quiet
+melancholy. In this manner he reached the hall.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+     "L'Angleterre jalouse et la Grece homerique,
+     Toute l'Europe admire, et la jeune Amerique
+     Se leve et bat des mains du bord des oceans.
+     Trois jours vous ont suffi pour briser vos entraves.
+     Vous etes les aines d'une race de braves,
+     Vous etes les fits des geans!"
+                                 V. HUGO, Chants du Crepuscule.
+
+                  "Politiken, mine Herrer!"
+                      MORTONS' Lystspil: den Hjemkomne Nabob
+
+"In France there is revolution!" was the first piece of information
+which Otto related. "Charles X. has flown with his family. This, they
+say, is in the German papers."
+
+"Revolution?" repeated Rosalie, and folded her hands. "Unhappy France!
+Blood has flowed there, and it again flows. There I lost my father and
+my brother. I became a refugee--must seek for myself a new father-land."
+She wiped away a tear from her cheek, and sunk into deep meditation.
+She knew the horrors of a revolution, and only saw in this new one a
+repetition of those scenes of terror which she had experienced, and
+which had driven her out into the world, up into the north, where
+she struggled on, until at length she found a home with Otto's
+grandfather--a resting abode.
+
+Everything great and beautiful powerfully affected Otto's soul; only in
+one direction had he shown no interest--in the political direction, and
+it was precisely politics which had most occupied the grandfather in
+his seclusion. But Otto's soul was too vivacious, too easily moved, too
+easily carried away by what lay nearest him. "One must first thoroughly
+enter into life, before the affairs of the world can seize upon us!"
+said he. "With the greater number of those who in their early youth
+occupy themselves with politics, it is merely affectation. It is with
+them like the boy who forces himself to smoke tobacco so as to appear
+older than he really is." Beyond his own country, France was the
+only land which really interested Otto. Here Napoleon had ruled, and
+Napoleon's name had reached his heart--he had grown up whilst this name
+passed from mouth to mouth; the name and the deeds of the hero sounded
+to him, yet a boy, like a great world adventure. How often had he heard
+his grandfather, shaking his head, say, "Yes, now newspaper writers have
+little to tell since Napoleon is quiet." And then he had related to
+him of the hero at Arcole and among the Pyramids, of the great campaign
+against Europe, of the conflagration at Moscow, and the return from
+Elba.
+
+Who has not written a play in his childhood? Otto's sole subject was
+Napoleon; the whole history of the hero, from the snow-batteries at
+Brienne to the rocky island in the ocean. True, this poem was a wild
+shoot; but it had sprung from an enthusiastic heart. At that time he
+preserved it as a treasure. A little incident which is connected with
+it, and is characteristic of Otto's wild outbreaks of temper when a boy,
+we will here introduce.
+
+A child of one of the domestics, a little merry boy with whom Otto
+associated a good deal, was playing with him in his garret. Otto was
+then writing his play. The boy bantered him, pulling the paper at the
+same time. Otto forbade him with the threat,--"If thou dost that again I
+will throw thee out of the window!" The boy again immediately pulled at
+the paper. In a moment Otto seized him by the waist, swung him toward
+the open window, and would certainly have thrown him out, had not
+Rosalie fortunately entered the room, and, with an exclamation of
+horror, seized Otto's arm, who now stood pale as death and trembling in
+every limb.
+
+In this manner had Napoleon awoke Otto's interest for France. Rosalie
+also spoke, next to her Switzerland, with most pleasure of this country.
+The Revolution had livingly affected her, and therefore her discourse
+regarding it was living. It even seemed to the old preacher as though
+the Revolution were an event which he had witnessed. The Revolution and
+Napoleon had often fed his thoughts and his discourse toward this land.
+Otto had thus, without troubling himself the least about politics, grown
+up with a kind of interest about France. The mere intelligence of this
+struggle of the July days was therefore not indifferent to him. He
+still only knew what the horse-dealer had related; nothing of the
+congregation, or of Polignac's ministry: but France was to him the
+mighty world-crater, which glowed with its splendid eruptions, and which
+he admired from a distance.
+
+The old preacher shook his head when Otto imparted this political
+intelligence to him. A king, so long as he lived, was in his eyes holy,
+let him be whatever sort of a man he might. The actions of a king,
+according to his opinion, resembled the words of the Bible, which man
+ought not to weigh; they should be taken as they were. "All authority is
+from God!" said he. "The anointed one is holy; God gives to him wisdom;
+he is a light to whom we must all look up!"
+
+"He is a man like ourselves!" answered Otto. "He is the first magistrate
+of the land, and as such we owe him the highest reverence and obedience.
+Birth, and not worth, gives him the high post which he fills. He ought
+only to will that which is good; to exercise justice. His duties are
+equally great with those of his subjects."
+
+"But more difficult, my son!" said the old man. "It is nothing, as a
+flower, to adorn the garland; more difficult is it to be the hand which
+weaves the garland. The ribbon must be tight as well as gently tied; it
+must not cut into the stems, and yet it must not be too loose. Yes, you
+young men talk according to your wisdom! Yes, you are wise! quite as
+wise as the woman who kept a roasted chicken for supper. She placed it
+upon a pewter plate upon the glowing coals, and went out to attend to
+her affairs. When she returned the plate was melted, and the chicken lay
+among the ashes. 'What a wise cat I have!' said she; 'she has eaten
+I the plate and left the chicken!' See, you talk just so, and regard
+things from the same foolish point of view. Do not speak like the rest
+of them in the city! 'Fear God, and honor the king!' We have nothing
+to argue with these two; they transact their business between them! The
+French resemble young students; when these have made their examen artium
+they imagine they are equal to the whole world: they grow restive, and
+give student-feasts! The French must have a Napoleon, who can give
+their something to do! If they be left to themselves they will play mad
+pranks!"
+
+"Let us first see what the papers really say," replied Otto.
+
+The following day a large letter arrived; it was from Wilhelm:--
+
+"My excellent Otto,--We have all drunk to Otto Thostrup's health. I
+raised the glass, and drank the health. The friendship's dissonance YOU
+has dissolved itself into a harmonious THOU, and thou thyself hast given
+the accord. All at home speak of thee; even the Kammerjunker's Mamsell
+chose lately thee, and not her work-box, as a subject of conversation.
+The evening as thou drovest over the Jutland heaths I seated myself at
+the piano, and played thy whole journey to my sisters. The journey over
+the heath I gave them in a monotonous piece, composed of three tones,
+quite dissimilar to that composed by Rousseau. My sisters were near
+despair; but I told them it was not more uninteresting than the heath.
+Sometimes I made a little flight, a quaver; that was the heath-larks
+which flew up into the air. The introduction to the gypsy-chorus in
+'Preciosa' signified the German gypsy-flock. Then came the thema out of
+'Jeannot and Collin'--'O, joyous days of childhood!'--and then thou wast
+at home. I thundered powerfully down in the bass; that was the North
+Sea, the chorus in thy present grand' opera. Thou canst well imagine
+that it was quite original.
+
+"For the rest, everything at home remains in its old state. I have been
+in Svendborg, and have set to music that sweet poem, 'The Wishes,' by
+Carl Bagger. His verses seem to me a little rough; but something will
+certainly come out of the fellow! Thy own wishes are they which he has
+expressed. Besides this, the astonishing tidings out of France have
+given us, and all good people here, an electrical shock. Yes, thou in
+thy solitude hast certainly heard nothing of the brilliant July days.
+The Parisians have deposed Charles X. If the former Revolution was
+a blood-fruit, this one is a true passionflower, suddenly sprung up,
+exciting astonishment through its beauty, and as soon as the work
+is ended rolling together its leaves. My cousin Joachim, who as thou
+knowest is just now at Paris, has lived through these extraordinary
+days. The day before yesterday we received a long, interesting letter
+from him, which gave us--of the particulars as well as of the whole--a
+more complete idea than the papers can give us. People assemble in
+groups round the post-houses to receive the papers as they arrive. I
+have extracted from my cousin's letter what has struck me most, and send
+thee these extracts in a supplement. Thou canst thus in thy retirement
+still live in the world. A thousand greetings from all here. Thou hast a
+place in mamma's heart, but not less so in mine.
+
+          "Thy friend and brother,
+
+                       "WILHELM.
+
+"P. S.--It is true! My sister Sophie begs thee to bring her a stone from
+the North Sea. Perhaps thou wilt bring for me a bucket of water; but it
+must not incommode thee!"
+
+This hearty letter transported Otto into the midst of the friendly
+circle in Funen. The corner of the paper where Wilhelm's name stood he
+pressed to his lips. His heart was full of noble friendship.
+
+The extract which Wilhelm had made from his cousin's letter was short
+and descriptive. It might be compared with a beautiful poem translated
+into good prose.
+
+In the theatre we interest ourselves for struggling innocence; but we
+are still more affected when the destiny of a whole nation is to be
+decided. It is on this account that "Wilhelm Tell" possesses so much
+interest. Not of the single individual is here the question, but of all.
+Here is flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bone. Greater than the play
+created by the poet was the effect which this description of the July
+days produced upon Otto. This was the reality itself in which he lived.
+His heart was filled with admiration for France, who fought for Liberty
+the holy fight, and who, with the language of the sword, had pronounced
+the anathema of the age on the enemies of enlightenment and improvement.
+
+The old preacher folded his hands as he heard it; his eyes sparkled: but
+soon he shook his head. "May men so judge the anointed ones of God? 'He
+who taketh the sword shall perish by the sword!'"
+
+"The king is for the people," said Otto; "not the people for the king!"
+
+"Louis XVIth's unhappy daughter!" sighed Rosalie; "for the third time
+is she driven from her father-land. Her parents and brothers killed! her
+husband dishonored! She herself has a mind and heart. 'She is the only
+man among the Bourbons,'" said Napoleon.
+
+The preacher, with his old-fashioned honesty, and a royalist from his
+whole heart, regarded the affair with wavering opinion, and with fear
+for the future. Rosalie thought most of those who were made unhappy of
+the royal ladies and the poor children. Each followed the impulse of
+their own nature, and the instinctive feeling of their age; thus did
+Otto also, and therefore was his soul filled with enthusiasm. Enthusiasm
+belongs to youth. His thoughts were busied with dreams of Paris; thither
+flew his wishes. "Yes, I will travel!" exclaimed he; "that will give
+my whole character a more decided bias: I will and must," added he
+in thought. "My sorrow will be extinguished, the recollections of my
+childhood be forgotten. Abroad, no terrific figures, as here, will
+present themselves to me. My father is dead, foreign earth lies upon his
+coffin!"
+
+"But the office--examination!" said the old preacher, "pass that first.
+It is always good to have this in reserve, even if thou dost make no use
+of it. Only make this year thy philosophicum."
+
+"And in the spring I shall travel," said Otto.
+
+"That depends upon thy guardian, my son!" said the preacher.
+
+Several days passed, and Otto began to feel it solitary in his home--all
+moved here in such a confined circle. His mind was accustomed to a wider
+sphere of action. He began to grow weary, and then the hours travel with
+the snail's pace.
+
+           "...minutterna ligesom raecka og straerka sig.
+   Man kaenner behof at goere sa med." [Note: Sketches of Every-day Life.]
+
+He thought of his departure.
+
+"Thou must take the road through Lemvig," said Rosalie. "I will then
+visit the family there for a few days; it will make them quite happy to
+see thee, and I shall then be so much longer with thee. That thou wilt
+do, wilt thou not?"
+
+The day was fixed when they should travel.
+
+The evening previous, Otto paid his last visit to the preacher. They
+spoke together a long time about the deceased grandfather. The preacher
+gave up several papers to Otto; among them also his father's last
+letter.
+
+In honor of Otto, a bottle of wine was placed upon the table.
+
+"To thy health, my son!" said the preacher, raising his glass. "We shall
+hardly spend another evening together. Thou wilt have much to learn
+before thou comest as far as I. The world has more thorn-bushes than
+gold-mountains. The times look unsettled. France commences a new
+description of campaign in Europe, and certainly will draw along with
+it all young men: formerly it was the conquerer Napoleon who led to the
+field; now it is the idea of liberty! May the Lord preserve our good
+king, and then it will remain well with us! Thou, Otto, wilt fly out
+into the wide world--hadst thou only first passed thy examination
+for office! But when and where-ever thou mayest fly, remember on all
+occasions the words of Scripture.
+
+"We all desire to rule. Phaeton wished to drive the chariot of the
+sun, but not understanding how to guide the reins, he set fire to the
+countries, precipitated himself from the chariot, and broke his neck. I
+have no one in the city of Copenhagen whom I can ask thee to greet for
+me. All the friends of my youth are scattered to the east and to the
+west. If any of them still be in the city, they will certainly have
+forgotten me. But shouldst thou ever go to the Regent's Court, and smoke
+with the others a pipe under the tree, think of me. I have also sat
+there when I was young like thee; when the French Revolution drove also
+the blood quicker through my veins, and thoughts of freedom caused me to
+carry my head more high. The dear old tree! [Author's Note: At the end
+of the last century it was felled, and two younger ones, which are now
+in full growth, planted in its stead.] Yes, but one does not perceive in
+it, as in me, how many years have passed since then!"
+
+He pressed a kiss on Otto's forehead, gave him his blessing, and they
+parted.
+
+Otto was in a melancholy mood; he felt that he had certainly seen the
+old man for the last time. When he arrived at home he found Rosalie busy
+hacking. The following morning, by earliest dawn, they were to travel
+toward Lemvig. Otto had not been there within these two last years. In
+old times the journey thither had always been to him a festival, now it
+was almost indifferent to him.
+
+He entered his little chamber; for the last time in his life he should
+now sleep there. From the next morning commenced, so it seemed to him, a
+new chapter in his life. Byron's "Farewell" sounded in his ears like an
+old melody:--
+
+     "Fare thee well, and if forever,
+                Still for ever fare thee well."
+
+At break of day the carriage rolled away with him and old Rosalie. Both
+were silent; the carriage moved slowly along the deep ruts. Otto looked
+back once more. A lark rose, singing above him.
+
+"It will be a beautiful day!" said the coachman; his words and the song
+of the lark Rosalie regarded as a good omen for Otto's whole journey.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+   "Geske.--Have you put syrup in the coffee?
+   Henrich.--Yes, I have.
+   Geske.--Be so good, dear madams, be so kind as to be contented."
+                                     HOLBERG'S Political Pewterer.
+
+Lemvig lies, as is well known, on an arm of the Limfjord. The legend
+relates, that in the Swedish war a troop of the enemy's cavalry
+compelled a peasant here to mount his horse and serve as a guide.
+Darkness came on; they found themselves already upon the high
+sand-banks. The peasant guided his horse toward a steep precipice; in a
+farm-house on the other side of the fjord they perceived a light. "That
+is Lemvig," said the peasant; "let us hasten!" He set spurs to his
+horse, the Swedes followed his example, and they were precipitated into
+the depth: the following morning their corpses were found. The monument
+of this bold Lemvig peasant consists of this legend and in the songs of
+the poets; and these are the monuments which endure the longest. Through
+this legend the bare precipice receives an intellectual beauty, which
+may truly compare itself with the naturally beautiful view over the city
+and the bay.
+
+Rosalie and Otto drove into the town. It was two years since he had
+been here; everything seemed to him, during this time, to have shrunk
+together: wherever he looked everything was narrow and small. In his
+recollection, Lemvig was very much larger.
+
+They now drew up before the merchant's house. The entrance was through
+the shop, which was decorated with wooden shoes, woolen gloves, and
+iron ware. Close within the door stood two large casks of tea. Over the
+counter hung an extraordinary stuffed fish, and a whole bunch of felt
+hats, for the use of both sexes. It was a business en gros and en
+detail, which the son of the house managed. The father himself was
+number one in Lemvig; he had ships at sea, and kept open house, as they
+call it, in the neighborhood.
+
+The sitting-room door opened, and the wife herself, a stout, square
+woman, with an honest, contented countenance, stepped out and
+received the guests with kisses and embraces. Alas! her good Jutland
+pronunciation cannot be given in writing.
+
+"O, how glorious that the Mamsell comes and brings Mr. Thostrup with
+her! How handsome he is become! and how grown! Yes, we have his mark
+still on the door." She drew Otto along with her. "He has shot up more
+than a quarter of a yard!"
+
+He looked at the objects which surrounded him.
+
+"Yes," said she, "that instrument we have had since you were last
+here; it is a present to Maren from her brother. She will now sing; you
+something. It is astonishing what a voice she has! Last Whitsuntide she
+sang in the church with the musical people; she sang louder than the
+organ!"
+
+Otto approached the sofa, over which a large piece of needlework hung,
+in a splendid gold frame. "That is Maren's name-sampler," said the
+mistress of the house. "It is very pretty. See! there stand all our
+names! Can Mr. Thostrup guess who this is? Here are all the figures
+worked in open stitch. That ship, there, is the Mariane, which was
+called after me. There you see the Lemvig Arms--a tower which stands on
+the waves; and here in the corner, in regular and irregular stitches,
+is her name, 'Maren, October the 24th, 1828.' Yes, that is now two years
+since. She has now worked a cushion for the sofa, with a Turk upon
+it. It went the round of the city--every one wished to see it; it is
+astonishing how Maren can use her hands!"
+
+Rosalie inquired after the excellent girl.
+
+"She is preparing the table," said the lady. "Some good friends are
+coming to us this evening. The secretary will also come; he will then
+play with Maren. You will doubtless, in Copenhagen, have heard much more
+beautiful music; ours is quite simple, but they sing from notes: and I
+think, most likely the secretary will bring his musical-box with him.
+That is splendid! Only lately he sang a little song to the box, that was
+much better than to the larger instrument; for I must say he has not the
+strong chest which Maren has."
+
+The whole family assembled themselves for the first time at the
+dinner-table. The two persons who took the lowest places at table
+appeared the most original; these were the shopman and the aunt. Both
+of them had only at dinner the honor of being with the family; they were
+quite shut out from the evening parties.
+
+The shopman, who in the shop was the first person, and who could there
+speak a few words, sat here like a quiet, constrained creature; his hair
+combed toward one side, and exhibiting two red, swollen hands: no sound
+escaped his lips; kissing the hand of the lady of the house, at coming
+and going, was all he did beside eat.
+
+The aunt, who was not alone called so by the family, but by the whole
+of Lemvig, was equally sparing of her words, but her face was constantly
+laughing. A flowered, red cotton cap fitted close to the thin face,
+giving something characteristic to the high cheek-bones and hanging
+lip. "She assisted in the household, but could take no part in genteel
+company," as the lady expressed herself. She could never forget how, at
+the Reformation Festival, when only the singers sang in the church, aunt
+began singing with them out of her book, so that the churchwarden was
+forced to beg her to be silent; but this she took very ill, and declared
+she had as notch right as the others to praise God, and then sang in
+defiance. Had she not been "aunt," and not belonged to the family to
+which she did, she would certainly have been turned out.
+
+She was now the last person who entered and took her place at table.
+Half an hour had she been sought after before she was found. She had
+stood at the end of the garden, before the wooden trellis. Grass had
+been mown in the field behind the garden, and made into a rick; to see
+this she had gone to the trellis, the odor had agreeably affected
+her; she had pressed her face against the trellis-work, and from
+contemplation of it had fallen into thought, or rather out of thought.
+There she was found, and the dreamer was shaken into motion. She was
+again right lively, and laughed each time that Otto looked at her. He
+had his seat between Maren and the lady of the house, at the upper end
+of the table. Maren was a very pretty girl--little, somewhat round,
+white and red, and well-dressed. A vast number of bows, and a great
+variety of colors, were her weak side. She was reading at this time
+"Cabal and Love."
+
+"Thou art reading it in German!" said the mother.
+
+"Yes, it must be a beautiful piece. I speak German very well, but when I
+wish to read it I get on too slowly with it: I like to get to the end of
+a book!"
+
+The husband had his place at the head of the table. A little black cap
+sat smoothly on his gray hair, and a pair of clever eyes sparkled in his
+countenance. With folded hands he prayed a silent prayer, and then bowed
+his head, before he allowed the dinner to be served. Rosalie sat beside
+him. Her neighbor on the right seemed very talkative. He was an old
+soldier, who in his fortieth year had gone as lieutenant with the land's
+troops, and had permission to wear the uniform, and therefore sat there
+in a kind of military coat, and with a stiff cravat. He was already deep
+in Polignac's ministry and the triumph of the July days; but he had the
+misfortune to confound Lafitte and Lafayette together. The son of the
+house only spoke of bull-calves. The lady at the table was a little
+mamsell from Holstebro, who sat beside him, dressed like a girl for
+Confirmation, in a black silk dress and long red shawl. She was in grand
+array, for she was on a visit. This young lady understood dress-making,
+and could play upon the flute; which, however, she never did without
+a certain bashfulness: besides this, she spoke well, especially upon
+melancholy events. The bottle of wine only circulated at the upper
+end of the table; the shopman and aunt only drank ale, but it foamed
+gloriously: it had been made upon raisin-stalks.
+
+"He is an excellent man, the merchant, whom you have received as
+guardian, Mr. Thostrup," said the master of the house. "I am in
+connection with him."
+
+"But it is strange," interrupted the lady, "that only one out of his
+five daughters is engaged. If the young ladies in Copenhagen do not go
+off better than that, what shall we say here?"
+
+"Now Mr. Thostrup can take one of them," said the husband. "There is
+money, and you have fortune also; if you get an office, you can live in
+floribus!"
+
+Maren colored, although there was no occasion for coloring; she even
+cast down her eyes.
+
+"What should Mr. Thostrup do with one of them?" pursued the wife. "He
+shall have a Jutland maiden! There are pretty young ladies enough here
+in the country-seats," added she, and laid the best piece of meat upon
+his plate.
+
+"Do the royal company give pretty operas?" asked Maren, and gave another
+direction to the conversation.
+
+Otto named several, among others Der Freischuetz.
+
+"That must be horrible!" said the lieutenant. "They say the wolf-glen
+is so natural, with a waterfall, and an owl which flutters its wings.
+Burgomaster Mimi has had a letter from a young lady in Aarhuus, who has
+been in Copenhagen, and has seen this piece. It was so horrible that she
+held her hand before her face, and almost fainted. They have a splendid
+theatre!"
+
+"Yes, but our little theatre was very pretty!" said the lady of the
+house. "It was quite stupid that the dramatic company should have been
+unlucky. The last piece we gave is still clear in my recollection; it
+was the 'Sandsesloese.' I was then ill; but because I wished so much to
+see it, the whole company was so obliging as to act it once more, and
+that, too, in our sitting-room, where I lay on the sofa and could
+look on. That was an extraordinary mark of attention from them! Only
+think--the burgomaster himself acted with them!"
+
+In honor of the strangers, coffee was taken after dinner in the garden,
+where, under the plum-trees, a swing was fixed. Somewhat later a sailing
+party was arranged. A small yacht belonging to the merchant lay, just
+unladen, near the bridge of boats.
+
+Otto found Maren and the young lady from Holstebro sitting in the arbor.
+Somewhat startled, they concealed something at his entrance.
+
+"The ladies have secrets! May one not be initiated?"
+
+"No, not at all!" replied Maren.
+
+"You have manuscript poems in the little book!" said Otto, and boldly
+approached. "Perhaps of your own composition?"
+
+"O, it is only a memorandum-book," said Maren, blushing. "When I read
+anything pretty I copy it, for we cannot keep the books."
+
+"Then I may see it!" said Otto. His eye fell upon the written sheet:--
+
+             "So fliessen nun zwei Wasser
+              Wohl zwischen mir und Dir
+              Das eine sind die Thraenen,
+              Das andre ist der See!"
+              [Note: Des Knaben Wunderhorn.]
+
+he read. "That is very pretty! 'Der verlorne Schwimmer,' the poem is
+called, is it not?"
+
+"Yes, I have copied it out of the secretary's memorandum-book; he has so
+many pretty pieces."
+
+"The secretary has many splendid things!" said Otto, smiling.
+"Memorandum-book, musical snuff-box"--
+
+"And a collection of seals!" added the young lady from Holstebro.
+
+"I must read more!" said Otto; but the ladies fled with glowing cheeks.
+
+"Are you already at your tricks, Mr. Thostrup?" said the mother, who
+now entered the garden. "Yes, you do not know how Maren has thought of
+you--how much she has spoken of you. You never wrote to us; we never
+heard anything of you, except when Miss Rosalie related us something
+out of your letters. That was not nice of you! You and Maren were always
+called bride and bridegroom. You were a pair of pretty children, and
+your growth has not been disadvantageous to either of you."
+
+At four o'clock the evening party assembled--a whole swarm of young
+ladies, a few old ones, and the secretary, who distinguished himself by
+a collection of seals hanging to a long watch-chain, and everlastingly
+knocking against his body; a white shirt-frill, stiff collar, and a
+cock's comb, in which each hair seemed to take an affected position.
+They all walked down to the bay. Otto had some business and came
+somewhat later. Whilst he was crossing, alone, the court-yard, he heard,
+proceeding from the back of the house, a fearful, wild cry, which ended
+in violent sobbing. Terrified, he went nearer, and perceived the aunt
+sitting in the middle of a large heap of turf. The priestess at Delphi
+could not have looked more agitated! Her close cap she had torn from her
+head; her long, gray hair floated over her shoulders; and with her feet
+she stamped upon the turf, like a willful child, until the pieces flew
+in various directions. When she perceived Otto she became calm in a
+moment, but soon she pressed her thin hands before her face and sobbed
+aloud. To learn from her what was the matter was not to be thought of.
+
+"O, she is only quarrelsome!" said the girl, to whom Otto had turned for
+an explanation. "Aunt is angry because she was not invited to sail with
+the company. She always does so,--she can be quite wicked! Just lately,
+when she should have helped me to wring out the sheets, she always
+twisted them the same way that I did, so that we could never get done,
+and my hands hurt me very much!"
+
+Otto walked down to the bay. The sail was unfurled, the secretary
+brought out his musical-box, and, accompanied by its tones, they glided
+in the burning sunshine over the water.
+
+On the other side tea was to be drunk, and then Maren was to sing. Her
+mother asked her to sing the song with the strong tones, so that Otto
+might hear what a voice she had.
+
+She sang "Dannevang." Her voice had uncommon power, but no style, no
+grace.
+
+"Such a voice, I fancy, you have not heard in the theatre at
+Copenhagen?" said the secretary, with dogmatical gravity.
+
+"You might wish yourself such a chest!" said the lieutenant.
+
+The secretary should now sing; but he had a little cold, which he had
+always.
+
+"You must sing to the musical-box!" said the lady, and her wish was
+fulfilled. If Maren had only commenced, one might have believed it a
+trial of skill between Boreas and Zephyr.
+
+They now walked about, drank tea, and after this they were to return
+to the house, there to partake of fish and roast meat, a piece of boxed
+ham, and other good things.
+
+Otto could by no means be permitted to think of leaving them the
+following morning; he must remain a few days, and gather strength, so
+that in Copenhagen he might apply himself well to work. But only one
+day would he enjoy all the good things which they heaped upon him. He
+yearned for other people, for a more intellectual circle. Two
+years before he had agreed splendidly with them all, had found them
+interesting and intellectual; now he felt that Lemvig was a little town,
+and that the people were good, excellent people.
+
+The following play again brought capital cookery, good foul, and good
+wine--that was to honor Mr. Thostrup. His health was drunk, Maren was
+more confidential, the aunt had forgotten her trouble, and again sat
+with a laughing face beside the constrained shopman. They must, it is
+true, make a little haste over their dinner, for the fire-engine was to
+be tried; and this splendor, they maintained, Otto must see, since he so
+fortunately chanced to lie there.
+
+"How can my mother think that this will give Mr. Thostrup pleasure?"
+said Maren. "There is nothing to see in it."
+
+"That has given him pleasure formerly!" answered the mother. "It is,
+also, laughable when the boys run underneath the engine-rain, and the
+stream comes just in their necks."
+
+She spoke of the former Otto and of the present one--he was become so
+Copenhagenish, so refined and nice, as well in the cut of his clothes
+as in his manners; yet she still found an opportunity of giving him a
+little hint to further refinement. Only think! he took the sugar for his
+coffee with his fingers!
+
+"But where are the sugar-tongs, the massive silver sugar-tongs?" asked
+she. "Maren, dost thou allow him to take the sugar with his fingers?"
+
+"That is more convenient!" answered Otto. "I do that always."
+
+"Yes, but if strangers had been here," said the hostess, in a friendly
+but teaching tone, "we must, like that grand lady you know of, have
+thrown the sugar out of the window."
+
+"In the higher circles, where people have clean fingers, they make use
+of them!" said Otto. "There would be no end of it if one were to take it
+with the sugar-tongs."
+
+"They are of massive silver!" said the lady, and weighed them in her
+hand.
+
+Toward evening Rosalie went into the garden under the plum trees.
+
+"These, also, remind me of my mountains," said she; "this is the only
+fruit which will properly flourish there. Lemvig lies, like La Locle, in
+a valley," and she pointed, smiling, to the surrounding sand-hills.
+"How entirely different it is here from what it is at home on thy
+grandfather's estate! There I have been so accustomed to solitude, that
+it is almost too lively for me here. One diversion follows another."
+
+It was precisely this which Otto did not like. These amusements of the
+small towns wearied him, and he could not delight himself with them, no
+longer mingle in this life.
+
+He wished to set out early the following morning. It would be too
+exhausting to drive along the dry road in the sun's heat, they all
+declared; he must wait until the afternoon, then it would be cooler;
+it was, also, far pleasanter to travel in the night. Rosalie's prayers
+decided him. Thus, after dinner and coffee, the horses should be put
+into the carriage.
+
+It was the last day. Maren was somewhat in a grave mood. Otto must
+write in her album. "He would never come to Lemvig again," said she. As
+children they had played with each other. Since he went to Copenhagen
+she had, many an evening, seated herself in the swing near the
+summer-house and thought of him. Who knows whether she must not have
+done so when she copied out of the secretary's memorandum-book, the
+verses,--
+
+             "So fliessen nun zwei Wasser
+              Wohl zwischen mir and Dir?"
+
+The sea certainly flows between Aarhuus and Copenhagen.
+
+"Maren will perhaps go over for the winter," said the mother; "but we
+dare not speak too much about it, for it is not yet quite settled. It
+will really make her gayer! lately she has been very much inclined to
+melancholy, although God knows that we have denied her no pleasure!"
+
+There now arrived a quantity of letters from different acquaintance, and
+from their acquaintance: if Mr. Thostrup would have the goodness to
+take care of this to Viborg, these to Aarhuus, and the others as far as
+Copenhagen. It was a complete freight, such as one gets in little towns,
+just as though no post went through the country.
+
+The carriage stopped before the door.
+
+Rosalie melted into tears. "Write to me!" said she. "Thee I shall never
+see again! Greet my Switzerland when thou comest there!"
+
+The others were merry. The lady sang,--
+
+                "O could I, like a cloud, but fly!"
+
+The young lady from Holstebro bowed herself before him with an
+Album-leaf its her hand, upon which she must beg Mr. Thostrup to write
+her something. Maren gave him her hand, blushed and drew back: but as
+the carriage rolled away she waved her while handkerchief through the
+open window: "Farewell! Farewell!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+     "Stop! cried Patroclus, with mighty, thundering voice."
+     --WILSTER'S Iliad.
+
+The parting with Rosalie, the hospitality of the family, and their
+sincere sympathy, touched Otto; he thought upon the last days, upon his
+whole sojourn in his home. The death of his grandfather made this an
+important era in his life. The quiet evening and the solitary road
+inclined him still more to meditation.
+
+How cheering and interesting had been a visit to Lemvig in former times!
+Then it furnished matter for conversation with Rosalie for many weeks;
+it now lay before him a subject of indifference. The people were
+certainly the same, therefore the change must have taken place in
+himself. He thought of Copenhagen, which stood so high, and of the
+people there.
+
+"After all, the difference is not so great!" said he. "In Copenhagen
+the social foci are more numerous, the interests more varied; each day
+brings a fresh topic of conversation, and one can choose one's society.
+The multitude, on the contrary, has something citizenish; it obtrudes
+itself even from beneath the ball-dress which shows itself at court; it
+is seen in the rich saloon of the wholesale merchant, as well as in the
+house of the brandy distiller, whose possessions give to him and his two
+brewers the right of election. It is the same food which is presented
+to us; in the small towns one has it on earthenware, in Copenhagen on
+china. If one had only the courage, in the so-called higher classes,
+to break through the gloss which life in a greater circle, which
+participation in the customs of the world, has called forth, one should
+soon find in many a lady of rank, in many a nobleman who sits not
+alone in the theatre, on the first bench, merely that empty common
+earthenware; and that, as with the merchant's wife in Lemvig, a dejeuner
+or a soiree, like some public event, will occupy the mind before and
+after its occurrence. A court-ball, at which either the son or daughter
+has figured, resembles the most brilliant success in an examination for
+office. We laugh at the authorities of Lemvig, and yet with us the crowd
+runs after nothing but authorities and newspapers. This is a certain
+state of innocence. How many a poor officer or student must play the
+subordinate part of the shopman at the table of the rich, and gratefully
+kiss the hand of the lady of the house because she has the right of
+demanding gratitude? And in the theatre, with the multitude, what does
+not 'an astonishing chest' do? A strength of voice which can penetrate
+right through the leather of the mind gains stormy applause, whilst
+taste and execution can only be appreciated by the few. The actor can
+be certain of applause if he only thunder forth his parting reply. The
+comedian is sure of a shout of bravo if he puts forth an insipidity, and
+rubs his legs together as if replying with spirit and humor. The massive
+plate in the house gives many a lady the boldness to teach that in which
+she herself might perhaps have been instructed. Many a lady, like the
+Mamsell from Holstebro, dresses always in silk and a long shawl, and
+if one asks after her profession one finds it consists at most in
+dress-making; perhaps she does not even possess the little accompanying
+talent of playing the flute. How many people do not copy, like Maren,
+out of other people's memorandum-books, and do not excel musical-boxes!
+still one hears a deal of musical snuff-box music, and is waited upon by
+voices which are equally as insignificant as the secretary's."
+
+These were pretty much Otto's reflections, and certainly it was a good
+feeling which lay at the bottom of them. Let us remember in our judgment
+that he was so young, and that he had only known Copenhagen _one_ year;
+otherwise he would most certainly have thought _quite differently_.
+
+Night spread itself over the heath, the heavens were clear. Slowly the
+carriage wound along through the deep sand. The monotonous sound, the
+unchanging motion, all rendered Otto sleepy. A falling star shot like
+a fire column across the sky--this woke him for a moment; he soon again
+bowed his head and slept, fast and deep. It was an hour past midnight,
+when he was awoke by a loud cry. He started up--the fire burnt before
+them; and between it and the horse stood two figures, who had taken
+hold of the leather reins. Close beside them was a cart, under which was
+placed a sort of bed, on which slept a woman and some children.
+
+"Will you drive into the soup-kettle?" asked a rough voice, whilst
+another scolded in a gibberish which was unintelligible to Otto.
+
+It had happened to the coachman as to him, only that the coachman had
+fallen asleep somewhat later; the horses had lost their track,
+and uncertain, as they had long been, they were now traversing the
+impassable heath. A troop of the so-called Scavengers, who wander
+through these districts a nomadic race, had here taken up their quarters
+for the night, had made a fire and hung the kettle over it, to cook some
+pieces of a lamb they had stolen on their journey.
+
+"They were about half a mile from the highway," said an elderly woman
+who was laying some bushes of heath under the kettle.
+
+"Half a mile?" replied a voice from the other side of the cart, and Otto
+remarked a man who, wrapped in a large gray riding-cloak, had stretched
+himself out among the heather. "It is not a quarter of a mile to the
+highway if people know how to direct their course properly!"
+
+The pronunciation of the man was somewhat foreign, but pure, and free
+from the gibberish which the others employed in their speech. The voice
+seemed familiar to Otto, his ear weighed each syllable, and his blood
+ran quicker through his veins: "It is the German Heinrich, the evil
+angel of my life!" he felt, and wrapt himself closer in his mantle, so
+that his countenance was concealed.
+
+A half-grown lad came forward and offered himself as a guide.
+
+"But the lad must have two marks!" said the woman.
+
+Otto nodded assent, and glanced once more toward the man in whom he
+believed he recognized the German Heinrich; the man had again carelessly
+stretched himself among the heath, and did not seem inclined to enter
+into farther discourse.
+
+The woman desired the payment in advance, and received it. The boy led
+the horses toward one side; at the moment the fire flare up between the
+turf-sods, a great dog, with a loose cord about his neck, sprang forward
+and ran barking after the carriage, which now travelled on over the
+heath in the gloomy night.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+     "Poetry does not always express sorrow; the rainbow can also
+     arch across a cloudless blue firmament."--JEAN PAUL.
+
+We again find ourselves in Copenhagen, where we meet with Otto, and may
+every day expect Wilhelm, Miss Sophie, and the excellent mamma; they
+would only stay a few weeks. To learn tidings of their arrival, Otto
+determined to pay a visit where they were expected; we know the house,
+we were present at the Christmas festival: it was here that Otto
+received his noble pedigree.
+
+We will now become somewhat better acquainted with the family. The
+husband had a good head, as people sat, had an excellent wine-cellar,
+and was, as one of the friends maintained, a good l'hombre player. But
+the soul of the house, the animating genius, which drew into this circle
+all that possessed life and youth, was the wife. Beautiful one could by
+no means call her, but, enchanted by her natural loveliness, her
+mind, and her unaffectedness, you forgot this in a few moments. A rare
+facility in appreciating the comic of every-day life, and a good-humored
+originality in its representation, always afforded her rich material for
+conversation. It was as if Nature, in a moment of thoughtlessness, had
+formed an insipid countenance, but immediately afterward strove to make
+good her fault by breathing into it a soul, which, even through pale
+blue eyes, pale cheeks, and ordinary features, could make her beauty
+felt.
+
+When Otto entered the room he heard music. He listened: it must be
+either Weyse or Gerson.
+
+"It is the Professor Weyse," said the servant, and Otto opened the door
+softly, without knocking.
+
+The astral-lamp burnt upon the table; upon the sofa sat two young
+ladies. The mistress of the house nodded Otto a friendly welcome, but
+then smiling laid her finger on her lips, as a sign of silence, and
+pointed to a chair, on which he seated himself, and listened to the soft
+tones, which, like spirits, floated from the piano at which the musician
+sat. It was as if the slumbering thoughts and feelings of the soul,
+which in every breast find a response, even among the most opposite
+nations, had found a voice and language. The fantasies died away in a
+soft, spiritual piano. Thus lightly has Raphael breathed the Madonna
+di Foligno upon the clouds; she rests there as a soap-bubble rests upon
+velvet. That dying away of the tomes resembled the thoughts of the lover
+when his eye closes, and the living dream of his heart imperceptibly
+merges and vanishes in sleep. Reality is over.
+
+Here also the tones ceased.
+
+            "Der Bettelvogt von Ninive
+             Zog hinab zum Genfersee,
+                  Hm, hm!"
+             [Author's Note: An old popular German song.]
+
+commenced the musician once more, with an originality and spirit which
+influenced the whole company. Far too soon did he again break off,
+after he had enchanted all ears by his own treasures, as well as by the
+curiosities of the people's life in the world of sound. Only when he
+was gone did admiration find words; the fantasies still echoed in every
+heart.
+
+"His name deserves to be known throughout Europe!" said the gracious
+lady; "how few people in the world know Weyse and Kuhlau!"
+
+"That is the misfortune of a musician being born in a small country,"
+said Otto. "His works become only manuscript for friends; his auditory
+extends only from Skagen to Kiel: there the door is closed."
+
+"One must console one's self that everything great and good becomes at
+length known," said the cousin of the family, who is known to us by his
+verses for the Christmas-tree. "The nations will become acquainted with
+everything splendid in the kingdom of mind, let it bloom in a small or
+in a large country. Certainly during this time the artist may have died,
+but then he must receive compensation in another world."
+
+"I truly believe," returned the gracious lady, "that he would wish a
+little in advance here below, where it is so ordered that the immortal
+must bow himself before the mortal."
+
+"Certainly," replied Otto; "the great men of the age are like mountains;
+they it is which cause the land to be seen from afar, and give it
+importance, but in themselves they are bare and cold; their heights are
+never properly known."
+
+"Very beautiful," said the lady; "you speak like a Jean Paul."
+
+At this moment the door opened, and all were surprised by the entrance
+of Miss Sophie, Wilhelm, and the dear mamma. They were not expected
+before the following evening. They had travelled the whole day through
+Zealand.
+
+"We should have been here to dinner," said Sophie, "but my brother could
+not get his business finished in Roeskelde; then he had forgotten to
+order horses, and other little misadventures occurred: six whole hours
+we remained there. Mamma contracted quite a passion there--she fell
+fairly in love with a young girl, the pretty Eva."
+
+"Yes, she is a nice creature!" said the old lady. "Had I not reason, Mr.
+Thostrup? You and my Wilhelm had already made her interesting to me. She
+has something so noble, so refined, which one so rarely meets with in
+the lower class; she deserves to come among educated people."
+
+"Otto, what shall our hearts say," exclaimed Wilhelm, "when my good
+mother is thus affected?"
+
+They assembled round the tea-table. Wilhelm addressed Otto with the
+confidential "thou" which Otto himself had requested.
+
+"We will drink together in tea and renew our brotherhood."
+
+Otto smiled, but with such a strangely melancholy air, and spoke not a
+word.
+
+"He's thinking about the old grandfather," thought Wilhelm, and laid his
+hand upon his friend's shoulder. "The Kammerjunker and his ladies greet
+thee!" said he. "I believe the Mamsell would willingly lay thee in her
+own work-box, were that to be done."
+
+Otto remained quiet, but in his soul there was a strange commotion. It
+would be a difficult thing to explain this motive, which belonged to
+his peculiarity of mind; it entered among the mysteries of the soul. The
+multitude call it in individuals singularity, the psychologist finds a
+deeper meaning in it, which the understanding is unable to fathom. We
+have examples of men, whose strength of mind and body were well known,
+feeling faint at the scent of a rose; others have been thrown into a
+convulsive state by touching gray paper. This cannot be explained; it
+is one of the riddles of Nature. A similar relaxing sensation Otto
+experienced when he, for the first time, heard himself addressed as
+"thou" by Wilhelm. It seemed to him as though the spiritual band which
+encircled them loosened itself, and Wilhelm became a stranger. It was
+impossible for Otto to return the "thou," yet, at the same time, he
+felt the injustice of his behavior and the singularity, and wished to
+struggle against it; he mastered himself, attained a kind of eloquence,
+but no "thou" would pass his lips.
+
+"To thy health, Otto," said Wilhelm, and pushed his cup against Otto's.
+
+"Health!" said Otto, with a smile.
+
+"It is true," began the cousin, "I promised you the other day to bring
+my advertisements with me; the first volume is closed." And he drew
+from his pocket a book in which a collection of the most original
+Address-Gazette advertisements, such as one sees daily, was pasted.
+
+"I have one for you," said the lady; "I found it a little time since. 'A
+woman wishes for a little child to bottle.' Is not that capital?"
+
+"Here is also a good one," said Wilhelm, who had turned over the leaves
+of the book: "'A boy of the Mosaic belief may be apprenticed to a
+cabinet-maker, but he need not apply unless he will eat everything that
+happens to be in the house.' That is truly a hard condition for the poor
+lad."
+
+"Almost every day," said the cousin, "one may read, 'For the play of
+to-day or to-morrow is a good place to be had in the third story in the
+Christenbernikov Street.' The place is a considerable distance from the
+theatre."
+
+"Theatre!" exclaimed the master of the house, who now entered to take
+his place at the tea-table, "one can soon hear who has that word in
+his mouth; now is he again at the theatre! The man can speak of nothing
+else. There ought, ready, to be a fine imposed, which he should pay each
+time he pronounces the word theatre. I would only make it a fine of two
+skillings, and yet I dare promise that before a month was over he would
+be found to pay in fines his whole pocket-money, and his coat and boots
+besides. It is a real mania with the man! I know no one among my young
+friends," added he, with an ironical smile at Wilhelm,--"no, not one,
+who has such a hobby-horse as our good cousin."
+
+"Here thou art unjust to him!" interrupted his wife; "do not place a
+fine upon him, else I will place thee in a vaudeville! Thy life is in
+politics; our cousin's in theatrical life; Wilhelm's in thorough-bass;
+and Mr. Thostrup's in learned subjects. Each of you is thus a little
+nail in the different world-wheels; whoever despises others shows
+that he considers his wheel the first, or imagines that the world is
+a wheelbarrow, which goes upon one wheel! No, it is a more complicated
+machine."
+
+Later in the evening, when the company broke up, Otto and Wilhelm went
+together.
+
+"I do not think," said Wilhelm, "that thou hast yet said thou to me. Is
+it not agreeable to thee?"
+
+"It was my own wish, my own request," replied Otto. "I have not remarked
+what expressions I have employed." He remained silent. Wilhelm himself
+seemed occupied with unusual thoughts, when he suddenly exclaimed: "Life
+is, after all, a gift of blessings! One should never make one's self
+sorrows which do not really exist! 'Carpe diem,' said old Horace."
+
+"That will we!" replied Otto; "but now we must first think of our
+examination."
+
+They pressed each other's hands and parted.
+
+"But I have heard no thou!" said Wilhelm to himself "He is an oddity,
+and yet I love him! In this consists, perhaps, my own originality."
+
+He entered his room, where the hostess had been cleaning, and had
+arranged the books and papers in the nicest order. Wilhelm truly called
+it disorder; the papers in confusion and the books in a row. The lamp
+even had a new place; and this was called order!
+
+Smiling, he seated himself at the piano; it was so long since they had
+said "Good day" to each other! He ran over the keys several times, then
+lost himself in fantasies. "That is lovely!" he exclaimed. "But it is
+not my property! What does it belong to? It melts into my own feelings!"
+He played it again. It was a thema out of "Tancredi," therefore from
+Rossini, even the very composer whom our musical friends most looked
+down upon; how could he then guess who had created those tones which now
+spoke to his heart? His whole being he felt penetrated by a happiness, a
+love of life, the cause of which he knew not. He thought of Otto with a
+warmth which the latter's strange behavior did not deserve. All beloved
+beings floated so sweetly before his mind. This was one of those moments
+which all good people know; one feels one's self a member of the great
+chain of love which binds creation together.
+
+So long as the rose-bud remains folded together it seems to be without
+fragrance; yet only one morning is required, and the fine breath streams
+from the crimson mouth. It is only one moment; it is the commencement of
+a new existence, which already has lain long concealed in the bud: but
+one does not see the magic wand which works the change. This spiritual
+contrast, perhaps, took place in the past hour; perhaps the last evening
+rays which fell upon the leaves concealed this power! The roses of the
+garden must open; those of the heart follow the same laws. Was this
+love? Love is, as poets say, a pain; it resembles the disease of the
+mussel, through which pearls are formed. But Wilhelm was not sick; he
+felt himself particularly full of strength and enjoyment of life. The
+poet's simile of the mussel and the pearl sounds well, but it is false.
+Most poets are not very learned in natural history; and, therefore, they
+are guilty of many errors with regard to it. The pearl is formed on the
+mussel not through disease; when an enemy attacks her she sends forth
+drops in her defense, and these change into pearls. It is thus strength,
+and not weakness, which creates the beautiful. It would be unjust to
+call love a pain, a sickness; it is an energy of life which God has
+planted in the human breast; it fills our whole being like the fragrance
+which fills each leaf of the rose, and then reveals itself among the
+struggles of life as a pearl of worth.
+
+These were Wilhelm's thoughts; and yet it was not perfectly clear to him
+that he loved with his whole soul, as one can only love once.
+
+The following forenoon he paid a visit to Professor Weyse.
+
+"You are going to Roeskelde, are you not?" asked Wilhelm. "I have heard
+you so often play the organ here in Our Lady's church, I should very
+much like to hear you there, in the cathedral. If I were to make the
+journey, would you then play a voluntary for me?"
+
+"You will not come!" said the musician.
+
+"I shall come!" answered Wilhelm, and kept his word. Two days after this
+conversation he rolled through the streets of Roeskelde.
+
+"I am come for a wager! I shall hear Weyse play the organ!" said he to
+the host, although there was no need for an apology.
+
+Bulwer in his romance, "The Pilgrims of the Rhine," has with endless
+grace and tenderness called forth a fairy world. The little spirits
+float there as the breath of air floats around the material reality; one
+is forced to believe in their existence. With a genius powerful as that
+which inspired Bulwer, glorious as that which infused into Shakespeare
+the fragrance we find breathed over the "Midsummer-night's Dream," did
+Weyse's tones fill Wilhelm; the deep melodies of the organ in the
+old cathedral had indeed attracted him to the quiet little town! The
+powerful tones of the heart summoned him! Through them even every day
+things assumed a coloring, an expression of beauty, such as Byron shows
+us in words, Thorwaldsen in the hard stone, Correggio in colors.
+
+We have by Goethe a glorious poem, "Love a Landscape-painter." The poet
+sits upon a peak and gazes before him into the mist, which, like canvas
+spread upon the easel, conceals all heights and expanses; then comes
+the God of Love and teaches him how to paint a picture on the mist. The
+little one now sketches with his rosy fingers a picture such as only
+Nature and Goethe give us. Were the poet here, we could offer him no
+rock on which he might seat himself, but something, through legends and
+songs, equally beautiful. He would then sing,--I seated myself upon the
+mossy stone above the cairn; the mist resembled outstretched canvas. The
+God of Love commenced on this his sketch. High up he painted a glorious
+still, whose rays were dazzling! The edges of the clouds he made as of
+gold, and let the rays penetrate through them; then painted he the fine
+light boughs of fresh, fragrant trees; brought forth one hill after the
+other. Behind these, half-concealed, lay a little town, above which rose
+a mighty church; two tall towers with high spires rose into the air; and
+below the church, far out, where woods formed the horizon, drew he a
+bay so naturally! it seemed to play with the sunbeams as if the waves
+splashed up against the coast. Now appeared flowers; to the fields and
+meadows he gave the coloring of velvet and precious stones; and on the
+other side of the bay the dark woods melted away into a bluish mist. "I
+can paint!" said the little one; "but the most difficult still remains
+to do." And he drew with his delicate finger, just where the rays of the
+sun fell most glowingly, a maiden so gentle, so sweet, with dark
+blue eyes and cheeks as blooming as the rosy fingers which formed the
+picture. And see! a breeze arose; the leaves of the trees quivered;
+the expanse of water ruffled itself; the dress of the maiden was
+gently stirred; the maiden herself approached: the picture itself was a
+reality! And thus did the old royal city present itself before Wilhelm's
+eyes, the towers of the cathedral, she tay, the far woods, and--Eva!
+
+The first love of a pure heart is holy! This holiness may be indicated,
+but not described! We return to Otto.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+     "A man only gains importance by a poet's fancy, when his
+     genius vividly represents to our imagination a clearer, but
+     not an ennobled image of men and objects which have an
+     existence; then alone he understands how to idealize."--H.
+     HERTZ.
+
+We pass on several weeks. It was toward the end of September, the examen
+philosophicum was near. Preparations for this had been Otto's excuse for
+not yet having visited the family circle of his guardian, the merchant
+Berger. This was, however, brought about by Otto's finding one day, when
+he went to speak with his guardian, the mistress of the house in the
+same room. We know that there are five daughters in the house, and that
+only one is engaged, yet they are all well-educated girls--domestic
+girls, as their mother assured her friend upon more than one occasion.
+
+"So, then, I have at length the honor of making your acquaintance," said
+Mrs. Berger, "this visit, truly, is not intended either for me or the
+children, but still you must now drink a cup of coffee with us. Within
+it certainly looks rather disorderly; the girls are making cloaks for
+the winter. We will not put ourselves out of the way for you: you shall
+be regarded as a member of the family: but then you must come to us in a
+friendly way. Every Thursday our son-in-law dines with us, will you then
+be contented with our dinner? Now you shall become acquainted with my
+daughters."
+
+"And I must to my office," said the husband; "therefore let us consider
+Thursday as an appointment. We dine at three o'clock, and after coffee
+Laide gives us music."
+
+The lady now conducted Otto into the sitting-room, where he found the
+four daughters in full activity with a workwoman. The fifth daughter,
+Julle, was, as they had told him, gone to the shops for patterns:
+yesterday she had run all over the town, but the patterns she received
+were not good.
+
+The lady told him the name of each daughter; their characteristics he
+naturally learnt later.
+
+All the five sisters had the idea that they were so extremely different,
+and yet they resembled each other to a hair. Adelaide, or Laide, as she
+was also called, was certainly the prettiest; that she well knew also,
+therefore she would have a fur cape, and no cloak; her figure should be
+seen. Christiane was what one might call a practical girl; she knew how
+to make use of everything. Alvilde had always a little attack of the
+tooth-ache; Julle went shopping, and Miss Grethe was the bride. She was
+also musical, and was considered witty. Thus she said one evening when
+the house-door was closed, and groaned dreadfully on its hinges, "See
+now, we have port wine after dinner." [Translator's Note: A pun which it
+is impossible to translate. The Danish word Portviin according to sound,
+may mean either port wine or the creaking of a door.] The brother, the
+only son of the house, with whom we shall become better acquainted, had
+written down this conceit; "but that was only to be rude toward her,"
+said Miss Grethe. "Such good ideas as this I have every hour of the
+day!"
+
+We ought really to accuse these excellent girls of nothing foolish; they
+were very good and wise. The lover, Mr. Svane, was also a zealous wit;
+he was so lively, they said. Every one with whom he became a little
+familiar he called immediately Mr. Petersen, and that was so droll!
+
+"Now the father has invited Mr. Thostrup to come on Thursday!" said the
+lady. "I also think, if we were to squeeze ourselves a little together,
+he might find a place with us in the box; the room is, truly, very
+confined."
+
+Otto besought them not to incommode themselves.
+
+"O, it is a large box!" said the lady, but she did not say how many of
+them were already in it. Only eleven ladies went from the family itself.
+They were obliged to go to the theatre in three parties, so that
+people might not think; if they all went together, there was a mob.
+One evening, when the box had been occupied by eighteen persons, beside
+several twelve-year old children, who had sat in people's laps, or stood
+before them, and the whole party had returned home in one procession,
+and were standing before the house door to go in, people streamed
+together, imagining there was some alarm, or that some one had fallen
+into convulsions. "What is the matter?" they asked, and Miss Grethe
+immediately replied, "It is a select company!" [Translator's Note: A
+select or shut-out company. We regret that this pun, like the foregoing
+one, is untransferable into English.] Since that evening they returned
+home in separate divisions.
+
+"It is really a good box!" said Alvilde; "if we had only other
+neighbors! The doors are opening and shutting eternally, and make a
+draught which is not bearable for the teeth. And then they speak so
+loud! the other night I did not hear a single word of the pretty song
+about Denmark."
+
+"But did you lose much through that?" asked Otto, smiling, and soon they
+found themselves very much at variance, just as if they had been old
+acquaintances. "I do not think much of these patriotic scraps, where the
+poet, in his weakness, supports himself by this beautiful sentiment
+of patriotism in the people. You will certainly grant that here the
+multitude always applauds when it only hears the word 'Father-land,' or
+the name of 'Christian IV.' The poet must give something more; this is
+a left-handed kind of patriotism. One would really believe that Denmark
+were the only country in the world!"
+
+"Fie, Mr. Thostrup!" said the lady: "do you not then love your
+father-land?"
+
+"I believe I love it properly!" returned he: "and because it really
+possesses so much that is excellent do I desire that only what is
+genuine should be esteemed, only what is genuine be prized."
+
+"I agree in the main with Mr. Thostrup," said Miss Grethe, who was
+busied in unpicking and turning her cloak, in order, as she herself
+said, to spoil it on the other side. "I think he is right! If a poem is
+well spoken on the stage, it has always a kind of effect. It is just the
+same as with stuffs--they may be of a middling quality and may have an
+unfavorable pattern, but if they are worn by a pretty figure they look
+well after all!"
+
+"I am often vexed with the public!" said Otto. "It applauds at improper
+places, and sometimes exhibits an extraordinary innocence."
+
+"Those are 'the lords of the kingdom of mind,'" said Miss Grethe,
+smiling.
+
+   [Note: "We are the lords of the kingdom of mind!
+         We are the stem which can never decay!"
+         --Students' Song, by CHRISTIAN WINTHER.]
+
+"No, the _neighbors_!" replied Otto quickly.
+
+At this moment Miss Julle entered. She had been wandering from shop
+to shop, she said, until she could bear it no longer! She had had the
+stuffs down from all the shelves, and at length had succeeded so far
+as to become possessed of eight small pieces--beautiful patterns, she
+maintained. And now she knew very well where the different stuffs were
+to be had, how wide they were, and how much the yard. "And whom did I
+meet?" said she; "only think! down the middle of East Street came the
+actor--you know well! Our little passion! He is really charming off the
+stage."
+
+"Did you meet him?" said Laide. "That girl is always lucky!"
+
+"Mr. Thostrup," said the mother, presenting him, for the young lady
+seemed to forget him entirely, so much was she occupied with this
+encounter and her patterns.
+
+Julle bowed, and said she had seen him before: he had heard Mynster, and
+had stood near the chair where she sat; he was dressed in an olive-green
+coat.
+
+"Then you are acquainted with each other!" said the lady. "She is the
+most pious of all the children. When the others rave about Spindler and
+Johanne Schoppenhauer, she raves about the clergyman who confirmed her.
+You know my son? He became a student a year before you. He sees you in
+the club sometimes."
+
+"There you will have seen him more amiable than you will find him
+at home," said Adelaide. "Heaven knows he is not gallant toward his
+sisters!"
+
+"Sweet Laide, how can you say so!" cried the mother. "You are always so
+unjust toward Hans Peter! When you become better acquainted with him,
+Mr. Thostrup, you will like him; he is a really serious young man, of
+uncorrupted manners. Do you remember, Laide, how he hissed that evening
+in the theatre when they gave that immoral piece? And how angry he is
+with that 'Red Riding Hood?' O, the good youth! Besides, in our family,
+you will soon meet with an old acquaintance--in a fortnight a lady out
+of Jutland will come here. She remains the winter here. Do you not guess
+who it is? A little lady from Lemvig!"
+
+"Maren!" exclaimed Otto.
+
+"Yes, truly!" said the lady. "She is said to have such a beautiful
+voice!"
+
+"Yes, in Lemvig," remarked Adelaide. "And what a horrible name she has!
+We must christen her again, when she comes. She must be called Mara, or
+Massa."
+
+"We could call her Massa Carara!" said Grethe.
+
+"No; she shall be called Maja, as in the 'Every-day Tales,'" said
+Christiane.
+
+"I am of Jane's opinion!" said the mother. "We will christen her again,
+and call her Maja."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+     Men are not always what they seem.--LESSING.
+
+Our tale is no creation of fancy; it is the reality in which we live;
+bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh. Our own time and the men of
+our own age we shall see. But not alone will we occupy ourselves with
+every-day life, with the moss on the surface; the whole tree, from the
+roots to the fragrant leaves, will we observe. The heavy earth shall
+press the roots, the moss and bark of every-day life adhere to the
+stern, the strong boughs with flowers and leaves spread themselves out,
+whilst the sun of poetry shall shine among them, and show the colors,
+odor, and singing-birds. But the tree of reality cannot shoot up so soon
+as that of fancy, like the enchantment in Tieck's "Elves." We must seek
+our type in nature. Often may there be an appearance of cessation;
+but that is not the case. It is even so with our story; whilst
+our characters, by mutual discourse, make themselves worthy of
+contemplation, there arises, as with the individual branches of the
+tree, an unseen connection. The branch which shoots high up in the air,
+as though it would separate itself from the mother-stem, only presses
+forward to form the crown, to lend uniformity to the whole tree. The
+lines which diverge from the general centre are precisely those which
+produce the harmony.
+
+We shall, therefore, soon see, though these scenes out of every-day life
+are no digression from the principal events, nothing episodical which
+one may pass over. In order still sooner to arrive at a clear perception
+of this assertion, we will yet tarry a few moments in the house of Mr.
+Berger, the merchant; but in the mean time we have advanced three weeks.
+Wilhelm and Otto had happily passed their examen philosophicum. The
+latter had paid several visits, and was already regarded as an old
+friend of the family. The lover already addressed him with his droll
+"Good day, Mr. Petersen;" and Grethe was witty about his melancholy
+glance, which he was not always able to conquer. She called it "making
+faces," and besought him to appear so on the day of her funeral.
+
+The object of the five sisters' first Platonic love had been their
+brother. They had overwhelmed him with caresses and tenderness, had
+admired and worshipped him. "The dear little man!" they called him; they
+had no other. But Hans Peter was so impolite and teasing toward the dear
+sisters, that they were found to resign him so soon as one of them had
+a lover. Upon this lover they all clung. Each one seemed to have a piece
+of him. He was Grethe's bridegroom, would be their brother-in-law. They
+might address him with the confidential thou, and even give him a little
+kiss.
+
+Otto's appearance in the family caused these rays to change their
+direction. Otto was handsome, and possessed of fortune; either of which
+often suffices to bow a female heart. Beauty bribes the thoughtless;
+riches, the prudent.
+
+Maren, or as she was here called, Maja, had arrived. The young ladies
+had already pulled off some of her bows, arranged her hair differently,
+and made one of her silk handkerchiefs into an apron; but, spite of all
+this finesse, she still remained the lady from Lemvig. They could remove
+no bows from her pronunciation. She had been the first at home; here she
+could not take that rank. This evening she was to see in the theatre,
+for the first time, the ballet of the "Somnambule."
+
+"It is French!" said Hans Peter; "and frivolous, like everything that we
+have from them."
+
+"Yes, the scene in the second act, where she steps out of the window,"
+said the merchant; "that is very instructive for youth!"
+
+"But the last act is sweet!" cried the lady. "The second act is
+certainly, as Hans Peter very justly observed, somewhat French. Good
+heavens! he gets quite red, the sweet lad!" She extended her hand to
+him, and nodded, smiling, whereupon Hans Peter spoke very prettily
+about the immorality on the stage. The father also made some striking
+observation.
+
+"Yes," said the lady, "were all husbands like thee, and all young men
+like Hans Peter, they would speak in another tone on the stage, and
+dress in another manner. In dancing it is abominable; the dresses are so
+short and indecent, just as though they had nothing on! Yet, after all,
+we must say that the 'Somnambule' is beautiful. And, really, it is quite
+innocent!"
+
+They now entered still deeper into the moral: the conversation lasted
+till coffee came.
+
+Maren's heart beat even quicker, partly in expectation of the play,
+through hearing of the corruptions of this Copenhagen Sodom. She heard
+Otto defend this French piece; heard him speak of affectation. Was
+he then corrupted? How gladly would she have heard him discourse upon
+propriety, as Hans Peter had done. "Poor Otto!" thought she; "this
+is having no relations, but being forced to struggle on in the world
+alone."
+
+The merchant now rose. He could not go to the theatre. First, he had
+business to attend to; and then he must go to his club, where he had
+yesterday changed his hat.
+
+"Nay, then, it has happened to thee as to Hans Peter!" said the lady.
+"Yesterday, in the lecture-room, he also got a strange hat. But, there,
+thou hast his hat!" she suddenly exclaimed, as her eye fell upon the hat
+which her husband held in his hand. "That is Hans Peter's hat! Now, we
+shall certainly find that he has thine! You have exchanged them here at
+home. You do not know each other's hats, and therefore you fancy this
+occurred from home."
+
+One of the sisters now brought the hat which Hans Peter had got in
+mistake. Yes, it was certainly the father's. Thus an exchange in the
+house, a little intermezzo, which naturally, from its insignificance,
+was momentarily forgotten by all except the parties concerned, for to
+them it was an important moment in their lives; and to us also, as we
+shall see, an event of importance, which has occasioned us to linger
+thus long in this circle. In an adjoining room will we, unseen spirits,
+watch the father and son. They are alone; the family is already in the
+theatre. We may, indeed, watch them--they are true moralists. It is only
+a moral drawn from a hat.
+
+But the father's eyes rolled, his cheeks glowed, his words were
+sword-strokes, and must make an impression on any disposition as gentle
+as his son's; but the son stood quiet, with a firm look and with a
+smile on his lips, such as the moral bestows. "You were in the adjoining
+room!" said he. "Where it is proper for you to be there may I also
+come."
+
+"Boy!" cried the father, and named the place, but we know it not;
+neither know we its inhabitants. Victor Hugo includes them in his
+"Children's Prayer," in his beautiful poem, "La Priere pour Tous." The
+child prays for all, even "for those who sell the sweet name of love."
+
+     [Note: "Prie!... Pour les femmes echevelees Qui vendent
+      le doux nom d'amour!"]
+
+"Let us be silent with each other!" said the son. "I am acquainted with
+many histories. I know another of the pretty Eva!"--
+
+"Eva!" repeated the father.
+
+We will hear no more! It is not proper to listen. We see the father
+and son extend their hands. It appeared a scene of reconciliation. They
+parted: the father goes to his business, and Hans Peter to the
+theatre, to anger himself over the immorality in the second act of the
+"Somnambule."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+     "L'amour est pour les coeurs,
+     Ce que l'aurore est pour les fleurs,
+     Et le printemps pour la nature."--VIGUE.
+
+     "Love is a childish disease and like the small-pox. Some
+     die, some become deformed, others are more or less scarred,
+     while upon others the disease does not leave any visible
+     trace."--The Alchemist, by C. HAUCH.
+
+"Be candid, Otto!" said Wilhelm, as he one day visited his friend. "You
+cannot make up your mind to say thou to me; therefore let it be. We are,
+after all, good friends. It is only a form; although you must grant that
+in this respect you are really a great fool."
+
+Otto now explained what an extraordinary aversion he had felt, what a
+painful feeling had seized upon him, and made it impossible to him.
+
+"There you were playing the martyr!" said Wilhelm, laughing. "Could you
+not immediately tell me how you were constituted? So are most men. When
+they have no trouble, they generally hatch one themselves; they will
+rather stand in the cold shadow than in the warm sunshine, and yet the
+choice stands open to us. Dear friend, reflect; now we are both of us on
+the stream: we shall soon be put into the great business-bottles, where
+we shall, like little devils, stretch and strain ourselves without
+ever getting out, until life withdraws from us!" He laid his arm
+confidentially upon Otto's shoulder. "Often have I wished to speak with
+you upon one point! Yes, I do not desire that you should confess every
+word, every thought to me. I already know that I shall be able to prove
+to you that the thing lies in a region where it cannot have the power
+which you ascribe to it. In the cold zones a venomous bite does not
+operate as dangerously as in warmer ones; a sorrow in childhood cannot
+overpower us as it does in riper age. Whatever misfortune may have
+happened to you when a child, if in your wildness--you yourself say that
+you were wild--whatsoever you may have then done, it cannot, it ought
+not to influence your whole life: your understanding could tell you this
+better than I. At our age we find ourselves in the land of joy, or we
+never enter it!"
+
+"You are a happy man!" exclaimed Otto, and gazed sorrowfully before
+him. "Your childhood afforded you only joy and hope! Only think of the
+solitude in which mine was passed. Among the sand-hills of the west
+coast my days glided away: my grandfather was gloomy and passionate;
+our old preacher lived only in a past time which I knew not, and Rosalie
+regarded the world through the spectacles of sorrow. Such an environment
+might well cast a shadow upon my life-joy. Even in dress, one is
+strangely remarkable when one comes from afar province to the capital;
+first this receives another cut, and one gradually becomes like those
+around one. The same thing happens in a spiritual relation, but one's
+being and ideas one does not change so quickly as one's clothes. I have
+only been a short time among strangers, and who knows?" added he, with
+a melancholy smile, "perhaps I shall come into equilibrium when some
+really great misfortune happens to me and very much overpowers me,
+and then I may show the same carelessness, the same phlegm as the
+multitude."
+
+"A really great misfortune!" repeated Wilhelm. "You do, indeed, say
+something. That would be a very original means of cure, but you are an
+original being. Perhaps lay this means you might really be healed. 'Make
+no cable out of cobweb!' said a celebrated poet whose name does not
+occur to me at this moment. But the thought is good, you should have it
+embroidered upon your waistcoat, so that you might have it before your
+eyes when you droop your head. Do not look so grave; we are friends,
+are we not? Among all my young acquaintance you are the dearest to me,
+although there are moments when I know not how it stands with us. I
+could confide every secret to you, but I am not sure that you would be
+equally open with me. Do not be angry, my dear friend! There are secrets
+of so delicate a nature, that one may not confide them even to the
+dearest friend. So long as we preserve _our_ secret it is our prisoner;
+it is quite the contrary, however, so soon as we have let it escape us.
+And yet, Otto, you are so dear to me, that I believe in you as in my own
+heart. This, even now, bears a secret which penetrates me with joy and
+love of life! I must speak cut. But you must enter into my joy, partake
+in it, or say nothing about it; you have then heard nothing--nothing!
+Otto, I love! therefore am I happy, therefore is there sunshine in my
+heart, life joy in my veins! I love Eva, the beautiful lovely Eva!"
+
+Otto pressed his hand, but preserved silence.
+
+"No, not so!" cried Wilhelm. "Only speak a word! Do you I'm in a
+conception of the world which has opened before me?"
+
+"Eva is beautiful! very beautiful!" said Otto, slowly. "She is innocent
+and good. What can one wish for more? I can imagine how she fills your
+whole heart! But will she do so always? She will not always remain
+young, always lovely! Has she, then, mind sufficient to be everything
+to you? Will this momentary happiness which you prepare for her and
+yourself be great enough to outweigh--I will not say the sorrow, but the
+discontent which this union will bring forth in your family? For God's
+sake, think of everything!"
+
+"My dear fellow!" said Wilhelm, "your old preacher now really speaks
+out of you! But enough: I can bear the confession. I answer, 'Yes, yes!'
+with all my heart, 'yes!' Wherefore will you now bring me out of my
+sunshine into shade? Wherefore, in my joy over the beauty of the rose
+should I be reminded that the perfume and color will vanish, that the
+leaves will fall? It is the course of life! but must one, therefore,
+think of the grave, of the finale, when the act begins?"
+
+"Love is a kind of monomania," said Otto; "it may be combated: it
+depends merely upon our own will."
+
+"Ah, you know this not at all!" said Wilhelm. "But it will come in due
+time, and then you will be far more violent than others! Who knows?
+perhaps this is the sorrow of which you spoke, the misfortune which
+should bring your whole being into equipoise! That was also a kind of
+search after the sorrowful. I will sincerely wish that your heart may be
+filled with love as mine is; then will the influence of the sand-hills
+vanish, and you will speak with me as you ought to do, and as my
+confidence deserves!"
+
+"That will I!" replied Otto. "You make the poor girl miserable! Now you
+love Eva, but then you will no longer be able. The distance between
+you and her is too great, and I cannot conceive how the beauty of her
+countenance can thus fill your whole being. A waiting-girl! yes, I
+repeat the name which offends your ear: a waiting-girl! Everywhere
+will it be repeated. And you? No one can respect nobility less than I
+do--that nobility which is only conferred by birth; it is nothing, and a
+time will come when this will not be prized at all, when the nobility of
+the soul will be the only nobility. I openly say this to you, who are a
+nobleman yourself. The more development of mind, the more ancestors!
+But Eva has nothing, can have nothing, except a pretty face, and this
+is what has enchained you; you are become the servant of a servant, and
+that is degrading yourself and your nobility of mind!"
+
+"Mr. Thostrup!" exclaimed Wilhelm, "you wound me! This is truly not the
+first time, but now I am weary of it. I have shown too much good nature,
+and that is the most unfortunate failing a man can be cursed with!"
+
+He seated himself at the piano, and hammered away.
+
+Otto was silent a moment, his checks glowed, but he was soon again calm,
+and in a joking tone said: "Do not expend your anger upon that poor
+instrument because we disagree in our views. You are playing only
+dissonances, which offend my ear more than your anger!"
+
+"Dissonances!" repeated Wilhelm. "Cannot you hear that they are
+harmonies? There are many things for which you have a bad ear!"
+
+Otto knew how to lead his anger to different points regarding which
+they had formerly been at variance, but he spoke with such mildness that
+Wilhelm's anger rather abated than increased.
+
+They were again friends, but regarding Eva not one word more was said.
+
+"I should not be an honest and true friend to him, were I to let him
+be swallowed up by this whirlpool!" said Otto to himself, when he was
+alone. "At present he is innocent and good but at his age, with his gay
+disposition!--I must warn Eva! soon! soon! The snow which has once
+been trodden is no longer pure! Wilhelm will scarcely forgive me! But I
+must!"
+
+On the morrow it was impossible for him to travel to Roeskelde, but the
+following day he really would and must hasten thither.
+
+Still, in the early morning hour, Eva occupied his thoughts; she busied
+Wilhelm's also, but in a different way: but they agreed in the purity of
+their intentions. There was still a third, whose blood was put in motion
+at the mention of her name, who said: "The pretty Eva is a servant
+there! One must speak with her. The family can make an excursion there!"
+
+"You sweet children!" said the merchant's wife, "the autumn is charming,
+far pleasanter than the whole summer! The father, should the weather
+remain good, will make an excursion with us to Lethraborg the day after
+to-morrow. We will then walk in the beautiful valley of the Hertha, and
+pass the night at Roeskelde. Those will be two delightful days! What an
+excellent father you have! But shall we not invite Mr. Thostrup to go
+with us? We are so many ladies, and it looks well to have a few young
+gentlemen with us. Grethe, thou must write an invitation; thou canst
+write thy father's name underneath."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+     "These poetical letters are so similar to those of Baggesen,
+     that we could be almost tempted to consider the news of his
+     death as false, although so well affirmed that we must
+     acknowledge it."--Monthly Journal of Literature.
+
+     "She is as slender as the poplar-willow, as fleet as the
+     hastening waters. A Mayflower odorous and sweet."--H. P.
+     HOLST.
+
+     "Ah, where is the rose?"--Lulu, by GUNTELBURG.
+
+The evening before Otto was to travel with the merchant's family to
+Roeskelde he called upon the family where Miss Sophie was staying. Her
+dear mamma had left three days before. Wilhelm had wished to accompany
+him to Roeskelde, but the mother did not desire it.
+
+"We have had a pleasure to-day," said Sophie, "a pleasure from which we
+shall long have enjoyment. Have you seen the new book, the 'Letters of
+a Wandering Ghost?' It is Baggesen himself in his most perfect beauty,
+a music which I never believed could have been given in words. This is
+a poet! He has made July days in the poetry of Denmark. Natural thoughts
+are so strikingly, and yet so simply expressed; one has the idea that
+one could write such verses one's self, they fall so lightly."
+
+"They are like prose," said the lady, "and yet the most beautifully
+perfect verse I know. You must read the book, Mr. Thostrup!"
+
+"Perhaps you will read to us this evening?" said Sophie. "I should very
+much like to hear it again."
+
+"In a second reading one shall enter better into the individual
+beauties," said the lady of the house.
+
+"I will remain and listen," said the host.
+
+"This must be a masterpiece!" exclaimed Otto,"--a true masterpiece,
+since all are so delighted with it."
+
+"It is Baggesen himself; and truly as he must sing in that world where
+everything mortal is ennobled."
+
+      "'Meadows all fragrance, the strongholds of pleasure,
+        Heaven blue streamlets,
+
+That speed through the green woods in musical measure,'" began Otto, and
+the spiritual battle-piece with beauty and tone developed itself more
+and more; they found themselves in the midst of the winter camp of the
+Muses, where the poet with
+
+     ..."lyre on his shoulder and sword at....
+
+Hastened to fight with the foes of the Muses." Otto's gloomy look won
+during the perusal a more animated expression. "Excellent!" exclaimed
+he; "this is what I myself have thought and felt, but, alas! have been
+unable to express."
+
+"I am a strange girl," said Sophie; "whenever I read a new poet of
+distinguished talent, I consider that he is the greatest. It was so with
+Byron and Victor Hugo. 'Cain' overwhelmed me, 'Notre Dame' carried me
+away with it. Once I could imagine no greater poet than Walter Scott,
+and yet I forget him over Oehlenschlaeger; yes, I remember a time when
+Heiberg's vaudevilles took almost the first place among my chosen
+favorites. Thus I know myself and my changeable disposition, and yet
+I firmly believe that I shall make an exception with this work. Other
+poets showed me the objects of the outer world, this one shows me my own
+mind: my own thoughts, my own being he presents before me, and therefore
+I shall always take the same interest in the Ghost's Letters."
+
+"They are true food for the mind," said Otto; "they are as words in
+season; there must be movement in the lake, otherwise it will become a
+bog."
+
+"The author is severe toward those whom he has introduced," said the
+lady; "but he carries, so to say, a sweet knife. A wound from a sharp
+sword-blade is not so painful as that from a rusty, notched knife."
+
+"But who may the author be?" said Sophie.
+
+"May we never learn!" replied Otto. "Uncertainty gives the book
+something piquant. In such a small country as ours it is good for the
+author to be unknown. Here we almost tread upon each other, and look
+into each other's garments. Here the personal conditions of the author
+have much to do with success; and then there are the newspapers, where
+either friend or enemy has an assistant, whereas the being anonymous
+gives it the patent of nobility. It is well never to know an author.
+What does his person matter to us, if his book is only good?
+
+"'Crush and confound the rabble dissolute That desecrate thy poet's
+grave?'" read Otto, and the musical poem was at an end. All were
+enchanted with it. Otto alone made some small objections: "The Muses
+ought not to come with 'trumpets and drums,' and so many expressions
+similar to 'give a blow on the chaps,' etc., ought not to appear."
+
+"But if the poet will attack what is coarse," said Sophie, "he must
+call things by their proper names. He presents us with a specimen of the
+prosaic filth, but in a soap-bubble. We may see it, but not seize upon
+it. I consider that you are wrong!"
+
+"The conception of idea and form," said Otto, "does not seem to be
+sufficiently presented to one; both dissolve into one. Even prose is a
+form."
+
+"But the form itself is the most important," said the lady of the house;
+"with poetry as with sculpture, it is the form which gives the meaning."
+
+"No, pardon me!" said Otto; "poetry is like the tree which God allows
+to grow. The inward power expresses itself in the form; both are equally
+important, but I consider the internal as the most holy. This is here
+the poet's thought. The opinion which he expresses affects us as much as
+the beautiful dress in which he has presented it."
+
+Now commenced a contest upon form and material, such as was afterward
+maintained throughout the whole of Copenhagen.
+
+"I shall always admire the 'Letters of a Wandering Ghost,'" said
+Sophie,--"always rave about these poems. To-night I shall dream of
+nothing but this work of art."
+
+How little men can do that which they desire, did this very moment
+teach.
+
+When we regard the fixed star through a telescope and lose ourselves
+in contemplation, a little hair can conceal the mighty body, a grain of
+dust lead us from these sublime thoughts. A letter came for Miss Sophie;
+a traveller brought it from her mother: she was already in Funen, and
+announced her safe arrival.
+
+"And the news?" said the hostess.
+
+"Mamma has hired a new maid, or, rather, she has taken to be with her
+an amiable young girl--the pretty Eva in Roeskelde. Mr. Thostrup and
+Wilhelm related to us this summer several things about her which make
+her interesting. We saw her on our journey hither, when mamma was
+prepossessed by her well-bred appearance. Upon her return, the young
+girl has quite won her heart. It really were a pity if such a pretty,
+respectable girl remained in a public-house. She is very pretty; is she
+not, Mr. Thostrup?"
+
+"Very pretty!" answered Otto, becoming crimson, for Sophie said this
+with an emphasis which was not without meaning.
+
+The following day, at an early hour, Otto found himself at the
+merchant's.
+
+Spite of the changeable weather of our climate, all the ladies were in
+their best dresses. Three persons must sit upon each seat. Hans Peter
+and the lover had their place beside the coachman. It was a long time
+before the cold meat, the provision for several days, was packed up, and
+the whole company were seated. At length, when they had got out of the
+city, Christiane recollected that they had forgotten the umbrellas, and
+that, after all, it would be good to have them. The coachman must go
+back for them, and meantime the carriage drew up before the Column of
+Liberty. The poor sentinel must now become an object of Miss Grethe's
+interest. Several times the soldier glanced down upon his regimentals.
+He was a Kraehwinkler, who had an eye to his own advantage. A man who
+rode past upon a load of straw occupied a high position. That was very
+interesting.
+
+Otto endeavored to give the conversation another direction. "Have
+not you seen the new poem which has just appeared, the 'Letters of a
+Wandering Ghost?'" asked he, and sketched out their beauty and tendency.
+
+"Doubtless, very heavy blows are dealt!" said Mr. Berger, "the man must
+be witty--Baggesen to the very letter."
+
+"The 'Copenhagen Post' is called the pump!" said Hans Peter.
+
+"That is superb!" cried Grethe. "Who does it attack besides?"
+
+"Folks in Soroe, and this 'Holy Andersen,' as they call him."
+
+"Does he get something?" said Laide. "That I will grant him for his milk
+and water. He was so impolite toward the ladies!"
+
+"I like them to quarrel in this way!" said the merchant's lady. "Heiberg
+will doubtless get his share also, and then he will reply in something
+merry."
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Berger, "he always knows how to twist things in such a
+manner that one must laugh, and then it is all one to us whether he is
+right or not."
+
+"This book is entirely for Heiberg," said Otto. "The author is
+anonymous, and a clever man."
+
+"Good Heavens! you are not the author, Mr. Thostrup?" cried Julle, and
+looked at him with a penetrating gaze. "You can manage such things
+so secretly! You think so highly of Heiberg: I remember well all the
+beautiful things you said of his 'Walter the Potter' and his 'Psyche.'"
+
+Otto assured her that he could not confess to this honor.
+
+They reached Roeskelde in the forenoon, but Eva did not receive them.
+The excursion to Lethraborg was arranged; toward evening they should
+again return to the inn, and then Eva would certainly appear.
+
+The company walked in the garden at Lethraborg: the prospect from the
+terrace was beautiful; they looked through the windows of the castle,
+and at length came to the conclusion that it would be best to go in.
+
+"There are such beautiful paintings, people say!" remarked the lover.
+
+"We must see them," cried all the ladies.
+
+"Do you often visit the picture-gallery of the Christiansborg?" inquired
+Otto.
+
+"I cannot say that we do!" returned Mrs. Berger. "You well know that
+what is near one seldom sees, unless one makes a downright earnest
+attempt, and that we have not yet done. Besides, not many people go up:
+that wandering about the great halls is so wearying."
+
+"There are splendid pieces by Ruysdal!" said Otto.
+
+"Salvator Rosa's glorious 'Jonas' is well worth looking at!"
+
+"Yes, we really must go at once, whilst our little Maja is here. It does
+not cost more than the Exhibition, and we were there three times last
+year. The view from the castle windows toward the canal, as well as
+toward the ramparts, is so beautiful, they say."
+
+The company now viewed the interior of Lethraborg, and then wandered
+through the garden and in the wood. The trees had their autumnal
+coloring, but the whole presented a variety of tints far richer than one
+finds in summer. The dark fir-trees, the yellow beeches and oaks, whose
+outermost branches had sent forth light green shoots, presented a most
+picturesque effect, and formed a splendid foreground to the view over
+old Leire, the royal city, now a small village, and across the bay to
+the splendid cathedral.
+
+"That resembles a scene in a theatre!" cried Mrs. Berger, and
+immediately the company were deep in dramatic affairs.
+
+"Such a decoration they should have in the royal theatre!" said Hans
+Peter.
+
+"Yes, they should have many such!" said Grethe. "They should have some
+other pieces than those they have. I know not how it is with our poets;
+they have no inventive power. Relate the droll idea which thou hadst
+the other day for a new piece!" said she to her lover, and stroked his
+cheeks.
+
+"O," said he, and affected a kind of indifference, "that was only an
+idea such as one has very often. But it might become a very nice piece.
+When the curtain is drawn up, one should see close upon the lamps the
+gable-ends of two houses. The steep roofs must go down to the stage, so
+that it is only half a yard wide, and this is to represent a watercourse
+between the two houses. In each garret a poor but interesting family
+should dwell, and these should step forth into the watercourse, and
+there the whole piece should be played."
+
+"But what should then happen?" asked Otto.
+
+"Yes," said the lover, "I have not thought about that; but see, there is
+the idea! I am no poet, and have too much to do at the counting-house,
+otherwise one might write a little piece."
+
+"Heavens! Heiberg ought to have the idea!" said Grethe.
+
+"No, then it would be a vaudeville," said the lover, "and I cannot bear
+them."
+
+"O, it might be made charming!" cried Grethe. "I see the whole piece!
+how they clamber about the roofs! The idea is original, thou sweet
+friend!"
+
+By evening the family were again in Roeskelde.
+
+The merchant sought for Eva. Otto inquired after her, so did Hans Peter
+also, and all three received the same answer.
+
+"She is no longer here."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+     "I wish I was air, that I could beat my wings, could chase
+     the clouds, and try to fly over the mountain summits: that
+     would be life."--F. RUeCKERT.
+
+The first evening after Otto's return to Copenhagen he spent with
+Sophie, and the conversation turned upon his little journey. "The pretty
+Eva has vanished!" said he.
+
+"You had rejoiced in the prospect of this meeting, had you not?" asked
+Sophie.
+
+"No, not in the least!" answered Otto.
+
+"And you wish to make me believe that? She is really pretty, and has
+something so unspeakably refined, that a young gentleman might well
+be attracted by her. With my brother it is not all quite right in this
+respect; but, candidly speaking, I am in great fear on your account, Mr.
+Thostrup. Still waters--you know the proverb? I might have spared you
+the trouble. The letter which I received a few evenings ago informed me
+of her departure. Mamma has taken her with her. It seemed to her a
+sin to leave that sweet, innocent girl in a public-house. The host and
+hostess were born upon our estate, and look very much up to my mother;
+and as Eva will certainly gain by the change, the whole affair was soon
+settled. It is well that she is come under mamma's oversight."
+
+"The girl is almost indifferent to me!" said Otto.
+
+"Almost!" repeated Sophie. "But this almost, how many degrees of warmth
+does it contain? 'O Verite! Ou sont les autels et tes pretres?'" added
+she, and smiling raised her finger.
+
+"Time will show how much you are in error!" answered Otto with much
+calmness.
+
+The lady of the house now entered, she had made various calls;
+everywhere the Ghost's Letters were the subject of conversation, and now
+the conversation took the same direction.
+
+It was often renewed. Otto was a very frequent guest at the house. The
+ladies sat at their embroidery frames and embroidered splendid pieces
+of work, and Otto must again read the "Letters of the Wandering Ghost;"
+after this they began "Calderon," in whom Sophie found something
+resembling the anonymous author. The world of poetry afforded subjects
+for discourse, and every-day life intermingled its light, gay scenes; if
+Wilhelm joined them, he must give them music, and all remarked that his
+fantasies were become far richer, far softer. He had gained his touch
+from Weyse, said they. No one thought how much one may learn from one's
+own heart. With this exception he was the same joyous youth as ever. No
+one thought of him and Eva together. Since that evening when the friends
+had almost quarreled, he had never mentioned her name; but Otto had
+remarked how when any female figure met them, Wilhelm's eyes flashed,
+and how, in society, he singled out the most beautiful. Otto said
+jokingly to him, that he was getting oriental thoughts. Oehlenschlaeger's
+"Helge," and Goethe's Italian sonnets were now Wilhelm's favorite
+reading. The voluptuous spirit of these poems agreed with the dreams
+which his warm feelings engendered. It was Eva's beauty--her beauty
+alone which had awoke this feeling in him; the modesty and poverty of
+the poor girl had captivated him still more, and caused him to forget
+rank and condition. At the moment when he would approach her, she was
+gone. The poison was now in his blood. If is gay and happy spirit did
+not meanwhile let him sink into melancholy and meditation; his feeling
+for beauty was excited, as he himself expressed it. In thought he
+pressed beauty to his heart, but only in thought--but even this is sin,
+says the Gospel.
+
+Otto, on the contrary, moved in the lists of philosophy and poetry. Here
+his soul conceived beauty--inspired, he expressed it; and Sophie's
+eyes flashed, and rested with pleasure on him. This flattered him and
+increased his inspirations. For many years no winter had been to him so
+pleasant, had passed away so rich in change as this; he caught at the
+fluttering joy and yet there were moments when the though pressed upon
+him--"Life is hastening away, and I do not enjoy it." In the midst
+of his greatest happiness he experienced a strange yearning after the
+changing life of travel. Paris glanced before his eyes like a star of
+fortune.
+
+"Out into the bustling world!" said he so often to Wilhelm, that the
+same thought was excited in him. "In the spring we will travel!" Now
+were plans formed; circumstances were favorable. Thus in the coming
+spring, in April, the still happier days should begin.
+
+"We will fly to Paris!" said Wilhelm; "to joy and pleasure!"
+
+Joy and pleasure were to be found at home, and were found: we will
+introduce the evening which brought them; perhaps we shall also find
+something more than joy and pleasure.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+     "A midsummer day's entertainment--but how? In February? Yea,
+     some here and behold it!"--DR. BALFUNGO.
+
+With us the students form no Burschenschafts, have no colors. The
+professors do not alone in the chair come into connection with them;
+the only difference is that which exists between young and old scholars.
+Thus they come in contact with each other, thus they participate in
+their mutual pleasures. We will spend an evening of this kind in the
+Students' Club, and then see for ourselves whether Miss Sophie were
+right when she wished she were a man, merely that she might be a student
+and member of this club. We choose one evening in particular, not only
+that we may seek a brilliant moment, but because this evening can afford
+us more than a description.
+
+An excursion to the park had often been discussed in the club. They
+wished to hire the Caledonia steam-packet. But during the summer months
+the number of members is less; the majority are gone to the provinces to
+visit their relations. Winter, on the contrary, assembles them all.
+This time, also, is the best for great undertakings. The long talked of
+excursion to the park was therefore fixed for Carnival Monday, the 14th
+of February, 1831. Thus ran the invitations to the professors and older
+members. "It will be too cold for me," replied one. "Must one take a
+carriage for one's self?" asked mother. No, the park was removed to
+Copenhagen. In the Students' Club itself, in the Boldhuus Street, No.
+225, was the park-hill with its green trees, its swings, and amusements.
+See, only the scholars of the Black School could have such ideas!
+
+The evening of the 114th of February drew near. The guests assembled in
+the rooms on the first floor. Meanwhile all was arranged in the second
+story. Those who represented jugglers were in their places. A thundering
+cracker was the steamboat signal, and now people hastened to the park,
+rushing up-stairs, where two large rooms had, with great taste and
+humor, been converted into the park-hill. Large fir-trees concealed the
+walls--you found yourself in a complete wood. The doors which connected
+the two rooms were decorated with sheets, so that it looked as if
+you were going through a tent. Hand-organs played, drums and trumpets
+roared, and from tents and stages the hawkers shouted one against the
+other. It was a noise such as is heard in the real park when the hubbub
+has reached its height. The most brilliant requisites of the real
+park were found here, and they were not imitated; they were the things
+themselves. Master Jakel's own puppets had been hired; a student,
+distinguished by his complete imitation of the first actors, represented
+them by the puppets. The fortress of Frederiksteen was the same which we
+have already seen in the park. "The whole cavalry and infantry,--here a
+fellow without a bayonet, there a bayonet without a fellow!" The old Jew
+sat under his tree where he announced his fiftieth park jubilee: here
+a student ate flax, there another exhibited a bear; Polignac stood as a
+wax figure outside a cabinet. The Magdalene convent exhibited its little
+boxes, the drum-major beat most lustily, and from a near booth came the
+real odor of warm wafer-cakes. The spring even, which presented itself
+in the outer room, was full of significance. Certainly it was only
+represented by a tea-urn concealed between moss and stones, but
+the water was real water, brought from the well in Christiansborg.
+Astounding and full of effect was the multitude of sweet young girls
+who showed themselves. Many of the youngest students who had feminine
+features were dressed as ladies; some of them might even be called
+pretty. Who that then saw the fair one with the tambourine can have
+forgotten her? The company crowded round the ladies. The professors paid
+court to them with all propriety, and, what was best of all, some ladies
+who were less successful became jealous of the others. Otto was much
+excited; the noise, the bustle, the variety of people, were almost
+strikingly given. Then came the master of the fire-engines, with his
+wife and little granddaughter; then three pretty peasant girls; then the
+whole Botanical Society, with their real professor at their head. Otto
+seated himself in a swing; an itinerant flute-player and a drummer
+deafened him with dissonances. A young lady, one of the beauties, in a
+white dress, and with a thin handkerchief over her shoulders, approached
+and threw herself into his arms. It was Wilhelm! but Otto found his
+likeness to Sophie stronger than he had ever before noticed it to be;
+and therefore the blood rushed to his cheeks when the fair one threw
+her arms around him, and laid her cheek upon his: he perceived more of
+Sophie than of Wilhelm in this form. Certainly Wilhelm's features were
+coarser--his whole figure larger than Sophie's; but still Otto fancied
+he saw Sophie, and therefore these marked gestures, this reeling about
+with the other students, offended his eyes. When Wilhelm seated himself
+on his knee, and pressed his cheek to his, Otto felt his heart beat
+as in fever; it sent a stream of fire through his blood: he thrust him
+away, but the fair one continued to overwhelm him with caresses.
+
+There now commenced, in a so-called Kraehwinkel theatre, the comedy, in
+which were given the then popular witticisms of Kellerman.
+
+The lady clung fast to Otto, and flew dancing with him through the
+crowd. The heat, the noise, and, above all, the exaggerated lacing,
+affected Wilhelm; he felt unwell. Otto led him to a bench and would
+have unfastened his dress, but all the young ladies, true to their part,
+sprang forward, pushed Otto aside, surrounded their sick companion and
+concealed her, whilst they tore up the dress behind so that she might
+have air: but, God forbid! no gentleman might see it.
+
+Toward evening a song was commenced, a shot was heard, and the last
+verse announced:--
+
+     "The gun has been fired, the vessel must fly
+       To the town from the green wood shady.
+     Come, friends, now we to the table will hie,
+       A gentleman and a fair lady."
+
+And now all rushed with the speed of a steamboat downstairs, and soon
+sat in gay rows around the covered tables.
+
+Wilhelm was Otto's lady--the Baron was called the Baroness; the glasses
+resounded, and the song commenced:--
+
+     "These will drink our good king's health,
+       Will drink it here, his loyal students."
+
+And that patriotic song:--
+
+     "I know a land up in the North
+       Where it is good to be."
+
+It concluded with--
+
+                        "An hurrah
+     For the king and the rescript!"
+
+In joy one must embrace everything joyful, and that they did. Here was
+the joy of youth in youthful hearts.
+
+     "No condition's like the student's;
+       He has chosen the better way!"
+
+so ran the concluding verse of the following song, which ended with the
+toast,--
+
+     "For her of whom the heart dreams ever,
+       But whom the lips must never name!"
+
+It was then that Wilhelm seemed to glow with inward fire; he struck his
+glass so violently against Otto's that it broke, and the wine was spilt.
+
+"A health to the ladies!" cried one of the signors.
+
+"A health to the ladies!" resounded from the different rooms, which were
+all converted into the banquet-hall.
+
+The ladies rose, stood upon their chairs, some even upon the table,
+bowed, and returned thanks for the toast.
+
+"No, no," whispered Otto to Wilhelm, at the same time pulling him
+down. "In this dress you resemble your sister so much, that it is quite
+horrible to me to see you act a part so opposed to her character!"
+
+"And your eyes," Said Wilhelm, smiling, "resemble two eyes which have
+touched my heart. A health to first love!" cried he, and struck his
+glass against Otto's so that the half of his wine was again lost.
+
+The champagne foamed, and amidst noise and laughter, as during the
+carnival joy, a new song refreshed the image of the nark which they had
+just left:--     "Here if green trees were not growing
+       Fresh as on yon little hill,
+     Heard we not the fountains flowing,
+       We in sooth should see them still!
+     Tents were filled below, above,
+     Filled with everything but love!
+
+     ***
+
+     Here went gratis brushing-boys--     Graduated have they all!
+     Here stood, who would think it, sir?
+     A student as a trumpeter!"
+
+"A health to the one whose eyes mine resemble!" whispered Otto, carried
+along with the merriment.
+
+"That health we have already drunk!" answered Wilhelm, "but we cannot do
+a good thing too often."
+
+"Then you still think of Eva?"
+
+"She was beautiful! sweet! who knows what might have happened had she
+remained here? Her fate has fallen into mamma's hands, and she and the
+other exalted Nemesis must now conduct the affair: I wash my hands of
+it."
+
+"Are you recovered?" asked Otto. "But when you see Eva again in the
+summer?"
+
+"I hope that I shall not fall sick," replied Wilhelm; "I have a strong
+constitution. But we must now hasten up to the dance."
+
+All rushed from the tables, and up-stairs, where the park was arranged.
+There was now only the green wood to be seen. Theatres and booths had
+been removed. Gay paper-lamps hung among the branches, a large orchestra
+played, and a half-bacchanalian wood-ball commenced. Wilhelm was Otto's
+partner, but after the first dance the lady sought out for herself a
+more lively cavalier.
+
+Otto drew back toward the wall where the windows were concealed by the
+boughs of Fir-tree. His eye followed Wilhelm, whose great resemblance
+to Sophie made him melancholy; his hand accidentally glided through the
+branches and touched the window-seat; there lay a little bird--it was
+dead!
+
+To increase the illusion they had bought a number of birds, which should
+fly about during the park-scene, but the poor little creatures had died
+from fright at the wild uproar. In the windows and corners they lay
+dead. It was one of these birds that Otto found.
+
+"It is dead!" said he to Wilhelm, who approached him.
+
+"Now, that is capital!" returned the friend; "here you have something
+over which you may be sentimental!"
+
+Otto would not reply.
+
+"Shall we dance a Scotch waltz?" asked Wilhelm laughing, and the wine
+and his youthful blood glowed in his cheeks.
+
+"I wish you would put on your own dress!" said Otto. "You resemble, as I
+said before, your sister"--
+
+"And I am my sister," interrupted Wilhelm, in his wantonness. "And as
+a reward for your charming readings aloud, for your excellent
+conversation, and the whole of your piquant amiability, you shall now be
+paid with a little kiss!" He pressed his lips to Otto's forehead; Otto
+thrust him back and left the company.
+
+Several hours passed before he could sleep; at length he was forced to
+laugh over his anger: what mattered it if Wilhelm resembled his sister?
+
+The following morning Otto paid her a visit. All listened with lively
+interest to his description of the merry St. John's day in February.
+He also related how much Wilhelm had resembled his sister, and how
+unpleasant this had been to him; and they laughed. During the relation,
+however, Otto could not forbear drawing a comparison. How great a
+difference did he now find! Sophie's beauty was of quite another kind!
+Never before had he regarded her in this light. Of the kisses which
+Wilhelm had given him, of course, they did not speak; but Otto thought
+of them, thought of them quite differently to what he had done before,
+and--the ways of Cupid are strange! We will now see how affairs stand
+after advancing fourteen days.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+   "Huzza for Copenhagen and for Paris! may they both flourish!"
+                                    The Danes in Paris by HEIBERG.
+
+Wilhelm's cousin, Joachim, had arrived from Paris. We remember the young
+officer, out of whose letters Wilhelm had sent Otto a description of
+the struggle of the July days. As an inspired hero of liberty had he
+returned; struggling Poland had excited his lively interest, and he
+would willingly have combated in Warsaw's ranks. His mind and his
+eloquence made him doubly interesting. The combat of the July days,
+of which he had been an eye-witness, he described to them. Joachim was
+handsome; he had an elegant countenance with sharp features, and was
+certainly rather pale--one might perhaps have called him worn with
+dissipation, had it not been for the brightness of his eyes, which
+increased in conversation. The fine dark eyebrow, and even the little
+mustache, gave the countenance all expression which reminded one of fine
+English steel-engravings. His figure was small, almost slender, but the
+proportions were beautiful. The animation of the Frenchman expressed
+itself in every motion, but at the same time there was in him a certain
+determination which seemed to say: "I am aware of my own intellectual
+superiority!"
+
+He interested every one: Otto also listened with pleasure when Cousin
+Joachim related his experiences, but when all eyes were turned toward
+the narrator, Otto fixed his suddenly upon Sophie, and found that she
+could moderate his attentions. Joachim addressed his discourse to all,
+but at the points of interest his glance rested alone on the pretty
+cousin! "She interests him!" said Otto to himself. "And Cousin Joachim?"
+Yes, he relates well; but had we only traveled we should not be inferior
+to him!"
+
+"Charles X. was a Jesuit!" said Joachim; "he strove after an
+unrestrained despotism, and laid violent hands on the Charter. The
+expedition against Algiers was only a glittering fire-work arranged to
+flatter the national pride--all glitter and falseness! Like Peirronnet,
+through an embrace he would annihilate the Charter."
+
+The conversation now turned from the Jesuits to the Charter and
+Polignac. The minute particulars, which only an eyewitness can relate,
+brought the struggle livingly before their eyes. They saw the last
+night, the extraordinary activity in the squares where the balls
+were showered, and in the streets where the barricades were erected.
+Overturned wagons and carts, barrels and stones, were heaped upon each
+other--even the hundred year-old trees of the Boulevards were cut
+down to form barricades: the struggle began, Frenchman fought against
+Frenchman--for liberty and country they sacrificed their life.
+
+      [Note:
+     "Ceux qui pieusement sont morts pour la patrie
+     Ont droit qu'a leur cerceuil la foule vienne et prie:
+     Entre le plus beaux noms, leur nom est le plus beau.
+     Toute gloire, pres d'eux, passe et tombe ephemere
+     Et, comme ferait une mere,
+     La voix d'un peuple entier les berce en leur tombeau!"
+     --VICTOR HUGO.]
+
+And he described the victory and Louis Philippe, whom he admired and
+loved.
+
+"That was a world event," said the man of business. "It electrified
+both king and people. They still feel the movement. Last year was an
+extraordinary year!"
+
+"For the Copenhageners also," said Otto, "there were three colors. These
+things occupied the multitude with equal interest: the July Revolution,
+the 'Letters of a Wandering Ghost,' and Kellermann's 'Berlin Wit.'"
+
+"Now you are bitter, Mr. Thostrup," said the lady of the house.
+"The really educated did not occupy themselves with these Berlin
+'Eckensteher' which the multitude have rendered national!"
+
+"But they hit the right mark!" said Otto; "they met with a reception
+from the citizens and people in office."
+
+"That I can easily believe," remarked Joachim; "that is like the people
+here!"
+
+"That is like the people abroad!" said the hostess. "In Paris they pass
+over still more easily from a revolution, in which they themselves have
+taken part, to a review by Jules Janin, or to a new step of Taglioni's,
+and from that to 'une histoire scandaleuse!'"
+
+"No, my gracious lady, of the last no one takes any notice--it belongs
+to the order of the day!"
+
+"That I can easily believe!" said Miss Sophie.
+
+The man of business now inquired after the Chamber. The cousin's answer
+was quite satisfactory. The lady of the house wished to hear of the
+flower-markets, and of the sweet little inclosed gardens in the Places.
+Sophie wished to hear of Victor Hugo. She received a description of him,
+of his abode in the Place Royale, and of the whole Europe litteraire
+beside. Cousin Joachim was extremely interesting.
+
+Otto did not pay another visit for two days.
+
+"Where have you been for so long?" asked Sophie, when he came again.
+
+"With my books!" replied he: there lay a gloomy expression in his eyes.
+
+"O, you should have come half an hour earlier--our cousin was here!
+He was describing to me the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. O, quite
+excellently!"
+
+"He is an interesting young man!" said Otto.
+
+"The glorious garden!" pursued Sophie, without remarking the emphasis
+with which Otto had replied. "Do you not remember, Mr. Thostrup, how
+Barthelemi has spoken of it? 'Ou tout homme, qui reve a son pays absent,
+Retrouve ses parfums et son air caressant.' In it there is a whole
+avenue with cages, in which are wild beasts,--lions and tigers! In small
+court-yards, elephants and buffaloes wander about at liberty! Giraffes
+nibble the branches of high trees! In the middle of the garden are the
+courts for bears, only there is a sort of well in which the bears
+walk about; it is surrounded by no palisades, and you stand upon the
+precipitous edge! There our cousin stood!"
+
+"But he did not precipitate himself down!" said Otto, with indifference.
+
+"What is the matter?" asked Sophie. "Are you in your elegiac mood? You
+look as I imagine Victor Hugo when he has not made up his mind about the
+management of his tragic catastrophe!"
+
+"That is my innate singularity!" replied Otto. "I should have pleasure
+in springing down among the bears of which you relate!"
+
+"And in dying?" asked Sophie. "No, you must live. 'C'est le bonheur de
+vivre Qui fait la gloire de mourir.'"
+
+"You speak a deal of French to-day," said Otto, with a friendliness
+of manner intended to soften the bitterness of the tone. "Perhaps your
+conversation with the lieutenant was in that language?"
+
+"French interests me the most!" replied she. "I will ask our cousin to
+speak it often with me. His accent is excellent, and he is himself a
+very interesting man!"
+
+"No doubt of it!" answered Otto.
+
+"You will remain and dine with us?" said the lady of the house, who now
+entered.
+
+Otto did not feel well.
+
+"These are only whims," said Sophie.
+
+The ladies made merry, and Otto remained. Cousin Joachim came and was
+interesting--very interesting, said all. He related of Paris, spoke also
+of Copenhagen, and drew comparisons. The quietness of home had made an
+especial impression on him.
+
+"People here," said he, "go about as if they bore some heavy grief, or
+some joy, which they might not express. If one goes into a coffee-house,
+it is just as if one entered a house of mourning. Each one seats
+himself, a newspaper in his hand, in a corner. That strikes one when one
+comes from Paris! One naturally has the thought,--Can these few degrees
+further north bring so much cold into the blood? There is the same
+quiet in our theatre. Now I love this active life. The only boldness the
+public permits itself is hissing a poor author; but a wretched singer,
+who has neither tone nor manner, a miserable actress, will be endured,
+nay, applauded by good friends--an act of compassion. She is so fearful!
+she is so good! In Paris people hiss. The decoration master, the
+manager, every one there receives his share of applause or blame. Even
+the directors are there hissed, if they manage badly."
+
+"You are preaching a complete revolution in our theatrical kingdom!"
+said the lady of the house. "The Copenhageners cannot ever become
+Parisians, and neither should they."
+
+"The theatre is here, as well as there, the most powerful organ of the
+people's life. It has the greatest influence, and ours stands high, very
+high, when one reflects in what different directions it must extend its
+influence. Our only theatre must accommodate itself, and represent, at
+the same time, the Theatre Francais, the grand Opera, the Vaudeville,
+and Saint-Martin; it must comprehend all kinds of theatrical
+entertainments. The same actors who to-day appear in tragedy, must
+to-morrow show themselves in a comedy or vaudeville. We have actors who
+might compare themselves with the best in Paris--only _one_ is above all
+ours, but, also, above all whom I have seen in Europe, and this one
+is Mademoiselle Mars. You will, doubtless, consider the reason
+extraordinary which gives this one, in my opinion, the first place. This
+is her age, which she so completely compels you to forget. She is still
+pretty; round, without being called fat. It is not through rouge, false
+hair, or false teeth, that she procures herself youth; it lies in her
+soul, and from thence it flows into every limb--every motion becomes
+charming! She fills you with astonishment! her eyes are full of
+expression, and her voice is the most sonorous which I know! It is
+indeed music! How can one think of age when one is affected by an
+immortal soul? I rave about Leontine Fay, but the old Mars has my heart.
+There is also a third who stands high with the Parisians--Jenny Vertpre,
+at the Gymnase Dramatique, but she would be soon eclipsed were the
+Parisians to see our Demoiselle Paetges. She possesses talent which will
+shine in every scene. Vertpre has her loveliness, her whims, but not
+her Proteus-genius, her nobility. I saw Vertpre in 'La Reine de Seize
+Ans,'--a piece which we have not yet; but she was only a saucy soubrette
+in royal splendor--a Pernille of Holberg's, as represented by a
+Parisian. We have Madame Wexschall, and we have Frydendal! Were Denmark
+only a larger country, these names would sound throughout Europe!"
+
+He now described the decorations in the "Sylphide," in "Natalia," and in
+various other ballets, the whole splendor, the whole magnificence.
+
+"But our orchestra is excellent!" said Miss Sophie.
+
+"It certainly contains several distinguished men," answered Joachim;
+"but must one speak of the whole? Yes, you know I am not musical, and
+cannot therefore express myself in an artistical manner about music,
+but certain it is that something lay in my ear, in my feeling, which, in
+Paris, whispered to me, 'That is excellent!' Here, on the contrary, it
+cries, 'With moderation! with moderation!' The voice is the first; she
+is the lady; the instruments, on the contrary, are the cavaliers who
+shall conduct the former before the public. Gently they should take her
+by the hand; she must stand quite foremost; but here the instruments
+thrust her aside, and it is to me as if each instrument would have the
+first place, and constantly shouted, 'Here am I! here am I!"
+
+"That sounds very well!" said Sophie; "but one may not believe you!
+You have fallen in love with foreign countries, and, therefore, at home
+everything must be slighted."
+
+"By no means! The Danish ladies, for instance, appear the prettiest, the
+most modest whom I have known."
+
+"Appear?" repeated Otto.
+
+"Joachim possesses eloquence," said the lady of the house.
+
+"That has developed itself abroad!" answered he: "here at home there are
+only two ways in which it can publicly develop itself--in the pulpit,
+and at a meeting in the shooting-house. Yet it is true that now we
+are going to have a Diet and a more political life. I feel already,
+in anticipation, the effect; we shall only live for this life, the
+newspapers will become merely political, the poets sing politics the
+painters choose scenes from political life. 'C'est un Uebergang!'
+as Madame La Fleche says. [Author's Note: Holberg's Jean de France.]
+Copenhagen is too small to be a great, and too great to be a small city.
+See, there lies the fault!"
+
+Otto felt an irresistible desire to contradict him in most things which
+he said about home. But the cousin parried every bold blow with a joke.
+
+"Copenhagen must be the Paris of the North," said he, "and that it
+certainly would become in fifty, or twice that number of years. The
+situation was far more beautiful than that of the city of the Seine. The
+marble church must be elevated, and become a Pantheon, adorned with the
+works of Thorwaldsen and other artists; Christiansborg, a Louvre, whose
+gallery you visit; Oester Street and Pedermadsen's passage, arcades such
+as are in Paris, covered with glass roofs and flagged, shops on both
+sides, and in the evening, when thousands of gas-lamps burnt, here
+should be the promenade; the esplanades would be the Champs Elysees,
+with swings and slides, music, and mats de cocagne. [Author's Note:
+High smooth poles, to the top of which victuals, clothes, or money are
+attached. People of the lower classes then try to climb up and seize the
+prizes. The best things are placed at the very top of the pole.] On
+the Peblinger Lake, as on the Seine, there should be festive water
+excursions made. Voila!" exclaimed he, "that would be splendid!"
+
+"That might be divine!" said Sophie.
+
+Animation and thought lay in the cousin's countenance; his fine features
+became striking from their expression. Thus did his image stamp itself
+in Otto's soul, thus did it place itself beside Sophie's image as she
+stood there, with her large brown eyes, round which played thought and
+smiles, whilst they rested on the cousin. The beautifully formed white
+hand, with its taper fingers, played with the curls which fell over her
+cheeks. Otto would not think of it.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+     "And if I have wept alone, it is my own sorrow."--GOETHE
+
+Latterly Otto had been but seldom at Mr. Berger's. He had no interest
+about the merchant's home. The family showed him every politeness and
+mark of confidence; but his visits became every week more rare. Business
+matters, however, led him one day there.
+
+Chance or fate, as we call it, if the shadow of a consequence shows
+itself, caused Maren to pass through the anteroom when Otto was about
+taking his departure. She was the only one of the ladies at home. In
+three weeks she would return to Lemvig. She said that she could not
+boast of having enjoyed Mr. Thostrup's society too often.
+
+"Your old friends interest you no longer!" added she, somewhat gravely.
+With this exception she had amused herself very well in the city,
+had seen everything but the stuffed birds, and these she should see
+to-morrow. She had been seven times in the theatre, and had seen the
+"Somnambule" twice. However, she had not seen "Der Frieschuetz," and
+she had an especial desire to see this on account of the wolf-glen. At
+Aarhuus there was a place in the wood, said she, called the wolf-glen;
+this she knew, and now wished to see whether it resembled the one on the
+stage.
+
+"May I then greet Rosalie from you?" she asked at length.
+
+"You will still remain three weeks here," said Otto: "it is too soon to
+speak of leave-taking."
+
+"But you scarcely ever come here," returned she. "You have better places
+to go to! The Baron's sister certainly sees you oftener; she is said
+to be a pretty and very clever girl: perhaps one may soon offer one's
+congratulations?"
+
+Otto became crimson.
+
+"In spring you will travel abroad," pursued she; "we shall not then see
+you in Jutland: yes, perhaps you will never go there again! That will
+make old Rosalie sad: she thinks so incredibly much of you. In all the
+letters which I have received here there were greetings to Mr. Thostrup.
+Yes, I have quite a multitude of them for you; but you do not come to
+receive them, and I dare not pay a visit to such a young gentleman. For
+the sake of old friendship let me, at least, be the first who can relate
+at home of the betrothal!"
+
+"How can you have got such a thought?" replied Otto. "I go to so many
+houses where there are young ladies; if my heart had anything to do with
+it, I should have a bad prospect. I have great esteem for Miss Sophie;
+I speak with her as with you, that is all. I perceive that the air of
+Copenhagen has affected you; here in the city they are always betrothing
+people. This comes from the ladies in the house here. How could you
+believe such stories?"
+
+Maren also joked about it, but after they had parted she seated herself
+in a corner, drew her little apron over her head and wept; perhaps
+because she should soon leave the lively city, where she had been seven
+times to the theatre, and yet had not seen the wolf-glen.
+
+"Betrothed!" repeated Otto to himself, and thought of Sophie, of the
+cousin, and of his own childhood, which hung like a storm-cloud in
+his heaven. Many thoughts passed through his mind: he recollected the
+Christmas Eve on which he had seen Sophie for the first time, when she,
+as one of the Fates, gave him the number. He had 33, she 34; they were
+united by the numbers following each other. He received the pedigree,
+and was raised to her nobility. The whole joke had for him a
+signification. He read the verse again which had accompanied it. The
+conclusion sounded again and again in his ears:--"From this hour forth
+thy soul high rank hath won her, Nor will forget thy knighthood and thy
+honor!"
+
+"O Sophie!" he exclaimed aloud, and the fire which had long smouldered
+in his blood now burst forth in flames. "Sophie! thee must I press to my
+heart!" He lost himself in dreams. Dark shapes disturbed them. "Can she
+then be happy? Can I? The picture which she received where the covering
+of ice was broken and the faithful dog watched in vain, is also
+significant. That is the fulfillment of hopes. I sink, and shall never
+return!"
+
+The image of the cousin mingled in his dreams. That refined countenance
+with the little mustache looked forth saucily and loquaciously; and
+Sophie's eyes he saw rest upon the cousin, whilst her white hand played
+with the brown curls which fell over her cheek.
+
+"O Sophie!" sighed Otto, and fell asleep.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+           ..."We live through others,
+     We think we are others; we seem
+     Others to be... And so think others of us."
+                                      SCHEFER.
+
+When the buds burst forth we will burst forth also! had Otto and Wilhelm
+often said. Their plan was, in the spring to travel immediately to
+Paris, but on their way to visit the Rhine, and to sail from Cologne to
+Strasburg.
+
+"Yes, one must see the Rhine first!" said Cousin Joachim; "when one has
+seen Switzerland and Italy, it does not strike one nearly as much.
+That must be your first sight; but you should not see it in spring, but
+toward autumn. When the vines have their full variety of tint, and the
+heavy grapes hang from the stems, see, it is then the old ruins stand
+forth. These are the gardens of the Rhine! Another advantage which you
+have in going there in autumn is that you then enter Paris in winter,
+and that one must do; then one does not come post festum; then is the
+heyday of gayety--the theatre, the soirees, and everything which can
+interest the beau monde."
+
+Although Otto did not generally consider the cousin's words of much
+weight, he this time entered wonderfully into his views. "It would
+certainly be the most prudent to commence their journey toward autumn,"
+he thought: "there could be no harm in preparing themselves a little
+more for it!"
+
+"That is always good!" said Joachim; "but, what is far more advantageous
+abroad than all the preparations you can make at home, is said in a few
+words--give up all intercourse with your own country-people! Nowadays
+every one travels! Paris is not now further from us than Hamburg was
+some thirty years ago. When I was in Paris I found there sixteen or
+seventeen of my countrymen. O, how they kept together! Eleven of
+them dwelt in the same hotel: they drank coffee together, walked out
+together, went to the restaurateur's together, and took together half a
+bench in the theatre. That is the most foolish thing a person can do!
+I consider travelling useful for every one, from the prince to the
+travelling journeyman. But we allow too many people to travel! We are
+not rich, therefore restrictions should be made. The creative artist,
+the poet, the engineer, and the physician must travel; but God knows why
+theologians should go forth. They can become mad enough at home!
+They come into Catholic countries, and then there is an end of them!
+Wherefore should book-worms go forth? They shut themselves up in the
+diligence and in their chambers, rummage a little in the libraries, but
+not so much as a pinch of snuff do they do us any good when they return!
+Those who cost the most generally are of the least use, and bring the
+country the least honor! I, thank God! paid for my journey myself, and
+am therefore free to speak my opinion!"
+
+We will now hear what Miss Sophie said, and therefore advance a few
+days.
+
+"We keep you then with us till August!" said she, once when she was
+alone with Otto. "That is wise! You can spend some time with us in
+Funen, and gather strength for your journey. Yes, the journey will do
+you good!"
+
+"I hope so!" answered Otto. "I am perhaps able to become as interesting
+as your cousin, as amiable!"
+
+"That would be requiring too much from you!" said Sophie, bantering him.
+"You will never have his humor, his facility in catching up character.
+You will only preach against the depravity of the Parisians; you will
+only be able to appreciate the melancholy grandeur of Switzerland and
+the solitude of the Hungarian forests."
+
+"You would make a misanthrope of me, which I by no means am."
+
+"But you have an innate talent for this character!" answered Sophie.
+"Something will certainly be polished away by this journey, and it is on
+account of this change that I rejoice."
+
+"Must one, then, have a light, fickle mood to please you?" asked Otto.
+
+"Yes, certainly!" answered Sophie, ironically.
+
+"Then it is true what your cousin told me!" said Otto. "If one will be
+fortunate with the ladies, one must at least be somewhat frivolous, fond
+of pleasure, and fickle,--that makes one interesting. Yes, he has made
+himself acquainted with the world, he has experience in everything!"
+
+"Yes, perfectly!" said Sophie, and laughed aloud.
+
+Otto was silent, with contracted brow.
+
+"I wish you sunshine!" said Sophie, and smiling raised her finger. Otto
+remained unchanged--he wrinkled his brow.
+
+"You must change very much!" said she, half gravely; and danced out of
+the room.
+
+Three weeks passed by, rich in great events in the kingdom of the
+heart; it was still a diplomatic secret: the eyes betrayed it by their
+pantomimic language, the mouth alone was silent, and it is after all the
+deciding power.
+
+Otto visited the merchant's family. Maren had departed just the day
+before. In vain had she awaited his visit throughout the three weeks.
+
+"You quite forget your true friends!" said the ladies. "Believe us,
+Maja was a little angry with you, and yet we have messages. Now she is
+sailing over the salt sea."
+
+This was not precisely the case; she was already on land, and just at
+this moment was driving over the brown heath, thinking of Copenhagen
+and the pleasures there, and of the sorrow also--it is so sad to be
+forgotten by a friend of childhood! Otto was so handsome, so clever--she
+did not dream at all how handsome and clever she herself would appear at
+home. Beauty and cleverness they had discovered in her before she left;
+now she had been in the capital, and that gives relief.
+
+The little birds fluttered round the carriage; perhaps they sang to her
+what should happen in two years: "Thou wilt be a bride, the secretary's
+lovely little bride; thou shalt have both him and the musical-box!
+Thou wilt be the grandest lady in the town, and yet the most excellent
+mother. Thy first daughter shall be called Maja--that is a pretty name,
+and reminds thee of past days!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+     "The monastery is still called 'Andersskov' (the wood of
+     Anders) in memory of its being the habitation of the pious
+     Anders.
+
+     "The hill on which he awoke, comforted by sleep, is still
+     called 'Hvile hoei' (the hill of rest). A cross having a
+     Latin inscription, half-effaced, marks the spot."--J. L.
+     HEIBERG.
+
+It was spring, fresh, life-bearing spring! Only one day and one night,
+and the birds of passage were back again; the woods made themselves once
+more young with green, odorous leaves; the Sound had its swimming Venice
+of richly laden vessels; only one day and one night, and Sophie was
+removed from Otto--they were divided by the salt sea; but it was spring
+in his heart; from it flew his thoughts, like birds of passage, to the
+island of Funen, and there sang of summer. Hope gave him more "gold and
+green woods" than the ships bear through the Sound, more than Zealand's
+bays can show. Sophie at parting pressed his hand. In her eyes lay what
+his heart might hope and dream.
+
+He forgot that hope and dreams were the opposites of reality.
+
+Cousin Joachim had gone to Stockholm, and would not return either in the
+spring or summer to Funen. On the contrary, Otto intended to spend a
+few weeks at the country-seat; not before August would he and Wilhelm
+travel. There would at least be one happy moment, and many perhaps
+almost as happy. In his room stood a rose-bush, the first buds formed
+themselves, and opened their red lips--as pure and tender as these
+leaves was Sophie's cheek: he bent over the flower, smiled and read
+there sweet thoughts which were related to his love. A rose-bud is a
+sweet mystery.
+
+                   "The myriad leaves enmaze
+                    Small labyrinthine ways
+                    Where spicy odor flows,
+                    Thou lovelv bud o' the rose!"
+
+The day came on which Otto, after he had comfortably terminated his
+visits of leave-taking, at midday, in the company of three young
+students travelled away through Zealand. They had taken a carriage
+together as far as Slagelse, where, like Abraham's and Lot's shepherds,
+they should separate to the right and left. Otto remained alone, in
+order to travel post that night to Nyborg. It was only four o'clock in
+the afternoon, Otto had no acquaintance here, therefore it was but to
+take a walk.
+
+"There still exist remains of the old Antvorskov convent, [Author's
+Note: The convent was founded by Waldemar I., 1177.] do there not?"
+asked he.
+
+"Yes, but very little!" answered the host. "The convent became a castle,
+the castle a private house, and now within the last few years, on
+account of the stones, it has been still more pulled down. You will find
+nothing old remaining, except here and there in the garden a piece of a
+red wall standing out. But the situation is beautiful! If you will only
+take the road toward the large village called Landsgrav, you are on the
+way to Korsoeer, and close to the cross of the holy Anders. It is a right
+pleasant excursion!"
+
+"Convent ruins and the holy cross!" said Otto; "that sounds quite
+romantic!" And he commenced his wanderings.
+
+A few scholars from the Latin school, with their books held together by
+a strait, and then a square built lancer, who greeted in military style
+an elderly-young lady, who was seated behind a barricade of geraniums
+and wall flowers, were the only individuals he met with on his way. Yet
+Otto remarked that the windows were opened as he passed; people wanted
+to see who the stranger might be who was going up the street.
+
+A long avenue led from the town to the castle. On either side the way
+lay detached houses, with little gardens. Otto soon reached the remains
+of old Antvorskov. The way was red from the stones which were flung
+about, and were now ground to dust. Huge pieces of wall, where the
+mortar and stone were united in one piece, lay almost concealed among
+the high nettles. Rather more distant stood a solitary house of two
+stories. It was narrow, and whitewashed. A thick pilaster, such as one
+sees in churches, supported the strong wall. This was half of the last
+wing of the castle,--a mingling of the ancient and incident, of ruin and
+dwelling-house.
+
+Otto went into the garden, which was laid out upon the hill itself, and
+its terraces. Here were only young trees; but the walks were everywhere
+overgrown. The view stretched itself far over the plain, toward the Belt
+and Funen. He descended from the terrace down to the lowest wall. In
+this there yet remained a piece of an old tombstone, of the age of the
+convent, on which you perceived the trace of a female form; and near
+to this the figure of a skeleton, round which was twined a snake. Otto
+stood sunk in contemplation, when an old man, with two water-buckets
+suspended from a yoke on his shoulders, approached a near well.
+
+The old man was very ready to commence a conversation. He told
+of excavations, and of an underground passage which had not been
+discovered, but which, according to his opinion, was certainly in
+existence. So far they had only found a few walled-round spaces, which
+had most probably been prisons. In one of these was an iron chain
+fastened into the wall. But with regard to the underground passage, they
+had only not yet discovered the right place, for it must exist. It led
+from here, deep under the lake and forest, toward Soroee. There were
+large iron gates below. At Christmas one could hear how they were swung
+to and fro. "Whoever should have that which is concealed there," said
+the old man, "would be a made man, and need not neither slip nor slide."
+
+Otto looked at the solitary wing which rose up over the terrace. How
+splendid it had been here in former times!
+
+Close to the large wood, several miles in extent, which stretches itself
+on the other side of Soroee, down to the shore of the King's Brook, lay
+the rich convent where Hans Tausen spoke what the Spirit inspired him
+with. Times changed; the convent vanished;
+
+                 "Halls of state
+      Tower upon that spot elate;
+      Where the narrow cell once stood;"
+     [Author's Note: Anders-skov, by Oehlenschlaeger.]
+
+where the monks sang psalms, knights and ladies danced to the sound of
+beating drums: but these tone's ceased; the blooming cheeks became dust.
+It was again quiet. Many a pleasant time did Holberg ride over from
+Soroee, through the green wood, to visit the steward of Antvorskov. Otto
+recollected what one of his daughters, when an old woman, had related
+to a friend of his. She was a child, and lay in the cradle, when old
+Holberg came riding there, with a little wheaten loaf and a small pot of
+preserve in his pocket--his usual provision on such little excursions.
+The steward's young wife sat at her spinning-wheel. Holberg paced up
+and down the room with the husband; they were discussing politics. This
+interested the wife, and she joined in the conversation. Holberg turned
+round to her,--"I fancy the distaff speaks!" said he. This the wife
+could never forget. [Translator's Note: Rokkehoved, distaff, means also
+dunce in Danish.]
+
+Otto smiled at this recollection of the witty but ungallant poet,
+quitted the garden, and went through a winding hollow way, where the
+luxuriant briers hung in rich masses over the stone fence. Slagelse,
+with its high hills in the background, looked picturesque. He soon
+reached Landsgrav. The sun went down as he walked over the field where
+the wooden cross stands, with its figure of the Redeemer, in memory of
+the holy Anders. Near it he perceived a man, who appeared to kneel. One
+hand held fast by the cross; in the other was a sharp knife, with which
+he was probably cutting out his name. He did not observe Otto. Near
+the man lay a box covered with green oil-cloth; and in the grass lay a
+knapsack, a pair of boots, and a knotty stick. It must be a wandering
+journeyman, or else a pedlar.
+
+Otto was about to return, when the stranger rose and perceived him. Otto
+stood as if nailed to the earth. It was the German Heinrich whom he saw
+before him.
+
+"Is not that Mr. Thostrup?" said the man and that horrible grinning
+smile played around his mouth. "No, that I did not expect!"
+
+"Does it go well with you, Heinrich?" asked Otto.
+
+"There's room for things to mend!" replied Heinrich "It goes better with
+you! Good Lord, that you should become such a grand gentleman! Who would
+have thought it, when you rode on my knee, and I pricked you in the arm?
+Things go on strangely in this world! Have you heard of your sister? She
+was not so much spoiled as you! But she was a beautiful child!"
+
+"I have neither seen her nor my parents!" replied he, with a trembling
+which he strove to conquer. "Do you know where she is?"
+
+"I am always travelling!" said Heinrich; "but thus much I know, that
+she is still in Funen. Yes, she must take one of us, an unpretending
+husband! You can choose a genteel young lady for yourself. That's the
+way when people are lucky. You will become a landed proprietor. Old
+Heinrich will then no doubt obtain permission to exhibit his tricks on
+your estate? But none of its will speak of former times!--of the red
+house on the Odense water!" This last he whispered quite low. "I shall
+receive a few shillings from you?" he asked.
+
+"You shall have more!" said Otto, and gave to him. "But I wish us to
+remain strangers to each other, as we are!"
+
+"Yes, certainly, certainly!" said Heinrich, and nodded affirmatively
+with his head, whilst his eyes rested on the gift Otto had presented him
+with. "Then you are no longer angry with my joke in Jutland?" asked he
+with a simpering smile, and kissed Otto's hand. "I should not have known
+you then. Had you not shown me your shoulder, on which I saw the letters
+O and T which I myself had etched, it would never have occurred to
+me that we knew each other! But a light suddenly flashed across me. I
+should have said Otto Thostrup; but I said 'Odense Tugt-huus.' [Note:
+Odense house of correction.] That was not handsome of me, seeing you are
+such a good gentleman!"
+
+"Yes, now adieu!" said Otto, and extended to him unwillingly his hand.
+
+"There, our Saviour looks down upon us!" said the German Heinrich, and
+fixed his eyes upon the figure on the cross. "As certainly as He lives
+may you rely upon the silence of my mouth. He is my Redeemer, who hangs
+there on the cross, just as he is etched upon my skin, and as he stands
+along the high-roads in my father-land. Here is the only place in the
+whole country where the sign of the cross stands under the free heaven;
+here I worship: for you must know, Mr. Thostrup, I am not of your faith,
+but of the faith of the Virgin Mary. Here I have cut into the wood the
+holy sign, such as is placed over every door in my father-land,--an I,
+an H, and this S. In this is contained my own name; for H stands for
+Heinrich; I, for I myself; and S means Sinner; that is, I, Heinrich,
+Sinner. Now I have completed my worship, and you have given me a
+handsome skilling, I shall now go to my bed at the public-house; and if
+the girl is pretty, and lets one flatter her, I am still young enough,
+and shall fancy that I am Mr. Thostrup, and have won that most glorious,
+elegant young lady! Hurrah! it is a player's life which we lead!"
+
+Otto left him, but heard how Heinrich sang:
+
+           "Tri, ri, ro,
+   The summer comes once mo!
+     To beer, boys! to beer
+   The winter lies in bands, O!
+     And he who won't come here,
+   We'll trounce him with our wands, O!
+            Yo, yo, yo,
+   The summer comes once mo!"
+
+As, suddenly on a clear sunny day, a cloud can appear, extinguish the
+warm sunshine, conceal the green coast, and change everything into
+gray mist forms, so was it now with Otto, who had but just before felt
+himself so happy and full of youthful joy.
+
+"You can sleep quietly!" said the host, when Otto returned to Slagelse;
+"you shall be wakened early enough to leave with the mail."
+
+But his rest was like a delirium.
+
+The post-horn sounded in the empty street; they rolled away--it was at
+daybreak.
+
+"Is that a gallows?" inquired one of the travellers, and pointed toward
+the hill, where at this distance the cross looked like a stake.
+
+"That is the cross of the holy Anders!" replied Otto; and livingly stood
+before him the recollections of the evening before.
+
+"Does that really exist?" said the stranger. "I have read of it in the
+'Letters of a Wandering Ghost.'"
+
+This was a beautiful morning, the sun shone warmly, the sea was smooth
+as a mirror, and so much the faster did the steamboat glide away. The
+vessel with the mail, which had set sail two hours earlier, still lay
+not far from land. The sails hung down loosely; not a breeze stirred
+them.
+
+The steamboat glided close past her; the passengers in the mail-vessel,
+the greater portion coachmen, travelling journeymen, and peasants, stood
+on the deck to see it. They waved greetings. One of the foremost leaned
+on his knotty stick, pulled off his hat, and shouted, "Good morning,
+my noble gentlefolk!" It was the German Heinrich; he then was going to
+Funen. Otto's heart beat faster, he gazed down among the rushing waves
+which foamed round the paddle, where the sunbeams painted a glorious
+rainbow.
+
+"That is lovely!" said one of the strangers, close to him.
+
+"Very lovely!" returned Otto, and stilled the sigh which would burst
+forth from his breast.
+
+Scarcely two hours were fled--the cables were flung upon the Nyborg
+bridge of boats, and the steamboat made fast to the island of Funen.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+     "It is so sweet when friendly hands bid you a hearty
+     welcome, so dear to behold well-known features, wherever you
+     turn your eyes. Everything seems so home-like and quiet
+     about you and in your own breast."   HENRIETTE HAUCK.
+
+Otto immediately hired a carriage, and reached the hall just about
+dinner-time. In the interior court-yard stood two calashes and an
+Holstein carriage; two strange coachmen, with lace round their hats,
+stood in animated discourse when Otto drove in through the gate. The
+postilion blew his horn.
+
+"Be quiet there!" cried Otto.
+
+"There are strangers at the hall!" said the postilion; "I will only let
+them know that another is coming."
+
+Otto gazed at the garden, glanced up toward the windows, where mine of
+the ladies showed themselves only out of a side building a female
+head was stretched out, whose hair was put back underneath a cap. Otto
+recognized the grown-together eyebrows. "Is she the first person I am to
+see here?" sighed he; and the carriage rolled into the inner court. The
+dogs barked, the turkey-cocks gobbled, but not Wilhelm showed himself.
+The Kammerjunker came--the excellent neighbor! and immediately afterward
+Sophie; both exclaimed with smiles, "Welcome!"
+
+"See, here we have our man!" said the Kammerjunker; "we can make use of
+him in the play!"
+
+"It is glorious you are come!" cried Sophie. "We shall immediately put
+you under arrest." She extended her hand to him--he pressed it to his
+lips. "We will have tableaux vivants this evening!" said she: "the
+pastor has never seen any. We have no service from Wilhelm; he is in
+Svendborg, and will not return for two days. You must be the officer;
+the Kammerjunker will represent the Somnambulist, who comes with her
+light through the window. Will you?"
+
+"Everything you desire!" said Otto.
+
+"Do not speak of it!" returned Sophie, and laid her finger on her lips.
+The mother descended the steps.
+
+"Dear Thostrup!" said she, and pressed, with warm cordiality, both his
+hands. "I have really quite yearned after you. Now Wilhelm is away, you
+must for two whole days put up with us alone."
+
+Otto went through the long passage where hung the old portraits; it was
+as if these also wished welcome. It only seemed a night full of many
+dreams which had passed since he was here; a year in the lapse of time
+is also not so long as a winter's night in the life of man.
+
+Here it was so agreeable, so home-like; no one could have seen by the
+trees that since then they had stood stripped of leaves and covered with
+snow; luxuriantly green they waved themselves in the sun's warmth, just
+as when Otto last gazed out of this window.
+
+He had the red room as before. The dinner-bell rang.
+
+Louise met him in the passage.
+
+"Thostrup!" exclaimed she, with delight, and seized his hand. "Now, it
+is almost a year and a day since I saw you!"
+
+"Yes much has happened in this year!" said the Kammerjunker. "Come
+soon to me, and you shall see what I have had made for pastime--a
+bowling-green! Miss Sophie has tried her skill upon it."
+
+The Kammerjunker took the mother to dinner. Otto approached Sophie.
+
+"Will you not take the Kammerjunker's sister?" whispered she.
+
+Mechanically, Otto made his bow before Miss Jakoba.
+
+"Take one of the young ladies!" said she; "you would rather do that?"
+
+Otto bowed, cast a glance toward Sophie; she had the old pastor. Otto
+smiled, and conducted Jakoba to table.
+
+The Mamsell, renowned through her work-box, sat on his left hand.
+He observed the company who, beside those we have already mentioned,
+consisted of several ladies and gentlemen whom he did not know. One
+chair was empty, but it was soon occupied; a young girl, quiet in her
+attire, and dressed like Louise, entered.
+
+"Why do you come so late?" asked Sophie, smiling.
+
+"That is only known to Eva and me!" said Louise, and smiled at the young
+girl.
+
+Eva seated herself. It was, perhaps, the complete resemblance of their
+dress which induced Otto to observe both her and Louise so closely, and
+even against his own will to draw comparisons. Both wore a simple dark
+brown dress, a small sea-green handkerchief round the neck. Louise
+seemed to him enchanting--pretty one could not call her: Eva, on the
+contrary, was ideal; there lay something in her appearance which made
+him think of the pale pink hyacinth. Every human being has his invisible
+angel, says the mythos; both are different and yet resemble each other.
+Eva was the angel; Louise, on the contrary, the human being in all its
+purity. Otto's eyes encountered those of Sophie--they were both directed
+to the same point. "What power! what beauty!" thought he. Her mind is
+far above that of Louise, and in beauty she is a gorgeous flower, and
+not, like Eva, a fine, delicate hyacinth. He drew eloquence from these
+eyes, and became interesting like the cousin, although he had not been
+in Paris.
+
+The Kammerjunker spoke of sucking-pigs, but that also was interesting;
+perhaps be drew his inspiration out of the same source as Otto. He spoke
+of the power of green buckwheat, and how the swine which eat it become
+mad. From this doubtless originated the legend of the devil entering
+into the swine. It is only coal-black pigs which can digest green
+buckwheat; if they have a single white speck upon them, they become ill
+at eating. "This is extraordinary," exclaimed he.
+
+In his enthusiasm his discourse became almost a cry, which caused Miss
+Jakoba to say that one might almost think that he himself had eaten
+green buckwheat.
+
+Otto meantime cut out of the green melon-peel a man, and made him ride
+on the edge of his glass; that withdrew Sophie's attention from the
+Kammerjunker. The whole company found that this little cut-out figure
+was very pretty; and the Mamsell begged that she might have it--it
+should lie in her work-box.
+
+Toward evening all were in preparation for the approaching tableaux.
+
+Eva must represent Hero. With a torch in her hand she must kneel on a
+table, which was to be draped so as to represent a balcony. The poor
+girl felt quite unhappy at having to appear in this manner. Sophie
+laughed at her fear, and assured her that she would be admired, and that
+therefore she must and should.
+
+"Give way to my sister," said Louise, in a beseeching voice; and Eva was
+ready, let down her long brown hair, and allowed Sophie to arrange the
+drapery.
+
+Otto must put on an officer's uniform. He presented himself to the
+sisters.
+
+"That gold is not sewn fast on the collar," said Sophie, and undertook
+to rectify it. He could easily keep the uniform on whilst she did this,
+said she. Her soft hand touched Otto's cheek, it was like an electric
+shock to him; his blood burned; how much he longed to press the hand to
+his lips!
+
+They all burst out laughing when the Kammerjunker appeared in a white
+petticoat which only reached a little below the knee, and in a large
+white lady's dressing-jacket. Miss Sophie must arrange his hair. She did
+it charmingly; her hand stroked the hair away from his brow, and glided
+over his cheeks: he kissed it; she struck him in the face, and begged
+him not to forget himself! "We are ladies," said he, and rose in his
+full splendor. They all laughed except Otto; he could not--he felt a
+desire to beat him. The spectators arranged themselves in a dark room,
+the folding doors were opened.
+
+Eva as Hero, in a white linen robe, her hair hanging down on her
+shoulders, and a torch in her hand, gazed out over the sea. No painter
+could have imagined anything more beautiful; the large dark-blue eyes
+expressed tenderness and melancholy; it was Eva's natural glance,
+but here you saw her quiet. The fine black eyebrows increased the
+expression, the whole figure was as if breathed into the picture.
+
+Now followed a new picture--Faust and Margaret in the arbor; behind
+stood Mephistophiles, with his devilish smile. The Kammerjunker's
+Mamsell was Margaret. When the doors were opened she sent forth aloud
+cry, and ran away; she would not stay, she was so afraid. The group was
+disarranged, people laughed and found it amusing, but the Kammerjunker
+scolded aloud, and swore that she should come in again; at that the
+laughter of the spectators increased, and was not lessened when the
+Kammerjunker, forgetting his costume as the Somnambule, half stepped
+into the frame in which the pictures were represented, and seated the
+Mamsell on the bench. This group was only seen for one moment: the
+dorors were again closed; the spectators applauded, but a whistle was
+heard. Laughter, and the hum of conversation, resounded through the
+room; and it was impossible to obtain perfect quiet, although a new
+picture already shone in the frame. It was Sophie as Correggio's
+"Magdalene": her rich hair fell in waves over her shoulders and round
+arms; before her lay the skull and the holy book.
+
+Otto's blood flowed faster; never had he seen Sophie more beautiful. The
+audience, however, could not entirely forget the comic scene which they
+had just witnessed; there was heard a faint suppressed laughter.
+
+This at length was able to take its free course when the following
+picture presented itself, where the Kammerjunker, as the Somnambule, his
+hand half-concealing the extinguished light, showed himself at the open
+window.
+
+A most stormy burst of applause was awarded to the actors.
+
+"Miss Sophie has arranged the whole!" cried the Kammerjunker, and now
+her name sounded from the lips of all the audience.
+
+Not before two days did Wilhelm return. He and Otto slept in the same
+apartment. Otto told of the tableaux, and said how lovely Eva had been
+as Hero.
+
+"That I can well believe," replied Wilhelm, but did not enter further
+into the subject; he laughed about the Kammerjunker and the disarranged
+group.
+
+Otto again named Eva, but Wilhelm lightly passed over this subject in
+his replies. Otto could not fathom their connection.
+
+"Shall we not go to sleep?" said Wilhelm; they wished each other
+good-night, and it was quiet.
+
+The old man Sleep, as Tieck has described him, with the box out of
+which he brings his dream-puppets, now commenced his nightly dramatic
+adventures, which lasted until the sun shone in through the window.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+     "He draws nearer and nearer to her.
+     'O, give my hope an answer by this pink-flower.'
+     She sighs: 'O, I will--no--I will not.'"
+                             The Dancer, by PALUDAN-MUeLLER
+
+"I shall get to know!" thought Otto. "This violent love cannot be
+evaporated." He paid attention to every little occurrence. Eva was the
+same quiet, modest creature as formerly--a house-fairy who exercised
+a friendly influence over all. Wilhelm spoke with her, but not with
+passion, neither with affected indifference. However, we cannot entirely
+rely upon Otto's power of observation: his glance was directed too often
+toward a dearer object--his attention was really directed to Sophie.
+
+They walked in the garden.
+
+"Once as you certainly know," said Otto, "your brother had a fancy for
+the pretty Eva. Is it not, therefore, somewhat dangerous her living
+here? Has your mother been prudent?"
+
+"For Wilhelm I am quite unconcerned!" answered Sophie. "Only take care
+of yourself! Eva is very amiable, and has very much changed for the
+better since she came here. My sister Louise quite raves about her, and
+my mother regards her almost as an adopted daughter. You have certainly
+remarked that she is not kept in the background. Yet she is weak; she
+resembles the tender mountain-flowers which grow in ice and snow, but
+which bow their heads in the soft mountain air, when it is warmed by
+the sun. It really seems to me that she is become weaker since she has
+enjoyed our care and happy days. When I saw her at Roeskelde she was far
+more blooming."
+
+"Perhaps she thinks of your brother--thinks of him with quiet sorrow?"
+
+"That I do not think is the case," replied Sophie; "otherwise Louise
+would have heard something of it. She possesses Eva's entire confidence.
+You may make yourself easy, if you are jealous!"
+
+"What make you conjecture this? My thoughts are directed above, and not
+beneath me!" said he, with a kind of pride, "I feel that I could never
+fall in love with Eva. Feel love toward her? no! Even when I think of
+it, I feel almost as though I had some prejudice against her. But you
+joke; you will rally me, as you have so often done. We shall soon part!
+Only two months longer shall I remain in Denmark! Two long years abroad!
+How much may occur in that time! Will you think of me--really think of
+me, Miss Sophie?" He bent, and kissed her hand.
+
+Sophie became crimson. Both were silent.
+
+"Are you here!" said the mother, who came out of a side walk.
+
+Otto stooped lower, and broke one of the beautiful stocks which hung
+over the border.
+
+"Are you taking Louise's favorite flowers?" said she, smiling. "This bed
+is declared to be inviolable."
+
+"I was so unfortunate as to break it!" said Otto, confused.
+
+"He wished to gather the dark-red pink for my table-garland!" said
+Sophie. "If he took it, my conscience would be clear!"
+
+And they all three walked along speaking of cherries, gooseberries, of
+the linen on the bleaching-ground, and of the warm summer's day.
+
+In the evening Eva and the two sisters sat at their work, Otto and
+Wilhelm had taken their seats beside them. They spoke of Copenhagen.
+
+Sophie knew how to introduce a number of little anecdotes, which she had
+gathered among the young ladies there. Otto entered into her ideas, and
+knew cleverly how to support what she said. What in reality interested
+young ladies was discussed.
+
+"When a girl is confirmed, all manner of fancies awake!" said Otto. "She
+experiences a kind of inclination for the heart of man; but this may
+not be acknowledged, except for two friends to the clergyman and the
+physician. For these she has quite a passion, especially for the
+former; she stands in a kind of spiritual rapport with him. His physical
+amiability melts into the spiritual. Thus her first love one may
+designate clergyman-love."
+
+"That is well said!" exclaimed Sophie.
+
+"He preaches himself so deeply into her heart!" pursued Otto. "She melts
+into tears, kisses his hand, and goes to church; but not for the sake of
+God, but on account of the sweet clergyman!"
+
+"O, I know that so well!" said Sophie, and laughed.
+
+"Fie! you do not mean so!" said Louise; "and I do not know how you can
+say such a thing Mr. Thostrup! That is frightful! You do not in the
+least know a young girl's soul! do not know the pure feeling with which
+she inclines herself to the man who has laid open before her the holy
+things of religion! Do not make sport of the innocent, the pure, which
+is so far removed from every earthly impression!"
+
+"I assure you," said Otto, smiling, "were I a poet, I would make the
+clergyman-love ridiculous in a hundred witty epigrams; and were I a
+teacher, I would protest against it from the chair."
+
+"That would be scattering poison into a well!" said Louise. "You, as a
+man, do not know the pure, the holy sentiment which exists in a young
+girl's bosom. Eva, thou art certainly of my opinion?"
+
+"Neither is this Mr. Thostrup's opinion?" answered she, and looked at
+him with a mild gravity.
+
+Wilhelm laughed aloud.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+
+     "Alas, I am no sturdy oak!
+     Alas, I'm but the flower
+       That wakes the kiss of May!
+     And when has fled its little hour,
+       Will voice of Death obey."--RUCKERT.
+
+The following afternoon came visitors--two young ladies from Nyborg,
+friends of Sophie and Louise. Before dinner they would take a walk
+through the wood to an inclosure where the flax was in bloom. Otto was
+to accompany them.
+
+"I am also of the party!" said the Kammerjunker, who just galloped into
+the court-yard as the ladies, with Otto, were about setting out on
+their excursion. Thus the whole company consisted of five ladies and two
+gentlemen.
+
+"The cows are not in the field over which we must go, are they?" asked
+Eva.
+
+"No, my good girl!" returned Sophie; "you may be quite easy! Besides, we
+have two gentlemen with us."
+
+"Yes; but they would not be able to protect us from the unruly
+bullocks!" said Louise. "But we have nothing to fear. Where we are
+going the cows do not go until after they are milked. I am no heroine!
+Besides, it is not long since one bullock nearly gored the cowherd to
+death. He also gored Sidsel a great hole in her arm just lately: you
+remember the girl with her eyebrows grown together?"
+
+"There is also in the wood a wild sow, with eleven sucking pigs!" said
+Sophie, in ironical gravity; "it would not be agree able to meet with
+her!"
+
+"She is almost as dangerous as the bullocks!" said the Kammerjunker, and
+laughed at Eva.
+
+The conversation took another turn.
+
+"Shall we not visit Peter Cripple?" asked Sophie. "The gentlemen can
+then see the smith's pretty daughter; she is really too beautiful to be
+his wife!"
+
+"Is Peter Cripple married?" inquired Otto.
+
+"No, the wedding will be held on Sunday!" replied the Kammerjunker; "but
+the bride is already in the house. The bans were published last Sunday,
+and they immediately commenced housekeeping together. This often takes
+place even earlier, when a man cannot do without a wife. She has taken
+him on account of his full money-bags!"
+
+"Yes, with the peasant it is seldom love which brings about the affair!"
+said Louise. "Last year there was quite a young girl who married a
+man who might have been her grandfather. She took him only, she said,
+because he had such a good set of earthenware."
+
+"These were very brittle things to marry upon!" remarked Otto.
+
+Meantime they were nearly come to the edge of the wood. Here stood a
+little house; hops hung luxuriantly over the hedge, the cat stood with
+bent back upon the crumbling edge of the well.
+
+Sophie, at the head of the whole company, stepped into the room, where
+Peter Cripple sat on the table sewing; but, light and active as an
+elf, he sprang down from the table to kiss her hand. The smith's pretty
+daughter was stirring something in an iron pot in the hearth. St. John's
+wort, stuck between the beams and the ceiling, shot forth in luxuriant
+growth, prophesying long life to the inhabitants of the house. On the
+sooty ceiling glittered herrings' souls, as a certain portion of the
+herring's entrails is called, and which Peter Cripple, following the
+popular belief, had flung up to the ceiling, convinced that so long as
+they hung there he should be freed from the ague.
+
+Otto took no part in the conversation, but turned over a quantity of
+songs which he found; they were stitched together in a piece of blue
+tobacco-paper. The principal contents were, "New, Melancholy Songs,"
+"Of the Horrible Murder," "The Audacious Criminal," "The Devil in Salmon
+Lane," "Boat's Fall," and such things; which have now supplanted, among
+the peasants, the better old popular songs.
+
+With Louise, Eva, and one of the ladies from Nyborg, Otto slowly
+preceded the others, who had still some pleasantries to say before
+leaving Peter Cripple and his bride.
+
+"Shall we not go over the inclosure to the cairn?" said Louise. "It is
+clear to-day; we shall see Zealand. The others will follow us; here,
+from the foot-path, they will immediately discover us."
+
+Otto opened the gate and they went through the inclosure. They had
+already advanced a considerable way, when the Kammerjunker and his
+ladies reached the foot-path from which they could see the others.
+
+"They are going to the cairn," said he.
+
+"Then they will have a little fright!" said Sophie. "Down in the corner
+of the inclosure lie the young cattle. They may easily mistake them for
+cows, and the wild bullocks!"
+
+"Had we not better call them back?" asked the other lady.
+
+"But we must frighten them a little," said Sophie. "Shout to them that
+there are the cows!"
+
+"Yes, that I can do with a clear conscience!" said the Kammerjunker;
+and he shouted as loud as he could, "There are the cows! Turn back! turn
+back!"
+
+Eva heard it the first. "O God!" said she, "hear what they are calling
+to us!"
+
+Otto glanced around, but saw no cows.
+
+"They are standing still!" said Sophie; "call once again!"
+
+The Kammerjunker shouted as before, and Sophie imitated the lowing of
+the cows. At this noise the young cattle arose.
+
+Louise now became aware of them. "O heavens!" exclaimed she; "there,
+down in the corner of the inclosure, are all the cows!"
+
+"Let us run!" cried Eva, and took to flight.
+
+"For God's sake, do not run!" cried Otto; "walk slowly and quietly,
+otherwise they may come!"
+
+"Come away, away!" resounded from the wood.
+
+"O Lord!" shrieked Eva, when she saw the creatures raise their tails in
+the air as soon as they perceived the fugitives.
+
+"Now they are coming!" cried the lady who accompanied them, and sent
+forth a loud scream.
+
+Eva fled first, as if borne by the wind; the lady followed her, and
+Louise ran on after them.
+
+Otto now really saw all the cattle, which, upon the ladies flight, had
+instinctively followed, chasing over the field after them in the same
+direction.
+
+Nothing now remained for him but, like the others, to reach the gate.
+This he opened, and had just closed again, when the cattle were close
+upon them, but no one had eyes to see whether the cattle were little or
+big.
+
+"Now there is no more danger!" cried Otto, as soon as he had well closed
+the gate; but the ladies still fled on, passing among the trees until
+they reached the spot where the Kammerjunker and his two ladies awaited
+them with ringing laughter.
+
+Sophie was obliged to support herself against a tree through all the
+amusement. It had been a most remarkable spectacle, this flight; Eva at
+the head, and Mr. Thostrup rushing past them to open the gate. Louise
+was pale as death, and her whole body trembled; the friend supported her
+arm and forehead on a tree, and drew a long breath.
+
+"Bah!" again cried Sophie, and laughed.
+
+"But where is Eva?" asked Otto, and shouted her name.
+
+"She ran here before me!" said Louise; "she is doubtless leaning against
+a tree, and recovering her strength."
+
+"Eva!" cried Sophie. "Where is my hero: 'I want a hero!'" [Author's
+Note: Byron's Don Juan.]
+
+Otto returned to seek her. At this moment Wilhelm arrived.
+
+The Kammerjunker regretted that he had not seen the race with them, and
+related the whole history to him.
+
+"O come! come!" they heard Otto shout. They found him kneeling in the
+high grass. Eva lay stretched out on the ground; she was as pale as
+death; her head rested in Otto's lap.
+
+"God in heaven!" cried Wilhelm, and flung himself down before her. "Eva!
+Eva! O, she is dead! and thou art to blame for it, Sophie! Thou hast
+killed her!" Reproachfully he fixed his eyes on his sister. She burst
+into tears, and concealed her face in her hands.
+
+Otto ran to the peasant's cottage and brought water. Peter Cripple
+himself hopped like a mountain-elf behind him through the high nettles
+and burdocks, which closed above and behind him again.
+
+The Kammerjunker took Eva in his strong arms and carried her to the
+cottage. Wilhelm did not leave hold of her hand. The others followed in
+silence.
+
+"Try and get her home," said Wilhelm; "I myself will fetch the
+physician!" He rushed forth, and hastened through the wood to the ball,
+where he ordered the men to bring out a sedan-chair for the invalid;
+then had horses put into one of the lightest carriages, seated himself
+in it as coachman, and drove away to Nyborg, the nearest town, which,
+however, was distant almost twenty miles.
+
+Sophie was inconsolable. "It is my fault!" she said, and wept.
+
+Otto found her sitting before the house, under an elder-tree. She could
+not endure to see Eva's paleness.
+
+"You are innocent," said Otto. "Believe me, to-morrow Eva will be
+completely restored! She herself," added he, in an assuaging tone,
+"behaved in an imprudent manner. I warned her not to run. Her own terror
+is to blame for all."
+
+"No, no," returned Sophie; "my folly, my extravagance, has caused the
+whole misfortune!"
+
+"Now it is much better," said the Kammerjunker, coming out of the house.
+"She must be devilish tender to fly before a few calves! I really must
+laugh when I think of it, although it did come to such an end!"
+
+The men now arrived whom Wilhelm had sent with the sedan-chair.
+
+Eva thought she could walk, if she might lean upon some one; but it
+would be better, her friends thought, if she were carried.
+
+"Dost thou feel any pain?" asked Louise, and gave her a sisterly kiss on
+the brow.
+
+"No, none at all," replied Eva. "Do not scold me for having frightened
+you so. I am so fearful, and the bullock were close behind us."
+
+"They were, God help me, only calves!" answered the Kammerjunker; "they
+wished to play, and only ran because you ran!"
+
+"It was a foolish joke of mine!" said Sophie, and seized Eva's hand. "I
+am very unhappy about it!"
+
+"O no!" said Eva, and smiled so pensively, yet happily. "To-morrow I
+shall be quite well again!" Her eye seemed to seek some one.
+
+Otto understood the glance. "The physician is sent for. Wilhelm has
+himself driven over for him."
+
+Toward the middle of the wood the mother herself approached them; she
+was almost as pale as Eva.
+
+All sought to calm her; Eva bowed her head to kiss the good lady's hand.
+The Kammerjunker told the story to her, and she shook her head. "What an
+imprudent, foolish joke!" said she; "here you see the consequences!"
+
+Not before late in the afternoon did Wilhelm return with the physician;
+he found his patient out of all danger, but prescribed what should still
+be done. Quiet and the warm summer air would do the most for her.
+
+"See," said Otto, when, toward evening he met Sophie in the garden,
+"to-day Wilhelm did not conceal his feelings!"
+
+"I fear that you are right!" returned Sophie. "He loves Eva, and that is
+very unfortunate. Tell me what you know about it."
+
+"I know almost nothing!" said Otto, and told about little Jonas and the
+first meeting with Eva.
+
+"Yes, that he has told us already himself! But do you know nothing
+more?" Her voice became soft, and her eyes gazed full of confidence into
+Otto's.
+
+He related to her the short conversation which he had had last autumn
+with Wilhelm, how angry he had been with his candid warning, and how
+since then they had never spoken about Eva.
+
+"I must confide my fear to our mother!" said Sophie. "I almost now am
+glad that he will travel in two months, although we shall then lose you
+also!"
+
+And Otto's heart beat; the secret of his heart pressed to his lips;
+every moment he would speak it. But Sophie had always still another
+question about her brother; they were already out of the garden, already
+in the court-yard, and yet Otto had said nothing.
+
+Therefore was he so quiet when, late in the evening, he and Wilhelm
+entered their chamber. Wilhelm also spoke no word, but his eye
+repeatedly rested expectantly on Otto, as if waiting for him to break
+the silence. Wilhelm stepped to the open window and drank in the fresh
+air, suddenly he turned round, flung his arms round Otto, and exclaimed,
+"I can no longer endure it! I must say it to some one! I love her, and
+will never give her up, let every one be opposed! I have now silently
+concealed my feelings for some months; I can do so no longer, or I shall
+become ill, and for that I am not made!"
+
+"Does she know this?" asked Otto.
+
+"No, and yes! I do not know what I should answer! Here at home I have
+never spoken alone with her. The last time when Weyse played on the
+organ at Roeskelde I had bought a pretty silk handkerchief, and this
+I took with me for her; I know not, but I wished to give her pleasure.
+There came a woman past with lovely stocks; I stood at the open window;
+she offered me a bouquet, and I bought it. 'Those are lovely flowers!'
+said Eva, when she entered. 'They will fade with me!' said I; 'put them
+in water and keep there for yourself!' She wished only to have a few,
+but I obliged her to take them all: she blushed, and her eyes gazed
+strangely down into my soul. I know not what sort of a creature I
+became, but it was impossible for me to give her the handkerchief; it
+seemed to me that this would almost be an offense. Eva went away with
+the flowers, but the next morning it seemed to me that she was uneasy; I
+fancied I saw her color come and go when I bade her adieu! She must have
+read the thoughts in my soul!"
+
+"And the handkerchief?" interrupted Otto.
+
+"I gave it to my sister Sophie," said Wilhelm.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV
+
+             "Tell me
+     What would my heart?
+       My heart's with thee,
+     With thee would have a part."
+               GOETHE'S West-oestlicher Divan.
+
+     "There stands the man again--
+     The man with gloomy mien."
+             Memories of Travel, by B. C. INGEMANN.
+
+Several days passed; the fine crimson again returned to Eva's cheeks.
+The first occasion of her going out with the others was to see the
+rape-stalks burned. These were piled together in two immense stacks. In
+the morning, at the appointed hour, which had been announced through
+the neighborhood that no one might mistake it for a conflagration, the
+stalks were set fire to. This took place in the nearest field, close
+beside the hall, where the rape-seed was threshed upon an out-spread
+sail.
+
+The landscape-painter, Dahl, has given us a picture of the burning
+Vesuvius, where the red lava pours down the side of the mountain; in the
+background one sees across the bay as far as Naples and Ischia: it is a
+piece full of great effect. Such a splendid landscape is not to be found
+in flat Denmark, where there are no great natural scenes, and yet this
+morning presented even there a picture with the same brilliant coloring.
+We will study it. In the foreground there is a hedge of hazels, the nuts
+hang in great clusters, and contrast strongly with their bright green
+against the dark leaves; the blue chicory-flower and the blood-red poppy
+grew on the side of the ditch, upon which are some tall rails, over
+which the ladies have to climb: the delicate sylph-like figure is Eva.
+In the field, where nothing remains but the yellow stubble, stand Otto
+and Wilhelm; two magnificent hounds wag their tails beside them. To the
+left is a little lake, thickly overgrown with reeds and water-lilies,
+with the yellow trollius for its border. In the front, where the wood
+retreats, lie, like a great stack, the piled-together rape-stalks: the
+man has struck fire, has kindled the outer side of them, and with a
+rapidity like that of the descending lava the red fire flashes up the
+gigantic pile. It crackles and roars within it. In a moment it is all a
+burning mound; the red flames flash aloft into the blue air, high above
+the wood which is now no longer visible. A thick black smoke ascends up
+into the clear air, where it rests like a cloud. Out of the flames,
+and even out of the smoke, the wind carries away large masses of fire,
+which, crackling and cracking, are borne on to the wood, and which fill
+the spectator with apprehension of their falling upon the nearest trees
+and burning up leaf and branch.
+
+"Let us go further off," said Sophie; "the heat is too great here."
+
+They withdrew to the ditch.
+
+"O, how many nuts!" exclaimed Wilhelm; "and I do not get one of them! I
+shall go after them if they be ripe."
+
+"But you have grapes and other beautiful fruit!" said Eva smiling. "We
+have our beautiful things at home!"
+
+"Yes, it is beautiful, very beautiful at home!" exclaimed Wilhelm;
+"glorious flowers, wild nuts; and there we have Vesuvius before us!" He
+pointed to the burning pile.
+
+"No," said Sophie; "it seems to me much more like the pile upon
+which the Hindoo widow lays herself alive to be burned! That must be
+horrible!"
+
+"One should certainly be very quickly dead!" said Eva.
+
+"Would you actually allow yourself to be burned to death, if you were a
+Hindoo widow--after, for instance, Mr. Thostrup, or after Wilhelm," said
+she, with a slight embarrassment, "if he lay dead in the fire?"
+
+"If it were the custom of the country, and I really had lost the only
+support which I had in the world--yes, so I would!"
+
+"O, no, no!" said Louise.
+
+"In fact it is brilliant!" exclaimed Sophie.
+
+"Burning is not, perhaps, the most painful of deaths!" said Otto, and
+plucked in an absent manner the nuts from the hedge. "I know a story
+about a true conflagration."
+
+"What is it like?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"Yet it is not a story to tell in a large company; it can only be heard
+when two and two are together. When I have an opportunity, I shall tell
+it!"
+
+"O, I know it!" said Wilhelm. "You can relate it to one of my sisters
+there, whichever you like best! Then I shall--yes, I must relate it to
+Eva!"
+
+"It is too early in the day to hear stories told!" said Louise; "let us
+rather sing a song!"
+
+"No, then we shall have to weep in the evening," replied Wilhelm. And
+they had neither the song nor the story.
+
+Mamma came wandering with Vasserine, the old, faithful hound: they
+two also wished to see how beautiful the burning looked. It succeeded
+excellently with the rape-stalks; but the other burning, of which the
+story was to be told, it did not yet arrive at an outbreak! It might be
+expected, however, any hour in the day.
+
+In the evening Otto walked alone through the great chestnut avenue.
+The moon shone brightly between the tree-branches. When he entered the
+interior court Wilhelm and Sophie skipped toward him, but softly, very
+softly. They lifted their hands as if to impress silence.
+
+"Come and see!" said Sophie; "it is a scene which might be painted! it
+goes on merrily in the servants' hall; one can see charmingly through
+the window!"
+
+"Yes, come!" said Wilhelm.
+
+Otto stole softly forward. The lights shone forth.
+
+Within there was laughter and loud talking; one struck upon the table,
+another sung,--
+
+        "And I will away to Prussia land,
+             Hurrah!
+         And when I am come to Prussia land,
+             Hurrah!"  [Note: People's song.]
+
+Otto looked in through the window.
+
+Several men and maids sat within at the long wooden table at the end
+of this stood Sidsel in a bent attitude, her countenance was of a deep
+crimson; she spoke a loud oath and laughed--no one imagined that they
+were observed. All eyes were riveted upon a great fellow who, with his
+shirt-sleeves rolled up, and a pewter tankard in his hand, was standing
+there. It was the German Heinrich, who was exhibiting to them his
+conjuring tricks. Otto turned pale; had the dead arisen from the bier
+before him it could not have shocked him more.
+
+"Hocus-pocus Larifari!" cried Heinrich within, and gave the tankard to a
+half-grown fellow, of the age between boy and man.
+
+"If thou hast already a sweetheart," said he; "then the corn which is
+within it will be turned to flour; but if thou art still only a young
+cuckoo, then it will remain only groats."
+
+"Nay, Anders Peersen!" said all the girls laughing, "now we shall see
+whether thou art a regular fellow!"
+
+Sophie stole away.
+
+The echoing laughter and clapping of hands announced the result.
+
+"Is it not the same person who was playing conjuring tricks in the
+park?" inquired Wilhelm.
+
+"Yes, certainly," replied Otto; "he is to me quite repulsive!" And so
+saying, he followed Sophie.
+
+Late in the evening, when all had betaken themselves to rest, Wilhelm
+proposed to Otto that they should make a little tour, as he called it.
+
+"I fancy Meg Merrilies, as my sister calls Sidsel," said he, "has made
+a conquest of the conjuror, although he might be her father. They have
+been walking together down the avenue; they have been whispering a deal
+together; probably he will to-night sleep in one of the barns. I must go
+and look after him; he will be lying there and smoking his pipe, and
+may set our whole place on fire. Shall we go down together? We can take
+Vasserine and Fingel with us."
+
+"Let him sleep!" said Otto; "he will not be so mad as to smoke tobacco
+in the straw! To speak candidly, I do not wish to be seen by him. He was
+several times at my grandfather's house. I have spoken with him, and now
+that I dislike him I do not wish to see him!"
+
+"Then I will go alone!" said Wilhelm.
+
+Otto's heart beat violently; he stood at the open window and looked out
+over the dark wood, which was lit up by the moon. Below in the court he
+heard Wilhelm enticing the dogs out. He heard yet another voice, it was
+that of the steward, and then all was again silent. Otto thought upon
+the German Heinrich and upon Sophie, his life's good and bad angels;
+and he pictured to himself how it would be if she extended to him
+her hand--was his bride! and Heinrich called forth before her the
+recollections which made his blood curdle.
+
+It seemed to him as if something evil impended over him this night. "I
+feel a forewarning of it!" said he aloud.
+
+Wilhelm came not yet back.
+
+Almost an hour passed thus. Wilhelm entered, both dogs were with him;
+they were miry to their very sides.
+
+"Did you meet any one?" inquired Otto.
+
+
+"Yes, there was some one," said Wilhelm, "but not in the barn. The
+stupid dogs seemed to lose their nature; it was as if there was a
+somebody stealing along the wall, and through the reeds in the moat. The
+hounds followed in there; you can see how they look!--but they came the
+next moment back again, whined, and hung down their ears and tails. I
+could not make them go in again. Then the steward was superstitious!
+But, however, it could only be either the juggler, or one of the
+servant-men who had stilts. How otherwise any one could go in among the
+reeds without getting up to their necks, I cannot conceive!"
+
+All was again perfectly still without. The two friends went to the open
+window, threw their arms over each other's shoulders, and looked out
+into the silent night.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+     "Bring' haeusliche Huelfe
+     Incubus! incubus.
+     Tritt herhor und mache den Schluss."
+                            GOETHE's Faust.
+
+     "Es giebt so bange Zeiten,
+     Es giebt so trueben Muth!"--NOVALIS.
+
+The next morning Wilhelm related his evening adventure at the
+breakfast-table; the sisters laughed at it. The mother, on the contrary,
+was silent, left the room, and after some time returned.
+
+"There have been thieves here!" said she, "and one might almost imagine
+that they were persons in the household itself. They have been at the
+press where the table-linen is kept, and have not been sparing in their
+levies. The beautiful old silver tankard, which I inherited from my
+grandmother, is also missing. I would much sooner have given the value
+of the silver than have lost that piece!"
+
+"Will not the lady let it be tried by the sieve?" asked the old servant:
+"that is a pretty sure way!"
+
+"That is nothing but superstition," answered she; "in that way the
+innocent may so easily be suspected."
+
+"As the lady pleases!" said the servant, and shook his head.
+
+In the mean time a search through the house was instituted. The boxes of
+the domestics were examined, but nothing was discovered.
+
+"If you would only let the sieve be tried!" said the old servant.
+
+In the afternoon Otto went into the garden; he fell into discourse with
+the gardener, and they spoke of the theft which had occurred.
+
+"It vexes every one of us," said he, "because we think much of the lady,
+and of the whole family. And some one must, nevertheless, be suspected.
+We believe that it was Sidsel, for she was a good-for-nothing person! We
+folks tried among ourselves with the sieve, but however, at the mention
+of her name, if it did not move out of its place. We had set it upon
+the point of a knife, and mentioned the name of every person about
+the place, but it stood as if it were nailed quite fast. But there was
+really something to see, which not one of us would have believed. I'll
+say no more about it, although we had every one of us our own thoughts.
+I would have taken my oath of it."
+
+Otto pressed him to mention the person who was suspected.
+
+"Yes, to you perhaps, I may mention it," replied he; "but you will not
+say anything about it? As we were standing today, at noon, around the
+sieve, and it did not move at Sidsel's name, she became angry, because
+a word bad been let fall which could not be agreeable to her if she were
+innocent. She drew herself up as if in a passion, and said to us, 'But
+there are also in the hall a many people besides us, who may slip and
+slide! There are strangers here, and the fine Mamsell, and the farmers.
+Yes, I suspect no one, but every one ought to be named!'
+
+"And so we did it. Yes, we mentioned even your name, Mr. Thostrup,
+although we knew very well that you were guiltless of the charge; but we
+would not excuse any one. The sieve stood quite entirely still until we
+mentioned Eva's name, and then it moved. Not one of us actually could
+believe it, and the servant Peter said also that it was because of the
+draught from the chimney. We mentioned yet once more all the names, and
+the sieve stood still until we came to Eva's, and then we perceived very
+plainly a movement. The servant Peter at the same moment gave a great
+blow to the sieve, so that it fell to the ground, and he swore that it
+was a lie, and that he would answer for Eva. I would have done so too;
+but yet it was very extraordinary with the sieve! Most of the folks,
+however, have their own thoughts, but no one venture to express them
+to the gentry who think so much of her. I cannot, however, rightly
+reconcile it to myself!"
+
+"She is innocent!" said Otto; and it amazed him that any one should
+cast the slightest suspicion on Eva. He thought of German Heinrich and
+Sidsel, who alone appeared to him suspicious. There then occurred to him
+an experiment of which he had heard from Rosalie. It now seemed to him
+available, and, physiologically considered, much more certain than that
+with the sieve.
+
+"Probably it may lead to a discovery," said he, after he had
+communicated his whole plan to Sophie and the steward.
+
+"Yes, we mast try it!" said she; "it is excellent! I also will be put to
+the proof, although I am initiated into the mystery."
+
+"Yes, you, your sister, Wilhelm, Eva, we all of us must," said Otto.
+"Only I will not do the speaking: that the steward must do."
+
+"That is proper, very proper!" replied she: "it shall be tried this
+evening when it is dark."
+
+The time came; the steward assembled the people.
+
+"Now I know," said he, "how we shall find the thief!"
+
+All were to remain in the first room: within a side-room, which was
+quite dark, there stood in a corner on the right hand a copper kettle;
+to this every person as they came in, one by one, were to go and lay
+their hand down on the flat bottom of the kettle. The hand of every one
+who was innocent would be brought out again white and pure, but the hand
+of the criminal would be severely burned, and would become black as a
+coal.
+
+"He who now," said the steward, addressing them, "has a good conscience,
+may go with this and our Lord into the innermost room, lay his hand upon
+the bottom of the kettle, and show it to me. Now I go to receive you
+all!"
+
+The daughters went, the friends, Eva, and all the household. The steward
+questioned them as they came in: "Answer me, upon thy conscience, did
+thy hand touch the flat bottom of the kettle?"
+
+All replied, "Yes!"
+
+"Then show me your hand!" said he; and they showed them, and all were
+black: Sidsel's alone was white.
+
+"Thou art the thief!" said the steward. "Thy evil conscience has
+condemned thee. Thou hast not touched the kettle; hast not laid thy hand
+upon it, or it would have become as black as that of the others. The
+kettle was blackened inside with turpentine smoke; they who came with a
+good conscience, knowing that their hands would remain pure like their
+consciences, touched the kettle fearlessly and their hands became black!
+Thou hast condemned thyself! Confess, or it will go worse with thee!"
+
+Sidsel, uttered a horrible cry and fell down upon her knees.
+
+"O God, help me!" said she, and confessed that she was the thief.
+
+A chamber high up in the roof was prepared as a prison; here the
+delinquent was secured until the affair, on the following day, should be
+announced to the magistrate.
+
+"Thou shalt be sent to Odense, and work upon the treadmill!" said
+Wilhelm: "to that thou belongest!"
+
+The family assembled at the tea-table. Sophie joked about the day's
+adventure.
+
+"Poor Sidsel!" said Eva.
+
+"In England she would be hanged," said Wilhelm; "that would be a fine
+thing to see!"
+
+"Horrible!" replied Louise; "they must die of terror in going to the
+gallows."
+
+"Nay, it is very merry," said Wilhelm. "Now you shall hear what glorious
+music has been set to it by Rossini!" And he played the march from
+"Gazza Ladra," where a young girl is led to the gallows.
+
+"Is it not merry?" asked he. "Yes, he is a composer!"
+
+"To me it seems precisely characteristic," answered Otto. "They are not
+the feelings of the girl which the composer wished to express; it is the
+joy of the rude rabble in witnessing an execution--to them a charming
+spectacle, which is expressed in these joyous tones: it is a tragic
+opera, and therefore he chose exactly this character of expression!"
+
+"It is difficult to say anything against that," replied Wilhelm; "yet
+what you assert I have not heard from any other person."
+
+"When a soldier is executed they play some lively air," said Otto; "the
+contrast in this case brings forth the strongest effect!"
+
+The servant now entered, and said with a smile that Peter Cripple, the
+"new-married man," as he called him, was without and wished to speak to
+the Baron Wilhelm.
+
+"It is about a waltz," said he, "which the Baron had promised to him!"
+
+"It is late for him to come into the court!" said Sophie "the peasants
+generally go to bed with the sun."
+
+In the lobby stood the announced Peter in his stocking-feet, with his
+hat in one hand and a great stick in the other. He knew, he said, that
+it was still daytime with the gentlefolks; he was just coming past the
+hall and thought that he could, perhaps, have that Copenhagen Waltz
+which the Baron had promised him: he should want it to-morrow night
+to play at a wedding, and, therefore, he wished to have it now that he
+might practice it first of all.
+
+Sophie inquired after his young wife, and said something merry. Louise
+gave him a cup of tea, which he drank in the lobby. Otto looked at him
+through the open door; he made comical grimaces, and looked almost as
+if he wished to speak with him. Otto approached him, and Peter thrust
+a piece of paper into his hand, making at the same time a significant
+gesture indicative of silence.
+
+Otto stepped aside and examined the dirty piece of paper, which was
+folded together like a powder and sealed with a lump of wax. On the
+outside stood, in scarcely legible characters,
+
+           "TotH' WeL-borne,
+               Mr. Odto Tustraab."
+
+He endeavored, in the first place, to read it in the moonlight; but that
+was scarcely possible.
+
+After considerable labor he made out the meaning of this letter,
+written, as it was in a half-German, half-Danish gibberish, of the
+orthography of which we have given a specimen in the direction. The
+letter was from the German Heinrich. He besought Otto to meet him this
+evening in the wood near Peter Cripple's house, and he would give to him
+an explanation which should be worth the trouble of the walk. It would
+occasion, he said, much trouble and much misery to Mr Thostrup if he did
+not go.
+
+A strange anxiety penetrated Otto. How could he steal away without being
+missed? and yet go he both must and should. An extraordinary anxiety
+drove him forth.
+
+"Yes, the sooner the better!" said he, hastening down the steps and
+leaping in haste over the low garden-fence lest the gate should,
+perhaps, make a noise. He was very soon in the wood: he heard the
+beating of his own heart.
+
+"Eternal Father!" said he, "strengthen my soul! Release me from this
+anxiety which overpowers me! Let all be for the best!"
+
+He had now reached Peter Cripple's house. A figure leaned against the
+wall; Otto paused, measured it with his eye to ascertain who it was, and
+recognized German Heinrich.
+
+"What do you want with me?" inquired Otto.
+
+Heinrich raised his hand in token of silence, beckoned him forward,
+and opened a little gate which led to the back of the house. Otto
+mechanically followed him.
+
+"It goes on badly at the hall," said Heinrich. "Sidsel is really put in
+prison, and will be taken to-morrow to Odense, to the red house by the
+river."
+
+"It is what she has deserved!" said Otto. "I did not bring it about."
+
+"O no!" answered Heinrich; "in a certain way we bring nothing about; but
+you can put in a good word for her. You must see that this punishment
+does not befall her."
+
+"But the punishment is merited!" replied Otto; "and how can I mix myself
+up in the affair? What is it that you have to say to me?"
+
+"Yet, the good gentleman must not get angry!" began Heinrich again; "but
+I am grieved about the girl. I can very well believe that he does not
+know her, and therefore it gives him no trouble; but if I were now to
+whisper a little word in his ear? She is your own sister, Mr. Thostrup!"
+
+All grew dark before Otto's eyes; a chill as of death went through his
+blood; his hands held firmly by the cold wall, or he must have sunk to
+the earth; not a sound escaped his lips.
+
+German Heinrich laid his hand in a confidential manner upon his
+shoulder, and continued in a jeering, agitated tone, "Yes, it is hard
+for you to hear! I also struggled a long time with myself before I could
+make up my mind to tell you. But a little trouble is preferable to a
+great one. I had some talk with her yesterday, but I did not mention
+you, although it seemed queer to me at my heart that the brother should
+sit at the first table with the young ladies, and the sister be farm
+swine-maiden. Now they have put her in prison! I am very sorry for her
+and you too, Mr. Thostrup, for it is disagreeable! If the magistrate
+come to-morrow morning, and she fall into the claws of the red angel,
+it will not be so easy to set her at liberty again! But yet you
+could, perhaps, help her; as, for instance, to-night! I could make an
+opportunity--I would be in the great avenue beyond the hall. If she
+could get thus far she would be safe; I would then conduct her out of
+this part of the country. I may as well tell you that we were yesterday
+half-betrothed! She goes with me; and you can persuade the gracious lady
+at the hall to let the bird fly!"
+
+"But how can I? how can I?" exclaimed Otto.
+
+"She is, however, always your sister!" said Heinrich, and they both
+remained silent for a moment. "Then I will," said Heinrich, "if all be
+still at the hall, wait in the avenue as the bell goes twelve."
+
+"I must!" exclaimed Otto; "I must! God help me!"
+
+"Jesu, Maria, help!" said Heinrich, and Otto left him.
+
+"She is my sister! she, the most horrible of all!" sighed he; his knees
+trembled, and he leaned against a tree for support: his countenance was
+like that of the dead; cold sweat-drops stood upon his brow. All around
+him lay the dark night-like wood; only to the left glimmered, between
+the bushes, the moonlight reflected from the lake.
+
+"Within its depths," sighed he, "all would be forgotten--my grief would
+be over! Yet, what is my sin? Had I an existence before I was born upon
+this globe? Must I here be punished for sins which I then committed?"
+
+His dark eye stared lifelessly out of his pale countenance. Thus sit the
+dead upon their graves in the silent night; thus gazes the somnambulist
+upon the living world around him.
+
+"I have felt this moment before--this moment which now is here; it was
+the well-spring whence poison was poured over my youthful days! She is
+my sister! She? unhappy one that I am!"
+
+Tears streamed from his eyes, it was a convulsive weeping; he cried
+aloud, it was impossible to him to suppress his voice; he sank half down
+by the tree and wept, for it was night in his soul: silent, bitter tears
+flowed, as the blood flows when the heart is transpierced. Who could
+breathe to him consolation? There lay no balsam in the gentle airs
+of the clear summer night, in the fragrance of the wood, in the holy,
+silent spirit of nature. Poor Otto!
+
+             "Weep, only weep! it gives repose,
+              A world is every tear that flows,--
+              A world of anguish and unrest,
+              That rolleth from the troubled breast.
+
+             "And hast thou wept whilst tears can flow,
+              A tranquil peace thy heart will know;
+              For sorrow, trivial or severe,
+              Hath had its seat in every tear.
+
+             "Think'st thou that He, whose love beholds
+              The worm the smallest leaf enfolds,--
+              That He, whose power sustains the whole
+              Forgets a world--thy human soul?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+
+     "Mourir! c'est un instant de supplice: mais vivre?"
+     --FREDERIC SOULIE.
+
+The physician from Nyborg, who had been on a visit to a sick person in
+the neighborhood, took this opportunity of calling on the family and
+inquiring after Eva's health. They had prayed him to stay over the night
+there, and rather to drive hone in the early morning than so late in the
+evening. He allowed himself to be persuaded. Otto, on his return,
+found him and the family in deep conversation. They were talking of the
+"Letters of a Wandering Ghost."
+
+"Where have you been?" asked Sophie, as Otto entered.
+
+"You look so pale!" said Louise; "are you ill?"
+
+"I do not feel well!" replied Otto; "I went therefore down into the
+garden a little. Now I am perfectly recovered." And he took part in the
+conversation.
+
+The overwhelming sorrow had dissolved itself in tears. His mind had
+raised itself up again from its stupefaction, and sought for a point of
+light on which to attach itself. They were talking of the immense caves
+of Maastricht, how they stretch themselves out into deep passages and
+vast squares, in which sound is lost, and where the light, which cannot
+reach the nearest object, only glimmers like a point of fire. In order
+to comprehend this vacuity and this darkness, the travellers let the
+guide extinguish his torch, and all is night; they are penetrated, as it
+were, with darkness; the hand feels after a wall, in order to have some
+restraint, some thought on which to repose itself: the eye sees nothing;
+the ear hears nothing. Horror seizes on the strongest mind: the same
+darkness, the same desolate emotion, had Heinrich's words breathed into
+Otto's soul; therefore he sank like the traveller to the earth: but as
+the traveller's whole soul rivets itself by the eye upon the first spark
+which glimmers, to kindle again the torch which is to lead him forth
+from this grave, so did Otto attach himself to the first awakening
+thought of help. "Wilhelm? his soul is noble and good, him will I
+initiate into my painful secret, which chance had once almost revealed
+to him."
+
+But this was again extinguished, as the first spark is extinguished
+which the steel gives birth to. He could not confide himself to Wilhelm;
+the understanding which this very confidence would give birth to between
+them, must separate them from each other. It was humiliating, it was
+annihilating. But for Sophie? No, how could he, after that, declare the
+love of his heart? how far below her should he be placed, as the child
+of poverty and shame! But the mother of the family? Yes, she was gentle
+and kind; with a maternal sentiment she extended to him her hand, and
+looked upon him as on a near relation. His thoughts raised themselves on
+high, his hands folded themselves to prayer; "The will of the Lord
+alone be done!" trembled involuntarily from his lips. Courage returned
+refreshingly to his heart. The help of man was like the spark which
+was soon extinguished; God was an eternal torch, which illumined the
+darkness and could guide him through it.
+
+"Almighty God! thou alone canst and willest!" said he; "to thou who
+knowest the heart, do thou alone help and lead me!"
+
+This determination was firmly taken; to no human being would he confide
+himself; alone would he release the prisoner, and give her up to
+Heinrich. He thought upon the future, and yet darker and heavier than
+hitherto it stood before him. But he who confides in God can never
+despair the only thing that was now to be done was to obtain the key of
+the chamber where Sidsel was confined, and then when all in the house
+were asleep he would dare that which must be done.
+
+Courage and tranquillity return into every powerful soul when it once
+sees the possibility of accomplishing its work. With a constrained
+vivacity Otto mingled in the conversation, no one imagining what a
+struggle his soul had passed through.
+
+The disputation continued. Wilhelm was in one of his eloquent moods. The
+doctor regarded the "Letters of the Wandering Ghost" as one of the most
+perfect books in the Danish literature. Once Sophie had been of the same
+opinion, now she preferred Cooper's novels to this and all other books.
+
+"People so easily forget the good for the new," said Wilhelm; "if the
+new is only somewhat astonishing, the many regard the author as the
+first of writers. The nation is, aesthetically considered, now in its
+period of development. Every really cultivated person, who stands among
+the best spirits of his age, obtains, whilst he observes his own advance
+in the intellectual kingdom, clearness with regard to the development
+of his nation. This has, like himself, its distinct periods; in him
+some important event in life, in it some agitating world convulsion,
+may advance them suddenly a great leap forward. The public favor is
+unsteady; to-day it strews palm-branches, to-morrow it cries, 'Crucify
+him!' But I regard that as a moment of development. You will permit
+me to make use of an image to elucidate my idea. The botanist goes
+wandering through field and wood, he collects flowers and plants; every
+one of these had, while he gathered it, his entire interest, his whole
+thought--but the impression which it made faded before that of its
+successor: nor is it till after a longer time that he is able to enjoy
+the whole of his treasures, and arrange them according to their worth
+and their rareness. The public seizes alike upon flowers and herbs; we
+hear its assiduous occupation with the object of the moment, but it is
+not yet come into possession of the whole. At one time, that which was
+sentimental was the foremost in favor, and that poet was called the
+greatest who best knew how to touch this string; then it passed over
+to the peppered style of writing, and nothing pleased but histories
+of knights and robbers. Now people find pleasure in prosaic life, and
+Schroeder and Iffland are the acknowledged idols. For us the strength
+of the North opened heroes and gods, a new and significant scene. Then
+tragedy stood uppermost with us. Latterly we have begun to feel
+that this is not the flesh and blood of the present times. Then the
+fluttering little bird, the vaudeville, came out to us from the dark
+wood, and enticed us into our own chambers, where all is warm and
+comfortable, where one has leave to laugh, and to laugh is now a
+necessity for the Danes. One must not, like the crowd, inconsiderately
+place that as foremost which swims upon the waters, but treasure the
+good of every time, and arrange them side by side, as the botanist
+arranges his plants. Every people must, under the poetical sunshine,
+have their sentimental period, their berserker rage, their enjoyment of
+domestic life, and their giddy flights beyond it; it must merge itself
+in individuality before it can embrace the beauty of the whole. It is
+unfortunate for the poet who believes himself to be the wheel of his
+age; and yet he, with his whole crowd of admirers, is, as Menzel says,
+only a single wheel in the great machine--a little link in the infinite
+chain of beauty."
+
+"You speak like a Plato!" said Sophie.
+
+"If we could accord as well in music as we do in poetry," said Otto,
+"then we should be entirely united in our estimation of the arts. I love
+that music best which goes through the ear to the heart, and carries
+me away with it; on the contrary, if it is to be admired by the
+understanding, it is foreign to me."
+
+"Yes, that is your false estimation of the subject, dear friend!" said
+Wilhelm: "in aesthetics you come at once to the pure and true; but in
+music you are far away in the outer court, where the crowd is dancing,
+with cymbals and trumpets, around the musical golden calf!"
+
+And now the aesthetic unity brought them into a musical disunity. On
+such occasions, Otto was not one to be driven back from his position; he
+very well knew how to bear down his assailant by striking and original
+observations: but Otto, this evening, although he was animated
+enough--excited, one might almost say--did not exhibit the calmness, the
+decision in his thoughts and words, which otherwise would have given him
+the victory.
+
+It was a long hour, and one yet longer and more full of anxiety, which
+commenced with supper. The conversation turned to the events of the day.
+Otto mingled in it, and endeavored therefrom to derive advantage; it was
+a martyrdom of the soul. Sophie praised highly his discovery.
+
+"If Mr. Thostrup had not been here," said she, "then we should hardly
+have discovered the thief. We must thank Mr. Thostrup for it, and really
+for a merry, amusing spectacle."
+
+They joked about it alai laughed, and Otto was obliged to laugh also.
+
+"And now she sits up there, like a captive, in the roof!" said he; "it
+must be an uncomfortable night to her!"
+
+"Oh, she sleeps, perhaps, better than some of us others!" said Wilhelm:
+"that will not annoy her!"
+
+"She is confined in the gable chamber, out in the court, is she not?"
+inquired Otto: "there she has not any moonlight."
+
+"Yes, surely she has!" answered Sophie; "it is in the gable to the
+right, hooking toward the wood, that she is confined. We have placed her
+as near to the moon as we could. The gable on the uppermost floor is our
+keep."
+
+"But is it securely locked?" inquired Otto.
+
+"There is a padlock and a great bar outside the door; those she cannot
+force, and no one about the place will do such a piece of service for
+her. They dislike her, every one of them."
+
+They rose up from the table; the bell was just on the stroke of eleven.
+
+"But the Baron must play us a little piece!" said the physician.
+
+"Then Mr. Thostrup will sing us the pretty Jutlandish song by
+Steen-Blicher!" exclaimed Louise.
+
+"O yes!" said the mother, and clapped Otto on the shoulder.
+
+Wilhelm played.
+
+"Do sing!" said Wilhelm; all besought him to do so, and Otto sang the
+Jutlandish song for them.
+
+"See, you sang that with the proper humor," said Sophie, and clapped her
+hands in applause. With that all arose, offered to him their hands,
+and Wilhelm whispered to him, yet so that the sisters heard it, "This
+evening you have been right amiable!"
+
+Otto and Wilhelm went to their sleeping-room.
+
+"But, my good friend," said Wilhelm, "what did you really go into the
+garden for? Be so good as to confess to me: you were not unwell! You did
+not go only into the garden! you went into the wood, and you remained a
+long time there! I saw it! You made a little visit to the handsome
+woman while the fiddler was here, did you not? I do not trust you so
+entirely!"
+
+"You are joking!" answered Otto.
+
+"Yes, yes," continued Wilhelm, "she is a pretty little woman. Do you not
+remember how, last year at the mowing-feast, I threw roses at her? Now
+she is Peter Cripple's wife. When she comes with her husband then we
+have, bodily, 'Beauty and the Beast.'"
+
+That which Otto desired was, that Wilhelm should now soon go to sleep,
+and, therefore, he would not contradict him; he confessed even that the
+young wife was handsome, but added that she, as Peter Cripple's wife,
+was to him like a beautiful flower upon which a toad had set itself,--it
+would be disgusting to him to press the flower to his lips.
+
+The friends were soon in bed. They bade each other good night, and
+seemed both of them to sleep; and with Wilhelm this was the case.
+
+Otto lay awake; his pulse throbbed violently.
+
+Now the great hall clock struck twelve. All was still, quite still; but
+Otto did not yet dare to raise himself. It struck a quarter past the
+hour. He raised himself slowly, and glanced toward the bed where Wilhelm
+lay. Otto arose and dressed himself, suppressing the while his very
+breathing. A hunting-knife which hung upon the wall, and which belonged
+to Wilhelm, he put in his pocket; and lifted up, to take with him, the
+fire-tongs, with which he intended to break the iron staple that held
+the padlock. Yet once more he looked toward Wilhelm, who slept soundly.
+He opened the door, and went out without his shoes.
+
+He looked out from the passage-windows to see if lights were visible
+from any part of the building. All was still; all was in repose. That
+which he now feared most was, that one of the dogs might be lying in the
+lobby, and should begin to bark. But there was not one. He mounted up
+the steps, and went into the upper story.
+
+Only once before had he been there; now all was in darkness. He felt
+with his hands before him as he went.
+
+At length he found a narrow flight of stairs which led into a yet higher
+story. The opening at the top was closed, and he was obliged to use his
+whole strength to open it. At length it gave way with a loud noise. This
+was not the proper entrance; that lay on the opposite side of the story,
+and had he gone there he would have found it open, whereas this one had
+not been opened for a long time.
+
+The violent efforts which he had made caused him great pain, both in
+his neck and shoulders; but he was now at the very top of the building,
+close before the door he sought, and the moonlight shone in through the
+opening in the roof.
+
+By the help of the hunting-knife and the fire-tongs he succeeded in
+forcing the door, and that without any very considerable noise. He
+looked into a small, low room, upon the floor of which some dirty
+coverlets were thrown.
+
+Sidsel slept deeply and soundly with open mouth. A thick mass of hair
+escaped from beneath her cap, upon her brow; the moonlight fell, through
+the window-pane in the roof, upon her face. Otto bowed himself over her
+and examined the coarse, unpleasing features. The thick, black eyebrows
+appeared only like one irregular streak.
+
+"She is my sister!" was the thought which penetrated him. "She lay upon
+the same bosom that I did! The blood in these limbs has kinship with
+that in mine! She was the repelled one, the rejected one!"
+
+He trembled with pain and anguish; but it was only for a short time.
+
+"Stand up!" cried he, and touched the sleeper.
+
+"Ih, jane dou! [Author's Note: An exclamation among the common people
+of Funen, expressive of terror.] what is it?" cried she, half terrified,
+and fixed her unpleasant eyes wildly upon him.
+
+"Come with me!" said Otto, and his voice trembled as he spoke. "German
+Heinrich waits in the avenue! I will help you out! Hence; to-morrow it
+will be too late!"
+
+"What do you say?" asked she, and still looked at him with a bewildered
+mien.
+
+Otto repeated his words.
+
+"Do you think that I can get away?" asked she, and seized him by the
+arm, as she hastily sprang up.
+
+"Only silently and circumspectly!" said Otto.
+
+"I should not have expected theft from you!" said she. "But tell me why
+you do it?"
+
+Otto trembled; it was impossible for him to tell her his reasons, or to
+express the word,--"Thou art my sister!"
+
+His lips were silent.
+
+"To many a fellow," said she, "have I been kinder than I ought to have
+been, but see whether any of them think about Sidsel! And you do it! You
+who are so fine and so genteel!"
+
+Otto pressed together his eyelids; he heard her speak; an animal
+coarseness mingled itself with a sort of confidential manner which was
+annihilating to him.
+
+"She is my sister!" resounded in his soul.
+
+"Come now! come now!" and, descending the steps, she followed after him.
+
+"I know a better way!" said she, as they came to the lowest story. She
+seized his arm and they again descended a flight of steps.
+
+Suddenly a door opened itself, and Louise, still dressed, stepped forth
+with a light. She uttered a faint cry, and her eye riveted itself upon
+the two forms before her.
+
+But still more terribly and more powerfully did this encounter operate
+upon Otto. His feet seemed to fail him, and, for a moment, every
+object moved before his eyes in bright colors. It was the moment of his
+severest suffering. He sprang forth toward Louise, seized her hand, and,
+pale as death, with lifeless, staring eyes, half kneeling, besought of
+her, with an agitated voice:--
+
+"For God's sake, tell no one of that which you have seen! I am compelled
+to serve her--she is my sister! If you betray my secret I am lost to
+this world--I must die! It was not until this evening that I knew this
+to be the case! I will tell you all, but do not betray me! And do you
+prevent tomorrow any pursuit after her! O Louise! by the happiness of
+your own soul feel for the misery of mine! I shall destroy myself if you
+betray me!"
+
+"O God!" stammered Louise. "I will do all--all! I will be silent!
+Conduct her hence, quick, that you may meet with no one!"
+
+She seized Otto's hand; he sank upon his knee before her, and looked
+like a marble image which expressed manly beauty and sorrow.
+
+Louise bent herself with sisterly affection over him; tears flowed down
+her cheeks; her voice trembled, but it was tranquillizing, like the
+consolation of a good angel. With a glance full of confidence in her,
+Otto tore himself away. Sidsel followed him and said not a word.
+
+He led her to the lowest story and opened for her, silently, a window,
+through which she could descend to the garden, and thence easily reach
+the avenue where German Heinrich waited for her. To have accompanied
+her any further was unnecessary; it would have been venturing too much
+without any adequate cause. She stood now upon the window-sill--Otto put
+a little money into her hand.
+
+"The Lord is above us!" said he, in a solemn voice. "Never forget Him
+and endeavor to amend your life! All may yet be well!" He involuntarily
+pressed her hand in his. "Have God always in your thoughts!" said he.
+
+"I shall get safely away, however," said she, and descended into the
+garden; she nodded, and vanished behind the hedge.
+
+Otto stood for a while and listened whether any noise was heard, or
+whether any dog barked. He feared for her safety. All was still.
+
+Just as sometimes an old melody will suddenly awake in our remembrance
+and sound in our ear, so awoke now a holy text to his thoughts. "Lord,
+if I should take the wings of the morning, and should fly to the
+uttermost parts of the sea, thither thou wouldst lead me, and thy right
+hand would hold me fast! Thou art near to us! Thou canst accomplish and
+thou willest our well-being! Thou alone canst help us!"
+
+In silence he breathed his prayer.
+
+He returned to his chamber more composed in mind. Wilhelm seemed to
+sleep; but as Otto approached his bed he suddenly raised himself, and
+looked, inquiringly, around him.
+
+"Who is there?" exclaimed he; "you are dressed! where have you been?" He
+was urgent in his inquiry.
+
+Otto gave a joking reason.
+
+"Let me have your hand!" said he. Otto gave it to him, he felt his pulse.
+
+"Yes, quite correct!" said he; "the blood is yet in commotion. One sees
+plain enough that there is no concealing things! Here was I sleeping in
+all innocence, and you were running after adventures. You wicked bird!"
+
+The thoughts worked rapidly in Otto's soul. If Louise would only be
+silent, no one would dream of the possibility of his having part in
+Sidsel's flight. He must allow Wilhelm quietly to have his joke.
+
+"Was not I right?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"And if now you were so," replied Otto, "will you tell it to any one?"
+
+"Do you think that I could do such a thing?" replied Wilhelm; "we are
+all of us only mortal creatures!"
+
+Otto gave him his hand. "Be silent!" he said.
+
+"Yes, certainly," said Wilhelm; and, according to his custom,
+strengthened it with an oath. "Now I have sworn it," said he; "but when
+there is an opportunity you must tell me more about it!"
+
+"Yes, certainly," said Otto, with a deep sigh. Before his friend he no
+longer stood pure and guiltless.
+
+They slept. Otto's sleep was only a hateful dream.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII
+
+     "...Wie entzueckend
+     Und suess es ist, in einer schoenen Seele,
+     Verherrlicht uns zu fuehlen, es zu wissen,
+     Das uns're Fruede fremde Wangen roethet,
+     Und uns're Angst in fremdem Busen zittert,
+     Das uns're Leiden fremde Augen naessen."
+                                     SCHILLER.
+
+"How pale!" said Wilhelm the next morning to Otto. "Do you see, that is
+what people get by night-wandering?"
+
+"How so?" inquired Otto.
+
+Wilhelm made a jest of it.
+
+"You have been dreaming that!" said Otto.
+
+"How do you mean?" replied Wilhelm; "will you make me fancy that I have
+imagined it? I was really quite awake! we really talked about it; I
+was initiated in it. Actually I have a good mind to give you a moral
+lecture. If it had been me, how you would have preached!"
+
+They were summoned to breakfast. Otto's heart was ready to burst. What
+might he not have to hear? What must he say?
+
+Sophie was much excited.
+
+"Did you, gentlemen, hear anything last night?" she inquired. "Have you
+both slept?"
+
+"Yes, certainly," replied Wilhelm, and looked involuntarily at Otto.
+
+"The bird is flown, however!" said she; "it has made its escape out of
+the dove-cote."
+
+"What bird?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"Sidsel!" replied she; "and, what is oddest in the whole affair is, that
+Louise has loosed her wings. Louise is quite up to the romantic. Think
+only! she went up in the night to the topmost story, unlocked the
+prison-tower, gave a moral lecture to Sidsel, and after that let her go!
+Then in the morning comes Louise to mamma, relates the whole affair, and
+says a many affecting things!"
+
+"Yes, I do not understand it," said the mother, addressing Louise. "How
+you could have had the courage to go up so late at night, and go up to
+_her_! But it was very beautiful of you! Let her escape! it is, as you
+say, best that she should. We should all of us have thought of that last
+evening!"
+
+"I was so sorry for her!" said Louise; "and by chance it happened that I
+had a great many things to arrange after you were all in bed. Everything
+was so still in the house, it seemed to me as if I could hear Sidsel
+sigh; certainly it was only my own imagination, but I could do no other
+than pity her! she was so unfortunate! Thus I let her escape!"
+
+"Are you gone mad?" inquired Wilhelm; "what a history is this? Did you
+go in the night up to the top of the house? That is an unseasonable
+compassion!"
+
+"It was beautiful!" said Otto, bending himself involuntarily, and
+kissing Louise's hand.
+
+"Yes, that is water to his mill!" exclaimed Wilhelm. "I think nothing of
+such things!"
+
+"We will not talk about it to anyone," said the mother. "The steward
+shall not proceed any further in it. We have recovered the old silver
+tankard, and the losing that was my greatest trouble. We will thank God
+that we are well rid of her! Poor thing! she will come to an unfortunate
+end!"
+
+"Are you still unwell, Mr. Thostrup?" said Sophie, and looked at him.
+
+"I am a little feverish," replied he. "I will take a very long walk, and
+then I shall be better."
+
+"You should take a few drops," said the lady.
+
+"O, he will come to himself yet!" said Wilhelm; "he must take exercise!
+His is not a dangerous illness."
+
+Otto went into the wood. It was to him a temple of God; his heart poured
+forth a hymn of thanksgiving. Louise had been his good angel. He felt
+of a truth that she would never betray his secret. His thoughts clung to
+her with confidence. "Are you still unwell?" Sophie had said. The tones
+of her voice alone had been like the fragrance of healing herbs; in her
+eye he had felt sympathy and--love. "O Sophie!" sighed he. Both sisters
+were so dear to him.
+
+He entered the garden and went along the great avenue; here he met
+Louise. One might almost have imagined that she had sought for him:
+there was no one but her to be seen in the whole avenue.
+
+Otto pressed her hand to his lips. "You have saved my life!" said he.
+
+"Dear Thostrup!" answered she, "do not betray yourself. Yon have come
+happily out of the affair! Thank God! my little part in it has concealed
+the whole. For the rest I have a suspicion. Yes, I cannot avoid it. May
+not the whole be an error? It is possible that she is that which you
+said! Tell me all that you can let me know. From this seat we can see
+everybody who comes into the avenue. No one can hear us!"
+
+"Yes, to you alone I can confide it!" said Otto; "to you will I tell
+it."
+
+He now related that which we know about the manufactory, which he called
+the house, in which German Heinrich had first seen him, and had tattooed
+his initials upon his shoulder; their later meeting in the park, and
+afterwards by St. Ander's Cross.
+
+Louise trembled; her glance rested sympathizingly upon Otto's pale and
+handsome countenance. He showed her the letter which had been brought to
+him the last evening, and related to her what Heinrich had told him.
+
+"It may be so," said Louise; "but yet I have not been able to lose
+the idea all the morning that you have been deceived. Not one of her
+features resembles yours. Can brother and sister be so different as you
+and she? Yet, be the truth as it may, promise me not to think too much
+about it. There is a good Ruler above who can turn all things for the
+best."
+
+"These horrible circumstances," said Otto, "have robbed me of the
+cheerfulness of my youth. They thrust themselves disturbingly into my
+whole future. Not to Wilhelm--no, not to any one have I been able to
+confide them. You know all! God knows that you were compelled to learn
+them. I leave myself entirely in your hands!"
+
+He pressed her hand silently, and with the earnest glance of confidence
+and truth they looked at each other.
+
+"I shall speedily leave my native country," said Otto. "It may be
+forever. I should return with sorrow to a home where no happiness
+awaited me. I stand so entirely alone in the world!"
+
+"But you have friends," said Louise; "sincere friends. You must think
+with pleasure of returning home to Denmark. My mother loves you as if
+she were your own mother. Wilhelm and Sophie--yes, we will consider you
+as a brother."
+
+"And Sophie?" exclaimed Otto.
+
+"Yes, can you doubt it?" inquired Louise.
+
+"She knows me not as you know me; and if she did?"--He pressed his hands
+before his eyes and burst into tears. "You know all: you know more
+than I could tell her," sighed he. "I am more unfortunate than you can
+believe. Never can I forget her--never!"
+
+"For Heaven's sake compose yourself!" said Louise rising. "Some one
+might come, and you would not be able to conceal your emotion. All may
+yet be well! Confide only in God in heaven!"
+
+"Do not tell your sister that which I have told you. Do not tell any
+one. I have revealed to you every secret which my soul contains."
+
+"I will be to you a good sister," said Louise, and pressed his hand.
+
+They silently walked down the avenue.
+
+The sisters slept in the same room.
+
+At night, after Sophie had been an hour in bed, Louise entered the
+chamber.
+
+"Thou art become a spirit of the night," said Sophie. "Where hast thou
+been? Thou art not going up into the loft again to-night, thou strange
+girl? Had it been Wilhelm, Thostrup, or myself who had undertaken such a
+thing, it would have been quite natural; but thou"--
+
+"Am I, then, so very different to you all?" inquired Louise. "I should
+resemble my sister less than even Mr. Thostrup resembles her. You two
+are so very different!"
+
+"In our views, in our impulses, we very much resemble each other!" said
+Sophie.
+
+"He is certainly not happy," exclaimed Louise. "We can read it in his
+eyes."
+
+"Yes, but it is precisely that which makes him interesting!" said
+Sophie; "he is thus a handsome shadow-piece in everyday life."
+
+"Thou speakest about it so calmly," said Louise, and bent over her
+sister, "I would almost believe that it was love."
+
+"Love!" exclaimed Sophie, raising herself up in bed, for now Louise's
+words had become interesting to her; "whom dost thou think that he
+loves?"
+
+"Thyself," replied Louise, and seized her sister's hand.
+
+"Perhaps?" returned Sophie. "I also made fun of him! It certainly went
+on better when our cousin was here. Poor Thostrup!"
+
+"And thou, Sophie," inquired Louise, "dost thou return his love?"
+
+"It is a regular confession that thou desirest," replied she. "He is
+in love--that all young men are. Our cousin, I can tell thee, said many
+pretty things to me. Even the Kammerjunker flatters as well as he can,
+the good soul! I have now resolved with myself to be a reasonable girl.
+Believe me, however, Thostrup is in an ill humor!"
+
+"If the Kammerjunker were to pay his addresses to you, would you accept
+him?" asked Louise, and seated herself upon her sister's bed.
+
+"What can make you think of such a thing?" inquired she. "Hast thou
+heard anything?--Thou makest me anxious! O Louise! I joke, I talk a
+deal; but for all that, believe me, I am not happy!"
+
+They talked about the Kammerjunker, about Otto, and about the French
+cousin. It was late in the night. Large tears stood in Sophie's eyes,
+but she laughed for all that, and ended with a quotation from Jean Paul.
+
+Half an hour afterward she slept and dreamed; her round white arm lay
+upon the coverlet, and her lips moved with these words:
+
+           "With a smile as if an angel
+            Had just then kissed her mouth." [Note: Christian Winther.]
+
+Louise pressed her countenance on the soft pillow, and wept.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX
+
+      "A swarm of colors, noise and screaming,
+         Music and sights, past any dreaming,
+       The rattle of wheels going late and early,--
+         All draw the looker-on into the hurly-burly."
+                                        TH. OVERSKOU.
+
+A few days passed on. Otto heard nothing of German Heinrich or of his
+sister. Peter Cripple seemed not to be in their confidence. All that
+he knew was, that the letter which he had conveyed to Otto was to be
+unknown to any one beside. As regarded German Heinrich, he believed that
+he was now in another part of tire country; but that at St. Knud's fair,
+in Odense, he would certainly find him.
+
+In Otto's soul there was an extraordinary combating. Louise's words,
+that he had been deceived, gave birth to hopes, which, insignificant as
+the grain of mustard-seed, shot forth green leaves.
+
+"May not," thought he, "German Heinrich, to further his own plans, have
+made use of my fear? I must speak with him; he shall swear to me the
+truth."
+
+He compared in thought the unpleasing, coarse features of Sidsel, with
+the image which his memory faintly retained of his little sister.
+She seemed to him as a delicate creature with large eyes. He had not
+forgotten that the people about them had spoken of her as of "a kitten
+that they could hardly keep alive." How then could she now be this
+square-built, singularly plain being, with the eyebrows growing
+together? "I must speak with Heinrich," resolved he; "she cannot be my
+sister! so heavily as that God will not try me."
+
+By such thoughts as these his mind became much calmer. There were
+moments when the star of love mirrored itself in his life's sea.
+
+His love for Sophie was no longer a caged bird within his breast; its
+wings were at liberty; Louise saw its release; it was about to fly to
+its goal.
+
+St. Knud's fair was at hand, and on that account the family was about to
+set out for Odense. Eva was the only one who was to remain at home. It
+was her wish to do so.
+
+"Odense is not worth the trouble of thy going to see," said Sophie; "but
+in this way thou wilt never increase thy geographical knowledge. In the
+mean time, however, I shall bring thee a fairing--a husband of honey
+cake, ornamented with almonds."
+
+Wilhelm thought that she should enjoy the passing pleasure, and go with
+them; but Eva prayed to stay, and she had her will.
+
+"There is a deal of pleasure in the world," said Wilhelm, "if people
+will only enjoy it. If one day in Paris is a brilliant flower, a day at
+Odense fair is also a flower. It is a merry, charming world that we
+live in! I am almost ready to say with King Valdemar, that if I might
+keep--yes, I will say, the earth, then our Lord might willingly for
+me keep heaven: there it is much better than we deserve; and God knows
+whether we may not, in the other world, have longings after the old
+world down here!"
+
+"After Odense fair?" asked Sophie ironically.
+
+Otto stood wrapped in his own thoughts. This day, he felt, would be one
+of the most remarkable in his life. German Heinrich must give him
+an explanation. Sophie must do so likewise Could he indeed meet with
+success from them both? Would not sorrow and pain be his fairings?
+
+The carriage rolled away.
+
+From the various cross-roads came driving up the carriages of the gentry
+and the peasants; the one drove past the other; and as the French and
+English Channel collects ships from the Atlantic Ocean, so did the
+King's Road those who drove in carriages, those who rode on horseback,
+and those who went on foot.
+
+Behind most of the peasant-vehicles were tied a few horses, that went
+trotting on with them. Mamsells from the farms sat with large gloves on
+their red arms and hands. They held their umbrellas before their faces
+on account of the dust and the sun.
+
+"The Kammerjunker's people must have set off earlier than we," said
+Sophie, "otherwise they would have called for us."
+
+Otto looked inquiringly at her. She thought on the Kammerjunker!
+
+"We shall draw up by Faugde church," said Sophie. "Mr. Thostrup can
+see Kingo's [Author's Note: The Bishop of Funen, who died in 1703.]
+grave--can see where the sacred poet lies. Some true trumpeting angels,
+in whom one can rightly see how heavy the marble is, fly with the
+Bishop's staff and hat within the chapel."
+
+Otto smiled, and she thought also about giving him pleasure.
+
+The church was seen, the grave visited, and they rapidly rolled along
+the King's Road toward Odense, the lofty tower of whose cathedral had
+hailed them at some miles' distance.
+
+We do not require alone from the portrait-painter that he should
+represent the person, but that he should represent him in his happiest
+moment. To the plain as well as to the inexpressive countenance must
+the painter give every beauty which it possesses. Every human being
+has moments in which something intellectual or characteristic presents
+itself. Nature, too, when we are presented only with the most barren
+landscape, has the same moments; light and shadow produce these effects.
+The poet must be like the painter; he must seize upon these moments in
+human life as the other in nature.
+
+If the reader were a child who lived in Odense, it would require nothing
+more from him than that he should say the words, "St. Knud's fair;"
+and this, illumined by the beams of the imagination of childhood, would
+stand before him in the most brilliant colors. Our description will be
+only a shadow; it will be that, perhaps, which the many will find it to
+be.
+
+Already in the suburbs the crowd of people, and the outspread
+earthenware of the potters, which entirely covered the trottoir,
+announced that the fair was in full operation.
+
+The carriage drove down from the bridge across the Odense River.
+
+"See, how beautiful it is here!" exclaimed Wilhelm.
+
+Between the gardens of the city and a space occupied as a bleaching
+ground lay the river. The magnificent church of St. Knud, with its lofty
+tower, terminated the view.
+
+"What red house was that?" inquired Otto, when they had lost sight of
+it.
+
+"That is the nunnery!" replied Louise, knowing what thought it was which
+had arisen in his mind.
+
+"There stood in the ancient times the old bishop's palace, where
+Beldenak lived!" said Sophie. "Just opposite to the river is the
+bell-well, where a bell flew out of St. Albani's tower. The well is
+unfathomable. Whenever rich people in Odense die, it rings down below
+the water!"
+
+"It is not a pleasant thought," said Otto, "that it rings in the well
+when they must die."
+
+"One must not take it in that way now!" said Sophie, laughing, and
+turned the subject. "Odense has many lions," continued she, "from a
+king's garden with swans in it to a great theatre, which has this in
+common with La Scala and many Italian ones, that it is built upon the
+ruins of a convent. [Note: That of the Black Brothers.]
+
+"In Odense, aristocracy and democracy held out the longest," said
+Wilhelm, smiling; "yet I remember, in my childhood, that when the nobles
+and the citizens met on the king's birthday at the town-house ball, that
+we danced by ourselves."
+
+"Were not, then, the citizens strong enough to throw the giddy nobles
+out of the window?" inquired Otto.
+
+"You forget, Mr. Thostrup, that you yourself are noble!" said Sophie. "I
+was really the goddess of fate who gave to you your genealogical tree."
+
+"You still remember that evening?" said Otto, with a gentle voice, and
+the thoughts floated as gayly in his mind as the crowd of people floated
+up and down in the streets through which they drove.
+
+Somewhere about the middle of the city five streets met; and this
+point, which widens itself out into a little square, is called the Cross
+Street: here lay the hotel to which the family drove.
+
+"Two hours and a quarter too late!" said the Kammerjunker, who came out
+to meet them on the steps. "Good weather for the fair, and good
+horses! I have already been out at the West-gate, and have bought two
+magnificent mares. One of them kicked out behind, and had nearly given
+me a blow on the breast, so that I might have said I had had my fairing!
+Jakoba is paying visits, drinking chocolate, and eating biscuits.
+Mamsell is out taking a view of things. Now you know our story."
+
+The ladies went to their chamber, the gentlemen remained in the saloon.
+
+"Yes, here you shall see a city and a fair, Mr. Thostrup!" said the
+Kammerjunker, and slapped Otto on the shoulder.
+
+"Odense was at one time my principal chief-city," said Wilhelm; "and
+still St. Knud's Church is the most magnificent I know. God knows
+whether St. Peter's in Rome would make upon me, now that I am older, the
+impression which this made upon me as a child!"
+
+"In St. Knud's Church lies the Mamsell with the cats," said the
+Kammerjunker.
+
+"The bishop's lady, you should say," returned Wilhelm. "The legend
+relates, that there was a lady of a Bishop Mus who loved her cats to
+that degree that she left orders that they should be laid with her
+in the grave. [Author's Note: The remains of the body, as well as the
+skeletons of the cats, are still to be seen in a chapel on the western
+aisle of the church.] We will afterward go and see them."
+
+"Yes, both the bishop's lady and the cats," said the Kammerjunker, "look
+like dried fish! Then you must also see the nunnery and the military
+library."
+
+"The Hospital and the House of Correction!" added Wilhelm.
+
+The beating of a drum in the street drew them to the window. The city
+crier, in striped linsey-woolsey jacket and breeches, and with a
+yellow band across his shoulders, stood there, beat upon his drum, and
+proclaimed aloud from a written paper many wonderful things which were
+to be seen in the city.
+
+"He beats a good drum," said the Kammerjunker.
+
+"It would certainly delight Rossini and Spontini to hear the fellow!"
+said Wilhelm. "In fact Odense would be, at New Year's time, a city for
+these two composers. You must know that at that season drums and fifes
+are in their glory. They drum the New Year in. Seven or eight little
+drummers and fifers go from door to door, attended by children and old
+women; at that time they beat both the tattoo and the reveille. For this
+they get a few pence. When the New Year is drummed-in in the city they
+wander out into the country, and drum there for bacon and groats. The
+New Year's drumming in lasts until about Easter."
+
+"And then we have new pastimes," said the Kammerjunker.
+
+"Then come the fishers from Stige, [Author's Note: A fishing village
+in Odense Fjord.] with a complete band, and carrying a boat upon their
+shoulders ornamented with a variety of flags. After that they lay a
+board between two boats, and upon this two of the youngest and the
+strongest have a wrestling-match, until one of them falls into the
+water. The last years they both have allowed themselves to tumble in.
+And this has been done in consequence of one young man who fell in being
+so stung by the jeers which his fall had occasioned that he left, that
+same day, the fishing village, after which no one saw him. But all the
+fun is gone now! In my boyhood the merriment was quite another thing.
+It was a fine sight when the corporation paraded with their ensign
+and harlequin on the top! And at Easter, when the butchers led about a
+bullock ornamented with ribbons and Easter-twigs, on the back of which
+was seated a little winged boy in a shirt. They had Turkish music, and
+carried flagons with them! See! all that have I outlived, and yet I am
+not so old. Baron Wilhelm must have seen the ornamented ox. Now all that
+is past and gone; people are got so refined! Neither is St. Knud's fair
+that which it used to be."
+
+"For all that, I rejoice that it is not so!" said Wilhelm. "But we will
+go into the market and visit the Jutlanders, who are sitting there among
+the heath with their earthenware. You will stand a chance there, Mr.
+Thostrup, of meeting with an old acquaintance; only you must not have
+home-sickness when you smell the heather and hear the ringing of the
+clattering pots!"
+
+The ladies now entered. Before paying any visits they determined upon
+making the round of the market. The Kammerjunker offered his arm to the
+mother. Otto saw this with secret gladness, and approached Sophie. She
+accepted him willingly as an attendant; they must indeed get into the
+throng.
+
+As in the Middle Ages the various professions had their distinct streets
+and quarters, so had they also here. The street which led to the market
+place, and which in every-day life was called the "Shoemaker Street,"
+answered perfectly to its name. The shoemakers had ranged their tables
+side by side. These, and the rails which had been erected for the
+purpose, were hung over with all kinds of articles for the feet; the
+tables themselves were laden with heavy shoes and thick-soled boots.
+Behind these stood the skillful workman in his long Sunday coat, and
+with his well-brushed felt-hat upon his head.
+
+Where the shoemakers' quarter ended that of the hatters' began, and with
+this one was in the middle of the great market-place, where tents and
+booths formed many parallel streets. The booth of galanterie wares, the
+goldsmith's, and the confectioner's, most of them constructed of canvas,
+some few of them of wood, were points of great attraction. Round about
+fluttered ribbons and handkerchiefs; round about were noise and bustle.
+Peasant-girls out of the same village went always in a row, seven or
+eight inseparables, with their hands fast locked in each other; it was
+impossible to break the chain; and if people tried to press through
+them, the whole flock rolled together in a heap.
+
+Behind the booths there lay a great space filled with wooden shoes,
+coarse earthenware, turners' and saddlers' work. Upon tables were spread
+out toys, generally rudely made and coarsely painted. All around
+the children assayed their little trumpets, and turned about their
+playthings. The peasant-girls twirled and twisted both the work-boxes
+and themselves many a time before the bargain was completed. The air
+was heavy with all kinds of odors, and was spiced with the fragrance of
+honey-cake.
+
+Here acquaintances met each other-some peasant-maidens, perhaps, who had
+been born in the same village, but since then had been separated.
+
+"Good day!" exclaimed they, took each other by the hand, gave their arms
+a swing, and laughed.
+
+"Farewell!"
+
+That was the whole conversation: such a one went on in many places.
+
+"That is the heather!" exclaimed Otto, as he approached the quarter
+where the Jutland potters had their station; "how refreshing is the
+odor!" said he, and stooping down seized a twig fresh and green, as if
+it had been plucked only yesterday.
+
+"Aye, my Jesus though! is not that Mr. Otto!" exclaimed a female voice
+just beside him, and a young Jutland peasantwoman skipped across the
+pottery toward him. Otto knew her. It was the little Maria, the eelman's
+daughter, who, as we may remember at Otto's visit to the fisher's,
+had removed to Ringkjoebing, and had hired herself for the hay and
+cornharvest--the brisk Maria, "the girl," as her father called her. She
+had been betrothed in Ringkjoebing, and married to the rich earthenware
+dealer, and now had come across the salt-water to Odense fair, where she
+should meet with Mr. Otto.
+
+"Her parents lived on my grandfather's estate," said Otto to Sophie,
+who observed with a smile the young wife's delight in meeting with
+an acquaintance of her childhood. The husband was busily employed in
+selling his wares; he heard nothing of it.
+
+"Nay, but how elegant and handsome you are become!" said the young wife:
+"but see, I knew you again for all that! Grandmother, you may believe
+me, thinks a deal about you! The old body, she is so brisk and lively;
+it does not trouble her a bit that she cannot see! You are the second
+acquaintance that I have met with in the fair. It's wonderful how people
+come here from all parts of the world! The players are here too! You
+still remember the German Heinrich? Over there in the gray house, at the
+corner of the market, he is acting his comedy in the gateway."
+
+"I am glad that I have seen you!" said Otto, and nodded kindly. "Greet
+them at home, and the grandmother, for me!"
+
+"Greet them also from me!" said Sophie smiling. "You, Mr. Thostrup, must
+for old acquaintance sake buy something. You ought also to give me a
+fairing: I wish for that great jug there!"
+
+"Where are you staying!" cried Wilhelm, and came back, whilst the rest
+went forward.
+
+"We would buy some earthenware," said Sophie. "Souvenir de Jutland. The
+one there has a splendid picture on it!"
+
+"You shall have it!" said Otto. "But if I requested a fairing from you,
+I beseech of you, might I say"--
+
+"That it possibly might obtain its worth from my hand," said Sophie,
+smiling. "I understand you very well--a sprig of heather? I shall
+steal!" said she to the young wife, as she took a little sprig of heath
+and stuck it into his buttonhole. "Greet the grandmother for me!"
+
+Otto and Sophie went.
+
+"That's a very laughing body!" said the woman half aloud, as she looked
+after them; her glance followed Otto, she folded her hands--she was
+thinking, perhaps, on the days of her childhood.
+
+At St. Knud's church-yard Otto and Sophie overtook the others. They were
+going into the church. On the fair days this and all the tombs within it
+were open to the public.
+
+From whichever side this church is contemplated from without, the
+magnificent old building has, especially from its lofty tower and
+spire, something imposing about it; the interior produces the same, nay,
+perhaps a greater effect. But as the principal entrance is through the
+armory, and the lesser one is from the side of the church, its full
+impression is not felt on entering it; nor is it until you arrive at the
+end of the great aisle that you are aware rightly of its grandeur. All
+there is great, beautiful, and light. The whole interior is white with
+gilding. Aloft on the high-vaulted roof there shine, and that from the
+old time, many golden stars. On both sides, high up, higher than the
+side-aisles of the church, are large Gothic windows, from which the
+light streams down. The side-aisles are adorned with old paintings,
+which represent whole families, women and children, all clad in
+canonicals, in long robes and large ruffs. In an ordinary way, the
+figures are all ranged according to age, the oldest first, and then down
+to the very least child, and stand with folded hands, and look piously
+with downcast eyes and faces all in one direction, until by length of
+time the colors have all faded away.
+
+Just opposite to the entrance of the church may be seen, built into the
+wall, a stone, on which is a bas-relief, and before it a grave. This
+attracted Otto's attention.
+
+"It is the grave of King John and of Queen Christina, of Prince
+Francesco and of Christian the Second," said Wilhelm; "they lie together
+in a small vault!" [Author's Note: On the removal of the church of
+the Grey Brothers, the remains of these royal parents and two of their
+children were collected in a coffin and placed here in St. Knud's
+Church. The memorial stone, of which we have spoken, was erected
+afterwards.]
+
+"Christian the Second!" exclaimed Otto. "Denmark's wisest and dearest
+king!"
+
+"Christian the Bad!" said the Kammerjunker, amazed at the tone of
+enthusiasm in which Otto had spoken.
+
+"Christian the Bad!" repeated Otto; "yes, it is now the mode to speak of
+him thus, but we should not do so. We ought to remember how the Swedish
+and Danish nobles behaved themselves, what cruelties they perpetrated,
+and that we have the history of Christian the Second from one of the
+offended party. Writers flatter the reigning powers. A prince must
+have committed crimes, or have lost his power, if his errors are to be
+rightly presented to future generations. People forget that which was
+good in Christian, and have painted the dark side of his character, to
+the formation of which the age lent its part."
+
+The Kammerjunker could not forget the Swedish bloodbath, the execution
+of Torben Oxe, and all that can be said against the unfortunate king.
+
+Otto drove him completely out of the field, in part from his enthusiasm
+for Christian the Second, but still more because it was the Kammerjunker
+with whom he was contending. Sophie took Otto's side, her eye sparkled
+applause, and the victory could not be other than his.
+
+"What is it that the poet said of the fate of a king?" said Sophie.
+
+                              "Woe's me for him
+   Who to the world shows more of ill than good!
+   The good each man ascribes unto himself,
+   Whilst on him only rest the crimes o' th' age."
+
+"Had Christian been so fortunate as to have subdued the rebellious
+nobles," continued Otto, "could he have carried out his bold plans, then
+they would have called him Christian the Great: it is not the active
+mind, but the failure in any design, which the world condemns."
+
+Louise nevertheless took the side of the Kammerjunker, and therefore
+these two went together up the aisle toward the tomb of the Glorup
+family. Wilhelm and his mother were already gone out of the church.
+
+"I envy you your eloquence!" said Sophie, and looked with an expression
+of love into Otto's face; she bent herself over the railing around the
+tomb, and looked thoughtfully upon the stone. Thoughts of love were
+animated in Otto's soul.
+
+"Intellect and heart!" exclaimed he, "must admire that which is great:
+you possess both these!" He seized her hand.
+
+A faint crimson passed over Sophie's cheeks. "The others are gone out!"
+she said; "come, let us go up to the chancel."
+
+"Up to the altar!" said Otto; "that is a bold course for one's whole
+life!"
+
+Sophie looked jestingly at him. "Do you see the monument there within
+the pillars?" asked she after a short pause; "the lady with the crossed
+arms and the colored countenance? In one night she danced twelve knights
+to death, the thirteenth, whom she had invited for her partner, cut her
+girdle in two in the dance and she fell dead to the earth!" [Author's
+Note: In Thiele's Danish Popular Tradition it is related that she was
+one Margrethe Skofgaard of Sanderumgaard, and that she died at a ball,
+where she had danced to death twelve knights. The people relate it with
+a variation as above; it is probable that it is mingled with a second
+tradition, for example, that of the blood-spots at Koldinghuus, which
+relates that an old king was so angry with his daughter that he resolved
+to kill her, and ordered that his knights should dance with her one
+after another until the breath was out of her. Nine had danced with her,
+and then came up the king himself as the tenth, and when he became weary
+he cut her girdle in two, on which the blood streamed from her mouth and
+she died.]
+
+"She was a northern Turandot!" said Otto; "the stony heart itself was
+forced to break and bleed. There is really a jest in having the marble
+painted. She stands before future ages as if she lived--a stone image,
+white and red, only a mask of beauty. She is a warning to young ladies!"
+
+"Yes, against dancing!" said Sophie, smiling at Otto's extraordinary
+gravity.
+
+"And yet it must be a blessed thing," exclaimed he, "a very blessed
+thing, amid pealing music, arm-in-arm with one's beloved, to be able to
+dance life away, and to sink bleeding before her feet!"
+
+"And yet only to see that she would dance with a new one!" said Sophie.
+
+"No, no!" exclaimed Otto, "that you could not do! that you will not do!
+O Sophie, if you knew!"--He approached her still nearer, bent his head
+toward her, and his eye had twofold fire and expression in it.
+
+"You must come with us and see the cats!" said the Kammerjunker, and
+sprang in between them.
+
+"Yes, it is charming!" said Sophie. "You will have an opportunity, Mr.
+Thostrup, of moralizing over the perishableness of female beauty!"
+
+"In the evening, when we drive home together," thought Otto to himself
+consolingly, "in the mild summer-evening no Kammerjunker will disturb
+me. It must, it shall be decided! Misfortune might subject the
+wildness of childhood, but it gave me confidence, it never destroyed my
+independence; Love has made me timid,--has made me weak. May I thereby
+win a bride?"
+
+Gravely and with a dark glance he followed after Sophie and her guide.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL
+
+     "In vain his beet endeavors were;
+     Dull was the evening, and duller grew."--LUDOLF SCHLEF.
+
+     "Seest thou how its little life
+       The bird hides in the wood?
+     Wilt thou be my little wife--
+       Then do it soon. Good!
+     --A bridegroom am I."--Arion.
+
+Close beside St. Knud's Church, where once the convent stood, is now the
+dwelling of a private man. [Author's Note: See Oehlenschlaeger's Jorney
+to Funen.] The excellent hostess here, who once charmed the public on
+the Danish stage as Ida Munster, awaited the family to dinner.
+
+After dinner they wandered up and down the garden, which extended to the
+Odense River.
+
+In the dusk of evening Otto went to visit the German Heinrich; he had
+mentioned it to Louise, and she promised to divert attention from him
+whilst he was away.
+
+The company took coffee in the garden-house; Otto walked in deep thought
+in the avenue by the side of the river. The beautiful scene before
+him riveted his eye. Close beside lay a water-mill, over the two great
+wheels of which poured the river white as milk. Behind this was thrown a
+bridge, over which people walked and drove. The journeyman-miller
+stood upon the balcony, and whistled an air. It was such a picture as
+Christian Winther and Uhland give in their picturesque poems. On the
+other side of the mill arose tall poplars half-buried in the green
+meadow, in which stood the nunnery; a nun had once drowned herself where
+now the red daisies grow.
+
+A strong sunlight lit up the whole scene. All was repose and summer
+warmth. Suddenly Otto's ear caught the deep and powerful tones of an
+organ; he turned himself round. The tones, which went to his heart, came
+from St. Knud's Church, which lay close beside the garden. The sunshine
+of the landscape, and the strength of the music, gave, as it were, to
+him light and strength for the darkness toward which he was so soon to
+go.
+
+The sun set; and Otto went alone across the market-place toward the old
+corner house, where German Heinrich practiced his arts. Upon this place
+stood St. Albani's Church, where St. Knud, betrayed by his servant
+Blake, [Author's Note: Whence has arisen the popular expression of
+"being a false Blake."] was killed by the tumultuous rebels. The common
+people believe that from one of the deep cellars under this house
+proceeds a subterranean passage to the so-called "Nun's Hill." At
+midnight the neighboring inhabitants still hear a roaring under the
+marketplace, as if of the sudden falling of a cascade. The better
+informed explain it as being a concealed natural water-course, which has
+a connection with the neighboring river. In our time the old house is
+become a manufactory; the broken windows, the gaps of which are repaired
+either with slips of wood or with paper, the quantity of human bones
+which are found in the garden, and which remain from the time when this
+was a church-yard, give to the whole place a peculiar interest to the
+common people of Odense.
+
+Entering the house at the front, it is on the same level as the
+market-place; the back of the house, on the contrary, descends
+precipitously into the garden, where there are thick old walls and
+foundations. The situation is thus quite romantic; just beside it is
+the old nunnery, with its dentated gables, and not far off the ruins, in
+whose depths the common people believe that there resides an evil being,
+"the river-man," who annually demands his human sacrifice, which he
+announces the night before. Behind this lie meadows, villas, and green
+woods.
+
+On the other side of the court, in a back gate-way, German Heinrich
+had set up his theatre. The entrance cost eight skillings; people of
+condition paid according to their own will.
+
+Otto entered during the representation. A cloth constituted the whole
+scenic arrangement. In the middle of the floor sat a horrible goblin,
+with a coal-black Moorish countenance and crispy hair upon its head. An
+old bed-cover concealed the figure, yet one saw that it was that of a
+woman.
+
+The audience consisted of peasants and street boys. Otto kept himself in
+the background, and remained unobserved by Heinrich.
+
+The representation was soon at an end, and the crowd dispersed. It was
+then that Otto first came forward.
+
+"We must speak a few words together!" said he. "Heinrich, you have not
+acted honestly by me! The girl is not that which you represented her to
+be; you have deceived me: I demand an explanation!"
+
+German Heinrich stood silent, but every feature eloquently expressed
+first amazement, and then slyness and cunning; his knavish, malicious
+eye, measured Otto from top to toe.
+
+"Nay; so then, Mr. Thostrup, you are convinced, are you, that I have
+been cheating you?" said he. "If so, why do you come to me? In that case
+there needs no explanation. Ask herself there!" And so saying he pointed
+to the black-painted figure.
+
+"Do not be too proud, Otto!" said she, smiling; "thou couldst yet
+recognize thy sister, although she has a little black paint on her
+face!"
+
+Otto riveted a dark, indignant glance upon her, pressed his lips
+together, and tried to collect himself. "It is my firm determination
+to have the whole affair searched into," said he, with constrained
+calmness.
+
+"Yes, but it will bring you some disagreeables!" said Heinrich, and
+laughed scornfully.
+
+"Do not laugh in that manner when I speak to you!" said Otto, with
+flushing cheeks.
+
+Heinrich leaned himself calmly against the door which led into the
+garden.
+
+"I am acquainted with the head of the police," said Otto, "and I might
+leave the whole business in his hands. But I have chosen a milder way; I
+am come myself. I shall very soon leave Denmark; I shall go many
+hundred miles hence shall, probably, never return; and thus you see the
+principal ground for my coming to you is a whim: I will know wherefore
+you have deceived me; I will know what is the connection between you and
+her."
+
+"Nay; so, then, it is _that_ that you want to know?" said Heinrich, with
+a malicious glance. "Yes, see you, she is my best beloved; she shall be
+my wife: but your sister she is for all that, and that remains so!"
+
+"Thou couldst easily give me a little before thou settest off on thy
+journey!" said Sidsel, who seemed excited by Heinrich's words, and put
+forth her painted face.
+
+Otto glanced at her with contracted eyebrows.
+
+"Yes," said she, "I say 'thou' to thee: thou must accustom thyself to
+that! A sister may have, however, that little bit of pleasure!"
+
+"Yes, you should give her your hand!" said Heinrich, and laughed.
+
+"Wretch!" exclaimed Otto, "she is not that which you say! I will find
+out my real sister! I will have proof in hand of the truth! I will
+show myself as a brother; I will care for her future! Bring to me her
+baptismal register; bring to me one only attestation of its reality--and
+that before eight days are past! Here is my address, it is the envelope
+of a letter; inclose in it the testimonial which I require, and send it
+to me without delay. But prove it, or you are a greater villain than I
+took you for."
+
+"Let us say a few rational words!" said Heinrich, with a constrained,
+fawning voice. "If you will give to me fifty rix-dollars, then you shall
+never have any more annoyance with us! See, that would be a great deal
+more convenient."
+
+"I abide by that which I have said!" answered Otto; "we will not have
+any more conversation together!" And so saying, he turned him round to
+go out.
+
+Heinrich seized him by the coat.
+
+"What do you want?" inquired Otto.
+
+"I mean," said Heinrich, "whether you are not going to think about the
+fifty rix-dollars?"
+
+"Villain!" cried Otto, and, with the veins swelling in his forehead, he
+thrust Heinrich from him with such force, that he fell against the worm
+eaten door which led into the garden; the panel of the door fell out,
+and had not Heinrich seized fast hold on some firm object with both his
+hands, he must have gone the same way. Otto stood for a moment silent,
+with flashing eyes, and threw the envelope, on which his address was, at
+Heinrich's feet, and went out.
+
+When Otto returned to the hotel, he found the horses ready to be put to
+the carriage.
+
+"Have you had good intelligence?" whispered Louise.
+
+"I have in reality obtained no more than I had before!" replied he;
+"only my own feelings more strongly convince me than ever that I have
+been deceived by him."
+
+He related to her the short conversation which had taken place.
+
+The Kammerjunker's carriage was now also brought out; in this was more
+than sufficient room for two, whereas in the other carriage they had
+been crowded. The Kammerjunker, therefore, besought that they would
+avail themselves of the more convenient seat which he could offer; and
+Otto saw Sophie and her mother enter the Kammerjunker's carriage. This
+arrangement would shortly before have confounded Otto, now it had much
+less effect upon him. His mind was so much occupied by his visit to
+German Heinrich, his soul was filled with a bitterness, which for the
+moment repelled the impulse which he had felt to express his great love
+for Sophie.
+
+"I have been made Heinrich's plaything--his tool!" thought he. "Now he
+ridicules me, and I am compelled to bear it! That horrible being is not
+my sister!--she cannot be so!"
+
+The street was now quiet. They mounted into the carriage. In the corner
+house just opposite there was a great company; light streamed through
+the long curtains, a low tenor voice and a high ringing soprano mingled
+together in Mozart's "Audiam, audiam, mio bene."
+
+"The bird may not flutter from my heart!" sighed Otto, and seated
+himself by the side of Louise. The carriage rolled away.
+
+The full moon shone; the wild spiraea sent forth its odor from the road
+side; steam ascended from the moor-lands; and the white mist floated
+over the meadows like the daughters of the elfin king.
+
+Louise sat silent and embarrassed; trouble weighed down her heart. Otto
+was also silent.
+
+The Kammerjunker drove in first, cracked his whip, and struck up a wild
+halloo.
+
+Wilhelm began to sing, "Charming the summer night," and the Kammerjunker
+joined in with him.
+
+"Sing with us man," cried Wilhelm to the silent Otto, and quickly the
+two companies were one singing caravan.
+
+It was late when they reached the hall.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI
+
+     "Destiny often pulls off leaves, as we treat the vine, that
+     its fruits may be earlier brought to maturity."--JEAN PAUL.
+
+It was not until toward morning that Otto fell into sleep. Wilhelm and
+he were allowed to take their own time in rising, and thus it was late
+in the day before these two gentlemen made their appearance at the
+breakfast-table; the Kammerjunker was already come over to the hall, and
+now was more adorned than common.
+
+"Mr. Thostrup shall be one of the initiated!" said the mother. "It
+will be time enough this evening for strangers to know of it. The
+Kammerjunker and my Sophie are betrothed."
+
+"See, it was in the bright moonlight, Mr. Thostrup, that I became such
+a happy man!" said the Kammerjunker, and kissed the tips of Sophie's
+fingers. He offered his other hand to Otto.
+
+Otto's countenance remained unchanged, a smile played upon his lips.
+"I congratulate you!" said he; "it is indeed a joyful day! If I were a
+poet, I would give you an ode!"
+
+Louise looked at him with an extraordinary expression of pain in her
+countenance.
+
+Wilhelm called the Kammerjunker brother-in-law, and smiling shook both
+his hands.
+
+Otto was unusually gay, jested, and laughed. The ladies went to their
+toilet, Otto into the garden.
+
+He had been so convinced in his own mind that Sophie returned his
+passion. With what pleasure had she listened to him! with what an
+expression had her eye rested upon him! Her little jests had been to
+him such convincing proofs that the hope which he nourished was no
+self-delusion. She was the light around which his thoughts had circled.
+Love to her was to him a good angel, which sung to him consolation and
+life's gladness in his dark moments.
+
+Now, all was suddenly over. It was as if the angel had left him; the
+flame of love which had so entirely filled his soul, was in a moment
+extinguished to its last spark. Sophie was become a stranger to him; her
+intellectual eye, which smiled in love on the Kammerjunker, seemed to
+him the soulless eye of the automaton. A stupefying indifference went
+through him, deadly as poison that is infused into the human blood.
+
+"The vain girl! she thought to make herself more important by repelling
+from her a faithful heart! She should only see how changed her image is
+in my soul. All the weaknesses which my love for her made me pass over,
+now step forth with repulsive features! Not a word which she spoke fell
+to the ground. The diamond has lost its lustre; I feel only its sharp
+corners!"
+
+Sophie had given the preference to a man who, in respect of intellect,
+stood far below Otto! Sophie, who seemed to be enthusiastic for art and
+beauty, for everything glorious in the kingdom of mind, could thus have
+deceived him!
+
+We will now see the sisters in their chamber.
+
+Louise seemed pensive, she sat silently looking before her.
+
+Sophie stood thoughtfully with a smile upon her lips.
+
+"The Kammerjunker is very handsome, however!" exclaimed she: "he looks
+so manly!"
+
+"You ought to find him love-worthy!" said Louise.
+
+"Yes," replied her sister, "I have always admired these strong
+countenances! He is an Axel--a northern blackbearded savage. Faces such
+as Wilhelm's look like ladies'! And he is so good! He has said, that
+immediately after our marriage we shall make a tour to Hamburg. What
+dress do you think I should wear?"
+
+"When you make the journey to Hamburg?" inquired Louise.
+
+"O no, child! to-day I mean. Thostrup was indeed very polite! he
+congratulated me! I felt, however, rather curious when it was told to
+him. I had quite expected a scene! I was almost ready to beg of you
+to tell him first of all. He ought to have been prepared. But he was,
+however, very rational! I should not have expected it from him. I really
+wish him all good, but he is an extraordinary character! so melancholy!
+Do you think that he will take my betrothal to heart? I noticed that
+when I was kissed he turned himself suddenly round to the window and
+played with the flowers. I wish that he would soon go! The journey
+into foreign countries will do him good--there he will soon forget his
+heart's troubles. To-morrow I will write to Cousin Joachim; he will also
+be surprised!"
+
+Late in the afternoon came Jakoba, the Mamsell, the preacher, and yet a
+few other guests.
+
+In the evening the table was arranged festively. The betrothed sat
+together, and Otto had the place of honor--he sat on the other side
+of Sophie. The preacher had written a song to the tune of "Be thou
+our social guardian-goddess;" this was sung. Otto's voice sounded
+beautifully and strong; he rang his glass with the betrothed pair, and
+the Kammerjunker said that now Mr. Thostrup must speedily seek out a
+bride for himself.
+
+"She is found," answered Otto; "but now that is yet a secret."
+
+"Health to the bride!" said Sophie, and rung her glass; but soon again
+her intellectual eye rested upon the Kammerjunker, who was talking about
+asparagus and stall-feeding with clover, yet her glance brought him back
+again to the happiness of his love.
+
+It was a very lively evening. Late in the night the party broke up. The
+friends went to their chamber.
+
+"My dear, faithful Otto!" said Wilhelm, and laid his hand on his
+shoulder; "you were very lively and good-humored this evening. Continue
+always thus!"
+
+"I hope to do so," answered Otto: "may we only always have as happy an
+evening as this!"
+
+"Extraordinary man!" said Wilhelm, and shook his head. "Now we will soon
+set out on our journey, and catch for ourselves the happiness of the
+glorious gold bird!"
+
+"And not let it escape again!" exclaimed Otto. "Formerly I used to say,
+To-morrow! to-morrow! now I say, To-day, and all day long! Away with
+fancies and complainings. I now comprehend that which you once said to
+me, that is. Man _can_ be happy if he only _will_ be so."
+
+Wilhelm took his hand, and looked into his face with a half-melancholy
+expression.
+
+"Are you sentimental?" inquired Otto.
+
+"I only affect that which I am not!" answered Wilhelm; and with that,
+suddenly throwing off the natural gravity of the moment, returned to his
+customary gayety.
+
+The following days were spent in visiting and in receiving visitors. On
+every post-day Otto sought through the leathern bag of the postman, but
+he found no letter from German Heinrich, and heard nothing from him. "I
+have been deceived," said he, "and I feel myself glad about it! She, the
+horrible one, is not my sister!"
+
+There was a necessity for him to go away, far from home, and yet he felt
+no longing after the mountains of Switzerland or the luxuriant beauty of
+the south.
+
+"Nature will only weaken me! I will not seek after it. Man it is that I
+require: these egotistical, false beings--these lords of everything!
+How we flatter our weaknesses and admire our virtues! Whatever serves to
+advance our own wishes we find to be excellent. To those who love us,
+we give our love in return. At the bottom, whom do I love except myself?
+Wilhelm? My friendship for him is built upon the foundation,--I cannot
+do without thee! Friendship is to me a necessity. Was I not once
+convinced that I adored Sophie, and that I never could bear it if she
+were lost to me? and yet there needed the conviction 'She loves thee
+not,' and my strong feeling was dead. Sophie even seems to me
+less beautiful; I see faults where I formerly could only discover
+amiabilities! Now, she is to me almost wholly a stranger. As I am, so
+are all. Who is there that feels right lovingly, right faithfully for
+me, without his own interest leading him to do so? Rosalie? My old,
+honest Rosalie? I grew up before her eyes like a plant which she loved.
+I am dear to her as it! When her canary-bird one morning lay dead in its
+cage, she wept bitterly and long; she should never more hear it sing,
+she should never more look after its cage and its food. It was the loss
+of it which made her weep. She missed that which had been interesting
+to her. I also interested her. Interest is the name for that which
+the world calls love. Louise?" He almost spoke the name aloud, and his
+thoughts dwelt, from a strong combination of circumstances, upon it.
+"She appears to me true, and capable of making sacrifices! but is not
+she also very different from all the others? How often have I not heard
+Sophie laugh at her for it--look down upon her!" And Otto's better
+feeling sought in vain for a shadow of self-love in Louise, a single
+selfish motive for her noble conduct.
+
+"Away from Denmark! to new people! Happy he who can always be on the
+wing, making new friendships, and speedily breaking them off! At the
+first meeting people wear their intellectual Sunday apparel; every point
+of light is brought forth; but soon and the festival-day is over, and
+the bright points have vanished."
+
+"We will set off next week!" said Wilhelm, "and then it shall be--
+
+    'Over the rushing blue waters away!
+     We will speed along shores that are verdant and gay!'
+
+Away over the moors, up the Rhine, through the land of champagne to the
+city of cities, the life-animating Paris!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLII
+
+     "A maiden stood musing, gentle and mild. I grasped the hand
+     of the friendly child, but the lovely fawn shyly
+     disappeared.... From the Rhine to the Danish Belt,
+     beautiful and lovely maidens are found in palaces and tents;
+     yet nobody pleases me."--SCHMIDT VON LUeBECK.
+
+The last day at home was Sophie's birthday. In the afternoon the whole
+family was invited to the Kammerjunker's, where Jakoba and the Mamsell
+were to be quite brilliant in their cookery.
+
+A table filled with presents, all from the Kammerjunker, awaited Miss
+Sophie; it was the first time that he had ever presented to her a
+birthday gift, and he had now, either out of his own head or somebody's
+else, fallen on the very good idea of making her a present for every
+year which she had lived. Every present was suited to the age for which
+it was intended, and thus he began with a paper of sugar-plums and ended
+with silk and magnificent fur; but between beginning and end there
+were things, of which more than the half could be called solid: gold
+ear-rings, a boa, French gloves, and a riding-horse. This last, of
+course, could not stand upon the table. It was a joy and a happiness;
+people walked about, and separated themselves by degrees into groups.
+
+The only one who was not there was Eva. She always preferred remaining
+at home; and yet, perhaps, to-day she might have allowed herself to have
+been overpersuaded, had she not found herself so extremely weak.
+
+Silently and alone she now sat at home in the great empty parlor. It
+was in the twilight; she had laid down her work, and her beautiful,
+thoughtful eyes looked straight before her: thoughts which we may not
+unveil were agitating her breast.
+
+Suddenly the door opened, and Wilhelm stood before her. Whilst the
+others were walking he had stolen away. He knew that Eva was alone at
+home; nobody would know that he visited her, nobody would dream of their
+conversation.
+
+"You here!" exclaimed Eva, when she saw him.
+
+"I was compelled to come," answered he. "I have slipped away from
+the others; no one knows that I am here. I must speak with you, Eva.
+To-morrow I set off; but I cannot leave home calmly and happily without
+knowing--what this moment must decide."
+
+Eva rose, her checks crimsoned, she cast down her eyes.
+
+"Baron Wilhelm!" stammered she, "it is not proper that I should remain
+here!" She was about to leave the room.
+
+"Eva!" said Wilhelm, and seized her hand, "you know that I love you! My
+feelings are honorable! Say Yes, and it shall be holy to me as an oath.
+Then I shall begin my journey glad at heart, as one should do. Your
+assent shall stand in my breast, shall sound in my ear, whenever sin and
+temptation assail me! It will preserve me in an upright course, it will
+bring me back good and unspoiled. My wife must you be! You have
+soul, and with it nobility! Eva! in God's name, do not make a feeble,
+life-weary, disheartened being of me!"
+
+"O Heavens!" exclaimed she, and burst into tears, "I cannot, and--will
+not! You forget that I am only a poor girl, who am indebted for
+everything to your mother! My assent would displease her, and some time
+or other you would repent of it! I cannot!--I do not love you!" added
+she, in a tremulous voice.
+
+Wilhelm stood speechless.
+
+Eva suddenly rang the bell.
+
+"What are you doing?" exclaimed he.
+
+The servant entered.
+
+"Bring in lights!" said she; "but first of all you must assist me with
+these flowers down into the garden. It will do them good to stand in the
+dew."
+
+The servant did as she bade; she herself carried down one of the pots,
+and left the room.
+
+"I do not love you!" repeated Wilhelm to himself, and returned to the
+company which he had left, and where he found all gayety and happiness.
+
+The supper-table was spread in the garden; lights burned in the open air
+with a steady flame; it was a summer-evening beautiful as the October of
+the South; the reseda sent forth its fragrance; and when Sophie's health
+was drunk cannon were fired among the lofty fir-trees, the pines of the
+North.
+
+The next morning those countenances were dejected which the evening
+before had been so gay. The carriage drew up to the door. The dear
+mother and sisters wept; they kissed Wilhelm, and extended their hands
+to Otto.
+
+"Farewell!" said Louise; "do not forget us!" and her tearful glance
+rested upon Otto. Eva stood silent and pale.
+
+"You will not forget me!" whispered Otto, as he seized Louise's hand. "I
+will forget your sister!"
+
+The carriage rolled away; Wilhelm threw himself back into a corner. Otto
+looked back once more; they all stood at the door, and waved their white
+handkerchiefs.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIII
+
+     "In one short speaking silence all conveys--
+     And looks a sigh, and weeps without a tear."
+                                  MRS. BROWNING.
+
+     "Forgive us our debts as we
+       The debts of others forgive;
+     And lead us not in tempting ways;
+       Apart from evil let us live."
+                   A. VON CHAMISSO.
+
+We will not accompany the friends, but will remain behind in Funen,
+where we will make a bolder journey than they, namely, we will go back
+one-and-twenty years. We will allow the circumstances of Otto's birth
+again to come before us. It is a leap backward that we take from 1830 to
+1810. We are in Odense, that old city, which takes its name from Odin.
+
+The common people there have still a legend about the origin of the name
+of the city. Upon Naesbyhoved's Hill [Author's Note: Not far from the
+city, by the Odense Channel; it is described in Wedel Simonsen's City
+Ruins.] there once stood a castle; here lived King Odin and his wife:
+Odense city was not then in existence, but the first building of it was
+then begun. [Author's Note: The place is given as being that of the now
+so-called Cross Street.] The court was undecided as to the name which
+should be given to the city. After long indecision it was at last agreed
+that the first word which either King or Queen should speak the next
+morning should be the name given to it. In the early morning the Queen
+awoke and looked out from her window over the wood. The first house in
+the city was erected to the roof, and the builders had hung up a
+great garland, glittering with tinsel, upon the rooftree. "Odin, see!"
+exclaimed the Queen; and thenceforward the city was called Odensee,
+which name, since then, has been changed by daily speech to Odense.
+
+When people ask the children in Copenhagen whence they have come, they
+reply, out of the Peblingsoee. The little children of Odense, who
+know nothing about the Peblingsoee, say that they are fetched out of
+Rosenbaek, a little brook which has only been ennobled within the few
+last years, just as in Copenhagen is the case with Krystal Street, which
+formerly had an unpleasant name. This brook runs through Odense, and
+must, in former times, when united with the Odense River, have formed an
+island where the city at that time stood; hence some people derive the
+name of Odense from Odins Ei, or Odins Oe, that is, Odin's Island. Be it
+then as it might, the brook flows now, and in 1810, when the so-called
+Willow-dam, by the West Gate, was not filled up, it stood, especially in
+spring, low and watery. It often overflowed its banks, and in so doing
+overflowed the little gardens which lay on either side. It thus ran
+concealed through the city until near the North Gate, where it made its
+appearance for a moment and then dived again in the same street, and,
+like a little river, flowed through the cellars of the old justice-room,
+which was built by the renowned Oluf Bagger. [Author's Note: He was so
+rich that once, when Frederick the Second visited him, he had the room
+heated with cinnamon chips. Much may be found about this remarkable
+man in the second collection of Thiele's Popular Danish Legends. His
+descendants still live in Odense, namely, the family of the printer Ch.
+Iversen, who has preserved many curiosities which belonged to him.]
+
+It was an afternoon in the summer of 1810; the water was high in the
+brook, yet two washerwomen were busily employed in it; reed-matting
+was fast bound round their bodies, and they beat with wooden staves the
+clothes upon their washing-stools. They were in deep conversation, and
+yet their labor went on uninterruptedly.
+
+"Yes," said one of them, "better a little with honor, than much with
+dishonor. She is sentenced; to-morrow she is to go about in the pillory.
+That is sure and certain! I know it from the trumpeter's Karen, and from
+the beggar-king's [Author's Note: Overseer of the poor.] wife: neither
+of them go about with lies."
+
+"Ih, my Jesus!" exclaimed the other, and let her wooden beater fall, "is
+Johanne Marie to go in the pillory, the handsome girl? she that looked
+so clever and dressed herself so well?"
+
+"Yes, it is a misfortune!" said the first; "a great misfortune it must
+be! No, let every one keep his own! say I every day to my children.
+After the sweet claw comes the bitter smart. One had much better work
+till the blood starts from the finger-ends."
+
+"Ih, see though!" said the other; "there goes the old fellow, Johanne
+Marie's father. He is an honest man; he was so pleased with his
+daughter, and to-morrow he must himself bind her to the pillory! But can
+she really have stolen?"
+
+"She has herself confessed," returned she; "and the Colonel is severe. I
+fancy the Gevaldiger is going there."
+
+"The Colonel should put the bridle on his own son. He is a bad fellow!
+Not long ago, when I was washing yarn there, and was merry, as I always
+am, he called me 'wench.' If he had said 'woman,' I should not have
+troubled myself about it, for it has another meaning; but 'wench,' that
+is rude! Ei, there sails the whole affair!" screamed she suddenly, as
+the sheet which she had wound round the washing-stool got loose and
+floated down the stream: she ran after it, and the conversation was
+broken off.
+
+The old man whom they had seen and compassionated, went into a great
+house close by, where the Colonel lived. His eyes were cast upon the
+ground; a deep, silent suffering lay in his wrinkled face; he gently
+pulled at the bell, and bowed himself deeply before the black-appareled
+lady who opened to him the door.
+
+We know her--it was the old Rosalie, then twenty years younger than when
+we saw her upon the western coast of Jutland.
+
+"Good old man!" said she, and laid her hand kindly on his shoulder.
+"Colonel Thostrup is severe, but he is not, however, inhuman; and that
+he would be if he let you tomorrow do your office. The Colonel has said
+that the Gevaldiger should stay at home."
+
+"No!" said the old man, "our Lord will give me strength. God be thanked
+that Johanne Marie's mother has closed her eyes: she will not see the
+misery! We are not guilty of it!"
+
+"Honest man!" said Rosalie. "Johanne was always so good and clever;
+and now"--she shook her head--"I would have sworn for her, but she has
+confessed it herself!"
+
+"The law must have its course!" said the old man, and tears streamed
+down his cheeks.
+
+At that moment the door opened, and Colonel Thostrup, a tall, thin man,
+with a keen eye, stood before them. Rosalie left the room.
+
+"Gevaldiger," said the Colonel, "to-morrow you will not be required to
+act in your office."
+
+"Colonel," returned the old man, "it is my duty to be there, and, if I
+may say a few words, people would speak ill of me if I kept away."
+
+On the following forenoon, from the early morning, the square where lay
+the council-house and head-watch, was filled with people; they were come
+to see the handsome girl led forth in the pillory. The time began
+to appear long to them, and yet no sign was seen of that which they
+expected. The sentinel, who went with measured step backward and forward
+before the sentry-box, could give no intelligence. The door of the
+council-house was closed, and everything gave occasion to the report
+which suddenly was put into circulation, that the handsome Johanne Marie
+had been for a whole hour in the pillory within the council-house, and
+thus they should have nothing at all to see. Although it is entirely
+opposed to sound reason that punishment should be inflicted publicly, it
+met with much support, and great dissatisfaction was excited.
+
+"That is shabby!" said a simple woman, in whom we may recognize one of
+the washerwomen; "it is shabby thus to treat the folks as if they were
+fools! Yesterday I slaved like a horse, and here one has stood two whole
+hours by the clock, till I am stiff in the legs, without seeing anything
+at all!"
+
+"That is what I expected," said another woman; "a fair face has many
+friends! She has known how to win the great people to her side!"
+
+"Do not you believe," inquired a third, "that she has been good friends
+with the Colonels son?"
+
+"Yes; formerly I would have said No, because she always looked so
+steady, and against her parents there is not a word to be said; but as
+she has stolen, as we know she has, she may also have been unsteady.
+The Colonel's son is a wild bird; riots and drinks does he in secret! We
+others know more than his father does: he had held too tight a hand over
+him. Too great severity causes bad blood!"
+
+"God help me, now it begins!" interrupted another woman, as a detachment
+of soldiers marched out of the guard-house, and at some little distance
+one from the other inclosed an open space. The door of the council-house
+now opened, and two officers of police, together with some of the guard,
+conducted out the condemned, who was placed in the pillory. This was a
+sort of wooden yoke laid across the shoulders of the delinquent; a piece
+of wood came forward from this into which her hands were secured: above
+all stood two iron bars, to the first of which was fastened a little
+bell; to the other a long fox's tail, which hung down the lack of the
+condemned.
+
+The girl seemed hardly more than nineteen, and was of an unusually
+beautiful figure; her countenance was nobly and delicately formed,
+but pale as death: yet there was no expression either of suffering or
+shame,--she seemed like the image of a penitent, who meekly accomplishes
+the imposed penance.
+
+Her aged father, the Gevaldiger, followed her slowly; his eye was
+determined; no feature expressed that which went forward in his soul:
+he silently took his place beside one of the pillars before the guard
+house.
+
+A loud murmur arose among the crowd when they saw the beautiful girl and
+the poor old father, who must himself see his daughter's disgrace.
+
+A spotted dog sprang into the open space; the girl's monotonous tread,
+as she advanced into the middle of the square, the ringing of the little
+bell, and the fox-tail which moved in the wind, excited the dog, which
+began to bark, and wanted to bite the fox's tail. The guards drove the
+dog away, but it soon came back again, although it did not venture again
+into the circle, but thrust itself forward, and never ceased barking.
+
+Many of those who already had been moved to compassion by the beauty
+of the girl and the sight of the old father, were thrown again by this
+incident into a merry humor; they laughed and found the whole thing very
+amusing.
+
+The hour was past, and the girl was now to be released. The Gevaldiger
+approached her, but whilst he raised his hand to the yoke the old
+man tottered, and sank, in the same moment, back upon the hard stone
+pavement.
+
+A shriek arose from those who stood around; the young girl alone stood
+silent and immovable; her thoughts seemed to be far away. Yet some
+people fancied they saw how she closed her eyes, but that was only for
+a moment. A policeman released her from the pillory, her old father
+was carried into the guard-house, and two policemen led her into the
+council-house.
+
+"See, now it is over!" said an old glover, who was among the spectators;
+"the next time she'll get into the House of Correction."
+
+"O, it is not so bad there," answered another; "they sing and are merry
+there the whole day long, and have no need to trouble themselves about
+victuals."
+
+"Yes, but that is prison fare."
+
+"It is not so bad--many a poor body would thank God for it; and Johanne
+Marie would get the best of it. Her aunt is the head-cook, and the cook
+and the inspector they hang together. It's my opinion, however, that
+this affair will take the life out of the old man. He got a right
+good bump as he fell on the stone-pavement; one could hear how it rung
+again."
+
+The crowd separated.
+
+The last malicious voice had prophesied truth.
+
+Three weeks afterward six soldiers bore a woven, yellow straw coffin
+from a poor house in East Street. The old Gevaldiger lay, with closed
+eyes and folded hands, in the coffin. Within the chamber, upon the
+bedstead, sat Johanne Marie, with a countenance pale as that of the dead
+which had been carried away. A compassionate neighbor took her hand, and
+mentioned her name several times before she heard her.
+
+"Johanne, come in with me; eat a mouthful of pease and keep life in
+you; if not for your own sake, at least for that of the child which lies
+under your heart."
+
+The girl heaved a wonderfully deep sigh. "No, no!" said she, and closed
+her eyes.
+
+Full of pity, the good neighbor took her home with her.
+
+A few days passed on, and then one morning two policemen entered the
+poor room in which the Gevaldiger had died. Johanne Marie was again
+summoned before the judge.
+
+A fresh robbery had taken place at the Colonel's. Rosalie said that it
+was a long time since she had first missed that which was gone, but that
+she thought it best to try to forget it. The Colonel's violent temper
+and his exasperation against Johanne Marie, who, as he asserted, by
+her bad conduct, had brought her old, excellent father to the grave,
+insisted on summoning her before the tribunal, that the affair might be
+more narrowly inquired into.
+
+Rosalie, who had been captivated by the beauty of the girl and by her
+modest demeanor, and who was very fond of her, was this time quite calm,
+feeling quite sure that she would deny everything, because, in fact,
+the theft had only occurred within the last few days. The public became
+aware of this before long, and the opinion was that Johanne Marie could
+not possibly have been an actor in it; but, to the astonishment of the
+greater number, she confessed that she was the guilty person, and that
+with such calmness as amazed every one. Her noble, beautifully
+formed countenance seemed bloodless; her dark-blue eyes beamed with a
+brilliancy which seemed like that of delirium; her beauty, her calmness,
+and yet this obduracy in crime, produced an extraordinary impression
+upon the spectators.
+
+She was sentenced to the House of Correction in Odense. Despised and
+repulsed by the better class of her fellow-beings, she went to her
+punishment. No one had dreamed that under so fair a form so corrupt a
+soul could have been found. She was set to the spinning-wheel; silent
+and introverted, she accomplished the tasks that were assigned her. In
+the coarse merriment of the other prisoners she took no part.
+
+"Don't let your heart sink within you, Johanne Marie," said German
+Heinrich, who sat at the loom; "sing with us till the iron bars rattle!"
+
+"Johanne, you brought your old father to the grave," said her relation,
+the head-cook; "how could you have taken such bad courses?"
+
+Johanne Marie was silent; the large, dark eyes looked straight before
+her, whilst she kept turning the wheel.
+
+Five months went on, and then she became ill--ill to death, and
+gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl--two beautiful and well-formed
+children, excepting that the girl was as small and delicate as if its
+life hung on a thread.
+
+The dying mother kissed the little ones and wept; it was the first time
+that the people within the prison had seen her weep. Her relation the
+cook sat alone with her upon the bed.
+
+"Withdraw not your hand from the innocent children," said Johanne Marie;
+"if they live to grow up, tell them some time that their mother was
+innocent. My eternal Saviour knows that I have never stolen! Innocent
+am I, and innocent was I when I went out a spectacle of public derision,
+and now when I sit here!"
+
+"Ih, Jesus though! What do you say?" exclaimed the woman.
+
+"The truth!" answered the dying one. "God be gracious to me!--my
+children!"
+
+She sank back upon the couch, and was dead.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIV
+
+     "Ah! wonderfully beautiful is God's earth, and worthy it is
+     to live contented."--HOeLTY.
+
+We now return to the hall in Funen, to the family which we left there;
+but autumn and winter are gone whilst we have been lingering on the
+past. Otto and Wilhelm have been two months away. It is the autumn of
+1832.
+
+The marriage of the Kammerjunker and Sophie was deferred, according to
+her wish, until the second of April, because this day is immortal in the
+annals of Denmark. In the house, where there now were only the mother,
+Louise, and Eva, all was quiet. Through the whole winter Eva had become
+weaker; yet she did not resemble the flowers which wither; there was no
+expression of illness about her--it was much more as if the spiritual
+nature overpowered the bodily; she resembled an astral lamp which,
+filled with light, seems almost resembled be an ethereal existence. The
+dark-blue eyes had an expression of soul and feeling which attracted
+even the simple domestics at the hall. The physician assured them that
+her chest was sound, and that her malady was to him a riddle. A
+beautiful summer, he thought, would work beneficially upon her.
+
+Wilhelm and Otto wrote alternately. It was a festival-day whenever a
+letter came; then were maps and plans of the great cities fetched out,
+and Louise and Eva made the journey with them.
+
+"To-day they are here, to-morrow they will be there," cried they.
+
+"How I envy them both, to see all these glorious things!" said Louise.
+
+"The charming Switzerland!" sighed Eva. "How refreshing the air must be
+to breathe! How well one must feel one's self there!"
+
+"If you could only go there, Eva," said Louise, "then you would
+certainly get better."
+
+"Here all are so kind to me; here I am so happy!" answered she. "I am
+right thankful to God for it. How could I have hoped for such a home as
+this? God reward you and your good mother for your kindness to me.
+Once I was so unhappy; but now I have had a double repayment for all
+my sorrow, and all the neglect I have suffered. I am so happy, and
+therefore I would so willingly live!"
+
+"Yes, and you shall live!" said Louise. "How came you now to think about
+dying? In the summer you will perfectly recover, the physician says. Can
+you hide from me any sorrow? Eva, I know that my brother loves you!"
+
+"He will forget that abroad!" said Eva. "He must forget it! Could I
+be ungrateful? But we are not suited for each other!" She spoke of her
+childhood, of long-passed, sorrowful days. Louise laid her arm upon
+her shoulder: they talked till late in the evening, and tears stood in
+Louise's eyes.
+
+"Only to you could I tell it!" said Eva. "It is to me like a sin, and
+yet I am innocent. My mother was so too--my poor mother! Her sin was
+love. She sacrificed all; more than a woman should sacrifice. The old
+Colonel was stern and violent. His wrath often became a sort of frenzy,
+in which he knew not what he did. The son was young and dissipated; my
+mother a poor girl, but very handsome, I have heard. He seduced her.
+She had become an unfortunate being, and that she herself felt. The
+Colonel's son robbed his father and an old woman who lived in the
+family: that which had been taken was missed. The father would have
+murdered the son, had he discovered the truth; the son, therefore,
+sought in his need help from my poor mother. He persuaded her to save
+him by taking the guilt on herself. The whole affair as regarded her
+was, he intended, only to come from the domestics. She thought that with
+her honor all was lost. She, indeed, had already given him the best of
+which she was possessed. In anguish of heart, and overpowered by his
+prayers, she said, 'Yes; my father has been angry and undone already.'"
+
+Eva burst into tears.
+
+"Thou dear, good girl!" said Louise, and kissed her forehead.
+
+"My poor mother," continued Eva, "was condemned to an undeserved
+punishment. I cannot mention it. For that reason I have never had a
+desire to go to Odense. The old lady in the Colonel's family concealed,
+out of kindness, her loss; but by accident it was discovered. The
+Colonel was greatly embittered. My mother was overwhelmed by shame and
+misfortune: the first error had plunged her into all this. She was
+taken to the House of Correction in Odense. The Colonel's son shortly
+afterward went away in a vessel. My unhappy mother was dispirited:
+nobody knew that she had endured, out of despair and love, a disgrace
+which she had not deserved. It was not until she lay upon her death-bed,
+when I and my brother were born, that she told a relation that she was
+innocent. Like a criminal, in the early morning she was carried to
+the grave in a coffin of plaited straw. A great and a noble heart was
+carried unacknowledged to the dead!"
+
+"You had a brother?" inquired Louise, and her heart beat violently. "Did
+he die? and where did you, poor children, remain?"
+
+"The cook in the house kept us with her. I was small and weak; my
+brother, on the contrary, was strong, and full of life. He lived mostly
+among the prisoners. I sat in a little room with my doll. When we were
+in our seventh year, we were sent for to the old Colonel. His son died
+abroad; but before his death he had written to the old man, confessing
+to him his crime, my mother's innocence, and that we were his children!
+I resembled my father greatly. The old gentleman, as soon as he saw
+me, was very angry, and said, 'I will not have her!' I remained with my
+foster-mother. I never saw my brother after that time. The Colonel left
+the city, and took him with him."
+
+"O God!" cried Louise; "you have still some papers on this subject? Do
+you not know your brother? It is impossible that it should be otherwise!
+You are Otto's sister!"
+
+"O Heavens!" exclaimed Eva; her hands trembled, and she became as pale
+as a corpse.
+
+"You are fainting!" cried Louise, throwing her arm around her waist and
+kissing her eyes and her cheeks. "Eva! he is your brother! the dear,
+good Otto! O, he will be so happy with you! Yes, your eyes are like his!
+Eva, you beloved girl!"
+
+Louise related to her all that Otto had confided to her. She told her
+about German Heinrich, and how Otto had assisted Sidsel away, and how
+they had met.
+
+Eva burst into tears. "My brother! O Father in heaven, that I may but
+live! live and see him! Life is so beautiful! I must not die!"
+
+"Happiness will make you strong! There is no doubt but that he is your
+brother! We must tell it to mamma. O Heavens! how delighted she will be!
+and Otto will no longer suffer and be unhappy! He may be proud of you,
+and happy in you! O, come, come!"
+
+She led Eva out with her to her mother, who was already in bed; but how
+could Louise wait till next morning?
+
+"May the Lord bless thee, my good child!" said the lady, and pressed a
+kiss upon her forehead.
+
+Eva related now how the Colonel had, given a considerable sum to
+her foster-mother; but that was all she was to receive, he had said.
+Afterward, when the foster-mother died, Eva had still two hundred
+rix-dollars; and on consideration of this the sister of the deceased
+had taken Eva to live with her. With her she came to Copenhagen and to
+Nyboder, and at that time she was ten years old. There she had to nurse
+a little child--her brother she called it--and that was the little
+Jonas. As she grew older, people told her that she was handsome. It was
+now four years since she was followed one evening by two young men, one
+of whom we know--our moral Hans Peter. One morning her foster-mother
+came to her with a proposal which drove her to despair. The merchant
+had seen her, and wished to purchase the beautiful flower. Upon this Eva
+left her home, and came to the excellent people at Roeskelde; and from
+that day God had been very good to her.
+
+She sank down upon her knees before the elderly lady's bed. She was not
+among strangers: a mother and a sister wept with the happy one.
+
+"O that I might live!" besought Eva, in the depths of her heart. As a
+glorified one she stood before them. Her joy beamed through tears.
+
+The next morning she felt herself singularly unwell. Her feet trembled;
+her cheeks were like marble. She seated herself in the warm sunshine
+which came in through the window. Outside stood the trees with large,
+half-bursting buds. A few mild nights would make the wood green. But
+summer was already in Eva's heart; there was life's joy and gladness.
+Her large, thoughtful eyes raised themselves thankfully to heaven.
+
+"Let me not die yet, good God!" prayed she; and her lips moved to a low
+melody, soft as if breezes passed over the outstretched chords:--
+
+           "The sunshine warm, the odorous flowers,
+            Of these do not bereave me!
+            I breathe with joy the morning hours,
+            Let not the grave receive me!
+            There can no pleasant sunbeams fall,
+            No human voice come near me;
+            There should I miss the flow'rets small,
+            There have no friends to cheer me.
+
+            Now, how to value life I know--
+            I hold it as a treasure;
+            There is no love i' th' grave below,
+            No music, warmth, or pleasure.
+            On it the heavy earth is flung,
+            The coffin-lid shuts tightly!
+            My blood is warm, my soul is young!
+            Life smiles--life shines so brightly!"
+
+She folded her hands: all became like flowers and gold before her eyes.
+Afar off was the sound of music: she reeled and sank down upon the sofa
+which was near her. Life flowed forth from her heart, but the sensation
+was one of bliss; a repose, as when the weary bow down their heads for
+sleep.
+
+"Here is a letter!" cried Louise, full of joy, and found her white and
+cold. Terrified, she called for help, and bent over her.
+
+Eva was dead.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLV
+
+     "Knowest thou the mountain and its cloudy paths? where the
+     mule is seeking its misty way."--GOETHE.
+
+The letter was from Wilhelm; every line breathed life's joy and
+gladness.
+
+"MIA CARA SORELLA!
+
+"Does it not sound beautifully? It is Italian! Now then, I am in that
+so-often-sung-of Paradise, but of the so much-talked-about blue air,
+I have as yet seen nothing of consequence. Here it is gray, gray as in
+Denmark. To be sure Otto says that it is beautiful, that we have the
+heaven of home above us, but I am not so poetical. The eating is
+good, and the filth of the people strikes one horribly after being in
+Switzerland, the enchanting Switzerland! Yes, there is nature! We have
+made a crusade through it, you may think. But now you shall hear about
+the journey, and the entrance into 'la bella Italia,' which is yet below
+all my expectations. I cannot at all bear these feeble people; I cannot
+endure this monk-odor and untruthfulness. We are come direct from the
+scenery of Switzerland, from clouds and glaciers, from greatness and
+power. We travelled somewhat hastily through the valley of the Rhone;
+the weather was gray, but the whole obtained therefrom a peculiar
+character. The woods in the lofty ridges looked like heather; the valley
+itself seemed like a garden filled with vegetables, vineyards, and green
+meadows. The clouds over and under one another, but the snow-covered
+mountains peeped forth gloriously from among them, It was a riven
+cloud-world which drove past,--the wild chase with which the daylight
+had disguised itself. It kissed in its flight Pissevache, a waterfall
+by no means to be despised. In Brieg we rested some time, but at two
+o'clock in the morning began again our journey over the Simplon. This is
+the journey which I will describe to you. Otto and I sat in the coupee.
+Fancy us in white blouses, shawl-caps, and with green morocco slippers,
+for the devil may travel in slippers--they are painful to the feet.
+
+"We both of us have mustaches! I have seduced Otto. They become us
+uncommonly well, and give us a very imposing air; and that is very good
+now that we are come into the land of banditti, where we must endeavor
+to awe the robbers. Thus travelled we. It was a dark night, and still
+as death, as in the moment when the overture begins to an opera. Soon,
+indeed, was the great Simplon curtain to be rolled up, and we to behold
+the land of music. Immediately on leaving the city, the road began to
+ascend; we could not see a hand before us; around us tumbled and roared
+the water-courses,--it was as if we heard the pulse of Nature beat.
+Close above the carriage passed the white clouds; they seemed like
+transparent marble slabs which were slid over us. We had the gray dawn
+with us, whilst deep in the valley lay yet the darkness of night; in
+an hour's time it began to show itself there among the little wooden
+houses.
+
+"It is a road hewn out of the rocks. The giant Napoleon carried it
+through the backbone of the earth. The eagle, Napoleon's bird, flew like
+a living armorial crest over the gigantic work of the master. There it
+was cold and gray; the clouds above us, the clouds below us, and in the
+middle space steep rocky walls.
+
+"At regular distances houses (relais) are erected for the travellers;
+in one of these we drank our coffee. The passengers sat on benches and
+tables around the great fire-place, where the pine logs crackled. More
+than a thousand names were written on the walls. I amused myself by
+writing mamma's, yours, Sophie's, and Eva's; now they stand there, and
+people will fancy that you have been on the Simplon. In the lobby I
+scratched in that of Mamsell, and added 'Without her workbox.' Otto
+was thinking about you. We talked in our, what the rest would call
+'outlandish speech,' when I all at once exclaimed, 'It is really Eva's
+birthday!' I remembered it first. In Simplon town we determined to drink
+her health.
+
+"We set off again. Wherever the glaciers might fall and destroy the road
+the rocks have been sprung, and formed into great galleries, through
+which one drives without any danger. One waterfall succeeds another.
+There is no balustrade along the road, only the dark, deep abyss where
+the pine-trees raise themselves to an immense height, and yet only look
+like rafters on the mighty wall of rock. Before we had advanced much
+further, we came to where trees no longer grew. The great hospice lay in
+snow and cloud. We came into a valley. What solitude! what desolation!
+only naked crags! They seemed metallic, and all had a green hue. The
+utmost variety of mosses grew there; before us towered up an immense
+glacier, which looked like green bottle-glass ornamented with snow.
+It was bitterly cold here, and in Simplon the stoves were lighted; the
+champagne foamed, Eva's health was drunk, and, only think! at that very
+moment an avalanche was so gallant as to fall. That was a cannonade; a
+pealing among the mountains! It must have rung in Eva's ears. Ask her
+about it. I can see how she smiles.
+
+"We now advanced toward Italy, but cold was it, and cold it remained.
+The landscape became savage; we drove between steep crags. Only fancy,
+on both sides a block of granite several miles long, and almost as high,
+and the road not wider than for two carriages to pass, and there you
+have a picture of it. If one wanted to see the sky, one was obliged to
+put one's head out of the carriage and look up, and then it was as if
+one looked up from the bottom of the deepest well, dark and narrow.
+Every moment I kept thinking, 'Nay, if these two walls should come
+together!' We with carriage and horses were only like ants on a pebble.
+We drove through the ribs of the earth! The water roared; the clouds
+hung like fleeces on the gray, craggy walls. In a valley we saw boys
+and girls dressed in sheep-skins, who looked as wild as if they had been
+brought up among beasts.
+
+"Suddenly the air became wondrously mild. We saw the first fig-tree by
+the road-side. Chestnuts hung over our heads; we were in Isella, the
+boundary town of Italy. Otto sang, and was wild with delight; I studied
+the first public-house sign, 'Tabacca e vino.'
+
+"How luxuriant became the landscape! Fields of maize and vineyards! The
+vine was not trained on frames as in Germany!--no, it hung in luxuriant
+garlands, in great huts of leaves! Beautiful children bounded along the
+road, but the heavens were gray, and that I had not expected in Italy.
+From Domo d'Ossola, I looked back to my beloved Switzerland! Yes, she
+turns truly the most beautiful side toward Italy. But there was not
+any time for me to gaze; on we must. In the carriage there sat an old
+Signorina; she recited poetry, and made: with her eyes 'che bella cosa!'
+
+"About ten o'clock at night we were in Baveno, drank tea, and slept,
+whilst Lago Maggiore splashed under our window. The lake and the
+Borromaen island we were to see by daylight.
+
+"'Lord God!' thought I, 'is this all?' A scene as quiet and riant as
+this we--have at home! Funen after this should be called Isola bella,
+and the East Sea is quite large enough to be called Lago Maggiore. We
+went by the steamboat past the holy Borromeus [Author's Note: A colossal
+statue on the shore of Lago Maggiore.] to Sesto de Calende; we had a
+priest on board, who was very much astonished at our having come from so
+far. I showed him a large travelling map which we had with us, where
+the Lago Maggiore was the most southern, and Hamburg the most northern
+point. 'Yet still further off,' said I; 'more to the north!' and he
+struck his hands together when he perceived that we were from beyond the
+great map. He inquired whether we were Calvinists.
+
+"We sped through glorious scenes. The Alps looked like glass mountains
+in a fairy tale. They lay behind us. The air was warm as summer, but
+light as on the high mountains. The women wafted kisses to us; but they
+were not handsome, the good ladies!
+
+"Tell the Kammerjunker that the Italian pigs have no bristles, but have
+a coal-black shining skin like a Moor.
+
+"Toward night we arrived at Milan, where we located ourselves with
+Reichmann, made a good supper, and had excellent beds; but I foresee
+that this bliss will not last very long. On the other side of the
+Apennines we shall be up to the ears in dirt, and must eat olives
+preserved in oil; but let it pass. Otto adapts himself charmingly to
+all things; he begins to be merry--that is, at times! I, too, have had
+a sort of vertigo--I am taken with Italian music; but then there is a
+difference in hearing it on the spot. It has more than melody; it has
+character. The luxuriance in nature and in the female form; the light,
+fluttering movement of the people, where even pain is melody, has won my
+heart and my understanding. Travelling changes people!
+
+"Kiss mamma for me! Tell Eva about the health-drinking on the Simplon,
+and about the falling avalanche: do not forget that; that is precisely
+the point in my letter! Tell me too how Eva blushed, and smiled, and
+said, 'He thought of me!' Yes, in fact it is very noble of me. My sweet
+Sophie and her Kammerjunker, Jakoba and Mamsell, must have a bouquet of
+greetings, which you must arrange properly. If you could but see Otto
+and me with our mustaches! We make an impression, and that is very
+pleasant. If the days only did not go on so quickly--if life did not
+pass so rapidly!
+
+           "'Questa vita mortale
+             Che par si bella, a quasi piuma al vento
+             Che la porta a la perde in un momento,' [Note: Guarini]
+
+as we Italians say. Cannot you understand that?
+
+"Thy affectionate brother,
+
+"WILHELM."
+
+Otto wrote in the margin of the letter, "Italy is a paradise! Here the
+heavens are three times as lofty as at home. I love the proud pine-trees
+and the dark-blue mountains. Would hat everybody could see the glorious
+objects!"
+
+Wilhelm added to this, "What he writes about the Italian heavens is
+stupid stuff. Ours at home is just as good. He is an odd person, as you
+very well know!
+
+"'Addic! A rivederci!'"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVI
+
+     "Thou art master in thy world.
+     Hast thou thyself, then thou hast all!"
+     --WAHLMANN.
+
+In the summer of 1834 the friends had been absent for two years. In the
+last year, violet-colored gillyflowers had adorned a grave in the little
+country church-yard.
+
+     "A heart which overflowed with love,
+     Was gone from earth to love and God,"
+     were the words which might be read upon the grave-stone.
+
+A withered bouquet of stocks had been found by Louise, with the
+certificate of Eva's birth and her hymn-book. These were the flowers
+which Wilhelm had given her that evening at Roeskelde. Among the dry
+leaves there lay a piece of paper, on which she had written,--"Even like
+these flowers let the feelings die away in my soul which these flowers
+inspire it with!"
+
+And now above her grave the flowers which she had loved sent forth their
+fragrance.
+
+It was Sunday; the sun shone warm; the church-goers, old and young,
+assembled under the great lime-tree near Eva's grave. They expected
+their young preacher, who to-day was to preach for the third time.
+
+The gentlefolks would also certainly be there, they thought, because the
+young Baron was come back out of foreign parts, and with him the other
+gentleman, who certainly was to have Miss Louise.
+
+"Our new preacher is worth hearing," said one of the peasant women;
+"such a young man, who actually preaches the old faith! as gentle and as
+meek in conversation as if he were one of ourselves! And in the pulpit,
+God help us! it went quite down into my legs the last time about the Day
+of Judgment!"
+
+"There is Father!" [Note: The general term applied to the preacher by
+the Danish peasants.] exclaimed the crowd, and the heads of old and
+young were uncovered. The women courtesied deeply as a young man in
+priest-robes went into the church-door. His eyes and lips moved to a
+pious smile, the hair was smooth upon his pale forehead.
+
+"Good day, children!" said he.
+
+It was Hans Peter. He had, indeed, had "the best characters," and thus
+had received a good living, and now preached effectively about the devil
+and all his works.
+
+The singing of the community sounded above the grave where the sun
+shone, where the stocks sent forth their fragrance, and where Eva slept:
+she whose last wish was to live.
+
+     "There is no love i' th' grave below,
+     No music, warmth, or pleasure."
+
+The earth lay firm and heavy upon her coffin-lid.
+
+During the singing of the second hymn a handsome carriage drove up
+before the church-yard. The two friends, who were only just returned to
+their home in Denmark, entered the church, together with the mother and
+Louise.
+
+Travelling and two years had made Wilhelm appear somewhat older;
+there was a shadow of sadness in his otherwise open and life-rejoicing
+countenance. Otto looked handsomer than formerly; the gloomy expression
+in his face was softened, he looked around cheerfully, yet thoughtfully,
+and a smile was on his lips when he spoke with Louise.
+
+There was in the sermon some allusion made to those who had returned
+home; for the rest, it was a flowery discourse interlarded with many
+texts from the Bible. The community shed tears; the good, wise people,
+they understood it to mean that their young lord was returned home
+uninjured from all the perils which abound in foreign lands.
+
+The preacher was invited to dinner at the hall. The Kammerjunker and
+Sophie came also, but it lasted "seven long and seven wide," as
+Miss Jakoba expressed herself, before they could get through all the
+unwrapping and were ready to enter the parlor, for they had with them
+the little son Fergus, as he was called, after the handsome Scotchman in
+Sir Walter Scott's "Waverley." That was Sophie's wish. The Kammerjunker
+turned the name of Fergus to Gusseman, and Jacoba asserted that it was a
+dog's name.
+
+"Now you shall see my little bumpkin!" said he, and brought in a
+square-built child, who with fat, red cheeks, and round arms, stared
+around him. "That is a strong fellow! Here is something to take hold of!
+Tralla-ralla-ralla!" And he danced him round the room.
+
+Sophie laughed and offered her hand to Otto.
+
+Wilhelm turned to Mamsell. "I have brought something for you," said he,
+"something which I hope may find a place in the work-box--a man made of
+very small mussel-shells; it is from Venice."
+
+"Heavens! from all that way off!" said she and courtesied.
+
+After dinner they walked in the garden.
+
+Wilhelm spoke already of going the following year again to Paris.
+
+"Satan!" said the Kammerjunker. "Nay, I can do better with Mr. Thostrup.
+He is patriotic. He lays out his money in an estate. It is a good
+bargain which you have made, and in a while will be beautiful; there is
+hill and dale."
+
+"There my old Rosalie shall live with me," said Otto; "there she will
+find her Switzerland. The cows shall have bells on their necks."
+
+"Lord God! shall they also be made fools of?" exclaimed Jakoba: "that is
+just exactly as if it were Sophie."
+
+They went through the avenue where Otto two years before had wept, and
+had related all his troubles to Louise. He recollected it, and a gentle
+sigh passed his lips whilst his eyes rested on Louise.
+
+"Now, do you feel yourself happy at home?" asked she; "a lovelier
+summer's day than this you certainly have not abroad."
+
+"Every country has its own beauties," replied Otto. "Our Denmark is not
+a step child of Nature. The people here are dearest to me, for I am
+best acquainted with them. They, and not Nature, it is that makes a
+land charming. Denmark is a good land; and here also will I look for my
+happiness." He seized Louise's hand; she blushed, and was silent. Happy
+hours succeeded.
+
+This circle assembled every Sunday; on the third, their delight was
+greater, was more festal than on any former occasion.
+
+Nature herself had the same expression. The evening was most beautiful;
+the full moon shone, magnificent dark-blue clouds raised themselves like
+mountains on the other side the Belt. Afar off sailed the ships, with
+every sail set to catch the breeze.
+
+Below the moon floated a coal-black cloud, which foretold a squall.
+
+A little yacht went calmly over the water. At the helm sat a boy--half
+a child he seemed: it was Jonas, the little singing-bird, as Wilhelm had
+once called him. Last Whitsuntide he had been confirmed, and with his
+Confirmation all his singer-dreams were at an end: but that did not
+trouble him; on the contrary, it had lain very heavy upon his heart that
+he was not to be a fifer. His highest wish had been to see himself as
+a regimental fifer, and then he should have gone to his Confirmation in
+his red uniform, with a sabre at his side, and a feather in his hat half
+as tall as himself. Thus adorned, he might have gone with the girls
+into the King's Garden and upon the Round Tower, the usual walk for poor
+children in Copenhagen. On Confirmation-day they ascend the high tower,
+just as if it were to gain from it a free view over the world. Little
+Jonas, however, was confirmed as a sailor, and he now sat at the helm on
+this quiet night.
+
+Upon the deck lay two persons and slept; a third went tranquilly up
+and down. Suddenly he shook one of the sleepers, and caught hold on
+the sail. A squall had arisen with such rapidity and strength, that the
+vessel in a moment was thrown on her side. Mast and sail were below the
+water. Little Jonas uttered a shriek. Not a vessel was within sight.
+The two sleepers had woke in time to cling to the mast. With great
+force they seized the ropes, but in vain; the sail hung like lead in the
+water. The ship did not right herself.
+
+"Joseph, Maria!" exclaimed one of them, a man with gray hairs and
+unpleasing features. "We sink! the water is in the hold!"
+
+All three clambered now toward the hinder part of the vessel, where a
+little boat floated after. One of them sprang into it.
+
+"My daughter!" cried the elder, and bent himself toward the narrow
+entrance into the cabin. "Sidsel, save thy life!" and so saying, he
+sprang into the boat.
+
+"We must have my daughter out," cried he. One of the ship's cabin
+windows was under water; he burst in the other window.
+
+"We are sinking!" cried he, and a horrible scream was heard within.
+
+The old man was German Heinrich, who was about to come with this vessel
+from Copenhagen to Jutland: Sidsel was his daughter, and therefore he
+wished now to save her life a second time.
+
+The water rushed more and more into the ship. Heinrich thrust his arm
+through the cabin-window, he grasped about in the water within; suddenly
+he caught hold on a garment, he drew it toward him; but it was only the
+captain's coat, and not his daughter, as he had hoped.
+
+"The ship sinks!" shrieked the other, and grasped wildly on the rope
+which held the boat fast: in vain he attempted to divide it with his
+pocket-knife. The ship whirled round with the boat and all. Air and
+water boiled within it, and, as if in a whirlpool, the whole sunk into
+the deep. The sea agitated itself into strong surges over the place, and
+then was again still. The moon shone tranquilly over the surface of the
+water as before. No wreck remained to tell any one of the struggle which
+there had been with death.
+
+The bell tolled a quarter past twelve; and at that moment the last light
+at the hall was extinguished.
+
+"I will go to Paris," said Wilhelm, "to my glorious Switzerland; here
+at home one is heavy-hearted; the gillyflowers on the grave have an odor
+full of melancholy recollections. I must breathe the mountain air;
+I must mingle in the tumult of men, and it is quite the best in the
+world."
+
+Otto closed his eyes; he folded his hands.
+
+"Louise loves me," said he. "I am so happy that I fear some great
+misfortune may soon meet me; thus it used always to be. Whilst German
+Heinrich lives I cannot assure myself of good! If he were away, I should
+be perfectly tranquil, perfectly happy!"
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of O. T., by Hans Christian Andersen
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diff --git a/7513.zip b/7513.zip
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diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
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+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
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+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #7513 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7513)
diff --git a/old/7513-h.htm.2021-01-26 b/old/7513-h.htm.2021-01-26
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..93b14e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/7513-h.htm.2021-01-26
@@ -0,0 +1,13093 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+
+<!DOCTYPE html
+   PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+   "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" >
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en">
+  <head>
+    <title>
+      O. T., by Hans Christian Andersen
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve">
+
+    body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify}
+    P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; }
+    H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; }
+    hr  { width: 50%; text-align: center;}
+    .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; }
+    blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;}
+    .mynote    {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;}
+    .toc       { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;}
+    .toc2      { margin-left: 20%;}
+    div.fig    { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; }
+    div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; }
+    .figleft   {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;}
+    .figright  {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;}
+    .pagenum   {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal;
+               margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%;
+               text-align: right;}
+    pre        { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;}
+
+</style>
+  </head>
+  <body>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of O. T., by Hans Christian Andersen
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: O. T.
+       A Danish Romance
+
+Author: Hans Christian Andersen
+
+Release Date: August 3, 2009 [EBook #7513]
+Last Updated: October 31, 2016
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK O. T. ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nicole Apostola, and David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <h1>
+      O. T.
+    </h1>
+    <h2>
+      A Danish Romance
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <h2>
+      by Hans Christian Andersen
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      Author of the &ldquo;Improvisatore&rdquo; and the &ldquo;Two Baronesses&rdquo;
+     </h3>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <blockquote>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER XVIII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XIX </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER XX </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0021"> CHAPTER XXI </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0022"> CHAPTER XXII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0023"> CHAPTER XXIII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0024"> CHAPTER XXIV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0025"> CHAPTER XXV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0026"> CHAPTER XXVI </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0027"> CHAPTER XXVII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0028"> CHAPTER XXVIII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0029"> CHAPTER XXIX </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0030"> CHAPTER XXX </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0031"> CHAPTER XXXI </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0032"> CHAPTER XXXII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0033"> CHAPTER XXXIII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0034"> CHAPTER XXXIV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0035"> CHAPTER XXXV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0036"> CHAPTER XXXVI. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0037"> CHAPTER XXXVII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0038"> CHAPTER XXXVIII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0039"> CHAPTER XXXIX </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0040"> CHAPTER XL </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0041"> CHAPTER XLI </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0042"> CHAPTER XLII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0043"> CHAPTER XLIII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0044"> CHAPTER XLIV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0045"> CHAPTER XLV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0046"> CHAPTER XLVI </a>
+      </p>
+    </blockquote>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br /> <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER I
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Quod felix faustumque sit!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      There is a happiness which no poet has yet properly sung, which no
+      lady-reader, let her be ever so amiable, has experienced or ever will
+      experience in this world. This is a condition of happiness which alone
+      belongs to the male sex, and even then alone to the elect. It is a moment
+      of life which seizes upon our feelings, our minds, our whole being. Tears
+      have been shed by the innocent, sleepless nights been passed, during which
+      the pious mother, the loving sister, have put up prayers to God for this
+      critical moment in the life of the son or the brother.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Happy moment, which no woman, let her be ever so good, so beautiful, or
+      intellectual, can experience&mdash;that of becoming a student, or, to
+      describe it by a more usual term, the passing of the first examination!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The cadet who becomes an officer, the scholar who becomes an academical
+      burgher, the apprentice who becomes a journeyman, all know, in a greater
+      or less degree, this loosening of the wings, this bounding over the limits
+      of maturity into the lists of philosophy. We all strive after a wider
+      field, and rush thither like the stream which at length loses itself in
+      the ocean.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then for the first time does the youthful soul rightly feel her freedom,
+      and, therefore, feels it doubly; the soul struggles for activity, she
+      comprehends her individuality; it has been proved and not found too light;
+      she is still in possession of the dreams of childhood, which have not yet
+      proved delusive. Not even the joy of love, not the enthusiasm for art and
+      science, so thrills through all the nerves as the words, &ldquo;Now am I a
+      student!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This spring-day of life, on which the ice-covering of the school is
+      broken, when the tree of Hope puts forth its buds and the sun of Freedom
+      shines, falls with us, as is well known, in the month of October, just
+      when Nature loses her foliage, when the evenings begin to grow darker, and
+      when heavy winter-clouds draw together, as though they would say to youth,&mdash;&ldquo;Your
+      spring, the birth of the examination, is only a dream! even now does your
+      life become earnest!&rdquo; But our happy youths think not of these things,
+      neither will we be joyous with the gay, and pay a visit to their circle.
+      In such a one our story takes its commencement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER II
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;At last we separate:
+     To Jutland one, to Fünen others go;
+     And still the quick thought comes,
+     &mdash;A day so bright, so full of fun,
+     Never again on us shall rise.&rdquo;&mdash;CARL BAGGER.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      It was in October of the year 1829. Examen artium had been passed through.
+      Several young students were assembled in the evening at the abode of one
+      of their comrades, a young Copenhagener of eighteen, whose parents were
+      giving him and his new friends a banquet in honor of the examination. The
+      mother and sister had arranged everything in the nicest manner, the father
+      had given excellent wine out of the cellar, and the student himself, here
+      the rex convivii, had provided tobacco, genuine Oronoko-canaster. With
+      regard to Latin, the invitation&mdash;which was, of course, composed in
+      Latin&mdash;informed the guests that each should bring his own.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The company, consisting of one and twenty persons&mdash;and these were
+      only the most intimate friends&mdash;was already assembled. About one
+      third of the friends were from the provinces, the remainder out of
+      Copenhagen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Old Father Homer shall stand in the middle of the table!&rdquo; said one of the
+      liveliest guests, whilst he took down from the stove a plaster bust and
+      placed it upon the covered table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, certainly, he will have drunk as much as the other poets!&rdquo; said an
+      older one. &ldquo;Give me one of thy exercise-books, Ludwig! I will cut him out
+      a wreath of vine-leaves, since we have no roses and since I cannot cut out
+      any.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have no libation!&rdquo; cried a third,&mdash;&ldquo;Favete linguis.&rdquo; And he
+      sprinkled a small quantity of salt, from the point of a knife, upon the
+      bust, at the same time raising his glass to moisten it with a few drops of
+      wine.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do not use my Homer as you would an ox!&rdquo; cried the host. &ldquo;Homer shall
+      have the place of honor, between the bowl and the garland-cake! He is
+      especially my poet! It was he who in Greek assisted me to laudabilis et
+      quidem egregie. Now we will mutually drink healths! Jörgen shall be
+      magister bibendi, and then we will sing &lsquo;Gaudeamus igitur,&rsquo; and &lsquo;Integer
+      vitae.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Sexton with the cardinal&rsquo;s hat shall be the precentor!&rdquo; cried one of
+      the youths from the provinces, pointing toward a rosy-cheeked companion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, now I am no longer sexton!&rdquo; returned the other laughing. &ldquo;If thou
+      bringest old histories up again, thou wilt receive thy old school-name,
+      &lsquo;the Smoke-squirter.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But that is a very nice little history!&rdquo; said the other. &ldquo;We called him
+      &lsquo;Sexton,&rsquo; from the office his father held; but that, after all, is not
+      particularly witty. It was better with the hat, for it did, indeed,
+      resemble a cardinal&rsquo;s hat. I, in the mean time, got my name in a more
+      amusing manner.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He lived near the school,&rdquo; pursued the other; &ldquo;he could always slip home
+      when we had out free quarters of an hour: and then one day he had filled
+      his mouth with tobacco smoke, intending to blow it into our faces; but
+      when he entered the passage with his filled cheeks the quarter of an hour
+      was over, and we were again in class: the rector was still standing in the
+      doorway; he could not, therefore, blow the smoke out of his mouth, and so
+      wished to slip in as he was. &lsquo;What have you there in your mouth?&rsquo; asked
+      the rector; but Philip could answer nothing, without at the same time
+      losing the smoke. &lsquo;Now, cannot you speak?&rsquo; cried the rector, and gave him
+      a box on the ear, so that the smoke burst through nose and mouth. This
+      looked quite exquisite; the affair caused the rector such pleasure, that
+      he presented the poor sinner with the nota bene.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Integer vitae!&rdquo; broke in the Precentor, and harmoniously followed the
+      other voices. After this, a young Copenhagener exhibited his dramatic
+      talent by mimicking most illusively the professors of the Academy, and
+      giving their peculiarities, yet in such a good-natured manner that it must
+      have amused even the offended parties themselves. Now followed the healths&mdash;&ldquo;Vivant
+      omnes hi et hae!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A health to the prettiest girl!&rdquo; boldly cried one of the merriest
+      brothers. &ldquo;The prettiest girl!&rdquo; repeated a pair of the younger ones, and
+      pushed their glasses toward each other, whilst the blood rushed to their
+      cheeks at this their boldness, for they had never thought of a beloved
+      being, which, nevertheless, belonged to their new life. The roundelay now
+      commenced, in which each one must give the Christian name of his
+      lady-love, and assuredly every second youth caught a name out of the air;
+      some, however, repeated a name with a certain palpitation of the heart.
+      The discourse became more animated; the approaching military exercises,
+      the handsome uniform, the reception in the students&rsquo; club, and its
+      pleasures, were all matters of the highest interest. But there was the
+      future philologicum and philosophicum&mdash;yes, that also was discussed;
+      there they must exhibit their knowledge of Latin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do you think,&rdquo; said one of the party, &ldquo;if once a week we alternately
+      met at each other&rsquo;s rooms, and held disputations? No Danish word must be
+      spoken. This might be an excellent scheme.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I agree to that!&rdquo; cried several.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Regular laws must be drawn up.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, and we must have our best Latin scholar, the Jutlander, Otto
+      Thostrup, with us! He wrote his themes in hexameters.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He is not invited here this evening,&rdquo; remarked the neighbor, the young
+      Baron Wilhelm of Funen, the only nobleman in the company.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Otto Thostrup!&rdquo; answered the host. &ldquo;Yes, truly he&rsquo;s a clever fellow, but
+      he seems to me so haughty. There is something about him that does not
+      please me at all. We are still no dunces, although he did receive nine
+      prae caeteris!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet it was very provoking,&rdquo; cried another, &ldquo;that he received the only Non
+      in mathematics. Otherwise he would have been called in. Now he will only
+      have to vex himself about his many brilliant characters.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, and he is well versed in mathematics!&rdquo; added Wilhelm &ldquo;There was
+      something incorrect in the writing; the inspector was to blame for that,
+      but how I know not. Thostrup is terribly vehement, and can set all respect
+      at defiance; he became angry, and went out. There was only a piece of
+      unwritten paper presented from him, and this brought him a cipher, which
+      the verbal examination could not bring higher than non. Thostrup is
+      certainly a glorious fellow. We have made a tour together in the steamboat
+      from Helsingöer to Copenhagen, and in the written examination we sat
+      beside each other until the day when we had mathematics, and then I sat
+      below him. I like him very much, his pride excepted; and of that we must
+      break him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Herr Baron,&rdquo; said his neighbor, &ldquo;I am of your opinion. Shall not we drink
+      the Thou-brotherhood?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To-night we will all of us drink the Thou!&rdquo; said the host; &ldquo;it is nothing
+      if comrades and good friends call each other <i>you</i>.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Evoe Bacchus!&rdquo; they joyously shouted. The glasses were filled, one arm
+      was thrown round that of the neighbor, and the glasses were emptied,
+      whilst several commenced singing &ldquo;dulce cum sodalibus!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell me what thou art called?&rdquo; demanded one of the younger guests of his
+      new Thou-brother.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What am I called?&rdquo; replied he. &ldquo;With the exception of one letter, the
+      same as the Baron.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Baron!&rdquo; cried a third; &ldquo;yes, where is he?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There he stands talking at the door; take your glasses! now have all of
+      us drank the Thou-brotherhood?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The glasses were again raised; the young Baron laughed, clinked his glass,
+      and shouted in the circle, &ldquo;Thou, Thou!&rdquo; But in his whole bearing there
+      lay something constrained, which, however, none of the young men remarked,
+      far less allowed themselves to imagine that his sudden retreat, during the
+      first drinking, perhaps occurred from the sole object of avoiding it. But
+      soon was he again one of the most extravagant; promised each youth who
+      would study theology a living on his estate when he should once get it
+      into his own hands; and proposed that the Latin disputations should
+      commence with him, and on the following Friday. Otto Thostrup, however,
+      should be of the party&mdash;if he chose, of course being understood; for
+      he was a capital student, and his friend they had made a journey together
+      and had been neighbors at the green table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Among those who were the earliest to make their valete amici was the
+      Baron. Several were not yet inclined to quit this joyous circle. The
+      deepest silence reigned in the streets; it was the most beautiful
+      moonlight. In most houses all had retired to rest&mdash;only here and
+      there was a light still seen, most persons slept, even those whose sense
+      of duty should leave banished the god of sleep: thus sat a poor
+      hackney-coachman, aloft upon his coach-box, before the house where he
+      awaited his party, and enjoyed, the reins wound about his hand, the
+      much-desired rest. Wilhelm (henceforth we will only call the young Baron
+      by his Christian name) walked alone through the street. The wine had
+      heated his northern blood&mdash;besides which it never flowed slowly; his
+      youthful spirits, his jovial mood, and the gayety occasioned by the merry
+      company he had just quitted did not permit him quietly to pass by this
+      sleeping Endymion. Suddenly it occurred to him to open the coach-door and
+      leap in; which having done, he let the glass fall and called out with a
+      loud voice, &ldquo;Drive on!&rdquo; The coachman started up out of his blessed sleep
+      and asked, quite confused, &ldquo;Where to?&rdquo; Without reflecting about the
+      matter, Wilhelm cried, &ldquo;To the Ship in West Street.&rdquo; The coachman drove
+      on; about half-way, Wilhelm again opened the coach-door, a bold spring
+      helped him out, and the coach rolled on. It stopped at the public-house of
+      the Ship. The coachman got down and opened the door; there was no one
+      within; he thrust his head in thoroughly to convince himself; but no, the
+      carriage was empty! &ldquo;Extraordinary!&rdquo; said the fellow; &ldquo;can I have dreamed
+      it? But still I heard, quite distinctly, how I was told to drive to the
+      Ship! Lord preserve us! now they are waiting for me!&rdquo; He leaped upon the
+      box and drove rapidly back again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the mean time Wilhelm had reached his abode in Vineyard Street; he
+      opened a window to enjoy the beautiful night, and gazed out upon the
+      desolate church-yard which is shut in by shops. He had no inclination for
+      sleep, although everything in the street, even the watchmen not excepted,
+      appeared to rejoice the gift of God. Wilhelm thought upon the merry
+      evening party, upon his adventure with the poor hackney-coachman, then
+      took down his violin from the wall and began to play certain variations.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The last remaining guests from the honorable carousal, merrier than when
+      Wilhelm left them, now came wandering up the street. One of them jodeled
+      sweetly, and no watchman showed himself as a disturbing principle. They
+      heard Wilhelm violin and recognized the musician.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Play us a Française, thou up there!&rdquo; cried they.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But the watchman?&rdquo; whispered one of the less courageous.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Zounds, there he sits!&rdquo; cried a third, and pointed toward a sleeping
+      object which leaned its head upon a large wooden chest before a closed
+      booth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He is happy!&rdquo; said the first speaker. &ldquo;If we had only the strong
+      Icelander here, he would soon hang him up by his bandelier upon one of the
+      iron hooks. He has done that before now; he has the strength of a bear. He
+      seized such a lazy fellow as this right daintily by his girdle on one of
+      the hooks at the weighing-booth. There hung the watchman and whistled to
+      the others; the first who hastened to the spot was immediately hung up
+      beside him, and away ran the Icelander whilst the two blew a duet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here, take hold!&rdquo; cried one of the merry brothers, quickly opening the
+      chest, the lid of which was fastened by a peg. &ldquo;Let us put the watchman
+      into the chest; he sleeps indeed like a horse!&rdquo; In a moment, the four had
+      seized the sleeper, who certainly awoke during the operation, but he
+      already lay in the chest. The lid flew down, and two or three of the
+      friends sprang upon it whilst the peg was stuck in again. The watchman
+      immediately seized his whistle and drew the most heart-rending tones from
+      it. Quickly the tormenting spirits withdrew themselves; yet not so far but
+      that they could still hear the whistle and observe what would take place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The watchmen now came up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The deuce! where art thou?&rdquo; cried they, and then discovered the place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah, God help me!&rdquo; cried the prisoner. &ldquo;Let me out, let me out! I must
+      call!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou hast drunk more than thy thirst required, comrade!&rdquo; said the others.
+      &ldquo;If thou hast fallen into the chest, remain lying there, thou swine!&rdquo; And
+      laughing they left him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, the rascals!&rdquo; sighed he, and worked in vain at opening the lid.
+      Through all his powerful exertions the box fell over. The young men now
+      stepped forth, and, as though they were highly astonished at the whole
+      history which he related to them, they let themselves be prevailed upon to
+      open the box, but only upon condition that he should keep street free from
+      the interference of the other watchmen whilst they danced a Française to
+      Wilhelm&rsquo;s violin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor man was delivered from his captivity, and must obligingly play
+      the sentinel whilst they arranged them for the dance. Wilhelm was called
+      upon to play, and the dance commenced; a partner, however, was wanting.
+      Just then a quiet citizen passed by. The gentleman who had no partner
+      approached the citizen with comic respect, and besought him to take part
+      in the amusement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I never dance!&rdquo; said the man, laughing, and wished to pursue his way.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; replied the cavalier, &ldquo;yet you must still do me this pleasure, or
+      else I shall have no dance.&rdquo; Saying this he took hold of him by the waist
+      and the dance commenced, whether the good man would or no.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The watchman should receive a present from every one!&rdquo; said they, when
+      the Française was at an end. &ldquo;He is an excellent man who thus keeps order
+      in the street, so that one can enjoy a little dance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These are honest people&rsquo;s children!&rdquo; said the watchman to himself, whilst
+      he with much pleasure thrust the money into his leathern purse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All was again quiet in the street; the violin was also silent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER III
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Who looks into the shadowy realm of my heart?&rdquo;
+                                     A. V. CHAMISSO.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In the former chapter we heard mention made of a young student, Otto
+      Thostrup, a clever fellow, with nine prae caeteris, as his comrades said,
+      but also of a proud spirit, of which he must be broken. Not at the
+      disputations, which have been already mentioned, will we make his
+      acquaintance, although there we must be filled with respect for the good
+      Latin scholar; not in large companies, where his handsome exterior and his
+      speaking, melancholy glance must make him interesting; as little in the
+      pit of the Opera although his few yet striking observations there would
+      show him to be a very intellectual young man; but we will seek him out for
+      the first time at the house of his friend, the young Baron Wilhelm. It is
+      the beginning of November: we find them both with their pipes in their
+      mouths; upon the table lie Tibullus and Anacreon, which they are reading
+      together for the approaching philologicum.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the room stands a piano-forte, with a number of music-books; upon the
+      walls hang the portraits of Weyse and Beethoven, for our young Baron is
+      musical, nay a composer himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See, here we have again this lovely, clinging mist!&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;Out
+      of doors one can fairly taste it; at home it would be a real plague to me,
+      here it only Londonizes the city.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I like it!&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;To me it is like an old acquaintance from
+      Vestervovov. It is as though the mist brought me greetings from the sea
+      and sand-hills.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I should like to see the North Sea, but the devil might live there! What
+      town lies nearest to your grandfather&rsquo;s estate?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lernvig,&rdquo; answered Otto. &ldquo;If any one wish to see the North Sea properly,
+      they ought to go up as far as Thisted and Hjörring. I have travelled
+      there, have visited the family in Börglum-Kloster; and, besides this, have
+      made other small journeys. Never shall I forget one evening; yes, it was a
+      storm of which people in the interior of the country can form no
+      conception. I rode&mdash;I was then a mere boy, and a very wild lad&mdash;with
+      one of our men. When the storm commenced we found ourselves among the
+      sand-hills. Ah! that you should have seen! The sand forms along the strand
+      high banks, which serve as dikes against the sea; these are overgrown with
+      sea-grass, but, if the storm bursts a single hole, the whole is carried
+      away. This spectacle we chanced to witness. It is a true Arabian
+      sand-storm, and the North Sea bellowed so that it might be heard at the
+      distance of many miles. The salt foam flew together with the sand into our
+      faces.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That must have been splendid!&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm, and his eyes sparkled.
+      &ldquo;Jutland is certainly the most romantic part of Denmark. Since I read
+      Steen-Blicher&rsquo;s novels I have felt a real interest for that country. It
+      seems to me that it must greatly resemble the Lowlands of Scotland. And
+      gypsies are also found there, are they not?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Vagabonds, we call them,&rdquo; said Otto, with an involuntary motion of the
+      mouth. &ldquo;They correspond to the name!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The fishermen, also, on the coast are not much better! Do they still from
+      the pulpit pray for wrecks? Do they still slay shipwrecked mariners?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have heard our preacher, who is an old man, relate how, in the first
+      years after he had obtained his office and dignity, he was obliged to pray
+      in the church that, if ships stranded, they might strand in his district;
+      but this I have never heard myself. But with regard to what is related of
+      murdering, why, the fishermen&mdash;sea-geese, as they are called&mdash;are
+      by no means a tender-hearted people; but it is not as bad as that in our
+      days. A peasant died in the neighborhood, of whom it was certainly related
+      that in bad weather he had bound a lantern under his horse&rsquo;s belly and let
+      it wander up and down the beach, so that the strange mariner who was
+      sailing in those seas might imagine it some cruising ship, and thus fancy
+      himself still a considerable way from land. By this means many a ship is
+      said to have been destroyed. But observe, these are stories out of the
+      district of Thisted, and of an elder age, before my power of observation
+      had developed itself; this was that golden age when in tumble-down
+      fishers&rsquo; huts, after one of these good shipwrecks, valuable shawls, but
+      little damaged by the sea, might be found employed as bed-hangings. Boots
+      and shoes were smeared with the finest pomatum. If such things now reach
+      their hands, they know better how to turn them into money. The
+      Strand-commissioners are now on the watch; now it is said to be a real age
+      of copper.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have you seen a vessel stranded?&rdquo; inquired Wilhelm, with increasing
+      interest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Our estate lies only half a mile from the sea. Every year about this
+      time, when the mist spreads itself out as it does to-day and the storms
+      begin to rage, then was it most animated. In my wild spirits, when I was a
+      boy, and especially in the midst of our monotonous life, I truly yearned
+      after it. Once, upon a journey to Börglum-Kloster, I experienced a storm.
+      In the early morning; it was quite calm, but gray, and we witnessed a kind
+      of Fata Morgana. A ship, which had not yet risen above the horizon, showed
+      itself in the distance, but the rigging was turned upside down; the masts
+      were below, the hull above. This is called the ship of death, and when it
+      is seen people are sure of bad weather and shipwreck. Later, about midday,
+      it began to blow, and in an hour&rsquo;s time we had a regular tempest. The sea
+      growled quite charmingly; we travelled on between sand-hills&mdash;they
+      resemble hills and dales in winter time, but here it is not snow which
+      melts away; here never grows a single green blade; a black stake stands up
+      here and there, and these are rudders from wrecks, the histories of which
+      are unknown. In the afternoon arose a storm such as I had experienced when
+      riding with the man between the sand-hills. We could not proceed farther,
+      and were obliged on this account to seek shelter in one of the huts which
+      the fishermen hail erected among the white sand-hills. There we remained,
+      and I saw the stranding of a vessel: I shall never forget it! An American
+      ship lay not a musket-shot from land. They cut the mast; six or seven men
+      clung fast to it in the waters. O, how they rocked backward and forward in
+      the dashing spray! The mast took a direction toward the shore; at length
+      only three men were left clinging to the mast; it was dashed upon land,
+      but the returning waves again bore it away; it had crushed the arms and
+      legs of the clinging wretches&mdash;ground them like worms! I dreamed of
+      this for many nights. The waves flung the hull of the vessel up high on
+      the shore, and drove it into the sand, where it was afterward found.
+      Later, as we retraced our steps, were the stem and sternpost gone: you saw
+      two strong wooden walls, between which the road took its course. You even
+      still travel through the wreck!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Up in your country every poetical mind must become a Byron,&rdquo; said
+      Wilhelm. &ldquo;On my parents&rsquo; estate we have only idyls; the whole of Funen is
+      a garden. We mutually visit each other upon our different estates, where
+      we lead most merry lives, dance with the peasant-girls at the
+      brewing-feast, hunt in the woods, and fish in the lakes. The only
+      melancholy object which presents itself with us is a funeral, and the only
+      romantic characters we possess are a little hump-backed musician, a wise
+      woman, and an honest schoolmaster, who still firmly believes, as Jeronimus
+      did, that the earth is flat, and that, were it to turn round, we should
+      fall, the devil knows where!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I love nature in Jutland!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto. &ldquo;The open sea, the brown
+      heath, and the bushy moorland. You should see the wild moor in Vendsyssel&mdash;that
+      is an extent! Almost always wet mists float over its unapproachable
+      interior, which is known to no one. It is not yet fifty years since it
+      served as an abode for wolves. Often it bursts into flames, for it is
+      impregnated with sulphuric gas,&mdash;one can see the fire for miles.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My sister Sophie ought to hear all this!&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;You would make
+      your fortune with her! The dear girl! she has the best head at home, but
+      she loves effect. Hoffman and Victor Hugo are her favorites. Byron rests
+      every night under her pillow. If you related such things of the west coast
+      of Jutland, and of heaths and moors, you might persuade her to make a
+      journey thither. One really would not believe that we possessed in our own
+      country such romantic situations!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is she your only sister?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; returned Wilhelm, &ldquo;I have two&mdash;the other is named Louise; she
+      is of quite an opposite character: I do not know of which one ought to
+      think most. Have you no brothers or sisters?&rdquo; he asked of Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No!&rdquo; returned the latter, with his former involuntary, half-melancholy
+      expression. &ldquo;I am an only child. In my house it is solitary and silent. My
+      grandfather alone is left alive. He is an active, strong man, but very
+      grave. He instructed me in mathematics, which he thoroughly understands.
+      The preacher taught me Latin, Greek, and history: two persons, however,
+      occupied themselves with my religious education&mdash;the preacher and my
+      old Rosalie. She is a good soul. How often have I teased her, been
+      petulant, and almost angry with her! She thought so much of me, she was
+      both mother and sister to me, and instructed me in religion as well as the
+      preacher, although she is a Catholic. Since my father&rsquo;s childhood she has
+      been a sort of governante in the house. You should have seen her
+      melancholy smile when she heard my geography lesson, and we read of her
+      dear Switzerland, where she was born, and of the south of France, where
+      she had travelled as a child. The west coast of Jutland may also appear
+      very barren in comparison with these countries!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She might have made you a Catholic! But surely nothing of this still
+      clings to you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Rosalie was a prudent old creature; Luther himself need not have been
+      ashamed of her doctrine. Whatever is holy to the heart of man, remains
+      also holy in every religion!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But then, to erect altars to the Madonna!&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm; &ldquo;to pray to
+      a being; whom the Bible does not make a saint!&mdash;that is rather too
+      much. And their tricks with burning of incense and ringing of bells! Yes,
+      indeed, it would give me no little pleasure to cut off the heads of the
+      Pope and of the whole clerical body! To purchase indulgence!&mdash;Those
+      must, indeed, be curious people who can place thorough faith in such
+      things! I will never once take off my hat before the Madonna!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But that will I do, and in my heart bow myself before her!&rdquo; answered
+      Otto, gravely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did I not think so? she has made you a Catholic!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No such thing! I am as good a Protestant as you yourself: but wherefore
+      should we not respect the mother of Christ? With regard to the ceremonials
+      of Catholicism, indulgence, and all these additions of the priesthood, I
+      agree with you in wishing to strike off the heads of all who, in such a
+      manner, degrade God and the human understanding. But in many respects we
+      are unjust: we so easily forget the first and greatest commandment, &lsquo;Love
+      thy neighbor as thyself!&rsquo; We are not tolerant. Among our festivals we have
+      still one for the Three Kings&mdash;it is yet celebrated by the common
+      people; but what have these three kings done? They knelt before the manger
+      in which Christ lay, and on this account we honor them. On the contrary,
+      the mother of God has no festival-day; nay, the multitude even smile at
+      her name! If you will only quietly listen to my simple argument, we shall
+      soon agree. You will take off your hat and bow before the Madonna. Only
+      two things are to be considered&mdash;either Christ was entirely human, or
+      He was, as the Bible teaches us, a divine being. I will now admit the
+      latter. He is God Himself, who in some inexplicable manner, is born to us
+      of the Virgin Mary. She must therefore be the purest, the most perfect
+      feminine being, since God found her worthy to bring into the world the
+      Son, the only one; through this she becomes as holy as any human being
+      can, and low we must bow ourselves before the pure, the exalted one. Take
+      it for granted that Christ was human, like ourselves, otherwise He cannot,
+      according to my belief, call upon us to imitate Him; neither would it be
+      great, as God, to meet a corporeal death, from which He could remove each
+      pain. Were He only a man, born of Mary, we must doubly admire Him; we must
+      bow in the dust before His mighty spirit, His enlightening and consoling
+      doctrine. But can we then forget how much the mother has must have
+      influenced the child, how sublime and profound the soul must have been
+      which spoke to His heart? We must reverence and honor her! Everywhere in
+      the Scriptures where she appears we see an example of care and love; with
+      her whole soul she adheres to her Son. Think how uneasy she became, and
+      sought for Him in the temple&mdash;think of her gentle reproaches! The
+      words of the Son always sounded harsh in my ears. &lsquo;Those are the powerful
+      expressions of the East!&rsquo; said my old preacher. The Saviour was severe,
+      severe as He must be! Already there seemed to me severity in His words!
+      She was completely the mother; she was it then, even as when she wept at
+      Golgotha. Honor and reverence she deserves from us!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These she also receives!&rdquo; returned Wilhelm; and striking him upon the
+      shoulder he added, with a smile, &ldquo;you are, according to the Roman Catholic
+      manner, near exalting the mother above the Son! Old Rosalie has made a
+      proselyte; after all, you are half a Catholic!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That am I not!&rdquo; answered Otto, &ldquo;and that will I not be!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+          &ldquo;See! the thunder-cloud advances!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      resounded below in the court: the sweet Neapolitan song reached the ears
+      of the friends. They stepped into the adjoining room and opened the
+      window. Three poor boys stood below in the wind and rain, and commenced
+      the song. The tallest was, perhaps, fourteen or fifteen years old, his
+      deep, rough voice seemed to have attained its strength and depth more
+      through rain and bad weather than through age. The dirty wet clothes hung
+      in rags about his body; the shoes upon the wet feet, and the hat held
+      together with white threads, were articles of luxury. The other two boys
+      had neither hat nor shoes, but their clothes were whole and clean. The
+      youngest appeared six or seven years old; his silvery white hair formed a
+      contrast with his brown face, his dark eyes and long brown eyelashes. His
+      voice sounded like the voice of a little girl, as fine and soft, beside
+      the voices of the others, as the breeze of an autumnal evening beside that
+      of rude November weather.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is a handsome boy!&rdquo; exclaimed the two friends at the same time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And a lovely melody!&rdquo; added Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, but they sing falsely!&rdquo; answered Wilhelm: &ldquo;one sings half a tone too
+      low, the other half a tone too high!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, thank God that I cannot hear that!&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;It sounds sweetly,
+      and the little one might become a singer. Poor child!&rdquo; added he gravely:
+      &ldquo;bare feet, wet to the very skin; and then the elder one will certainly
+      lead him to brandy drinking! Within a month, perhaps, the voice will be
+      gone! Then is the nightingale dead!&rdquo; He quickly threw down some skillings,
+      wrapped in paper.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come up!&rdquo; cried Wilhelm, and beckoned. The eldest of the boys flew up
+      like an arrow; Wilhelm, however, said it was the youngest who was meant.
+      The others remained standing before the door; the youngest stepped in.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whose son art thou?&rdquo; asked Wilhelm. The boy was silent, and cast down his
+      eyes in an embarrassed manner. &ldquo;Now, don&rsquo;t be bashful! Thou art of a good
+      family&mdash;that one can see from thy appearance! Art not thou thy
+      mother&rsquo;s son? I will give thee stockings and&mdash;the deuce! here is a
+      pair of boots which are too small for me; if thou dost not get drowned in
+      them they shall be thy property: but now thou must sing.&rdquo; And he seated
+      himself at the piano-forte and struck the keys. &ldquo;Now, where art thou?&rdquo; he
+      cried, rather displeased. The little one gazed upon the ground.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How! dost thou weep; or is it the rain which hangs in thy black
+      eyelashes?&rdquo; said Otto, and raised his head: &ldquo;we only wish to do thee a
+      kindness. There&mdash;thou hast another skilling from me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The little one still remained somewhat laconic. All that they learned was
+      that he was named Jonas, and that his grandmother thought so much of him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here thou hast the stockings!&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;and see here! a coat with a
+      velvet collar, a much-to-be-prized keepsake! The boots! Thou canst
+      certainly stick both legs into one boot! See! that is as good as having
+      two pairs to change about with! Let us see!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The boy&rsquo;s eyes sparkled with joy; the boots he drew on, the stockings went
+      into his pocket, and the bundle he took under his arm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But thou must sing us a little song!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, and the little one
+      commenced the old song out of the &ldquo;Woman-hater,&rdquo; &ldquo;Cupid never can be
+      trusted!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The lively expression in the dark eyes, the boy himself in his wet,
+      wretched clothes and big boots, with the bundle under his arm; nay, the
+      whole had something so characteristic in it, that had it been painted, and
+      had the painter called the picture &ldquo;Cupid on his Wanderings,&rdquo; every one
+      would have found the little god strikingly excellent, although he were not
+      blind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Something might be made of the boy and of his voice!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, when
+      little Jonas, in a joyous mood, had left the house with the other lads.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The poor child!&rdquo; sighed Otto. &ldquo;I have fairly lost my good spirits through
+      all this. It seizes upon me so strangely when I see misery and genius
+      mated. Once there came to our estate in Jutland a man who played the
+      Pandean-pipes, and at the same time beat the drum and cymbals: near him
+      stood a little girl, and struck the triangle. I was forced to weep over
+      this spectacle; without understanding how it was, I felt the misery of the
+      poor child. I was myself yet a mere boy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He looked so comic in the big boots that I became quite merry, and not
+      grave,&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;Nevertheless what a pity it is that such gentle
+      blood, which at the first glance one perceives he is, that such a pretty
+      child should become a rude fellow, and his beautiful voice change into a
+      howl, like that with which the other tall Laban saluted us. Who knows
+      whether little Jonas might not become the first singer on the Danish
+      stage? Yes, if he received education of mind and voice, who knows? I could
+      really have, pleasure in attempting it, and help every one on in the
+      world, before I myself am rightly in the way!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If he is born to a beggar&rsquo;s estate,&rdquo; said Otto, &ldquo;let him as beggar live
+      and die, and learn nothing higher. That is better, that is more to be
+      desired!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm seated himself at the piano-forte, and played some of his own
+      compositions. &ldquo;That is difficult,&rdquo; said he; &ldquo;every one cannot play that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The simpler the sweeter!&rdquo; replied Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You must not speak about music!&rdquo; returned the friend &ldquo;upon that you know
+      not how to pass judgment. Light Italian operas are not difficult to
+      write.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In the evening the friends separated. Whilst Otto took his hat, there was
+      a low knock at the door. Wilhelm opened it. Without stood a poor old
+      woman, with pale sharp features; by the hand she led a little boy&mdash;it
+      was Jonas: thus then it was a visit from him and his grandmother.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The other boys had sold the boots and shoes which had been given him. They
+      ought to have a share, they maintained. This atrocious injustice had
+      induced the old grandmother to go immediately with little Jonas to the two
+      good gentlemen, and relate how little the poor lad had received of flint
+      which they had assigned to him alone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm spoke of the boy&rsquo;s sweet voice, and thought that by might make his
+      fortune at the theatre; but then he ought not now to be left running about
+      with bare feet in the wind and rain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But by this means he brings a skilling home,&rdquo; said the old woman. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s
+      what his father and mother look to, and the skilling they can always
+      employ. Nevertheless she had herself already thought of bringing him out
+      at the theatre,&mdash;but that was to have been in dancing, for they got
+      shoes and stockings to dance in, and with these they might also run home;
+      and that would be an advantage.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will teach the boy music!&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;he can come to me sometimes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And then he will, perhaps, get a little cast-off clothing, good sir,&rdquo;
+       said the grandmother; &ldquo;a shirt, or a waistcoat, just as it happens?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Become a tailor, or shoemaker,&rdquo; said Otto, gravely, and laid his hand
+      upon the boy&rsquo;s head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He shall be a genius!&rdquo; said Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IV
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+                         &ldquo;Christmas-tide,
+     When in the wood the snow shines bright.&rdquo;
+                              OEHLENSCHLÄGER&rsquo;S Helge
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      We again let several weeks pass by; it was Christmas Eve, which brings us
+      the beautiful Christmas festival. We find the two friends taking a walk.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Describe to an inhabitant of the south a country where the earth appears
+      covered with the purest Carrara marble, where the tree twigs resemble
+      white branches of coral sprinkled with diamonds, and above a sky as blue
+      as that belonging to the south, and he will say that is a fairy land.
+      Couldst thou suddenly remove him from his dark cypresses and olive-trees
+      to the north, where the fresh snow lies upon the earth, where the white
+      hoar-frost has powdered the trees over, and the sun shines down from the
+      blue heaven, then would he recognize the description and call the north a
+      fairy land.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This was the splendor which the friends admired. The large trees upon the
+      fortification-walls appeared crystallized when seen against the blue sky.
+      The Sound was not yet frozen over; vessels, illuminated by the red evening
+      sun, glided past with spread sails. The Swedish coast seemed to have
+      approached nearer; one might see individual houses in Landskrona. It was
+      lovely, and on this account there were many promenaders upon the walls and
+      the Langelinie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sweden seems so near that one might swim over to it!&rdquo; said Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The distance would be too far,&rdquo; answered Otto; &ldquo;but I should love to
+      plunge among the deep blue waters yonder.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How refreshing it is,&rdquo; said Wilhelm, &ldquo;when the water plays about one&rsquo;s
+      cheeks! Whilst I was at home, I always swam in the Great Belt. Yes, you
+      are certainly half a fish when you come into the water.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I!&rdquo; repeated Otto, and was silent; but immediately added, with a kind of
+      embarrassment which was at other times quite foreign to him, and from
+      which one might infer how unpleasant confessing any imperfection was to
+      him, &ldquo;I do not swim.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That must be learned in summer!&rdquo; said Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There is so much to learn,&rdquo; answered Otto; &ldquo;swimming will certainly be
+      the last thing.&rdquo; He now suddenly turned toward the fortress, and stood
+      still. &ldquo;Only see how melancholy and quiet!&rdquo; said he, and led the
+      conversation again to the surrounding scenery. &ldquo;The sentinel before the
+      prison paces so quietly up and down, the sun shines upon his bayonet! How
+      this reminds me of a sweet little poem of Heine&rsquo;s; it is just as though he
+      described this fortress and this soldier, but in the warmth of summer: one
+      sees the picture livingly before one, as here; the weapon glances in the
+      sun, and the part ends so touchingly,&mdash;&lsquo;Ich wollt&rsquo;, er schösse mich
+      todt!&rsquo; It is here so romantically beautiful! on the right the animated
+      promenade, and the view over the Sund; on the left, the desolate square,
+      where the military criminals are shot, and close upon it the prison with
+      its beam-fence. The sun scarcely shines through those windows. Yet,
+      without doubt, the prisoner can see us walking here upon the wall.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And envy our golden freedom!&rdquo; said Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps he derides it,&rdquo; answered Otto. &ldquo;He is confined to his chamber and
+      the small courts behind the beam-lattice; we are confined to the coast; we
+      cannot fly forth with the ships into the mighty, glorious world. We are
+      also fastened with a chain, only ours is somewhat longer than that of the
+      prisoner. But we will not think of this; let us go down to where the
+      beautiful ladies are walking.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To see and to be seen,&rdquo; cried Wilhelm. &ldquo;&lsquo;Spectatum veniunt; veniunt
+      spectentur ut ipsae,&rsquo; as Ovid says.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The friends quitted the wall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There comes my scholar, little Jonas!&rdquo; cried Wilhelm. &ldquo;The boy was better
+      dressed than at his last appearance; quickly he pulled his little cap off
+      and stood still: a young girl in a wretched garb held him by the hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good day, my clever lad!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, and his glance rested on the
+      girl: she was of a singularly elegant form; had she only carried herself
+      better she would have been a perfect beauty. It was Psyche herself who
+      stood beside Cupid. She smiled in a friendly manner; the little lad had
+      certainly told her who the gentlemen were; but she became crimson, and
+      cast down her eyes when Wilhelm looked back after her: he beckoned to
+      Jonas, who immediately came to him. The girl was his sister, he said, and
+      was called Eva. Wilhelm nodded to her, and the friends went on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That was a beautiful girl!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, and looked back once more. &ldquo;A
+      rosebud that one could kiss until it became a full blown rose!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;During the experiment the rosebud might easily be broken!&rdquo; answered Otto;
+      &ldquo;at least such is the case with the real flower. But do not look back
+      again, that is a sin!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sin?&rdquo; repeated Wilhelm; &ldquo;no, then it is a very innocent sin! Believe me,
+      it flatters the little creature that we should admire her beauty. I can
+      well imagine how enchanting a loving look from a rich young gentleman may
+      be for a weak, feminine mind. The sweet words which one can say are as
+      poison which enters the blood. I have still a clear conscience. Not ONE
+      innocent soul have I poisoned!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And yet you are rich and young enough to do so,&rdquo; returned Otto, not
+      without bitterness. &ldquo;Our friends precede us with a good example: here come
+      some of our own age; they are acquainted with the roses!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good evening, thou good fellow!&rdquo; was the greeting Wilhelm received from
+      three or four of the young men.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are you on Thou-terms with all these?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; answered Wilhelm; &ldquo;we became so at a carouse. There all drank the
+      Thou-brotherhood. I could not draw myself back. At other times I do not
+      willingly give my &lsquo;thou&rsquo; to any but my nearest friends. <i>Thou</i> has
+      something to my mind affectionate and holy. Many people fling it to the
+      first person with whom they drink a glass. At the carouse I could not say
+      no.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And wherefore not?&rdquo; returned Otto; &ldquo;that would never have troubled me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The friends now wandered on, arm-in-arm. Later in the evening we again
+      meet with them together, and that at the house of a noble family, whose
+      name and rank are to be found in the &ldquo;Danish Court Calendar;&rdquo; on which
+      account it would be wanting in delicacy to mention the same, even in a
+      story the events of which lie so near our hearts.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Large companies are most wearisome. In these there are two kinds of rank.
+      Either you are riveted to a card-table, or placed against the wall where
+      you must stand with your hat in your hand, or, later in the evening, with
+      it at your feet, nay, even must stand during supper. But this house was
+      one of the most intellectual. Thou who dost recognize the house wilt also
+      recognize that it is not to be reckoned with those,&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+               &ldquo;Where each day&rsquo;s gossiping stale fish
+                Is served up daily for thy dish.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      This evening we do not become acquainted with the family, but only with
+      their beautiful Christmas festival.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The company was assembled in a large apartment; the shaded lamp burned
+      dimly, but this was with the intention of increasing the effect when the
+      drawing-room doors should open and the children joyfully press in
+      together.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm now stepped to the piano-forte; a few chords produced stillness
+      and attention. To the sounds of low music there stepped forth from the
+      side-doors three maidens arrayed in white; each wore a long veil depending
+      from the back of her head,&mdash;one blue, the other red, and the third
+      white. Each carried in her arms an urn, and thus they represented
+      fortune-tellers from the East. They brought good or ill luck, which each
+      related in a little verse. People were to draw a number, and according to
+      this would he receive his gift from the Christmas-tree. One of the maidens
+      brought blanks&mdash;but which of them? now it was proved whether you were
+      a child of fortune. All, even the children, drew their uncertain numbers:
+      exception was only made with the family physician and a few elderly ladies
+      of the family; these had a particular number stuck into their hands&mdash;their
+      presents had been settled beforehand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who brings me good luck?&rdquo; inquired Otto, as the three pretty young girls
+      approached him. The one with a white veil was Wilhelm&rsquo;s eldest sister,
+      Miss Sophie, who was this winter paying a visit to the family. She
+      resembled her brother. The white drapery about her head increased the
+      expression of her countenance. She rested her gaze firmly upon Otto, and,
+      perhaps, because he was the friend of her brother, she raised her finger.
+      Did she wish to warn or to challenge him? Otto regarded it as a challenge,
+      thrust his hand into the urn, and drew out number 33. All were now
+      provided. The girls disappeared, and the folding-doors of the drawing-room
+      were opened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A dazzling light streamed toward the guests. A splendid fir-tree, covered
+      with burning tapers, and hung over with tinsel-gold, gilt eggs and apples,
+      almonds and grapes, dazzled the eye. On either side of the tree were
+      grottoes of fir-trees and moss, hung with red and blue paper lamps. In
+      each grotto was an altar; upon one stood John of Bologna&rsquo;s floating
+      Mercury; upon the other, a reduced cast in plaster of Thorwaldsen&rsquo;s
+      Shepherd-boy. The steps were covered with presents, to which were attached
+      the different numbers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Superbe! lovely!&rdquo; resounded from all sides; and the happy children
+      shouted for joy. People arranged themselves in a half-circle, one row
+      behind the other. One of the cousins of the family now stepped forth, a
+      young poet, who, if we mistake not, has since then appeared among the
+      Anonymouses in &ldquo;The New Year&rsquo;s Gift of Danish Poets.&rdquo; He was appareled
+      this evening as one of the Magi, and recited a little poem which declared
+      that, as each one had himself drawn out of the urn of Fate, no one could
+      be angry, let him have procured for himself honor or derision&mdash;Fate,
+      and not Merit, being here the ruler. Two little boys, with huge butterfly
+      wings and in flowing garments, bore the presents to the guests. A number,
+      which had been purposely given to one of the elder ladies, was now called
+      out, and the boys brought forward a large, heavy, brown earthen jug. To
+      the same hung a direction the length of two sheets of paper, upon which
+      was written, &ldquo;A remedy against frost.&rdquo; The jug was opened, and a very nice
+      boa taken out and presented to the lady.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What number have you?&rdquo; inquired Otto of Wilhelm&rsquo;s sister, who, freed from
+      her long veil, now entered the room and took her place near him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Number 34,&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;I was to keep the number which remained over
+      when the others had drawn.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We are, then, neighbors in the chain of Fate,&rdquo; returned Otto; &ldquo;I have
+      number 33.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then one of us will receive something very bad!&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;For, as
+      much as I know, only every other number is good.&rdquo; At this moment their
+      numbers were called out. The accompanying poem declared that only a
+      poetical, noble mind deserved this gift. It consisted of an illuminated
+      French print, the subject a simple but touching idea. You saw a frozen
+      lake, nothing but one expanse of ice as far as the horizon. The ice was
+      broken, and near to the opening lay a hat with a red lining, and beside it
+      sat a dog with grave eyes, still and expectant. Around the broken opening
+      in the ice were seen traces of the dog having scratched into the hard
+      crust of ice. &ldquo;Il attend toujours&rdquo; was the simple motto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is glorious!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto. &ldquo;An affecting thought! His master has
+      sunk in the depth, and the faithful log yet awaits him. Had that picture
+      only fallen to my lot!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is lovely!&rdquo; said Sophie, and a melancholy glance made the young girl
+      still more beautiful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Soon after Wilhelm&rsquo;s turn came.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+           &ldquo;Open the packet, thou shalt see
+            The very fairest gaze on thee!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      ran the verse. He opened the packet, and found within a small mirror.
+      &ldquo;Yes, that was intended for a lady,&rdquo; said he; &ldquo;in that case it would have
+      spoken the truth! in my hands it makes a fool of me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For me nothing certainly remains but my number!&rdquo; said Otto to his
+      neighbor, as all the gifts appeared to be distributed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The last is number 33,&rdquo; said the cousin, and drew forth a roll of paper,
+      which had been hidden among the moss. It was unrolled. It was an old
+      pedigree of an extinct race. Quite at the bottom lay the knight with
+      shield and armor, and out of his breast grew the many-branched tree with
+      its shields and names. Probably it had been bought, with other rubbish, at
+      some auction, and now at Christmas, when every hole and corner was
+      rummaged for whatever could be converted into fun or earnest, it had been
+      brought out for the Christmas tree. The cousin read the following verse:&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+         &ldquo;Art thou not noble?&mdash;then it in far better;
+          This tree unto thy father is not debtor;
+          Thyself alone is thy ancestral crown.
+          From thee shall spring forth branches of renown,
+          And if thou come where blood gives honor&rsquo;s place,
+          This tree shall prove thee first of all thy race!
+          From this hour forth thy soul high rank hath won her,
+          Not will forget thy knighthood and thy honor.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I congratulate you,&rdquo; said Wilhelm, laughing. &ldquo;Now you will have to pay
+      the nobility-tax!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Several of the ladies who stood near him, smiling, also offered a kind of
+      congratulation. Sophie alone remained silent, and examined the present of
+      another lady&mdash;a pretty pincushion in the form of a gay butterfly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The first row now rose to examine more nearly how beautifully the
+      Christmas tree was adorned. Sophie drew one of the ladies away with her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let us look at the beautiful statues,&rdquo; said she; &ldquo;the Shepherd-boy and
+      the Mercury.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is not proper,&rdquo; whispered the lady; &ldquo;but look there at the splendid
+      large raisins on the tree!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie stepped before Thorwaldsen&rsquo;s Shepherd-boy. The lady whispered to a
+      friend, &ldquo;It looks so odd that she should examine the figures!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; replied the other, &ldquo;she is a lover of the fine arts, as you well
+      know. Only think! at the last exhibition she went with her brother into
+      the great hall where all the plaster-casts stand, and looked at them!&mdash;the
+      Hercules, as well as the other indecent figures! they were excellent, she
+      said. That is being so natural; otherwise she is a nice girl.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is a pity she is a little awry.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie approached them; both ladies made room for her, and invited her
+      most lovingly to sit clown beside them. &ldquo;Thou sweet girl!&rdquo; they
+      flatteringly exclaimed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER V
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Hark to trumpets and beaten gongs,
+     Squeaking fiddles, shouts and songs.
+          Hurra! hurra!
+          The Doctor is here;
+     And here the hills where fun belongs.&rdquo;
+                              J. L. HEIBERG.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      We will not follow the principal characters of our story step for step,
+      but merely present the prominent moments of their lives to our readers, be
+      these great or small; we seize on them, if they in any way contribute to
+      make the whole picture more worthy of contemplation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The winter was over, the birds of passage had long since returned; the
+      woods and fields shone in the freshest green, and, what to the friends was
+      equally interesting, they had happily passed through their examen
+      philologicum. Wilhelm, who, immediately after its termination, had
+      accompanied his sister home, was again returned, sang with little Jonas,
+      reflected upon the philosophicum, and also how he would thoroughly enjoy
+      the summer,&mdash;the summer which in the north is so beautiful, but so
+      short. It was St. John&rsquo;s Day. Families had removed from Copenhagen to
+      their pretty country-seats on the coast, where people on horseback and in
+      carriages rushed past, and where the highway was crowded with
+      foot-passengers. The whole road presented a picture of life upon the Paris
+      Boulevard. The sun was burning, the dust flew up high into the air; on
+      which account many persons preferred the pleasanter excursion with the
+      steamboat along the coast, from whence could be seen the traffic on the
+      high-road without enduring the annoyance of dust and heat. Boats skimmed
+      past; brisk sailors, by the help of vigorous strokes of the oar, strove to
+      compete with the steam-packet, the dark smoke from which, like some demon,
+      partly rested upon the vessel, partly floated away in the air.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Various young students, among whom were also Wilhelm and Otto, landed at
+      Charlottenlund, the most frequented place of resort near Copenhagen. Otto
+      was here for the first time; for the first time he should see the park.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A summer&rsquo;s afternoon in Linken&rsquo;s Bad, near Dresden, bears a certain
+      resemblance to Charlottenlund, only that the Danish wood is larger; that
+      instead of the Elbe we have the Sound, which is here three miles broad,
+      and where often more than a hundred vessels, bearing flags of all the
+      European nations, glide past. A band of musicians played airs out of
+      &ldquo;Preciosa;&rdquo; the white tents glanced like snow or swans through the green
+      beech-trees. Here and there was a fire-place raised of turf, over which
+      people boiled and cooked, so that the smoke rose up among the trees.
+      Outside the wood, waiting in long rows, were the peasants&rsquo; vehicles,
+      called &ldquo;coffee-mills,&rdquo; completely answering ho the couricolo of the
+      Neapolitan and the coucou of the Parisian, equally cheap, and overladen in
+      the same manner with passengers, therefore forming highly picturesque
+      groups. This scene has been humorously treated in a picture by Marstrand.
+      Between fields and meadows, the road leads pleasantly toward the park; the
+      friends pursued the foot-path.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Shall I brush the gentlemen?&rdquo; cried five or six boys, at the same time
+      pressing upon the friends as they approached the entrance to the park.
+      Without waiting for an answer, the boys commenced at once brushing the
+      dust from their clothes and boots.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These are Kirsten Piil&rsquo;s pages,&rdquo; said Wilhelm, laughing; &ldquo;they take care
+      that people show themselves tolerably smart. But now we are brushed
+      enough!&rdquo; A six-skilling-piece rejoiced these little Savoyards.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Champs Elysées of the Parisians on a great festival day, when the
+      theatres are opened, the swings are flying, trumpets and drums
+      overpowering the softer music, and when the whole mass of people, like one
+      body, moves itself between the booths and tents, present a companion piece
+      to the spectacle which the so-called Park-hill affords. It is Naples&rsquo; 
+      &ldquo;Largo dei Castello,&rdquo; with its dancing apes, shrieking Bajazzoes, the
+      whole deafening jubilee which has been transported to a northern wood.
+      Here also, in the wooden booths, large, tawdry pictures show what
+      delicious plays you may enjoy within. The beautiful female horse-rider
+      stands upon the wooden balcony and cracks with her whip, whilst Harlequin
+      blows the trumpet. Fastened to a perch, large, gay parrots nod over the
+      heads of the multitude. Here stands a miner in his black costume, and
+      exhibits the interior of a mine. He turns his box, and during the music
+      dolls ascend and descend. Another shows the splendid fortress of
+      Frederiksteen: &ldquo;The whole cavalry and infantry who have endured an
+      unspeakable deal; here a man without a weapon, there a weapon without a
+      man; here a fellow without a bayonet, here a bayonet without a fellow; and
+      yet they are merry and contented, for they have conquered the victory.&rdquo;
+       [Note: Literal translation of the real words of a showman.] Dutch
+      wafer-cake booths, where the handsome Dutch women, in their national
+      costume, wait on the customers, entice old and young. Here a telescope,
+      there a rare Danish ox, and so forth. High up, between the fresh tree
+      boughs, the swings fly. Are those two lovers floating up there? A current
+      of air seizes the girl&rsquo;s dress and shawl, the young man flings his arm
+      round her waist; it is for safety: there is then less danger. At the foot
+      of the hill there is cooking and roasting going on; it seems a complete
+      gypsy-camp. Under the tree sits the old Jew&mdash;this is precisely his
+      fiftieth jubilee; through a whole half-century has he sung here his
+      comical Doctor&rsquo;s song. Now that we are reading this he is dead; that
+      characteristic countenance is dust, those speaking eyes are closed, his
+      song forgotten tones. Oehlenschläger, in his &ldquo;St. John&rsquo;s Eve,&rdquo; has
+      preserved his portrait for us, and it will continue to live, as Master
+      Jakel (Punch), our Danish Thespis, will continue to live. The play and the
+      puppets were transferred from father to son, and every quarter of an hour
+      in the day the piece is repeated. Free nature is the place for the
+      spectators, and after every representation the director himself goes round
+      with the plate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This was the first spectacle which exhibited itself to the friends. Not
+      far off stood a juggler in peasant&rsquo;s clothes, somewhat advanced in years,
+      with a common ugly countenance. His short sleeves were rolled up, and
+      exhibited a pair of hairy, muscular arms. The crowd, withdrawing from
+      Master Jakel when the plate commenced its wanderings, pushed Otto and
+      Wilhelm forward toward the low fence before the juggler&rsquo;s table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Step nearer, my gracious gentlemen, my noble masters!&rdquo; said the juggler,
+      with an accentuation which betrayed his German birth. He opened the fence;
+      both friends were fairly pushed in and took their places upon the bench,
+      where they, at all events, found themselves out of the crowd.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Will the noble gentleman hold this goblet?&rdquo; said the juggler, and handed
+      Otto one from his apparatus. Otto glanced at the man: he was occupied with
+      his art; but Otto&rsquo;s cheek and forehead were colored with a sudden crimson,
+      which was immediately afterward supplanted by a deathly paleness: his hand
+      trembled, but this lasted only a moment; he gathered all his strength of
+      mind together and appeared the same as before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That was a very good trick!&rdquo; said Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, certainly!&rdquo; answered Otto; but he had seen nothing whatsoever. His
+      soul was strangely affected. The man exhibited several other tricks, and
+      then approached with the plate. Otto laid down a mark, and then rose to
+      depart. The juggler remarked the piece of money: a smile played about his
+      mouth; he glanced at Otto, and a strange malicious expression lay in the
+      spiteful look which accompanied his loudly spoken thanks: &ldquo;Mr. Otto
+      Thostrup is always so gracious and good!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Does he know you?&rdquo; asked Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He has the honor!&rdquo; grinned the juggler, and proceeded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He has exhibited his tricks in the Jutland villages, and upon my father&rsquo;s
+      estate,&rdquo; whispered Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Therefore an acquaintance of your childhood?&rdquo; said Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of my childhood,&rdquo; repeated Otto, and they made themselves a way through
+      the tumult.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They met with several young noblemen, relatives of Wilhelm, with the
+      cousin who had written the verses for the Christmas tree; also several
+      friends from the carouse, and the company increased. They intended, like
+      many others, to pass the night in the wood, and at midnight drink out of
+      Kirsten Piil&rsquo;s well. &ldquo;Only with the increasing darkness will it become
+      thoroughly merry here,&rdquo; thought they: but Otto had appointed to be in the
+      city again toward evening. &ldquo;Nothing will come out of that!&rdquo; said the poet;
+      &ldquo;if you wish to escape, we shall bind you fast to one of us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then I carry him away with me on my back,&rdquo; replied Otto; &ldquo;and still run
+      toward the city. What shall I do here at night in the wood?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be merry!&rdquo; answered Wilhelm. &ldquo;Come, give us no follies, or I shall grow
+      restive.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Hand-organs, drums, and trumpets, roared against each other; Bajazzo
+      growled; a couple of hoarse girls sang and twanged upon the guitar: it was
+      comic or affecting, just as one was disposed. The evening approached, and
+      now the crowd became greater, the joy more noisy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But where is Otto?&rdquo; inquired Wilhelm. Otto had vanished in the crowd.
+      Search after him would help nothing, chance must bring them together
+      again. Had he designedly withdrawn himself? no one knew wherefore, no one
+      could dream what had passed within his soul. It became evening. The
+      highway and the foot-path before the park resembled two moving gay
+      ribbons.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the park itself the crowd perceptibly diminished. It was now the
+      high-road which was become the Park-hill. The carriages dashed by each
+      other as at a race; the people shouted and sung, if not as melodiously as
+      the barcarole of the fisher men below Lido, still with the thorough
+      carnival joy of the south. The steamboat moved along the coasts. From the
+      gardens surrounding the pretty country-houses arose rockets into the blue
+      sky, the Moccoli of the north above the Carnival of the Park.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm remained with his young friends in the wood, and there they
+      intended, with the stroke of twelve, to drink out of Kirsten&rsquo;s well. Men
+      and women, girls and boys of the lower class, and jovial young men, meet,
+      after this manner, to enjoy St. John&rsquo;s Eve. Still sounded the music, the
+      swings were in motion, lamps hung out, whilst the new moon shone through
+      the thick tree boughs. Toward midnight the noise died away; only a blind
+      peasant still scratched upon the three strings which were left on his
+      violin; some servant-girls wandered, arm-in-arm, with their sweethearts,
+      and sang. At twelve o&rsquo;clock all assembled about the well, and drank the
+      clear, ice-cold water. From no great distance resounded, through the still
+      night, a chorus of four manly voices. It was as if the wood gods sang in
+      praise of the nymph of the well.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Upon the hill all was now deserted and quiet. Bajazzo and il Padrone slept
+      behind the thin linen partition, under a coverlid. The moon set, but the
+      night was clear; no clear, frosty winter night has a snore beautiful
+      starry heaven to exhibit. Wilhelm&rsquo;s party was merry, quickly flew the
+      hours away; singing in chorus, the party wandered through the wood, and
+      down toward the strand. The day already dawned; a red streak along the
+      horizon announced its approach.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nature sang to them the mythos of the creation of the world, even as she
+      had sung it to Moses, who wrote down this voice from God, interpreted by
+      Nature. Light banished the darkness, heaven and earth were parted; at
+      first birds showed themselves in the clear air; later rose the beasts of
+      the field; and, last of all, appeared man.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The morning is fairly sultry,&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;the sea resembles a mirror:
+      shall we not bathe?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The proposal was accepted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There we have the Naiades already!&rdquo; said one of the party, as a swarm of
+      fishermen&rsquo;s wives and daughters, with naked feet, their green petticoats
+      tucked up, and baskets upon their backs, in which they carried fish to
+      Copenhagen, came along the road. The gay young fellows cast toward the
+      prettiest glances as warm and glowing as that cast by the sun himself,
+      who, at this moment, came forth and shone over the Sound, where a splendid
+      three-masted vessel had spread all her sails to catch each breeze. The
+      company reached the strand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There is some one already swimming out yonder,&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;He stands
+      it bravely. That is an excellent swimmer!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here lie his clothes,&rdquo; remarked another.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How!&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm: &ldquo;this is Otto Thostrup&rsquo;s coat! But Otto cannot
+      swim; I have never been able to persuade him to bathe. Now, we will out
+      and make a nearer acquaintance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, certainly it is he,&rdquo; said another; &ldquo;he is now showing his skill.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then he must have been all night in the wood,&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm. &ldquo;Yes,
+      indeed, he&rsquo;s a fine bird. Does he fly us? He shall pay for this. Good
+      night in the water, or in any other improper place? To quit friends
+      without saying a word does not appertain to the customs of civilized
+      people. Since you, therefore, show yourself such a man of nature, we will
+      carry away your garments; it cannot annoy you in puris naturalibus to seek
+      us out in the wood.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto raised his head, but was silent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, will you not come forth?&rdquo; cried Wilhelm. &ldquo;Only kneeling before each
+      of us can you receive the separate articles of your dress, so that you may
+      again appear as a civilized European.&rdquo; And saying this he divided the
+      clothes among the others; each one held an article in his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Leave such jokes!&rdquo; cried Otto with singular earnestness. &ldquo;Lay down the
+      clothes, and retire!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Aye, that we will, presently,&rdquo; returned Wilhelm. &ldquo;You are a fine fellow!
+      You cannot swim, you say. Now, if you should not kneel&rdquo;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Retire!&rdquo; cried Otto, &ldquo;or I will swim out into the stream, and not return
+      again!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That might be original enough,&rdquo; answered Wilhelm. &ldquo;Swim forth, or come
+      and kneel here!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wilhelm!&rdquo; cried Otto, with an affecting sigh, and in a moment swam forth
+      with quick strokes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There he shoots away,&rdquo; said one of the party. &ldquo;How he cuts the waves! He
+      is a splendid swimmer!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Smiling they gazed over the expanse; Otto swam even farther out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But where will he swim to?&rdquo; exclaimed, somewhat gravely, one of the
+      spectators. &ldquo;He will certainly lose his strength before he returns the
+      same distance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They unmoored the boat. Otto swam far out at sea; with quick strokes of
+      the oars they rowed after him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where is he now?&rdquo; cried Wilhelm shortly afterwards; &ldquo;I see him no
+      longer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, there he comes up again,&rdquo; said another; &ldquo;but his strength is leaving
+      him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;On! on!&rdquo; cried Wilhelm; &ldquo;he will be drowned if we do not come to his
+      help. Only see&mdash;he sinks!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto had lost all power; his head disappeared beneath the water. The
+      friends had nearly reached him; Wilhelm and several of the best swimmers
+      flung from themselves boots and coats, sprang into the sea, and dived
+      under the water. A short and noiseless moment passed. One of the swimmers
+      appeared above water. &ldquo;He is dead!&rdquo; were the first words heard. Wilhelm
+      and the three others now appeared with Otto; the boat was near oversetting
+      as they brought him into it. Deathly pale lay he there, a beautifully
+      formed marble statue, the picture of a young gladiator fallen in the
+      arena.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The friends busied themselves about him, rubbing his breast and hands,
+      whilst two others rowel toward the land.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He breathes!&rdquo; said Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto opened his eyes; his lips moved; his gaze became firmer; a deep
+      crimson spread itself over his breast and countenance; he raised himself
+      and Wilhelm supported him. Suddenly a deep sigh burst from his breast; he
+      thrust Wilhelm from him, and, like a madman, seized an article of dress to
+      cover himself with; then, with a convulsive trembling of the lips, he said
+      to Wilhelm, who held his hand, &ldquo;I HATE YOU!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VI
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &mdash;&ldquo;Art thou Prometheus, pierced with wounds?
+     The Vulture thou that tugs at his heart?&rdquo;
+                    J. CHR. V. ZEDLITZ&rsquo;S Todtenkränze.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Not half an hour after this adventure a carriage rolled toward the city&mdash;a
+      large carriage, containing three seats, but, beside the coachman, there
+      was only one person within. This was Otto; his lips were pale; death, it
+      is true, had touched them. Alone he dashed forward; his last words to
+      Wilhelm had been his only ones.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He has lost his wits,&rdquo; said one of the friends.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is a fit of madness,&rdquo; answered another, &ldquo;such as he was seized with at
+      the examination, when he only sent in a scrap of white paper for the
+      mathematical examination, because he felt himself offended by the
+      inspector.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I could quite vex myself about my stupid joke,&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;I ought to
+      have known him better; he is of a strange, unhappy character. Give me your
+      hands! We will mention to no one what has occurred; it would only give
+      occasion to a deal of gossip, and wound him deeply, and he is an
+      excellent, glorious fellow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They gave their hands upon it, and drove toward the city.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The same day, toward evening, we again seek Otto. We find him in his
+      chamber. Silent, with crossed arms, he stands before a print, a copy of
+      Horace Vernet&rsquo;s representation of Mazeppa, who, naked and bound upon a
+      wild horse, rushes through the forest. Wolves thrust forth their heads and
+      exhibit their sharp teeth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My own life!&rdquo; sighed Otto. &ldquo;I also am bound to this careering wild horse.
+      And no friend, not a single one! Wilhelm, I could kill thee! I could see
+      you all lying in your blood! O, Almighty God!&rdquo; He pressed his hands before
+      his face and threw himself into a seat; his eyes, however, again directed
+      themselves toward the picture; it exhibited a moment similar to the
+      condition of his own mind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The door now opened, and Wilhelm stood before him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How do you find yourself, Thostrup?&rdquo; he inquired. &ldquo;We are still friends
+      as before?&rdquo; and he wished to give his hand. Otto drew back his. &ldquo;I have
+      done nothing which could so much offend you,&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;the whole was
+      merely a joke! Give me your hand, and we will speak no more of the
+      affair!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To the man whom I hate, I never reach my hand,&rdquo; replied Otto and his lips
+      were white like his cheeks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A second time to-day you speak these words to me,&rdquo; said Wilhelm, and the
+      blood rushed to his face. &ldquo;We were friends, wherefore cannot we be so
+      still? Have people slandered me to you? Have they told lies about me? Only
+      tell me faithfully, and I shall be able to defend myself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You must fight with me!&rdquo; said Otto; and his glance became more gloomy.
+      Wilhelm was silent; there reigned a momentary stillness. Otto suppressed a
+      deep sigh. At length Wilhelm broke silence, and said, with a grave and
+      agitated voice,&mdash;&ldquo;I am so thoughtless, I joke so often, and regard
+      everything from the ridiculous side. But for all that I have both heart
+      and feeling. You must have known how much dearer you were to me than most
+      other people. You are so still, although you offend me. At this moment
+      your blood is in a fever; not now, but after a few days, you yourself will
+      best see which of us is the offended party. You demand that I fight with
+      you; I will if your honor requires this satisfaction: but you must lay
+      before me an acceptable reason. I will know wherefore we risk our lives.
+      Let some days pass by; weigh all with your understanding and your heart!
+      It will still depend upon yourself whether we remain friends as before.
+      Farewell!&rdquo; And Wilhelm went.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Each of his words had penetrated to Otto&rsquo;s heart. A moment he stood silent
+      and undecided, then his limbs trembled involuntarily, tears streamed from
+      his eyes&mdash;it was a convulsive fit of weeping; he pressed his head
+      back. &ldquo;God, how unfortunate I am!&rdquo; were his only words.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So passed some minutes; he had ceased to weep, and was calm; suddenly he
+      sprang up, shot the bolt in the door, drew down the blinds, lighted his
+      candle, and once more looked searchingly around: the key-hole was also
+      stopped up. He then flung his coat away from him and uncovered the upper
+      part of his body.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;The towers pass by, even before we perceive them.&rdquo;
+                     OEHLENSCHLÄER&rsquo;S Journey to Fünen.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Early the following morning, whilst Wilhelm still slept and dreamed of his
+      beloved sisters, well-known footsteps sounded on the stairs, the door
+      opened, and Otto stepped into the sleeping-room. Wilhelm opened his eyes.
+      Otto was pale; a sleepless night and sorrow of heart had breathed upon his
+      brow and eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thostrup!&rdquo; cried Wilhelm, with joyous surprise, and stretched forth his
+      hand toward him, but it again sank; Otto seized it, and pressed it firmly
+      in his own, adding at the same time, with gravity,&mdash;&ldquo;You have humbled
+      me! Is that sufficient satisfaction for you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We are then friends!&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;Friends must be very indulgent
+      toward each other. Yesterday you were a little strange, to-morrow I may be
+      so; that is the way in which one retaliates.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto pressed his hand. &ldquo;We will never speak again of the occurrence of
+      yesterday!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never!&rdquo; repeated Wilhelm, affected by the strange gravity of his friend.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are a noble, a good creature!&rdquo; said Otto, and bent over him; his lips
+      touched Wilhelm&rsquo;s forehead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm seized his hand, and gazed frankly into his eye. &ldquo;You are not
+      happy!&rdquo; exclaimed he. &ldquo;If I cannot assist you, I can, at least, dear Otto,
+      honestly share the grief of a friend!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Even on that very point we may never speak!&rdquo; replied Otto. &ldquo;Farewell! I
+      have determined on travelling home; we have only vacation for a few weeks,
+      and I have not been in Jutland since I became a student. Even a month&rsquo;s
+      sojourn there cannot throw me back; I am well prepared for the
+      philosophicum.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And when will you set out?&rdquo; asked Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To-morrow, with the steamboat. It is hot and sultry here in the city: my
+      blood becomes heated: it will, also, soon be a year since I saw my
+      family.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thostrup!&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm, through whom a thought suddenly flashed, &ldquo;I
+      should also like to see my family; they have written to me to come.
+      Listen: make your journey through Funen, and only remain three or four
+      days with us. My mother&rsquo;s carriage shall convey you then to Middelfart.
+      Say &lsquo;Yes,&rsquo; and we will set out this evening.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That cannot be done!&rdquo; replied Otto; but half an hour later, as both sat
+      together over the tea-table, and Wilhelm repeated his wish, Otto
+      consented, but certainly more through a feeling of obligation than through
+      any pleasure of his own. Toward evening, therefore, they set out in the
+      beautiful summer night to travel through Zealand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Smartly dressed families wandered pleasantly through the city gate toward
+      the summer theatre and Fredericksberg. The evening sun shone upon the
+      column of Liberty; the beautiful obelisk, around which stand Wiedewelt&rsquo;s
+      statues, one of which still weeps,
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+             &ldquo;In white marble clothing,
+                Hand upon the breast,
+                Ever grief-oppressed,
+              Looking down upon the gloomy sea,&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      where were closed the eyes of the artist. Was it the remembrance which
+      here clouded Otto&rsquo;s glance, as his eye rested upon the statues as they
+      drove past, or did his own soul, perhaps, mirror itself in his eyes?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here it is gay and animated!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, wishing to commence a
+      conversation. &ldquo;Vesterbro is certainly your most brilliant suburb. It forms
+      a city by itself,&mdash;a little state! There upon the hill lies the
+      King&rsquo;s Castle, and there on the left, between the willows, the poet&rsquo;s
+      dwelling, where old Rahbek lived with his Kamma!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Castle and poet&rsquo;s dwelling!&rdquo; repeated Otto; &ldquo;the time will be when they
+      will inspire equal interest!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That old place will soon be pulled down!&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;in such a
+      beautiful situation, so near the city, a splendid villa will be raised,
+      and nothing more remind one of Philemon and Baucis!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The old trees in the park will be spared!&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;in the garden the
+      flowers will scent the air, and remind one of Kamma&rsquo;s flowers. Rahbek was
+      no great poet, but he possessed a true poet&rsquo;s soul, labored faithfully in
+      the great vineyard, and loved flowers as Kamma loved them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The friends hail left Fredericksberg behind them. The white walls of the
+      castle glanced through the green boughs; behind Söndermark, the large,
+      wealthy village stretched itself out. The sun had set before they reached
+      the Dam-house, where the wild swans, coming from the ocean, build in the
+      fresh water fake. This is the last point of beauty; nothing but lonely
+      fields, with here and there a cairn, extend to the horizon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The clear summer&rsquo;s night attracted their gaze upward; the postilion blew
+      his horn, and the carriage rolled toward the town of Roeskilde, the St.
+      Denis of Denmark, where kings turn to dust; where Hroar&rsquo;s spring still
+      flows, and its waters mingle with those of Issefjords.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They drove to a public-house to change horses. A young girl conducted the
+      friends into the public room; she lighted the way for them. Her slender
+      figure and her floating gait drew Wilhelm&rsquo;s attention toward her; his hand
+      touched her shoulder, she sprang aside and fixed her beautiful grave eyes
+      upon him; but their expression became milder, she smiled and colored at
+      the same time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are the sister of little Jonas!&rdquo; cried Wilhelm, recognizing the young
+      girl he had seen with him at Christmas.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I must also thank you,&rdquo; said she, &ldquo;for your kindness toward the poor
+      boy!&rdquo; She quickly placed the lights on the table, and left the room with a
+      gentle glance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is beautiful, very beautiful!&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm. &ldquo;That was really
+      quite a pleasant meeting.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it then you, Herr Baron, who honor me thus?&rdquo; cried the host, stepping
+      in&mdash;an elderly man with a jovial countenance. &ldquo;Yes, the Baron will
+      doubtless visit his dear relations in hunch? It is now some little time
+      since you were there.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is our host!&rdquo; said Wilhelm to Otto. &ldquo;He and his wife were born upon
+      my parent&rsquo;s estate.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said the host, &ldquo;in my youth I have shot many a snipe and wild duck
+      with the Herr Baron&rsquo;s father. But Eva should spread the table; the
+      gentlemen will certainly take supper, and a glass of good punch the Herr
+      Baron will certainly not despise, if he is like his blessed father.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The young girl spread the cloth in an adjoining room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is pretty!&rdquo; Wilhelm whispered to the old man.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And just as pious and innocent as she is pretty!&rdquo; returned he; &ldquo;and that
+      is saying much, as she is a poor girl, and from Copenhagen. She is of good
+      service to us, and my wife says Eva shall not leave us until she is well
+      married.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm invited the host to join them at a glass. The old man became more
+      animated, and now confided to him, half mysteriously, what made Eva so
+      honorable in the eyes of his wife, and what was, indeed, really very nice
+      of her. &ldquo;My old woman,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;was in Copenhagen, in search of a
+      waiting-girl. Yes, there are enough to be had, and they are fine girls;
+      but mother has her own thoughts and opinions: she has good eyes&mdash;that
+      she has! Now, there came many, and among others Eva; but, good Lord! she
+      was very poorly clad, and she looked feeble and weak, and what service
+      could one get out of her! But she had a good countenance, and the poor
+      girl wept and besought mother to take her, for she was not comfortable at
+      home, and would not remain at Copenhagen. Now, mother knows how to make
+      use of her words: it is unfortunate that she is not at home to-night; how
+      pleased she would have been to see the Herr Baron! Yes, what I would say
+      is, she so twisted her words about, that Eva confessed to her why she
+      wished to leave home. You see the girl is petty; and the young gallant
+      gentlemen of Copenhagen had remarked her smooth face,&mdash;and not alone
+      the young, but the old ones also! So an old gentleman&mdash;I could easily
+      name him, but that has nothing to do with the affair&mdash;a very
+      distinguished man in the city, who has, besides, a wife and children, had
+      said all sorts of things to her parents; and, as eight hundred dollars is
+      a deal of money to poor people, one can excuse them: but Eva wept, and
+      said she would rather spring into the castle-ditch. They represented all
+      sorts of things to the poor girl; she heard of the service out here with
+      us. She wept, kissed my old woman&rsquo;s hand, and thus came to us; and since
+      then we have had a deal of service from Eva, and joy also!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Some minutes after Eva stepped in, Otto&rsquo;s eye rested with a melancholy
+      expression upon the beautiful form: never had he before so gazed upon a
+      woman. Her countenance was extraordinarily fine, her nose and forehead
+      nobly formed, the eyebrows dark, and in the dark-blue eyes lay something
+      pensive, yet happy: one might employ the Homeric expression, &ldquo;smiling
+      through tears,&rdquo; to describe this look. She announced that the carriage was
+      ready.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A keen observer would soon have remarked what a change the host&rsquo;s relation
+      had worked in the two friends. Wilhelm was no longer so free toward poor
+      Eva. Otto, on the contrary, approached her more,&mdash;and at their
+      leave-taking they offered her a greater present than they would otherwise
+      have given.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She stood with Otto at the door, and assisted him on with his travelling
+      cloak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Preserve your heart pure!&rdquo; said he, gravely; &ldquo;that is more than beauty!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The young girl blushed, and gazed at him with astonishment; in such a
+      manner had no one of his age ever before spoken to her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The poor girl!&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;but I think she is come to good people.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She has a strange glance!&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;Do you know that there is
+      really a certain affinity between you and her? It was to me quite
+      striking.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is a compliment which I cannot accept,&rdquo; returned Otto, smiling.
+      &ldquo;Yet, perhaps, I might resemble her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was not yet three o&rsquo;clock when the friends reached Ringsted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have never before been so far in Zealand,&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Shall I be your guide?&rdquo; returned Wilhelm. &ldquo;Ringsted has a street and an
+      inn, and one is very badly served there, as you will soon both see and
+      experience yourself. Meanwhile, one can think of Hagbarth and Signe; not
+      far from here, at Sigersted, he hung his mantle on the oak, and Signelil&rsquo;s
+      abode stood in flames. Now only remain fields and meadows, a cairn, and
+      the old popular song. Then we rush past the friendly Soroe, that mirrors
+      itself with the wood in the lake, which forms itself into so many bays;
+      but we do not see much of it. We have here another romantic spot, an old
+      castle converted into a church, high up on the hill near the lake, and
+      close to it the dismal place of execution. We then reach Slagelse, an
+      animated little town; with the Antvorskov convent, the poet Frankenau&rsquo;s
+      grave, and a Latin school, celebrated on account of its poets. It was
+      there Baggesen and Ingemann learned their Latin. When I once questioned
+      the hostess regarding the lions of the town, she would only acknowledge
+      two,&mdash;Bastholm&rsquo;s library, and the English fire-engine. The curtain in
+      the theatre represents an alley with a fountain, the jets of which are
+      painted as if spouting out of the prompter&rsquo;s box; or is this, perhaps, the
+      English fire-engine? I know not. The scene-decoration for towns represents
+      the market-place of Slagelse itself, so that the pieces thus acquire a
+      home-feeling. This is the modern history of the little town; and, with
+      regard to its older and romantic history, learn that the holy Anders was
+      preacher here! Yes, indeed, that was a man! He has been also sung of by
+      our first poets. We end with Korsöer, where Baggesen was born and Birckner
+      lies buried. In the more modern history of this town, King Solomon and
+      Jörgen the hatter play a considerable rôle. Besides this, I know that the
+      town is said once to have possessed a private theatre; but this soon was
+      done for, and the decorations were sold; a miller bought them, and patched
+      his windmill sails with them. Upon one sail was a piece of a wood, upon
+      another a shred of a room, or a street; and so they rushed round one after
+      the other. Perhaps this is mere slander, for I have my information from
+      Slagelse; and neighboring towns never speak well of each other.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In this manner Wilhelm gossiped on, and the friends travelled over the way
+      he had described. Slagelse, and the peasant village of Landsgrav, they had
+      already behind them, when Wilhelm ordered the coachman to diverge from the
+      high-road toward the right.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where will you take us to?&rdquo; asked Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will give you a pleasure!&rdquo; returned Wilhelm. &ldquo;We shall reach the
+      weariful Korsöer early enough: the steamboat leaves at ten, and it is not
+      yet seven. You shall be surprised&mdash;I know well that you are half a
+      Catholic; I will conduct you where you may believe yourself carried back
+      several centuries, and may imagine yourself in a Catholic country. That is
+      right pleasant, is it not?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto smiled. The friends alighted from the coach and walked over a
+      corn-field. They found themselves upon a hill, the whole landscape spread
+      itself out before them&mdash;they saw the Belt, with Sprogöe and Funen.
+      The surrounding country was certainly flat, but the variety of greens, the
+      near meadow, the dark stretch of wood in the neighborhood of Korsöer, the
+      bay itself, and all this seen in a warm morning light, produced effect.
+      The friends diverged to the right; and before them, upon a hill, stood a
+      large wooden cross, with the figure of the Crucified One. Above the cross
+      was built a small roof to carry off the rain,&mdash;such as one may yet
+      find in Bavaria. The figure of the Redeemer was of wood, painted with
+      strong, tawdry colors; a withered garland of corn-flowers still hung
+      around his bowed head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is extraordinary,&rdquo; said Otto, &ldquo;to find in our time, in the year 1830,
+      such a Catholic symbol in Lutheran Denmark! And yet&mdash;yes, you will
+      laugh at me, but I find it lovely: it affects me, moves me to worship.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That tawdry, tasteless figure!&rdquo; cried Wilhelm. &ldquo;Only see how coarse! the
+      hair is covered with tar to keep off the rain! The peasants here have
+      their peculiar superstition. If they allow the cross to fall they have no
+      luck with their lands. It was upon this hill that the holy Anders, the
+      celebrated preacher of Slagelse, awoke. He visited the sepulchre of
+      Christ, but through praying there too long the ship sailed without him,
+      and he was forced to stay behind. Then came a man and took him upon his
+      horse, and they would ride to Joppa: the holy Anders fell asleep; but when
+      he awoke he lay here, and heard the bells ringing in Slagelse. Upon a
+      foal, only one night old, he rode round the extensive city lands, whilst
+      King Waldemar lay in his bath. He could hang his glove upon the beams of
+      the sun. This hill, where he awoke, was called Rest-hill; and the cross,
+      with the figure of the Redeemer erected upon it, which still stands here,
+      reminds us of the legend of the holy Anders.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A little peasant girl at this moment mounted the hill, but paused when she
+      perceived the strangers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t be afraid, my child!&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;What hast thou there? a
+      garland! shall it hang here upon the cross? Only come, we will help thee.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It should hang over our Lord,&rdquo; said the little one, holding, in an
+      embarrassed manner, the garland of pretty blue cornflowers in her hand.
+      Otto took the garland, and hung it up in place of the faded one.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That was our morning adventure!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, and soon they were rolling
+      in the deep sand toward Korsöer, toward the hill where the poet watched
+      the sun and moon sink into the sea, and wished that he had wings that he
+      might catch them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Melancholy and silent lies the town on the flat coast, the old castle
+      turned into a farm-house&mdash;high grass grows upon the walls. In a
+      storm, when the wind blows against the city, the surf beats against the
+      outermost houses. High upon the church stands a telegraph; the black
+      wooden plates resemble mourning-flags hung above the sinking town. Here is
+      nothing for the stranger to see, nothing except a grave&mdash;that of the
+      thinker Birckner. The friends drove to the public-house on the strand. No
+      human being met them in the street except a boy, who rung a hand-bell.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That calls to church,&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;Because there are no bells in the
+      tower, they have here such a wandering bell-ringer as this. Holla! there
+      lies the inn!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Baron Wilhelm!&rdquo; cried a strong voice, and a man in a green jacket with
+      pockets in the breast, the mighty riding-boots splashed above the tops,
+      and with whip in hand, approached them, pulled his horse-hair cap, and
+      extended his hand to Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Kammerjunker from Funen!&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;my mother&rsquo;s neighbor, one of
+      the most industrious and rich noblemen in all Funen.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will come one of the first days to me!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker; &ldquo;you
+      shall try my Russian steam-bath: I have erected one upon my estate. All
+      who visit me, ladies and gentlemen without any exception, must try it!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And do the cherry-trees bear well this year?&rdquo; asked Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no,&rdquo; answered the Kammerjunker, &ldquo;they are good for nothing; but the
+      apples are good! All the old trees in the hill-garden stand in full
+      splendor: I&rsquo;ve brought them into condition! Two years ago there was not,
+      on all the trees together, a bushel of fruit. But I had all the horses
+      which had to be bled led under the trees, and had the warm blood sprinkled
+      upon the roots; this happened several times, and it has been a real
+      inoculation for life.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The wind is certainly favorable,&rdquo; said Otto, whom this conversation began
+      to weary.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, just the contrary!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker. &ldquo;The vane upon the little
+      house yonder lies; it points always to Nyborg, always shows a good wind
+      for us when we want to leave. In Nyborg is also a vane, which stands even
+      as firmly as this, and prates to the folk there of good wind. I regard
+      both vanes as a kind of guide-post, which merely says, There goes the way!
+      No, if we had had a wind I should have gone with the boat, and not with
+      the little splashing thing, as the seamen call the steamboat. The carriage
+      is doubtless awaiting the young gentleman in Nyborg?&rdquo; pursued he. &ldquo;I will
+      join company with you&mdash;my brown horse waits for me at Schalburg. You
+      should see him! He has sinews like steel springs, and legs like a
+      dancing-master! He is my own brown.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No one knows that we are coming,&rdquo; answered Wilhelm. &ldquo;We shall, therefore,
+      take a carriage from Nyborg.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We will join company,&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, &ldquo;and then you will pay me a
+      visit with the young gentleman. You shall sleep in the black chamber! Yes,
+      you will give me the pleasure?&rdquo; said he to Otto. &ldquo;If you are a lover of
+      the antique, my estate will afford you pleasure; you find there moats,
+      towers, guard-rooms, ghosts, and hobgoblins, such as belong to an old
+      estate. The black chamber! after all, it is not quite secure there; is it,
+      Herr Baron?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, the deuce remain a night with you!&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;one gets to bed
+      late, and even then it is not permitted one to close one&rsquo;s eyes. You, your
+      sister, and the Mamsell,&mdash;yes, you are a pretty clover-leaf! Yes,
+      Thostrup, you cannot believe what pranks are hatched upon the
+      Kammerjunker&rsquo;s estate! One must be prepared for it! It is said to be
+      haunted, but if the dead will not take that trouble the living do. The
+      Kammerjunker is in the plot with his women-folk. They sewed me lately live
+      cockchafers into my pillow, and they crawled and scrambled about till I
+      did not know what the deuce it could be! A live cock they had also placed
+      under my bed, and just in the morning, when I would go to sleep, the
+      creature began to crow!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The women-folk had done that,&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker. &ldquo;Did they not the
+      very same night fasten a door-bell to the head of my bed? I never thought
+      of it; fat Laender slept in the same room, and had fastened along the wall
+      a string to the bell. I awoke with the ringing. &lsquo;What the devil is that
+      bell?&rsquo; said I, and glanced about the room, for I could not conceive what
+      it was. &lsquo;Bell?&rsquo; asked Laender&mdash;&lsquo;there is no bell here!&rsquo; The ringing
+      also ceased. I thought I must have dreamed, or that our merry evening must
+      have left some buzzing in my ears. Again it began to ring. Laender looked
+      so innocent all the time, I could not comprehend myself; I thought it must
+      be my imagination. I became quite fainthearted, I denied my own hearing,
+      and said, &lsquo;No, I have only dreamed!&rsquo; and commenced reckoning and counting
+      to employ my mind; but that did no good, and it nearly drove me mad! I
+      sprang out of bed, and then I found out the trick: but how Laender
+      grinned! he was swollen and red in the face with his mirth.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you play such jokes on your estate?&rdquo; inquired Otto, addressing himself
+      to Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, not such refined ones!&rdquo; returned the Kammerjunker; &ldquo;perhaps a piece
+      of wood, or a silly mask, is laid in your bed. Miss Sophie gives us other
+      clever things for amusement&mdash;tableaux and the magic-lantern. I was
+      once of the party. Yes, what was it I represented? Ah, I played, Heaven
+      help me! King Cyrus: had a paper crown on my head, and Miss Sophie&rsquo;s cloak
+      about me, the wrong side turned outward, for it is lined with sable. I
+      looked like Satan!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The steamboat passengers were summoned on board, the company went down to
+      the vessel, and soon it was cutting through the waves of the Belt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VIII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;See now, Fünen signifieth <i>fine</i>,
+       And much in that word lies;
+     For Fünen is the garden fine,
+       Where Denmark glads its eyes.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      The nakedness which the last aspect of Zealand presents occasions one to
+      be doubly struck by the affluent abundance and luxuriance with which Funen
+      steps forth. Green woods, rich corn-fields, and, wherever the eye rests,
+      noblemen&rsquo;s seats and churches. Nyborg itself appears a lively capital in
+      comparison with the still melancholy Korsöer. One now perceives people
+      upon the great bridge of boats, on the ramparts, and in the broad streets
+      with their high houses; one sees soldiers, hears music, and, what is
+      especially animating upon a journey, one comes to an excellent inn. The
+      drive out through the arched gateway is an astonishment; it is the same
+      length and breadth as one of the gates of Copenhagen. Villages and
+      peasants&rsquo; houses here assume a more well-to-do aspect than in Zealand,
+      where one often on the way-side imagines one sees a manure-heap heaped
+      upon four poles, which upon nearer examination one finds is the abode of a
+      family. On the highroads in Funen one perceives only clean houses; the
+      window-frames are painted; before the doors are little flower-gardens, and
+      wherever flowers are grown, as Bulwer strikingly remarks, the peasant is
+      in a higher state of civilization; he thinks of the beautiful. In the
+      ditches along the highway one sees lilac with their white and lilac
+      flowers. Nature herself has here adorned the country with a multitude of
+      wild poppies, which for splendor of color might vie with the most admired
+      and beautiful in a botanic garden. Especially in the neighborhood of
+      Nyborg do they grow in exceeding abundance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What a dazzling color!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto, as the friends rolled past these
+      beautiful red flowers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is a proud color!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, who rode near them upon
+      his brown steed, &ldquo;a proud color! but they are manured with the blood of
+      Andalusian horses. It was just here where the battle between these beasts
+      took place. You know that sit the year 1808 the Spaniards lay in Funen;
+      the English ships were cruising about in the Belt, and Romana fled with
+      his whole army on board, but they could net take their horses with them.
+      These were the most splendid Andalusian creatures that eyes ever saw. The
+      Spaniards took off their bridles, and left them here to scamper about the
+      fields like wild horses. The horses of Nyborg chanced also to graze here,
+      and as soon as the Andalusian steeds became aware of ours they arranged
+      themselves in a row, and fell upon the Danish horses: that was a combat!
+      At length they fell upon each other, and fought until they fell bleeding
+      to earth. Whilst still a boy I saw little skull of one of these beasts.
+      This is the last adventure left us from the visit of the Spaniards to
+      Denmark. In the village through which we shall now pass are some outer
+      remembrances. Remark the young lads and lasses,&mdash;they are of a darker
+      complexion than the inhabitants of other Funen valleys; that is Spanish
+      blood, it is said. It was in this village that the story took its rise of
+      the preacher&rsquo;s servant-girl, who wept and was so inconsolable at the
+      departure of the Spaniards. But not on account of her bridegroom did she
+      weep,&mdash;not over her own condition. The preacher consoled her, and
+      then she said she only wept to think that if the innocent child resembled
+      its father it certainly would speak Spanish, and then not a soul would
+      understand it! Yes, such histories as this have we in Funen!&rdquo; said he
+      laughingly to Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With similar relations, and some agricultural observations, according as
+      they were called forth by surrounding objects, did our excellent landed
+      proprietor amuse our young gentlemen. They were already distant several
+      miles from Nyborg, when he suddenly broke off in the midst of a very
+      interesting discourse upon a characteristic of a true inhabitant of Funen,
+      which is, that whenever he passes a field of buckwheat he moves his mouth
+      as if chewing, and made Wilhelm observe a Viennese carriage, which
+      approached them by a neighboring road. To judge from the coachman and the
+      horses, it must be the family from the hall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This was the case&mdash;they returned from paying a visit. Where the roads
+      crossed they met each other. Otto immediately recognized Miss Sophie, and
+      near to her sat an elderly lady, with a gentle, good-humored countenance;
+      this was the mother. Now there was surprise and joy. Sophie blushed&mdash;this
+      blush could not have reference to the brother; was it then the
+      Kammerjunker? No: that appeared impossible! therefore, it must concern
+      Otto. The mother extended her hand to him with a welcome, whilst at the
+      same time she invited the Kammerjunker to spend the afternoon with them.
+      There lay, in the manner with which she proposed this, so much attention
+      and consideration, that Otto felt the man was here held in greater esteem,
+      and was otherwise regarded than he, during their short acquaintance, had
+      imagined possible.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie added, smiling, &ldquo;You must stay!&rdquo; To which the Kammerjunker replied
+      with an apology for his travelling-dress.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We are not strangers!&rdquo; said the mother; &ldquo;it is only a family meal! You
+      see the usual circle. You, Mr. Thostrup,&rdquo; added she, with a most obliging
+      manner, &ldquo;I know so well from Wilhelm&rsquo;s letters, that we are no strangers.
+      The gentlemen are acquainted with each other!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I accept the invitation,&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, &ldquo;and I will now show you
+      into what a gallop I can put my steed! It is Carl Rise, [Translator&rsquo;s
+      Note: Name of one of the heroes in Waldemar the Conqueror, a romance by
+      Ingemann.] as you see, young lady&mdash;you called him so yourself!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, ride forward,&rdquo; said Sophie, smiling. &ldquo;By that means you will oblige
+      my sister. She might otherwise be quite frightened, did she see such a
+      mighty caravan approach the house, did she had not properly prepared the
+      dinner-table.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As my gracious young lady commands!&rdquo; said the rider, and sprang forward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The country became more woody; the road passed various small lakes, almost
+      overgrown with water-lilies and shaded by old trees; the old-fashioned,
+      indented gable-ends of the hall now peeped forth. They drove through an
+      avenue of wild chestnut-trees; the stone pavement here threatened to smash
+      the carriage axles. On the right lay the forge, through the open door of
+      which flew the sparks. A little girl, with bare feet, opened a gate, and
+      they now found themselves in a large open space before the red-painted
+      out-buildings. The ground was covered with straw, and all the cows of the
+      farm were collected here for milking. Here they were obliged to drive,
+      step by step, until by the gateway they reached the larger courtyard,
+      which was inclosed by the barns and the principal building itself. This
+      was surrounded by broad ditches, almost grown over with reeds. Over a
+      solid bridge, resting upon pillars of masonry, and through a principal
+      wing which bore the armorial bearings and initials of the old possessor,
+      they arrived in the innermost court, which was shut in by three wings, the
+      antique one already mentioned, and two others: the fourth side was
+      inclosed by a low trellis-work which adjoined the garden, where the canals
+      lost themselves in a small lake.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is an interesting old court!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, that is not to be compared with the Kammerjunker&rsquo;s!&rdquo; returned Wilhelm:
+      &ldquo;you should first see his!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, you must come over some of these days,&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker.
+      &ldquo;Silence, Fingal! Silence, Valdine!&rdquo; cried he to the barking dogs. A
+      couple of turkey-cocks spread their feathers out, and gobbled with all
+      their might. Men and women servants stood at the door: that was their
+      reception!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thostrup will have the red room, will he not?&rdquo; said Wilhelm, and the
+      friends ascended the stairs together.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A pale young girl, not free from freckles, but with eyes full of soul,
+      hastened toward them; this was Wilhelm&rsquo;s youngest sister. She pressed her
+      brother to her breast, and took Otto&rsquo;s hand with kindness. She is not
+      beautiful! was the first impression she made upon him. His chamber was
+      vaulted, and the walls painted in the style of Gobelin tapestry; they
+      represented the whole of Olympus. On the left was an old fire-place, with
+      decorations and a gilt inscription; on the right stood an antiquated
+      canopy-bed, with red damask hangings. The view was confined to the moat
+      and the interior court. But a few minutes and Otto and Wilhelm were
+      summoned to table. A long gallery through two wings of the hall, on one
+      side windows, on the other entrances to the rooms, led to the dining-room.
+      The whole long passage was a picture-gallery. Portraits the size of life,
+      representing noble knights and ladies shining forth in red powdered
+      periwigs, children adorned like their elders, with tulips in their hands,
+      and great hounds by their sides, together with some historical pieces,
+      decorated the walls.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have we no garland on the table?&rdquo; asked Sophie, as she entered the
+      dining-room with the others.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Only a weak attempt to imitate my sister!&rdquo; said Louise, smiling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But there is not a single flower in the garland! What economy! And yet it
+      is sweet!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How tasteful!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto, examining the garland which Louise had
+      laid.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All kinds of green leaves, with their innumerable shades, a few yellow
+      linden-leaves, and some from the copper-beech, formed, through their
+      varied forms and colors, a tasteful garland upon the white table-cloth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You receive a thistle and a withered leaf!&rdquo; whispered Wilhelm, as Otto
+      seated himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But yet the most beautiful!&rdquo; answered he. &ldquo;The copper beech contrasts so
+      sweetly with the whitish-green thistle and the yellow leaf.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My sister Sophie,&rdquo; said Louise, &ldquo;lays us each day a different garland;&mdash;it
+      is such a pretty decoration! If she is not here we get none; that would
+      have been the case to-day, but when I learned that Wilhelm was coming, and
+      that we,&rdquo; she added, with a friendly glance, &ldquo;should have two other
+      guests, I in great haste, made an attempt, and&rdquo;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And wished to show how nicely it could be made without robbing your
+      flowers!&rdquo; interrupted Sophie, laughing. &ldquo;In reality, I am very cruel! I
+      cut all the heads of her favorites off. To-morrow, as a parody upon her
+      garland of to-day, will I make one of green cabbage and pea-shells!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Madeira or port wine?&rdquo; asked the Kammerjunker, and led the conversation
+      from flowers to articles of food and drink.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One feels one&rsquo;s self comfortable here at the hall! Miss Louise cares for
+      the body, and Miss Sophie for the soul!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And mamma bestows a good cup of coffee,&rdquo; said the mother; &ldquo;you must also
+      praise me a little!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I give music after dinner!&rdquo; cried Wilhelm; &ldquo;and thus the whole family
+      will have shown their activity!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But no voluntaries!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker; &ldquo;no voluntaries, dear friend!
+      No, a brisk song, so that one can hear what it is! but none of your
+      artificial things!&rdquo; A right proper blow on the shoulders was intended to
+      soften his expression.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IX
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;She sees if the cloth is clean and white
+     &mdash;If the bed has pillows and sheets;
+     If the candle fits in the candlestick....
+
+     &ldquo;Modest she is, although you know
+       She makes the whole of the place;
+     And in she slips in the evening glow,
+       To light the room with her merry face &ldquo;&mdash;OEHLENSCHLÄGER
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      A quiet, busy house-fairy was Louise; the beautiful, fragrant flowers were
+      her favorites. Good-humoredly she smiled at the raillery of her sister,
+      quietly listened to each thoughtless jest; but if any one, in joke,
+      touched upon what was holy to her soul, she was aroused from her calmness
+      and attained a certain eloquence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We will now become more nearly acquainted with the sisters, and on this
+      account pass over to one of the following days.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An abode together of a week, at a country-seat, will often bring about a
+      greater intimacy than if, throughout a whole winter, people had met in
+      large companies in cities. Otto soon felt himself at home; he was treated
+      as a near relative. Wilhelm related all he knew of the beautiful Eva, and
+      Sophie discovered that she was a romantic character. Mamma pitied the poor
+      child, and Louise wished she had her on the estate: an inn was, after all,
+      no proper place for a respectable girl. They then spoke of the winter
+      enjoyments in Copenhagen, of art, and the theatre. Louise could not speak
+      much with them upon these subjects, although she had seen one play,
+      &ldquo;Dyveke:&rdquo; the amiable nature of the actress had spoken deeply to her
+      heart.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Several days had passed; the sky was gray; the young people assembled
+      round the table; they were at no loss for a subject of conversation. All
+      those who have brothers or sons who study well, have remarked how much
+      they are especially fascinated by the lectures on natural philosophy and
+      astronomy; the world, as it were, expands itself before the intellectual
+      eye. We know that the friends, during the past summer, had participated in
+      these lectures, and, like the greater number, were full of these subjects,
+      from the contemplation of a drop of water, with its innumerable
+      animalculae, to the distance and magnitude of stars and planets.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To most of us these are well-known doctrines; to the ladies, also, this
+      was nothing entirely new: nevertheless, it interested them; perhaps partly
+      owing to Otto&rsquo;s beautiful eloquence. The gray, rainy weather led the
+      conversation to the physical explanation of the origin of our globe, as
+      the friends, from Orsted&rsquo;s lectures, conceived it to have been.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Northern and Grecian myths agree also with it!&rdquo; sail Otto. &ldquo;We must
+      imagine, that in infinite space there floated an eternal, unending mist,
+      in which lay a power of attraction. The mist condensed itself now to one
+      drop&mdash;our globe was one enormous egg-shaped drop; light and warmth
+      operated upon this huge world egg, and hatched, not alone ONE creature,
+      but millions. These must die and give way to new ones, but their corpses
+      fell as dust to the centre: this grew; the water itself condensed, and
+      soon arose a point above the expanse of ocean. The warmth of the sun
+      developed moss and plants; fresh islands presented themselves; for
+      centuries did a more powerful development and improvement show themselves,
+      until the perfection was attained which we now perceive!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But the Bible does not teach us thus!&rdquo; said Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Moses invented his account of the creation,&rdquo; answered Otto; &ldquo;we keep to
+      Nature, who has greater revelations than man.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But the Bible is to you a holy book?&rdquo; asked Louise, and colored.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A venerable book!&rdquo; returned Otto. &ldquo;It contains the profoundest doctrines,
+      the most interesting histories, but also much which belongs not at all to
+      a holy book.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How can you say such things?&rdquo; exclaimed Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do not touch upon religion in her presence,&rdquo; said Sophie; &ldquo;she is a pious
+      soul, and believes, without desiring to know wherefore.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said Wilhelm, &ldquo;this winter she became quite angry, and, as I
+      believe, for the first time angry with me, because I maintained that
+      Christ was a man.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wilhelm!&rdquo; interrupted the young girl, &ldquo;do not speak of that; I feel
+      myself unhappy at this thought; I can and will not see the Holy brought
+      down to my level, and to that of every-day life. It lies in my nature that
+      I commit a sin if I think otherwise than I have learned and than my heart
+      allows me. It is profane, and if you speak longer of religion in this
+      strain I shall leave the room.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At this moment the mother entered. &ldquo;The festival has commenced,&rdquo; said she;
+      &ldquo;I have been forced to give my brightest silver skilling. Does Mr.
+      Thostrup know the old custom which is observed here in the country, when
+      beer is brewed for the mowing-feast?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A piercing cry, as from a horde of savages, at this moment reached the
+      ears of the party.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The friends descended.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the middle of the brew-house stood a tub, around which danced all the
+      female servants of the estate, from the dairymaids down to the girl who
+      tended the swine; their iron-bound wooden shoes dashed against the uneven
+      flag-stones. The greater number of the dancers were without their jackets,
+      but with their long chemise-sleeves and narrow bodices. Some screamed,
+      others laughed, the whole was blended together in a howl, whilst they
+      danced hand in hand around the tub in which the beer should be brewed. The
+      brewing-maid now flung into it the silver skilling, upon which the girls,
+      like wild Maenades, tore off each other&rsquo;s caps, and with bacchanalian
+      wildness whirled round the tub. By this means should the beer become
+      stronger, and work more intoxicatingly at the approaching mowing-feast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Among the girls, one especially distinguished herself by her Strong frame
+      of body, and her long black hair, which, now that her cap was torn off,
+      hung in disorder over her red face. The dark eyebrows were grown together.
+      All seemed to rage most violently within her, and in truth she assumed
+      something wild, nay almost brutal. Both arms she raised high in the air,
+      and with outstretched fingers she whirled around.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is disgusting!&rdquo; whispered Otto: &ldquo;they all look like crazy people.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm laughed at it. The wild merriment was lost in a joyous burst of
+      laughter. The girl with the grown-together eyebrows let fall her arms; but
+      still there lay in her glance that wild expression, which the loose hair
+      and uncovered shoulders made still more striking. Either one of the others
+      had had the misfortune to scratch her lip, or else she herself had bitten
+      it in bacchanalian wildness until it bled: she accidentally glanced toward
+      the open door where stood the friends. Otto&rsquo;s countenance became clouded,
+      as was ever the case when anything unpleasant affected him. She seemed to
+      guess his thoughts, and laughed aloud. Otto stepped aside; it was as
+      though he in anticipation felt the shadow which this form would one day
+      cast across his life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When he and Wilhelm immediately afterward returned to Sophie and Louise,
+      he related the unpleasant impression which the girl had made upon him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, that is my Meg Merrilies!&rdquo; exclaimed Sophie. &ldquo;Yes, spite of her youth,
+      do you not find that she has something of Sir Walter Scott&rsquo;s witch about
+      her? When she grows older, she will be excellent. She has the appearance
+      of being thirty, whereas she is said not to be more than twenty years old:
+      she is a true giantess.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The poor thing!&rdquo; said Louise; &ldquo;every one judges from the exterior. All
+      who are around her hate her, I believe, because her eyebrows are grown
+      together, and that is said to be a sign that she is a nightmare:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [Note: This superstition of the people is mentioned in
+     Thieles&rsquo;s Danish traditions: &ldquo;When a girl at midnight
+     stretches between four sticks the membrane in which the foal
+     lies when it is born, and then creeps naked through it, she
+     will bear her child without pains; but all the boys she
+     conceives will become were-wolves, and all the girls
+     nightmares. You will know them in the daytime by their
+     eyebrows grown together over the nose. In the night she
+     creeps in through the key-hole, and places herself upon the
+     sleeper&rsquo;s bosom. The same superstition is also found in
+     German Grimm speaks thus about it: If you say to the
+     nightmare,&mdash;
+
+         Old hag, come to-morrow,
+         And I from you will borrow,
+
+     it retreats directly, and comes the next morning in the
+     shape of a man to borrow something.&rdquo;]
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      they are angry with her, and how could one expect, from the class to which
+      she belongs, that she should return scorn with kindness? She is become
+      savage, that she may not feel their neglect. In a few days, when we have
+      the mowing-feast, you yourself will see how every girl gets a partner; but
+      poor Sidsel may adorn herself as much as she likes, she still stands
+      alone. It is truly hard to be born such a being!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The unfortunate girl!&rdquo; sighed Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, she does not feel it!&rdquo; said Wilhelm: &ldquo;she cannot feel it; for that she
+      is too rude, too much of an animal.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER X
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Were the pease not tender, and the vegetables fresh and
+     sweet as sugar What was the matter with the hams, the smoked
+     goose-breasts, and the herrings? What with the roasted lamb,
+     and the refreshing red-sprinkled head-lettuce? Was not the
+     vinegar sharp, and the nut-oil balmy? Was not the butter as
+     sweet as a nut, the red radishes tender? What?&rdquo;&mdash;VOSS&rsquo;S
+     Louise.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Thostrup shall see the Kammerjunker&rsquo;s old country-seat; to-morrow we
+      must go over.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Louise could not go with them, a hundred small duties chained her to the
+      house. The most important of them all was ironing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But that the house-maid can do,&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;Do come with us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When thou seest thy linen nice and neat in thy drawers,&rdquo; returned Louise,
+      &ldquo;thou wilt certainly pardon me for remaining at home.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, thou art a glorious girl!&rdquo; said Sophie; &ldquo;thou dost deserve to have
+      been known by Jean Paul, and made immortal in one of his books. Thou dost
+      deserve the good fortune of being sung of by such a poet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Dost thou call it good fortune,&rdquo; answered the sister, &ldquo;when the whole
+      world directs its attention to one person?&mdash;that must be painful!
+      unhappy! No, it is much better not to be remarked at all. Take my
+      greetings with you, and ask for my Claudius back; they have had it now a
+      whole half year.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There, they have kept half my sister&rsquo;s library,&rdquo; said Sophie, smiling to
+      Otto. &ldquo;You must know she has only two books: Mynster&rsquo;s Sermons, and the
+      &lsquo;Wandsbecker Boten.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The carriage rolled away through the chestnut avenue. &ldquo;There upon the
+      hill, close by the wood, did I act the elf-maiden,&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;I was
+      not yet confirmed; there were strangers staying with us at the hall, and
+      we wandered in the beautiful moonlight through the wood. Two of my friends
+      and I hastened toward the hill, took hold of each other&rsquo;s hands and danced
+      in a ring. The day after, two persons of the congregation told the
+      preacher about three elfin-maidens, clad in white, who had danced upon the
+      hill in the moonlight. The elfin-maidens were we; but that our backs were
+      hollow as baking-troughs, and that the hill glanced like silver, was their
+      own invention.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And in this oak,&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm, &ldquo;when a boy, I killed the first bird
+      which fell from my shot. It was a crow, and was very honorably interred.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, beneath my sister&rsquo;s weeping-willow,&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;We buried it in
+      an old chapeaubras, adorned with white bows; the grave was decorated with
+      peony-leaves and yellow lilies. Wilhelm, who was then a big boy, made an
+      oration, and Louise strewed flowers.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You were little fools!&rdquo; said the mother. &ldquo;But see, who comes here?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, my little Dickie, my dwarf of Kenilworth!&rdquo; exclaimed Sophie, as a
+      little hump-backed man, with thin legs and an old face, approached. He was
+      dressed as a peasant, and bore upon his back a little knapsack of red
+      calfskin, the hairy side turned outward: in this he carried his violin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is he called Dickie?&rdquo; asked Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, that is only a joke of Sophie&rsquo;s,&rdquo; pursued Wilhelm; &ldquo;she must always
+      make suitable people romantic. He is called commonly &lsquo;Musikanti.&rsquo; The
+      inhabitant of Funen Italianizes most names; otherwise he is called Peter
+      Cripple.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will hear his tones,&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;The day after to-morrow, when we
+      have the mowing-feast, he will he number one. He understands music with
+      which you are scarcely acquainted; he will play you the &lsquo;Shoemaker&rsquo;s
+      Dance&rsquo; as well as &lsquo;Cherry-soup:&rsquo; such dances as these have people here in
+      the country.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We are now beyond my lands, and upon our neighbor&rsquo;s,&rdquo; said the old lady.
+      &ldquo;You will see a thorough old mansion.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, I should like to know how the inhabitants will please Mr. Thostrup,&rdquo;
+       said Sophie. &ldquo;The Kammerjunker you know; he is an excellent country
+      gentleman. His sister, on the contrary, is a little peculiar: she belongs
+      to that class of people who always, even wily the best intentions, say
+      unpleasant things. She has for this quite a rare talent&mdash;you will
+      soon experience this; but she does not intend anything so bad. She can
+      also joke! Thank God that you will not remain there over night, otherwise
+      you would experience what she and the Mamsell can invent!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, the Mamsell is my friend!&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;You will see her work-box
+      with all the curiosities. That little box plays a great part: it is always
+      taken out with her when she pays a visit&mdash;for the sake of
+      conversation it is brought out; all is then looked through, and every
+      article goes the round of the company. Yes, there are beautiful things to
+      be seen: a little wheelbarrow with a pincushion, a silver fish, and the
+      little yard-measure of silk ribbon.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, and the amber heart!&rdquo; said Sophie; &ldquo;the little Napoleon of cast
+      iron, and the officer who is pasted fast to the bottom of the box: that is
+      a good friend in Odense, she lately told to me in confidence.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See what beautiful stone fences the Kammerjunker has made!&rdquo; said the
+      mother. &ldquo;And how beautifully the cherry-trees grow! He is an industrious
+      man!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They approached the garden. It was laid out in the old French style, with
+      straight walks, pyramids of box, and white painted stone figures: satyrs
+      and goddesses peeped through the green foliage. You now caught sight of a
+      high tower with a spire; and soon the whole of the old mansion presented
+      itself to view. The water was conveyed away from the broad moats, where
+      the weeping willows with bowed heads and uncovered roots stood in the warm
+      sunshine. A number of work-people were busily employed in clearing the
+      moats of mud, which was wheeled in barrows on both sides.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They soon reached the principal court-yard. The barns and the
+      out-buildings lay on the opposite side. A crowd of dogs rushed forth
+      barking toward the carriage&mdash;all possible races, from the large
+      Danish hound, which is known to the Parisian, down to the steward&rsquo;s little
+      pug-dog, which had mixed with this company. Here stood the greyhound, with
+      his long legs, beside the turnspit. You saw all varieties, and each had
+      its peculiar and melodious bark. A couple of peacocks, with bright
+      outspread tails, raised at the same time a cry, which must have made an
+      impression. The whole court-yard had a striking air of cleanliness. The
+      grass was weeded from between the stones; all was swept and arranged in
+      its appointed order. Before the principal flight of steps grew four large
+      lime-trees; their tops, from youth bent together and then clipped short,
+      formed in spring and summer two large green triumphal arches. On the right
+      stood upon an upright beam, which was carved and formed into a pillar, a
+      prettily painted dove-cot; and its gay inhabitants fluttered and cooed
+      around. The peacock-pigeon emulated the peacock in spreading its tail; and
+      the cropper-pigeon elevated itself upon its long legs, and drew itself up,
+      as though it would welcome the strangers with the air of a grand
+      gentleman. The reddish-brown tiles and the bright window-panes were the
+      only things which had a modern air. The building itself, from the stone
+      window-seats to the old-fashioned tower through which you entered,
+      proclaimed its antiquity. In the vaulted entrance-hall stood two immense
+      presses: the quantity of wood which formed them, and the artistical
+      carving, testified to their great age. Above the door were fastened a
+      couple of antlers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Kammerjunker&rsquo;s sister, Miss Jakoba, a young lady of about thirty,
+      neither stout nor thin, but with a strange mixture of joviality and
+      indolence, approached them. She appeared to rejoice very much in the
+      visit.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, you are come over, then!&rdquo; said she to Wilhelm. &ldquo;I thought you had
+      enough to do with your examination.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm smiled, and assured her that after so much study people required
+      relaxation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, you doubtless study in handsome boots!&rdquo; said the young lady, and in
+      a friendly manner turned toward Sophie. &ldquo;Good heavens, miss!&rdquo; she
+      exclaimed, &ldquo;how the sun has burnt your nose! That looks horrible! Don&rsquo;t
+      you ever wear a veil? you, who otherwise look so well!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto was a stranger to her. He escaped such unpleasant remarks. &ldquo;They
+      should spend the whole day there,&rdquo; insisted Miss Jakoba; but mamma spoke
+      of being at home by noon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nothing will come of that!&rdquo; said Jakoba. &ldquo;I have expected you; and we
+      have cooked a dinner, and made preparations, and I will not have had all
+      this trouble in vain. There are some especial dishes for you, and of these
+      you shall eat.&rdquo; This was all said in such a good-humored tone that even a
+      stranger could not have felt himself offended. The Kammerjunker was in the
+      fields looking after his flax; he would soon be back. Squire Wilhelm could
+      in the mean time conduct Mr. Thostrup about the premises: &ldquo;he would
+      otherwise have nothing to do,&rdquo; said she.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      No one must remain in the sitting-room; it was so gloomy there! The walls
+      were still, as in by-gone days, covered with black leather, upon which
+      were impressed gold flowers. No, they should go to the hall&mdash;that had
+      been modernized since the Baroness was last there. The old chimney-piece
+      with carved ornaments was removed, and a pretty porcelain stove had taken
+      its place. The walls were covered with new paper from Paris. You could
+      there contemplate all the public buildings of that city,&mdash;Notre Dame,
+      Saint Sulpice, and the Tuileries. Long red curtains, thrown over gilt
+      rods, hung above the high windows. All this splendor was admired.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I prefer the antique sitting-room, after all,&rdquo; said Sophie; &ldquo;the old
+      chimney-piece and the leather hangings. One fairly lives again in the days
+      of chivalry!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, you have always been a little foolish!&rdquo; said Jakoba, but softened
+      her words by a smile and a pressure of the hand. &ldquo;No, the hall is more
+      lively. Ah!&rdquo; she suddenly exclaimed; &ldquo;Tine has placed her work-box in the
+      window! That is disorder!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, is that the celebrated work-box, with its many fool&rsquo;s tricks?&rdquo;
+       inquired Wilhelm, as he laughingly took it up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There are neither fools nor tricks in the box,&rdquo; said Jakoba. &ldquo;But only
+      look in the mirror in the lid, and then you will perhaps see one of the
+      two.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No rude speeches, my young lady!&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;I am an academical
+      burgher!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Kammerjunker now entered, attired in the same riding dress in which we
+      made his acquaintance. He had visited his hay and oats, had seen after the
+      people who were working at the fences, and had been also in the
+      plantation. It had been a warm forenoon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, Miss Sophie,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;do you see how I am clearing out the court?
+      It costs me above five hundred dollars; and still they are the peasants of
+      the estate who clear away the mud. But I shall get a delicate manure-heap,
+      so fit and rich that it&rsquo;s quite a pleasure. But, Jakoba, where is the
+      coffee?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Only let it come in through the door,&rdquo; said Jakoba, somewhat angrily.
+      &ldquo;You certainly ate something before you went from home. Let me attend to
+      the affairs of the ladies, and do thou attend to the gentlemen, so that
+      they may not stand and get weary.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Kammerjunker conducted the friends up the winding stone stairs into
+      the old tower.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All solid and good!&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;We no longer build in this manner. The
+      loop-holes here, close under the roof, were walled up already in my
+      father&rsquo;s time. But only notice this timber!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The whole loft appeared a gigantic skeleton composed of beams, one
+      crossing the other. On either side of the loft was a small vaulted
+      chamber, with a brick fire-place. Probably these chambers had been used as
+      guard-rooms; a kind of warder&rsquo;s walk led from these, between the
+      beam-palisade and the broad wall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, here,&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, &ldquo;they could have had a good lookout
+      toward the enemy. Look through my telescope. You have here the whole
+      country from Vissenberg to Munkebobanke, the Belt, and the heights of
+      Svendborg. Only see! The air is clear. We see both Langeland and Zealand.
+      Here one could, in 1807, have well observed the English fleet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The three climbed up the narrow ladder and came past the great clock, the
+      leaden weights of which, had they fallen, would have dashed through the
+      stone steps, and soon the gentlemen sat on the highest point. The
+      Kammerjunker requested the telescope, placed it and exclaimed:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did I not think so? If one has not them always under one&rsquo;s eyes they
+      begin playing pranks! Yes, I see it very well! There, now, the fellows who
+      are working at the fences have begun to romp with the girls! they do
+      nothing! Yes, they don&rsquo;t believe that I am sitting here in the tower and
+      looking at them!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then a telescope is, after all, a dangerous weapon!&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm.
+      &ldquo;You can look at people when they least expect it. Fortunately, our seat
+      lies hidden behind the wood: we are, at all events, safe.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, that it is, my friend,&rdquo; returned the other; &ldquo;the outer sides of the
+      garden are still bare. Did I not, last autumn, see Miss Sophie quite
+      distinctly, when she was gathering service-berries in her little basket?
+      And then, what tricks did she not play? She certainly did not think that I
+      sat here and watched tier pretty gambols!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They quitted the tower, and passed through the so-called Knight&rsquo;s Hall,
+      where immense beams, laid one on the other, supported the roof. At either
+      end of the hall was a huge fireplace, with armorial bearings painted
+      above: the hall was now used as a granary; they were obliged to step over
+      a heap of corn before reaching the family pew in the little chapel, which
+      was no longer used for divine service.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This might become a pretty little room,&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, &ldquo;but we
+      have enough, and therefore we let this, for curiosity&rsquo;s sake, remain in
+      its old state. The moon is worth its money!&rdquo; and he pointed toward the
+      vaulted ceiling, where the moon was represented as a white disk, in which
+      the painter, with much naïveté, had introduced a man bearing a load of
+      coals upon his back; in faithful representation of the popular belief
+      regarding the black spot in the moon, which supposes this to be a man whom
+      the Lord has sent up there because he stole his neighbor&rsquo;s coal. &ldquo;That
+      great picture on the right, there,&rdquo; pursued he, &ldquo;is Mrs. Ellen Marsviin; I
+      purchased it at an auction. One of the peasants put up for it; I asked him
+      what he would do with this big piece of furniture&mdash;he could never get
+      it in through his door. But do you know what a speculation he had? It was
+      not such a bad one, after all. See! the rain runs so beautifully off the
+      painted canvas, he would have a pair of breeches made out of it, to wear
+      in rainy weather behind the plough; they would keep the rain off! I
+      thought, however, I ought to prevent the portrait of the highly honorable
+      Mrs. Ellen Marsviin being so profaned. I bought it: now she hangs there,
+      and looks tolerably well pleased. The peasant got a knight instead&mdash;perhaps
+      one of my own ancestors, who was now cut up into breeches. See, that is
+      what one gets by being painted!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But the cupboard in the pillar there?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There, certainly, were Bibles and Prayer-books kept. Now I have in it
+      what I call sweetmeats for the Chancery-counselor Thomsen: old knives of
+      sacrifice, coins and rings, which I have found in the horse-pond and up
+      yonder in the cairns: not a quarter of a yard below the turf we found one
+      pot upon another; round each a little inclosure of stones&mdash;a flat
+      stone as covering, and underneath stood the pot, with burnt giants&rsquo; bones,
+      and a little button or the blade of a knife. The best things are already
+      gone away to Copenhagen, and should the Counselor come, he will, God help
+      me! carry away the rest. That may be, then, willingly, for I cannot use
+      the stuff, after all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      After coffee, the guests wandered through the old garden: the clearing
+      away of the mud was more closely observed, the dairy and pig-sty visited,
+      the new threshing-machine inspected. But now the Russian bath should be
+      also essayed; &ldquo;it was heated!&rdquo; But the end of the affair was, that only
+      the Kammerjunker himself made use of it. The dinner-table was prepared,
+      and then he returned. &ldquo;But here something is wanting!&rdquo; exclaimed he; left
+      the room, and returned immediately with two large bouquets, which he stuck
+      into an ale-glass which he placed upon the table. &ldquo;Where Miss Sophie
+      dines, the table must be ornamented with flowers: certainly we cannot lay
+      garlands, as you do!&rdquo; He seated himself at the end of the table, and
+      wished, as he himself said, to represent the President Lars: they had had
+      the &ldquo;Wandsbecker Boten&rdquo; half a year in the house, and it would certainly
+      please Miss Sophie if they betrayed some acquaintance with books. This
+      Lars and the flowers, here, meant quite as much as in the south a serenade
+      under the windows of the fair one.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When, toward evening, the carriage for their return drew up before the
+      door, Otto still stood contemplating some old inscriptions which were
+      built into the tower-wall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That you can look at another time,&rdquo; said Jakoba; &ldquo;now you must be of use
+      a little!&rdquo; And she reached him the ladies&rsquo; cloaks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Amidst promises of a return visit and the parting yelping of the dogs the
+      carriage rolled away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have fairly fallen in love with the old place!&rdquo; said Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Kaminerjunker gains much upon nearer acquaintance,&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They bad now reached the furthest extremity of the garden. A flower-rain
+      showered itself over them and the carriage. The Kammerjunker, Jakoba, and
+      the Mamsell, had taken a shorter way, and now waved an adieu to the
+      travellers, whilst at the same time they scattered hyacinths and stocks
+      over them. With a practiced hand Jakoba threw, as a mark of friendship, a
+      great pink straight into Otto&rsquo;s face. &ldquo;Farewell, farewell!&rdquo; sounded from
+      both sides, and, accompanied by the sound of the evening-bell from the
+      near village, for it was sunset, the carriage rolled away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XI
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Dance and stamp
+     Till the shoe-soles drop!&rdquo;
+                       &mdash;Danish Popular Song.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      On the following day should the much-talked-of mowing-festival take place.
+      It was the hay-harvest which occasioned all this merriment. [Author&rsquo;s
+      Note: It is true that serfdom is abolished, but the peasant is still not
+      quite free; neither can he be so. For his house and land he must pay a
+      tribute, and this consists in labor. His own work must give way to that of
+      his lord. His wagon, which he has had prepared to bring home his own
+      harvest, must, if such be commanded, go to the nobleman&rsquo;s land, and there
+      render service. This is, therefore, a kind of tax which he pays, and for
+      the faithful payment of which he is rewarded by a harvest and
+      mowing-feast; at the latter he receives a certain quantity of brandy, and
+      as much ale as he can drink. The dance generally takes place in the middle
+      of the court-yard, and the dancers themselves must pay their musicians.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      During three afternoons in succession, in the inner court and under free
+      heaven, should a ball be held. Along the walls, rough planks, laid upon
+      logs of wood, formed a row of benches. At both ends of the court lay two
+      barrels of the newly brewed ale, which had received more malt than usual,
+      and which, besides, through the silver skilling, and the magic dance of
+      the maidens round the tub, had acquired extraordinary strength. A large
+      wooden tankard, containing several measures of brandy, stood upon a table;
+      the man who watched the bleaching-ground was placed as a kind of butler to
+      preside at this sideboard. A bread-woman, with new white bread from Nyborg
+      upon her barrow, wheeled into the court, and there established her stall
+      for every one; for it was only liquors the guests received gratis.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The guests now entered the court by pairs; the men, part in jackets, part
+      in long coats which hung down to their ankles. Out of the waistcoat-pocket
+      protruded a little nosegay of sweet-williams and musk. The girls carried
+      their &ldquo;posies,&rdquo; as they called them, in their neatly folded
+      pocket-handkerchiefs. Two musicians&mdash;one quite a young blade, in a
+      laced coat with a stiff cravat, mid the other the well-known Peter
+      Cripple, &ldquo;Musikanti&rdquo; as he was called&mdash;led the procession. They both
+      played one and the same piece, but each according to his own manner. It
+      was both good and old.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They now began to draw lots, who should dance before the door of the
+      family and who before that of the steward; after which the two parties
+      drew lots for the musicians. The girls seated themselves in a row upon the
+      bench, from whence they were chosen. The gallantry accorded with the
+      ball-room,&mdash;the hard stone pavement. Not even had the grass been
+      pulled up, but that would be all right after dancing there the first day.
+      &ldquo;Nay, why art thou sitting there?&rdquo; spoken with a kind of morose
+      friendliness, was the invitation to dance; and this served for seven
+      dances. &ldquo;Only don&rsquo;t be melancholy!&rdquo; resounded from the company, and now
+      the greater portion moved phlegmatically along, as if in sleep or in a
+      forced dance: the girl with her eyes staring at her own feet, her partner
+      with his head bent toward one side, and his eyes in a direct line with the
+      girl&rsquo;s head-dress. A few of the most active exhibited, it is true, a kind
+      of animation, by stamping so lustily upon the stone pavement that the dust
+      whirled up around them. That was a joy! a joy which had occupied them many
+      weeks, but as yet the joy had not reached its height; &ldquo;but that will soon
+      come!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, who, with his sister and Otto, had taken his place at
+      an open window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The old people meanwhile kept to the ale-barrels, and the brandy. The
+      latter was offered to the girls, and they were obliged, at least, to sip.
+      Wilhelm soon discovered the prettiest, and threw them roses. The girls
+      immediately sprang to the spot to collect the flowers: but the cavaliers
+      also wished to have them, and they were the stronger; they, therefore,
+      boldly pushed the ladies aside, so that some seated themselves on the
+      stone pavement and got no roses: that was a merry bit of fun! &ldquo;Thou art a
+      foolish thing! It fell upon thy shoulder and thou couldst not catch it!&rdquo;
+       said the first lover to his lady, and stuck the rose into his
+      waistcoat-pocket.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All got partners&mdash;all the girls; even the children, they leaped about
+      to their own singing out upon the bridge. Only ONE stood forlorn,&mdash;Sidsel,
+      with the grown-together eyebrows; she smiled, laughed aloud; no one would
+      become her partner. Peter Cripple handed his violin to one of the young
+      men and asked him to play, for he himself wished to stretch his legs a
+      little. The girls drew back and talked with each other; but Peter Cripple
+      stepped quietly forward toward Sidsel, flung his arms around her, and they
+      danced a whirling dance. Sophie laughed aloud at it, but Sidsel directed
+      her extraordinary glance maliciously and piercingly toward her. Otto saw
+      it, and the girl was doubly revolting and frightful in his eyes. With the
+      increasing darkness the assembly became more animated; the two parties of
+      dancers were resolved into one. At length, when it was grown quite dark,
+      the ale barrels become empty, the tankard again filled and once more
+      emptied, the company withdrew in pairs, singing. Now commenced the first
+      joy, the powerful operation of the ale. They now wandered through the
+      wood, accompanying each other home, as they termed it; but this was a
+      wandering until the bright morning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto and Wilhelm were gone out into the avenue, and the peasants shouted
+      to them a grateful &ldquo;Good night!&rdquo; for the merry afternoon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now works the witchcraft!&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;the magical power of the ale!
+      Now begins the bacchand! Give your hand to the prettiest girl, and she
+      will immediately give you her heart!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pity,&rdquo; answered Otto, &ldquo;that the Maenades of the north possess only that
+      which is brutal in common with those of the south!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See, there goes the smith&rsquo;s pretty daughter, to whom I threw the best
+      rose!&rdquo; cried Wilhelm. &ldquo;She has got two lovers, one under either arm!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, there she goes!&rdquo; simpered a female voice close to them. It was
+      Sidsel, who sat upon the steps of a stile almost concealed in the
+      darkness, which the trees and the hedge increased still more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Has Sidsel no lover?&rdquo; asked Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hi, hi, hi,&rdquo; simpered she; &ldquo;the Herr Baron and the other gentleman seek,
+      doubtless, for a little bride. Am I beautiful enough? At night all cats
+      are gray!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come!&rdquo; whispered Otto, and drew Wilhelm away from her. &ldquo;She sits like
+      some bird of ill omen there in the hedge.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What a difference!&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm, as he followed; &ldquo;yes, what a
+      difference between this monster, nay, between the other girls and Eva! She
+      was, doubtless, born in the same poverty, in similar circumstances, and
+      yet they are like day and night. What a soul has been given to Eva! what
+      inborn nobility! It must be, really, more than a mere freak of Nature!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Only do not let Nature play her freaks with you!&rdquo; said Otto, smiling, and
+      raised his hand. &ldquo;You speak often of Eva.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here it was association of ideas,&rdquo; answered Wilhelm. &ldquo;The contrast awoke
+      remembrance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto entered his chamber&mdash;he opened the window; it was a moonlight
+      night. From the near wood resounded laughter and song. They came from the
+      young men and girls, who, on their wandering, gave themselves up to
+      merriment. Otto stood silent and full of thought in the open window.
+      Perhaps it was the moon which lent her paleness to his countenance. On
+      what did he reflect? Upon his departure, perhaps? Only one more day would
+      he remain here, where he felt himself so much at home; but then the
+      journey was toward his own house, to his grandfather, to Rosalie, and the
+      old preacher, who all thought so much of him. Otto stood listening and
+      silent. The wind bore the song more distinctly over from the wood.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is their joy, their happiness!&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;It might have been my joy
+      also, my happiness!&rdquo; lay in the sigh which he heaved. His lips did not
+      move, his thoughts alone spoke their silent language. &ldquo;I might have stood
+      on a level with these; my soul might have been chained to the dust, and
+      yet it would have been the same which I now possess, with which I long to
+      compass all worlds! the same, endowed with this sentiment of pride, which
+      drives me on to active exertion. My fate wavered whether I should become
+      one such as these or whether I should rise into that circle which the
+      world calls the higher. The mist-form did not sink down into the mire, but
+      rose above into the high refreshing air. And am I become happy through
+      this?&rdquo; His eye stared upon the bright disk of the moon. Two large tears
+      rolled over his pale cheeks. &ldquo;Infinite Omnipotence! I acknowledge Thy
+      existence! Thou dost direct all; upon Thee will I depend!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A melancholy smile passed over his lips; he stepped back into the chamber,
+      folded his hands, prayed, and felt rest and peace.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;The travellers roll through the world of men,
+     Like rose leaves in a stream.
+     The past will ne&rsquo;er come back again,
+     But fade into a dream.&rdquo;&mdash;B. S. INGEMANN.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The following day, the last before Otto&rsquo;s departure, whilst he and Wilhelm
+      were walking in the garden, Sophie approached them with a garland made of
+      oak-leaves: this was intended for Otto; they were now really to lose him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sophie will scarcely be up so early to-morrow morning,&rdquo; said Louise; &ldquo;she
+      is, therefore, obliged to present her garland to-day. I am never missing
+      at the breakfast-table, as you well know; and I shall then bring my
+      bouquet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shall preserve both until we meet again,&rdquo; returned Otto; &ldquo;they are
+      vignettes to my beautiful summer-dream. When I again sit in Copenhagen,
+      when the rain patters and the winter approaches with cold and a joyless
+      sky, I shall still see before me Funen with its green woods, flowers, and
+      sunshine; it will appear to me that it must still be so there, and that
+      the garland and bouquet are only withered because they are with me in the
+      winter cold.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In Copenhagen we shall meet again!&rdquo; said Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And I shall see you again with the swallows!&rdquo; said Louise, &ldquo;when my
+      flowers spring up again, when we have again warm summer days! As far as I
+      am concerned, you belong to the summer, and not to the cold, calm winter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Early on the following morning was Sophie, after all, at the breakfast
+      table. That was to honor Otto. Mamma showed herself as the carriage was at
+      the door. Wilhelm would accompany him as far as Odense. It was, therefore,
+      a double leave taking, here and there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We will always remain friends, faithful friends!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, when they
+      parted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Faithful friends!&rdquo; repeated Otto, and they rolled away toward Middelfart;
+      thus far should mamma&rsquo;s own carriage convey the excellent Otto. Wilhelm
+      remained behind in Odense; his coachman drove Otto, and they discoursed
+      upon the way. They passed Vissenberg: the high, wooded hills there have
+      received the name of the Funen Alps. The legend relates of robbers who had
+      here deep passages underneath the high-road, where they hung bells which
+      rang when any one passed above. The inhabitants are still looked upon with
+      suspicion. Vissenberg appears a kind of Itri, between Copenhagen and
+      Hamburg. [Author&rsquo;s Note: &ldquo;Itri,&rdquo; Fra Diavolo&rsquo;s birthplace, lies in the
+      Neapolitan States, on the highway between Rome and Naples. The inhabitants
+      are not, without reason, suspected of carrying on the robber&rsquo;s trade.]
+      Near the church there formerly lay a stone, on which Knud, the saint, is
+      said to have rested himself when flying from the rebellious Jutlanders. In
+      the stone remained the impression of where he had sat; the hard stone had
+      been softer than the hearts of the rebellious people.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This, and similar legends, the coachman knew how to relate; he was born in
+      this neighborhood, but not in Vissenberg itself, where they make the false
+      notes. [Author&rsquo;s Note: A number of years ago a band of men were seized in
+      Vissenberg who had forged bank-notes.] Every legend gains in interest when
+      one hears it in the place with which it is connected. Funen is especially
+      rich in such relations.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That cairn elevates itself at Christmas upon four red posts, and one can
+      then see the dance and merriment of the goblins within. Through that
+      peasant&rsquo;s farm there drives every night a glowing coach, drawn by four
+      coal-black horses. Where we now see a pond overgrown with reeds and roots
+      there once stood a church, but it sank as the godless desecrated it; at
+      midnight we still hear their sighs, and hymns of repentance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It is true that the narrator mixed up together certain leg-ends which
+      related to other places in the country&mdash;that he took little springs,
+      and mingled his own thoughts with his relations; but Otto listened to him
+      with great interest. The discourse turned also upon the family at the
+      hall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, they are very much liked!&rdquo; said the coachman; &ldquo;the gentleman may
+      believe we know how to value them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And now, which of the young ladies is the best?&rdquo; asked Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, every one is best served by Miss Louise,&rdquo; returned the fellow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Miss Sophie is the prettiest,&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, she is also very good,&mdash;she belongs to the learned ones! She
+      knows German, that she does! she can act comedy very excellently! I once
+      got permission with the rest of the people to be up-stairs in the
+      sitting-room&mdash;we stood behind the family; she did not manage her
+      affairs at all badly.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      However much the old legends interested Otto, it seemed as though he
+      listened with more pleasure to the simple reasonings of the coachman upon
+      the family who were become so dear to him. Words and thoughts were busied
+      about the objects there. Wilhelm, however, was and still remained the
+      dearest; he recollected with what mildness Wilhelm had stretched forth his
+      hand in reconciliation, when he himself had thrust him from him. Already
+      the happy summer days which he had spent at the country-seat, the whole
+      visit, appeared a beautiful but short dream.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto felt an inward impulse to express his gratitude; his pride even,
+      which was a fundamental feature of his character, commanded him to do
+      this. Wilhelm&rsquo;s affection, his desire for a continued friendship, Otto
+      thought he must reward; and on this account he added the following words
+      to the few lines which he gave the coachman before his passage over the
+      Little Belt:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wilhelm, in future we will say thou to each other; that is more
+      confidential!&rdquo; &ldquo;He is the first to whom I have given my thou,&rdquo; said Otto,
+      when the letter was dispatched. &ldquo;This will rejoice him: now, however, I
+      myself have for once made an advance, but he deserves it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A few moments later it troubled him. &ldquo;I am a fool like the rest!&rdquo; said he,
+      and wished he could annihilate the paper. He was summoned on board. The
+      Little Belt is only a river between the two countries; he soon found
+      himself upon Jutland ground; the whip cracked, the wheels turned round,
+      like the wheels of fortune, up and down, yet ever onward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Late in the evening he arrived at an inn. From his solitary chamber his
+      thoughts flew in opposite directions; now toward the solitary country-seat
+      of his grandfather, among the sand-hills; now toward the animated mansion
+      in Funen, where the new friends resided. He had opened his box and taken
+      out what lay quite at the top, the garland of oak-leaves and the beautiful
+      bouquet of flowers of this morning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Most people maintain that one dreams at night of that which one has
+      thought much about. According to this, Otto must have thought a deal about
+      the North Sea, for of it he dreamed the whole night,&mdash;not of the
+      young ladies.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XIII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;The heat-lark warbles forth his sepulchral melodies.&rdquo;
+                                             S. S. BLICHER.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The peninsula of Jutland possesses nothing of the natural beauty which
+      Zealand and Funen present&mdash;splendid beeches and odoriferous
+      clover-fields in the neighborhood of the salt sea; it possesses at once a
+      wild and desolate nature, in the heath-covered expanses and the
+      far-stretching moors. East and west are different; like the green, sappy
+      leaf, and grayish white sea-weed on the sea shore. From the Woods of
+      Marselisborg to the woods south of Coldinger Fjord, is the land rich and
+      blooming; it is the Danish Nature in her greatness. Here rises the Heaven
+      Mountain, with its wilderness of coppice and heather; from here you gaze
+      over the rich landscape, with its woods and lakes, as far down as the
+      roaring Cattegat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The western coast, on the contrary, lies without a tree, without bushes,
+      with nothing but white sand-hills stretching along the roaring ocean,
+      which scourges the melancholy coast with sand-storms and sharp winds.
+      Between these contrasts, which the east and west coasts present, the
+      Hesperides and Siberia, lies the vast heath which stretches itself from
+      the Lyneborg sand to the Skagen&rsquo;s reef. No hedge shows here the limits of
+      possession. Among the crossing tracks of carriage wheels must thou seek
+      thy way. Crippled oaks, with whitish-green moss overgrown to the outermost
+      branches, twist themselves along the ground, as if fearing storms and the
+      sea-mist. Here, like a nomadic people, but without flocks, do the
+      so-called Tartar bands wander up and down, with their peculiar language
+      and peculiar ceremonies. Suddenly there shows itself in the interior of
+      the heathy wilderness a colony&mdash;another, a strange people, German
+      emigrants, who through industry compel the meagre country to fruitfulness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      From Veile, Otto wished to take the road through Viborg, as the most
+      direct and the shortest to his grandfather&rsquo;s estate, which lay between
+      Nisumfjord and Lemvig.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The first heath-bushes accosted him as dear friends of his childhood. The
+      beautiful beech-woods lay behind him, the expanse of heath began; but the
+      heath was dear to him: it was this landscape which formed the basis of
+      many dear recollections.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The country became ever higher with brown heights, beyond which nothing
+      was visible; houses and farms became more rare, the cherry orchards
+      transformed themselves into cabbage-gardens. Only single spots were free
+      from heather, and here grew grass, but short, and like moss or duckweed
+      which grows upon ponds: here birds congregated by hundreds, and fluttered
+      twittering into the air as the carriage drove past.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You know where to find the green spot in the heath, and how to become
+      happy through it,&rdquo; sighed Otto. &ldquo;Could I only follow your example!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At a greater distance rose bare hills, without ling or ploughed land; the
+      prickly heath looked brown and yellow on the sharp declivities. A little
+      boy and girl herded sheep by the way-side; the boy played the Pandean
+      pipe, the little girl sang a psalm,&mdash;it was the best song which she
+      knew how to sing to the traveller, in order to win a little present from
+      him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The day was warm and beautiful, but the evening brought the cold mist from
+      the sea, which, however, in the interior of the country loses something of
+      its power.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is a kiss of welcome from my home,&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;the death-kiss of
+      the mermaid! In Funen they call it the elf maiden.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Within the last few years a number of children have been sent from the
+      Orphan Asylum to the heath, in order that, instead of Copenhagen rogues,
+      they may become honest Jutland peasants. Otto had a boy of this
+      description for his coachman. The lad was very contented, and yet Otto
+      became low-spirited from his relation. Recollections from his own life
+      stirred within his breast. &ldquo;Return thanks to God,&rdquo; said he, and gave the
+      lad a considerable present; &ldquo;on the heath thou hast shelter and a home; in
+      Copenhagen, perhaps, the sandy beach would have been thy nightly
+      resting-place, hunger and cold the gifts which the day would bring thee.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The nearer he approached the west, the more serious became his frame of
+      mind; it was as if the desolate scenery and cold sea-mist entered his
+      soul. The pictures of the gay country-seat at Funen were supplanted by
+      recollections of his home with his grandfather. He became more and more
+      low-spirited. It was only when a single mile separated him from his home
+      that the thought of surprising his dear friends conquered his melancholy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He caught sight of the red roof of the house, saw the willow plantations,
+      and heard the bark of the yard-dog. Upon the hillock before the gate stood
+      a group of children. Otto could no longer endure the slow driving through
+      the deep ruts. He sprang out of the carriage, and ran more than he walked.
+      The children on the hillock became aware of him, and all looked toward the
+      side from whence he came.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The slow driving, and his being absorbed in melancholy fancies, had
+      relaxed his powerful frame; but now in one moment all his elasticity
+      returned: his cheeks glowed, and his heart beat loudly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      From the court resounded singing&mdash;it was the singing of a psalm. He
+      stepped through the gateway. A crowd of peasants stood with bared heads:
+      before the door stood a carriage, some peasants were just raising a coffin
+      into it. In the doorway stood the old preacher, and spoke with a man clad
+      in black.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lord Jesus! who is dead?&rdquo; were Otto&rsquo;s first words, and his countenance
+      became pale like that of a corpse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Otto!&rdquo; all exclaimed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Otto!&rdquo; exclaimed also the old preacher, astonished; then seized his hand,
+      and said gravely, &ldquo;The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be
+      the name of the Lord!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let me see the face of the dead!&rdquo; said Otto. Not a tear came to his eye;
+      surprise and sorrow were too great.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Shall I take out the screws?&rdquo; inquired the man who had just screwed up
+      the coffin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let him sleep the eternal rest!&rdquo; said the preacher.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto stared at the black coffin in which his grandfather lay. The carriage
+      drove away with it. Otto followed after with the preacher, heard him throw
+      earth upon it, heard words which he did not comprehend, saw the last
+      corner of the coffin, and it was then removed from his sight. All was as a
+      dream to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They returned back to the preacher&rsquo;s abode; a pale figure approached him:
+      it was Rosalie&mdash;old Rosalie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We have here no abiding-place, we all hasten toward futurity!&rdquo; said the
+      old preacher. &ldquo;Strengthen yourself now with meat and drink! The body
+      cannot suffer like the soul. We have accompanied him to His sleeping
+      chamber; his bed was well prepared! I have prayed the evening prayer; he
+      sleeps in God, and will awaken to behold His glory. Amen!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Otto! thou dear Otto!&rdquo; said Rosalie. &ldquo;The bitterest day brings me this
+      joy! How have I thought of thee! Amongst strangers shouldst thou receive
+      the tidings of his death! with no one who could feel for thy sorrow! where
+      thou shouldst see no eye weep for what thou hast lost! Now thou art here!
+      now, when I believed thee so far distant&mdash;it is a miracle! Thou
+      couldst only have received the letter to-day which carried the
+      intelligence of thy grandfather&rsquo;s death to thee!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wished to surprise you,&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;A melancholy surprise awaited me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sit down, my child!&rdquo; said the preacher, and drew him toward the covered
+      table. &ldquo;When the tree falls which gave us shade and fruit, from which we,
+      in our own little garden, have planted shoots and sown seeds, we may well
+      look on with sadness and feel our loss: but we must not forget our own
+      garden, must not forget to cherish that which we have won from the fallen
+      tree: we must not cease to live for the living! I miss, like you, the
+      proud tree, which rejoiced my soul and my heart, but I know that it is
+      planted in a better garden, where Christ is the gardener.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The preacher&rsquo;s invitation to remain with him, during his stay, in his
+      house, Otto declined. Already this first night he wished to establish
+      himself in his own little chamber in the house of mourning. Rosalie also
+      would return.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We have a deal to say to each other,&rdquo; said the old preacher, and laid his
+      hand upon Otto&rsquo;s shoulder. &ldquo;Next summer you will hardly press my hand, it
+      will be pressed by the turf.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To-morrow I will come to you,&rdquo; said Otto, and drove back with the old
+      Rosalie to the house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The domestics kissed the hand and coat of the young master&mdash;he wished
+      to prevent this; the old woman wept. Otto stepped into the room; here had
+      stood the corpse, on account of which the furniture had been removed, and
+      the void was all the more affecting. The long white mourning curtains
+      fluttered in tire wind before the open window. Rosalie led him by the hand
+      into the little sleeping-room where the grandfather had died. Here
+      everything yet stood as formerly&mdash;the large book case, with the glass
+      doors, behind which the intellectual treasure was preserved: Wieland and
+      Fielding, Millot&rsquo;s &ldquo;History of the World,&rdquo; and Von der Hagen&rsquo;s
+      &ldquo;Narrenbuch,&rdquo; occupied the principal place: these books had been those
+      most read by the old gentleman. Here was also Otto&rsquo;s earliest intellectual
+      food, Albertus Julius, the English &ldquo;Spectator,&rdquo; and Evald&rsquo;s writings. Upon
+      the wall hung pikes and pistols, and a large old sabre, which the
+      grandfather had once worn. Upon the table beneath the mirror stood an
+      hour-glass; the sand had run out. Rosalie pointed toward the bed. &ldquo;There
+      he died,&rdquo; said she, &ldquo;between six and seven o&rsquo;clock in the evening. He was
+      only ill three days; the two last he passed in delirium: he raised himself
+      in bed, and shook the bed posts; I was obliged to let two strong men watch
+      beside him. &lsquo;To horse! to horse!&rsquo; said he; &lsquo;the cannons forward!&rsquo; His
+      brain dreamed of war and battles. He also spoke of your blessed father
+      severely and bitterly! Every word was like the stab of a knife; he was as
+      severe toward him as ever!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And did the people understand his words?&rdquo; asked Otto with a wrinkled
+      brow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, for the uninitiated they were dark words; and even had they possessed
+      any meaning, the men would have believed it was the sickness which spoke
+      out of him. &lsquo;There stands the mother with the two children! The one shall
+      fall upon the flank of the enemy and bring me honor and joy. The mother
+      and daughter I know not!&rsquo; That was all which I heard him say about you and
+      your mother and sister. By noon on the third day the fever had spent
+      itself; the strong, gloomy man was become as weak and gentle as a child; I
+      sat beside his bed. &lsquo;If I had only Otto here!&rsquo; said he. &lsquo;I have been
+      severely attacked, Rosalie, but I am now much better: I will go to sleep;
+      that strengthens one.&rsquo; Smilingly he closed his eyes and lay quite still: I
+      read my prayers, withdrew gently so as not to wake him; he lay there
+      unchanged when I returned. I sat a little while beside his bed; his hands
+      lay upon the coverlid; I touched them, they were ice-cold. I was
+      frightened, touched his brow, his face&mdash;he was dead! he had died
+      without a death-struggle!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      For a long time did they converse about the dead man; it was near midnight
+      when Otto ascended the narrow stairs which led to the little chamber in
+      the roof, where as child and boy he had slept. All stood here as it had
+      done the year before, only in nicer order. Upon the wall hung the black
+      painted target, near to the centre of which he had once shot. His skates
+      lay upon the chest of drawers, near to the nodding plaster figure. The
+      long journey, and the overpowering surprise which awaited him on his
+      return, had strongly affected him: he opened the window; a large white
+      sand-hill rose like a wall straight up before it, and deprived him of all
+      view. How often, when a child, had the furrows made by rain in the sand,
+      and the detached pieces, presented to him pictures,&mdash;towns, towers,
+      and whole marching armies. Now it was only a white wall, which reminded
+      him of a winding-sheet. A small streak of the blue sky was visible between
+      the house and the steep slope of the hill. Never before had Otto felt,
+      never before reflected, what it was to stand alone in the world, to be
+      lovingly bound to no one with the band of consanguinity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Solitary, as in this silent night do I stand in the world! solitary in
+      the mighty crowd of human beings! Only ONE being can I call mine! only ONE
+      being press as kindred to my heart! And I shudder at the thought of
+      meeting with this being&mdash;I should bless the thought that she was
+      dead! Father! thou didst ruin one being and make three miserable. I have
+      never loved thee; bitterness germinated within my breast when I became
+      acquainted with thee! Mother! thy features have died out of my
+      recollection; I revere thee! Thou wast all love; to love didst thou offer
+      up thy life&mdash;more than life! Pray for me with thy God! Pray for me,
+      ye dead! if there is immortality; if the flesh is not alone born again in
+      grass and the worm; if the soul is not lost in floods of air! We shall be
+      unconscious of it: eternally shall we sleep! eternally!&rdquo; Otto supported
+      his forehead upon the window-frame, his arm sank languidly, &ldquo;Mother! poor
+      mother! thou didst gain by death, even if it be merely an eternal sleep,&mdash;asleep
+      without dreams! We have only a short time to live, and yet we divide our
+      days of life with sleep! My body yearns after this short death! I will
+      sleep&mdash;sleep like all my beloved ones! They do not awaken!&rdquo; He threw
+      himself upon the bed. The cold air from the sea blew through the open
+      window. The wearied body conquered; he sank into the death-like sleep,
+      whilst his doubting soul, ever active, presented him with living dreams.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XIV
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Man seems to me a foolish being; he drives along over the
+     waves of time, endlessly thrown up and down, and descrying a
+     little verdant spot, formed of mud and stagnant moor and of
+     putrid green mouldiness, he cries out, Land! He rows
+     thither, ascends&mdash;and sinks and sinks&mdash;and is no more to be
+     seen.&rdquo;&mdash;The Golden Fleece of GRILLPARZER.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Old Rosalie was pouring out coffee when Otto came down the next morning.
+      Peace and resignation to the will of God lay in her soft countenance. Otto
+      was pale, paler than usual, but handsomer than Rosalie had seen him
+      before: a year had rendered him older and more manly; a handsome, crisp
+      beard curled over his chin; manly gravity lay in his eyes, in which, at
+      his departure, she had only remarked their inborn melancholy glance. With
+      a kind of satisfaction she looked upon this beautiful, melancholy
+      countenance, and with cordial affection she stretched forth her hand
+      toward him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here stands thy chair, Otto; and here thy cup. I will drink to thy
+      welcome. It seems to me long since I saw thee, and yet it is, now I have
+      thee again, only a short time. Were that place only not empty!&rdquo; and she
+      pointed to the place at the table which the grandfather had used to
+      occupy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If I had only seen him!&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;His countenance was so gentle in death,&rdquo; said Rosalie. &ldquo;The severity and
+      gravity which had settled in his eyes were softened away. I was myself
+      present when he was dressed. He had his uniform on, which he always wore
+      upon occasions of ceremony, the sabre by his side and the great hat upon
+      his head. I knew that this was his wish!&rdquo; Quietly she made the sign of the
+      cross.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are all my grandfather&rsquo;s papers sealed?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The most important&mdash;those which have the greatest interest for
+      thee,&rdquo; said Rosalie, &ldquo;are in the hands of the preacher. Last year, the day
+      after thy departure, he gave them to the preacher; thy father&rsquo;s last
+      letter I know is amongst them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My father!&rdquo; said Otto, and glanced toward the ground. &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; continued
+      he, &ldquo;there is truth in the words of Scripture,&mdash;the sins of the
+      fathers are visited upon the children unto the third and fourth
+      generation!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Otto!&rdquo; said Rosalie, with a beseeching and reproachful look, &ldquo;thy
+      grandfather was a severe man. Thou last known him, hast seen his darkest
+      moments, and yet then age and cares had softened him: his love to thee
+      calmed every outbreak. Had he only loved thy father as he loved thee,
+      things would, perhaps, have ended better: but we may not judge!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And what have I done?&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;Thou, Rosalie, knowest the history of
+      my life. Is it not as if a curse rested upon me? I was a high-spirited
+      boy, I often occasioned thee tears; yet didst thou always place thyself
+      between me and punishment. It was my evil blood, the blood of my birth in
+      which the curse lay, that drove me on!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But thou didst become good and full of love, as thou art now!&rdquo; said
+      Rosalie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Only when I became acquainted with myself and my destiny. In the
+      thoughtlessness of childhood, unacquainted with myself and the world, did
+      I myself have that sign of my misery, which now presses down my soul, cut
+      into my flesh. Yes, Rosalie! I remember this very well, and have clearly
+      preserved this, my earliest recollection before my grandfather took me,
+      and I came here a boy. I remember the great building from whence I was
+      brought, the number of people who there worked, sang, and laughed, and who
+      told me extraordinary stories of how badly people were treated in the
+      beautiful world. This was my parents&rsquo; home, thought I, when I began to
+      ponder upon parents and their connection with children. It was a large
+      manufactory which they possessed, thought I; I remembered the number of
+      work-people. All played and romped with me. I was wild and full of
+      boisterous spirits a boy of only six years old, but with the perseverance
+      and will of one of ten. Rosalie, thou sawest many proofs of the evil which
+      lay in my blood; it bordered upon insolence. I remembered well the strong,
+      merry Heinrich, who always sang at his loom; he showed me and the others
+      his tattooed breast, upon which he had his whole mournful history
+      imprinted. Upon his arm were his own and his bride&rsquo;s names. That pleased
+      me; I wished to have my name also on my arm. &lsquo;It is painful!&rsquo; said he;
+      &lsquo;then thou wilt pipe, my lad!&rsquo; That was spur enough to make me desire it.
+      I allowed him to puncture my skin, to puncture an O and a T upon my
+      shoulder, and did not cry,&mdash;no, not once whilst the powder burnt into
+      it; but I was praised, and was proud to bear the initials&mdash;proud of
+      them until three years ago, when I met Heinrich here. I recognized him,
+      but he did not recognize me. I showed him my shoulder, and besought him to
+      read the name, this O and T: but he did not say Otto Thostrup; he named a
+      name which destroyed the happiness of my childhood, and has made me
+      miserable forever!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was a fearful day!&rdquo; said Rosalie. &ldquo;Thou didst demand from me an
+      explanation, thy grandfather gave it thee, and thou wast no longer the
+      Otto thou hadst formerly been. Yet wherefore speak of it? Thou art good
+      and wise, noble and innocent. Do not fill thy heart with sorrow from a
+      time which is past, and which, for thy sake, shall be forgotten.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But Heinrich still lives!&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;I have met with him, have spoken
+      with him: it was as if all presence of mind forsook me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When and where?&rdquo; asked Rosalie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto related of his walk with Wilhelm in the park, and of the juggler, in
+      whom he had recognized Heinrich. &ldquo;I tore myself from my friends, I
+      wandered the whole night alone in the wood. O Rosalie, I thought of death!
+      I thought of death as no Christian ought to do. A beautiful morning
+      followed, I wandered beside the sea which I love, and in which I have so
+      often dived. Since that explanation of the initials on my shoulder was
+      suggested, that explanation which reminded me of my unhappy birth, I have
+      never uncovered them before any one. O, I have rubbed thorn with a stone,
+      until they were bloody! The letters are gone, but still I imagine I can
+      read them in the deep scar&mdash;that in it I see a Cain&rsquo;s mark! That
+      morning the desire to bathe came upon me. The fresh current infused life
+      once more into my soul. Just then Wilhelm and several acquaintance came
+      down; they called to me and carried off my clothes; my blood boiled; all
+      my unhappiness, which this night had stirred within my soul, again
+      overwhelmed me: it was as though the obliterated initials on my shoulder
+      would reveal themselves in the scar and betray the secret of my grief.
+      Disgust of life seized upon me. I no longer knew what I shouted to them,
+      but it seemed to me as if I must swim out into the stream and never
+      return. I swam until it became night before my eyes. I sank, and Wilhelm
+      rescued me! Never since then have we spoken of this hour! O Rosalie! long
+      is it since I have been able to open my heart as before thee at this
+      moment. What use is it to have a friend if one cannot lay before him one&rsquo;s
+      whole thoughts? To no one have I been able to unfold them but to thee, who
+      already knowest them. I suffer, as a criminal and yet am I innocent,&mdash;just
+      as the misshapen, the deformed man, is innocent of his ugliness!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not possess thy knowledge, Otto,&rdquo; said Rosalie, and pressed his
+      hand; &ldquo;have never rejoiced in such a clear head as thine; but I have that
+      which thou canst not as yet possess&mdash;experience. In trouble, as well
+      as in joy, youth transforms the light cobweb into the cable.
+      Self-deception has changed the blood in thy veins, the thoughts in thy
+      soul; but do not forever cling to this one black spot! Neither wilt thou!
+      it will spur thee on to activity, will enervate thy soul, not depress
+      thee! The melancholy surprise of thy grandfather&rsquo;s death, whom thou didst
+      believe active and well, has now made thee dejected, and thy thoughts so
+      desponding. But there will come better days! happy days! Thou art young,
+      and youth brings health for the soul and body!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She led Otto into the garden, where the willow plantations protected the
+      other trees from the sharp west wind. The gooseberry-bushes bore fruit,
+      but it was not yet ripe: one bush Otto had planted when a cutting; it was
+      now large. Rosalie had tied the twigs to a palisade, so that, as an
+      espalier, it could thoroughly drink in the sun&rsquo;s rays. Otto regarded the
+      fetters more than the good intention.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let it grow free!&rdquo; said he; &ldquo;if that brittle palisade should tumble down,
+      the twigs would be broken.&rdquo; And he cut the bands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou art still the old Otto,&rdquo; said Rosalie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They went into her little room, where the crucifix, and before it a small
+      vase of flowers, adorned the table. Above the cross hung a garland of
+      withered heather.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Two years ago didst thou give me that, Otto!&rdquo; said Rosalie. &ldquo;There were
+      no more flowers, there was nothing green but the heath, and thou twinedst
+      a garland of it for me. Afterward I would not take it down from the
+      crucifix.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They were interrupted by a visit. It was from the old preacher.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XV
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;His coal was coarse, its fashion old;
+       He asked no dress of greater worth
+     Than that which kept from storm and cold
+       The Baptist when he preached on earth.&rdquo;
+                                C. J. BORE.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Not alone of Otto&rsquo;s affairs, but also of &ldquo;the city yonder,&rdquo; as the
+      preacher called Copenhagen, would he speak. Only once a week came the
+      &ldquo;Viborg Collector&rdquo; to hint, and the Copenhagen papers were a whole month
+      going their round. &ldquo;One would willingly advance with the time,&rdquo; said he.
+      Yesterday, at the interment, he had not found it seemly to gratify his
+      desire of hearing dear Otto talk about the city, but to-day he thought it
+      might well be done, and therefore he would not await Otto&rsquo;s visit but come
+      over to pay one himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou hast certainly seen our good king?&rdquo; was his first question. &ldquo;Lord
+      help the anointed one! he is then as vigorous and active as ever&mdash;my
+      good King Frederik!&rdquo; And now he must relate a trait which had touched his
+      heart, and which, in his opinion, deserved a place in the annals of
+      history. This event occurred the last time that the king was in Jutland;
+      he had visited the interior of the country and the western coast also.
+      When he was leaving a public-house the old hostess ran after him, and
+      besought that the Father would, as a remembrance, write his name with
+      chalk upon a beam. The grand gentlemen wished to deter her, but she pulled
+      at the king&rsquo;s coat; and when he had learned her wish he nodded in a
+      friendly manner, and said, &ldquo;Very willingly!&rdquo; and then turned back and
+      wrote his name on the beam. Tears came into the old man&rsquo;s eyes; he wept,
+      and prayed for his king. He now inquired whether the old tree was still
+      standing in the Regent&rsquo;s Court, and then spoke of Nyerup and Abrahamson,
+      whom he had known in his student days.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In fact, after all, he was himself the narrator; each of his questions
+      related to this or that event in his own life, and he always returned to
+      this source&mdash;his student-days. There was then another life, another
+      activity, he maintained. His royal idea of beauty had been Queen Matilda.
+      [Translator&rsquo;s Note: The unhappy wife of Christian VII. and daughter of our
+      George III.] &ldquo;I saw her often on horseback,&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;It was not then the
+      custom in our country for ladies to ride. In her country it was the
+      fashion; here it gave rise to scandal. God gave her beauty, a king&rsquo;s
+      crown, and a heart full of love; the world gave her&mdash;what it can give&mdash;a
+      grave near to the bare heath!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Whilst he so perpetually returned to his own recollections, his share of
+      news was truly not new, but he was satisfied. Copenhagen appeared to him a
+      whole world&mdash;a royal city; but Sodom and Gomorrah had more than one
+      street there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto smiled at the earnestness with which he said this.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, that I know better than thou, my young friend!&rdquo; continued the old
+      preacher. &ldquo;True, the devil does not go about like a roaring lion, but
+      there he has his greatest works! He is well-dressed, and conceals his
+      claws and his tail! Do not rely upon thy strength! He goes about, like the
+      cat in the fable, &lsquo;pede suspenso,&rsquo; sneakingly and cautiously! It is, after
+      all, with the devil as it is with a Jutland peasant. This fellow comes to
+      the city, has nothing, runs about, and cleans shoes and boots for the
+      young gentlemen, and by this means he wins a small sum of money. He knows
+      how to spare. He can now hire the cellar of the house in which thou
+      livest, and there commence some small trade. The trade is successful, very
+      successful. It goes on so well that he can hire the lower story; then he
+      gains more profit, and before thou canst look about thee he buys the whole
+      house. See, that is the way with the Jutland peasant, and just the same
+      with the devil. At first he gets the cellar, then the lower story, and at
+      last the whole house!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XVI
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Sure &lsquo;tis fair in foreign land,
+         But not so fair as home;
+
+     Let me but see thy mountains grand
+         Glaciers and snowy dome!
+
+     Let me but hear the sound that tells
+     Of climbing cattle, dressed with bells.&rdquo;
+                                The Switzer&rsquo;s Homesickness.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Not until after breakfast did the preacher pass over to Otto&rsquo;s affairs.
+      His grandfather&rsquo;s will made him the sole heir to the large property; a man
+      in Copenhagen, the merchant Berger, should be his guardian, since the
+      preacher did not wish to undertake the office. Rosalie was not forgotten:
+      her devotion and fidelity had won for her a relative&rsquo;s right. Her last
+      days should be free from care: she had truly striven to remove all care
+      from the dead whilst yet he lived. An old age free from care awaited her;
+      but Otto wished that she should also have a happy old age. He imparted his
+      plan to the preacher; but the latter shook his head, thought it was not
+      practicable, and regarded it as a mere fancy&mdash;a whim. But such it was
+      not.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Some days passed by. One afternoon Rosalie sat upon a small wooden bench
+      under the cherry-trees, and was making mourning for the winter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is the last summer that we shall sit here,&rdquo; said she; &ldquo;the last
+      summer that this is our home. Now I am become equally rooted to this spot;
+      it grieves me that I must leave it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou wast forced to leave thy dear Switzerland,&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;that was
+      still harder!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was then young,&rdquo; answered she. &ldquo;The young tree may be easily
+      transplanted, but the old one has shot forth deeper roots. Denmark is a
+      good land&mdash;a beautiful land!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But not the west coast of Jutland!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto. &ldquo;For thy green
+      pasture hast thou here heath; for thy mountains, low sand-hills.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Upon the Jura Mountains there is also heath,&rdquo; said Rosalie. &ldquo;The heath
+      here often reminds me of my home on the Jura. There also is it cold, and
+      snow can fall already in August. The fir-trees then stand as if powdered
+      over.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I love Switzerland, which I have never seen,&rdquo; pursued Otto. &ldquo;Thy relation
+      has given me a conception of the picturesque magnificence of this
+      mountain-land. I have a plan, Rosalie. I know that in the heart of a
+      mountaineer homesickness never dies. I remember well how thy eyes sparkled
+      when thou toldest of the walk toward Le Locle and Neufchâtel; even as a
+      boy I felt at thy words the light mountain air. I rode with thee upon the
+      dizzy height, where the woods lay below us like potato fields. What below
+      arose, like the smoke from a charcoal-burner&rsquo;s kiln, was a cloud in the
+      air. I saw the Alpine chain, like floating cloud mountains; below mist,
+      above dark shapes with glancing glaciers.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, Otto,&rdquo; said Rosalie, and her eyes sparkled with youthful fire; &ldquo;so
+      looks the Alpine chain when one goes from Le Locle to Neulfchâtel: so did
+      I see it when I descended the Jura for the list time. It was in August.
+      The trees, with their autumnal foliage, stood yellow and red between the
+      dark firs; barberries and hips grew among the tall fern. The Alps lay in
+      such a beautiful light, their feet blue as heaven, their peaks snow-white
+      in the clear sunshine. I was in a sorrowful mood; I was leaving my
+      mountains! Then I wrote in my book&mdash;O, I remember it so well!&mdash;The
+      high Alps appear to me the folded wings of the earth: how if she should
+      raise them! how if the immense wings should unfold, with their gay images
+      of dark woods, glaciers, and clouds! What a picture! At the Last Judgment
+      will the earth doubtless unfold these pinions, soar up to God, and in the
+      rays of His sunlight disappear! I also have been young, Otto,&rdquo; pursued
+      she, with a melancholy smile. &ldquo;Thou wouldst have felt still more deeply at
+      the sight of this splendor of nature. The lake at the foot of the
+      mountains was smooth as a mirror; a little boat with white sails swam,
+      like a swan, upon its expanse. On the road along which we drove were the
+      peasants beating down chestnuts; the grapes hung in large black bunches.
+      How an impression such as this can root itself in the memory! It is five
+      and thirty years since, and yet I still see that boat with the white sail,
+      the high Alps, and the black grapes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou shalt see thy Switzerland again, Rosalie,&rdquo; exclaimed Otto; &ldquo;again
+      hear the bells of the cows upon the green pastures! Thou shalt go once
+      more to the chapel in Franche Compté, shalt visit thy friends at Le Locle,
+      see the subterranean mill, and the Doub fall.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The mill wheel yet goes round, the water dashes down as in my youth; but
+      the friends are gone, my relatives dispersed! I should appear a stranger
+      there; and when one has reached my age, nature cannot satisfy&mdash;one
+      must have people!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou knowest, Rosalie, my grandfather has settled a sum upon thee so long
+      as thou livest. Now I have thought thou couldst spend thy latter days with
+      thy beloved ones at home, in the glorious Switzerland. In October I take
+      my philosophicum; the following summer I would then accompany thee. I must
+      also see that splendid mountain-land,&mdash;know something more of the
+      world than I have yet known. I know how thy thoughts always dwell upon
+      Switzerland. Thither will I reconduct thee; thou wilt feel thyself less
+      lonely there than here in Denmark.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou art carried away by the thoughts of youth, as thou shouldst and must
+      be, thou dear, sweet soul!&rdquo; said Rosalie, smiling. &ldquo;At my age it is not so
+      easy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We will make short days&rsquo; journeys,&rdquo; said Otto, &ldquo;go with the steamboat up
+      the Rhine&mdash;that is not fatiguing; and from Basel one is soon in
+      Franche Compté on the Jura.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, upon the heath, near Vestervovov, as it is called here, will old
+      Rosalie die; here I have felt myself at home, here I have two or three
+      friends. The family at Lemvig have invited me, have for me a place at
+      table, a little room, and friendly faces. Switzerland would be no longer
+      that Switzerland which I quitted. Nature would greet me as an old
+      acquaintance; it would be to me music, once more to hear the ringing of
+      the cows&rsquo; bells; it would affect me deeply, once again to kneel in the
+      little chapel on the mountain: but I should soon feel myself a greater
+      stranger there than here. Had it been fifteen years ago, my sister would
+      still have been living, the dear, pious Adèle! She dwelt with my uncle
+      close on the confines of Neufchâtel, as thou knowest, scarcely a quarter
+      of a mile from Le Locle&mdash;<i>the town</i>, as we called it, because it
+      was the largest place in the neighborhood. Now there are only distant
+      relations of mine living, who have forgotten me. I am a stranger there.
+      Denmark gave me bread, it will also give me a grave!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thought of giving thee a pleasure!&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That thou dost by thy love to me!&rdquo; returned she.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thought thou wouldst have shown me thy mountains, thy home, of which
+      thou hast so often spoken!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That can I still do. I remember every spot, every tree&mdash;all remains
+      so clear in my recollection. Then we ascend together the Jura higher and
+      higher; here are no more vineyards to be found, no maize, no chestnuts
+      only dark pines, huge cliffs, here and there a beech, as green and large
+      as in Denmark. Now we have the wood behind us, we are many feet above the
+      sea; thou canst perceive this by the freshness of the air. Everywhere are
+      green meadows; uninterruptedly reaches our ear the ringing of the
+      cow-bells. Thou as yet seest no town, and yet we are close upon Le Locle.
+      Suddenly the road turns; in the midst of the mountain-level we perceive a
+      small valley, and in this lies the town, with its red roofs, its churches,
+      and large gardens. Close beneath the windows rises the mountain-side, with
+      its grass and flowers; it looks as though the cattle must be precipitated
+      upon the houses. We go through the long street, past the church; the
+      inhabitants are Protestants&mdash;it is a complete town of watchmakers. My
+      uncle and Adèle also sat the whole day, and worked at wheels and chains.
+      That was for Monsieur Houriet, in Le Locle. His daughters I know; one is
+      called Rosalie, like myself. Rosalie and Lydia, they will certainly have
+      forgotten me! But it is true that we are upon our own journey! Now, thou
+      seest, at the end of the town we do not follow the broad road&mdash;that
+      leads to Besançon; we remain in the lesser one, here in the valley where
+      the town lies. The beautiful valley! The green mountain-sides we keep to
+      our right; on it are scattered houses, with large stones upon their steep
+      wooden roofs, and with little gardens tilled with plum-trees. Steep
+      cliff-walls shut in the valley; there stands up a crag; if thou climbest
+      it thou canst look straight into France: one sees a plain, flat like the
+      Danish plains. In the valley where we are, close under the rock, lies a
+      little house; O, I see it distinctly! white-washed and with blue painted
+      window-frames: at the gate a great chained dog. I hear him bark! We step
+      into that quiet, friendly little house! The children are playing about on
+      the ground. O, my little Henry-Numa-Robert! Ah, it is true that now he is
+      older and taller than thou! We descend the steps toward the cellar. Here
+      stand sacks and chests of flour; under the floor one hears a strange
+      roaring; still a few steps lower, and we must light the lamp, for here it
+      is dark. We find ourselves in a great water-mill, a subterranean mill.
+      Deep below in the earth rushes a river&mdash;above no one dreams of it;
+      the water dashes down several fathoms over the rushing wheel, which
+      threatens to seize our clothes and whirl us away into the circle. The
+      steps on which we stand are slippery: the stone walls drip with water, and
+      only a step beyond the depth appears bottomless! O, thou wilt love this
+      mill as I love it! Again having reached the light of day, and under free
+      heaven, one only perceives the quiet, friendly little house. Dost thou
+      know, Otto, often as thou hast sat quiet and dreaming, silent as a statue,
+      have I thought of my mill, and the repose which it presented? and yet how
+      wildly the stream roared in its bosom, how the wheels rushed round, and
+      how gloomy it was in the depth!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We will leave the mill!&rdquo; said Otto, and sought to lead her from her
+      reflections back to her own relation. &ldquo;We find ourselves in the wood,
+      where the ringing of the evening-bell reaches our ear from the little
+      chapel in Franche Compté.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There stands my father&rsquo;s house!&rdquo; said Rosalie. &ldquo;From the corner-window
+      one looks over the wood toward Aubernez, [Author&rsquo;s Note: A village in the
+      canton Neufchâtel, lying close upon the river Doub, where it forms the
+      boundary between Switzerland and France.] where the ridge leads over the
+      Doub. The sun shines upon the river, which, far below, winds along,
+      gleaming like the clearest silver.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And the whole of France spreads itself out before us!&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How beautiful! O, how beautiful!&rdquo; exclaimed Rosalie, and her eyes
+      sparkled as she gazed before her; but soon her glance became sad, and she
+      pressed Otto&rsquo;s hand. &ldquo;No one will welcome me to my home! I know neither
+      their joys nor their sorrows&mdash;they are not my own family! In Denmark&mdash;I
+      am at home. When the cold sea-mist spreads itself over the heath I often
+      fancy I am living among my mountains, where the heather grows. The mist
+      seems to me then to be a snow-cloud which rests over the mountains, and
+      thus, when other people are complaining of the bad weather, I am up among
+      my mountains!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou wilt then remove to the family at Lemvig?&rdquo; asked Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There I am welcome!&rdquo; returned she.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XVII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Look at the calming sea. The waves still tremble in the
+     depths, and stem to fear the gale.&mdash;Over my head is hovering
+     the shadowy mist.&mdash;My curls are wet with the filling dew.&rdquo;
+      &mdash;OSSIAN.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Otto had not as yet visited the sand-hills on the strand, the fishermen,
+      or the peasants, among whom formerly he had spent all his spare time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The beautiful summer&rsquo;s day drove him forth, his heart yearned to drink in
+      the summer warmth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Only the roads between the larger towns are here tolerable, or rather as
+      tolerable as the country will allow. The by-ways were only to be discerned
+      by the traces of cart-wheels, which ran on beside each other; at certain
+      places, to prevent the wheels sinking into the deep sand, ling had been
+      spread; where this is not the case, and the tracks cross each other, a
+      stranger would scarcely find the way. Here the landmark places its unseen
+      boundary between neighboring possessions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Every farm, every cottage, every hill, was an old acquaintance to Otto. He
+      directed his steps toward Harbooere, a parish which, one may say, consists
+      of sand and water, but which, nevertheless, is not to be called
+      unfruitful. A few of the inhabitants pursue agriculture, but the majority
+      consists of fishermen, who dwell in small houses and have no land.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His first encounter upon his wandering was with one of those large covered
+      wagons with which the so-called eelmen, between the days of St. John and
+      St. Bartholomew, go with eels toward the small towns lying to the south
+      and east, and then, laden with apples and garden produce, return home&mdash;articles
+      which are rapidly consumed by the common people. The eelman stopped when
+      he saw and recognized Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Welcome, Mr. Otto!&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;Yes, you are come over abut a sad affair!
+      That Major Thostrup should have gone off so! But there was nothing else to
+      be expected from him he was old enough.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Death demands his right!&rdquo; replied Otto, and pressed the man&rsquo;s hand.
+      &ldquo;Things go, doubtless, well with you, Morten Chraenseu?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The whole cart full of eels, and some smoked carp! It is also good to
+      meet with you, Mr. Otto. Upon the land a preacher is very good, but not
+      upon the sea, as they say at home. Yes, you are certainly now a preacher,
+      or will become one?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, I am not studying to become a preacher!&rdquo; answered Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No! will you then become a lawyer? It strikes me you are clever enough&mdash;you
+      have no need to study any more! You will just go and say a few words to
+      them at home? The grandmother sits and spins yarn for eel-nets. She has
+      now the cataract on the other eye, but her mouth is as well as ever; she
+      does not let herself grow dumb, although she does sit in the dark. Mother
+      provides the baits; she has also enough to do with the hooks.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But Maria, the lively little Maria?&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The girl? She has gone this year with the other fishergirls to
+      Ringkjoebing, to be hired for the hay and corn harvest; we thought we
+      could do without her at home. But now, God willing! I must travel on.&rdquo;
+       Cordially he shook Otto&rsquo;s hand, and pursued his slow journey.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The brothers of the eelman were active fishermen, as their father had been
+      before them; and although they were all married they lived together. The
+      swarm of children was not insignificant; young and old formed one family,
+      in which the old grandmother had the first voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto approached the dwelling; before it lay a little plot of land, planted
+      with potatoes and carrots, and also beds of onions and thyme. Two large
+      bull-dogs, with sharp teeth and wicked eyes, rushed toward Otto. &ldquo;Tyv!
+      Grumsling!&rdquo; shrieked a voice, and the dogs let fall their tails and drew
+      back, with a low growl, toward the house. Here at the threshold sat an old
+      woman in a red woolen jacket, with a handkerchief of the same material and
+      same color about her neck, and upon her head a man&rsquo;s black felt hat. She
+      spun. Otto immediately recognized the old blind grandmother.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;God&rsquo;s peace be in the house!&rdquo; said he.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That voice I have not heard for a year and a day!&rdquo; replied the old woman,
+      and raised her head, as if she would see him with her dead eyes. &ldquo;Are not
+      you Major Thostrup&rsquo;s Otto? You resemble him in the voice. I thought,
+      truly, that if you came here you would pay us a visit. Ide shall leave the
+      baits and put on the kettle, that you may have a cup of coffee. Formerly
+      you did not use to despise our entertainment. You have not grown proud
+      with your journey, have you? The coffee-vetch [Author&rsquo;s Note: Astragalus
+      baeticus is used as a substitute for coffee, and is principally grown upon
+      the sand-hills west of Holmsland. It is first freed from the husk, and
+      then dried and roasted a little.] is good; it is from Holmsland, and
+      tastes better than the merchant&rsquo;s beans.&rdquo; The dogs still growled at Otto.
+      &ldquo;Cannot you stupid beasts, who have still eyes in your heads to see with,
+      recognize that this is the Major&rsquo;s Otto?&rdquo; cried she wrathfully, and gave
+      them several good blows with her hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto&rsquo;s arrival created a great stir in the little household that he was
+      welcome, you might see by every countenance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said the grandmother, &ldquo;now you are grown much wiser in the town,
+      could, very likely, were it needful, write an almanac! You will very
+      likely have found for yourself a little bride there, or will you fetch one
+      out of Lemvig? for no doubt she must be from a town! Yes, I have known him
+      ever since he was a little fellow; yonder, on the wall, he made, out of
+      herrings&rsquo; heads, the living devil, just as he lives and breathes. He
+      thrust our sucking-pig into the eel-cart, between the casks. We sought a
+      whole day after the sucking-pig without finding him, and he was forced to
+      make the journey with them to Holstebro. Yes, he was a wild fellow! Later,
+      when he was obliged to learn so much, he became sad. Yes, yes, within the
+      last years his books have overdone him!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, many a time has he put out to sea with my husband!&rdquo; pursued one of
+      the daughters-in-law. &ldquo;One night he remained out with him. How anxious the
+      French Mamsell at the hall was about him!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He was never haughtty,&rdquo; said the grandmother. &ldquo;He nibbled his dried fish
+      with the fresh fish, and drank a little cup of water, although he was used
+      to better things at home. But to-day we have white bread, fresh and good;
+      it came yesterday from Lemvig.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The brandy-glass, with its wooden, red-painted foot, was placed before
+      Otto. Under the bed there was an anker of brandy,&mdash;&ldquo;a little stock,&rdquo;
+       as all stranded goods are here called.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto inquired after the married sons. They were with their men on the
+      shore, ready to embark on their fishing expedition, The grandmother would
+      accompany him thither; they were not yet departed: she should first take
+      them provisions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The old woman took her stick, the dog sprang forward, and now commenced
+      their wandering among the sand-hills, where their huts or booths, built
+      with rafters and smeared with earth, stood. Around lay the refuse of fish,&mdash;heads
+      and entrails, thrown about. The men were just then busied in carrying the
+      trough and fishing-tackle [Author&rsquo;s Note: A &ldquo;Bakke&rdquo; consists of three
+      lines, each of 200 Danish ells, or about 135 yards, and of 200
+      fishing-hooks; the stretched &ldquo;Bakke&rdquo; is thus about 200 yards, with 600
+      hooks; these are attached to the line with strings half an ell long and as
+      thick as fine twine. To each &ldquo;Bakke&rdquo; belongs a square trough, on which it
+      is carried on board. To a larger fishing-boat are reckoned six lots of
+      hooks; each lot has eight to nine &ldquo;Bakkes.&rdquo;] on board.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The open sea lay before them, almost as bright as a mirror, for the wind
+      was easterly. Near to them paused a horseman; he was partly dressed like a
+      peasant, with riding-breeches on, which were buttoned down at the sides.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have you heard the news?&rdquo; he cried to Otto. &ldquo;I come from Ringkjoebing. At
+      Merchant Cohen&rsquo;s I have read the German paper; there is a revolution in
+      France! Charles X. is fled with the whole royal family. Yes, in Paris,
+      there is fine work!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The French are a wild people!&rdquo; said the grandmother. &ldquo;A king and a queen
+      they have beheaded in my time; now they will do the same with these. Will
+      our dear Lord suffer that such things be done to His anointed?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There will be war again!&rdquo; said one of the fishermen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then more horses will go out of the country,&rdquo; said the stranger, pressed
+      Otto&rsquo;s hand, and vanished behind the sandhills.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Was not that the horse-dealer from Varde?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, he understands languages,&rdquo; said the fisherman; &ldquo;and thus he is
+      acquainted with foreign affairs sooner than we. Then they are now fighting
+      in France! Blood flows in the streets; it will not be so in Denmark before
+      the Turk binds his horse to the bush in the Viborg Lake. And then,
+      according to the prophecy of the sibyl, it will be near the end of the
+      world.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Meanwhile, everything was prepared for their embarkation. If Mr. Otto
+      would take the further oar, and was inclined to pass the night on the sea,
+      there was a place for him in the boat. But he had promised Rosalie to be
+      back before evening. The grandmother now prayed, kneeling with the others,
+      and immediately after quick strokes of the oars the flat boat rowed away
+      from the shore. The fate of France was forgotten; their calling occupied
+      the fishermen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The old woman seemed to listen to the strokes of the oars; her dead eyes
+      rested immovably on the sea. A sea-mew passed close to her in its flight.
+      &ldquo;That was a bird!&rdquo; said she. &ldquo;Is there no one here beside ourselves?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No; no one at all,&rdquo; answered Otto, carelessly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is no one in the hut, no one behind the sand-hills?&rdquo; again asked the
+      grandmother. &ldquo;It was not on account of the dried meat that I came here&mdash;it
+      was not to wet my face on the shore; I speak with you alone, which I could
+      not do in the house. Give me your hand! Now that the old man rests in the
+      grave, you yourself will guide the rudder; the estate will be sold, and
+      you will not come again to the west coast. Our Lord has made it dark
+      before my eyes before He has closed my ears and given me leave to go. I
+      can no longer see you, but I have you in my thought as you looked before
+      you left our land. That you are handsomer now I can easily imagine; but
+      gayer you are not! Talk you certainly can, and I have heard you laugh; but
+      that was little better than the two last years you were here. Once it was
+      different with you&mdash;no fairy could be wilder than you!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;With years one becomes more quiet,&rdquo; said Otto, and gazed with
+      astonishment at the blind woman, who did not leave go his hand. &ldquo;As a boy
+      I was far too merry&mdash;that could not continue; and that I should now
+      be grave, I have, as you will see, sufficient reason&mdash;I have lost my
+      last support.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, truly, truly!&rdquo; repeated she slowly, and as if pondering; then shook
+      her head. &ldquo;That is not the reason. Do you not believe in the power of the
+      devil? our Lord Christ forgive me! do not you believe in the power of
+      wicked men? There is no greater difference between the human child and the
+      changeling brat which the underground spirits lay in his stead in the
+      cradle, than there is between you when you were a boy and you as you
+      became during the last year of your stay here. &lsquo;That comes from books,
+      from so much learning,&rsquo; said I to other people. Could I only have said so
+      to myself! But you shall become gay; the trouble of your heart shall
+      wither like a poisonous weed. I know whence it sprung, and will, with
+      God&rsquo;s help, heal it. Will you solemnly promise, that no soul in the world
+      shall learn what we speak of in this hour?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What have you to say to me?&rdquo; asked Otto, affected by the extraordinary
+      earnestness of the old woman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The German Heinrich, the player! You remember him well? He is to blame
+      for your grief! Yes, his name drives the blood more quickly through your
+      pulse. I feel it, even if I cannot see your face.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The German Heinrich!&rdquo; repeated Otto, and his hand really trembled. Had
+      Heinrich, then, when he was here three years ago, told her and the
+      fishermen that which no human being must know,&mdash;that which had
+      destroyed the gayety of his youth? &ldquo;What have I to do with the German
+      Heinrich?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nothing more than a pious Christian has to do with the devil!&rdquo; replied
+      she, and made the sign of the cross. &ldquo;But Heinrich has whispered an evil
+      word in your ear; he has banished your joyous humor, as one banishes a
+      serpent.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Has he told you this?&rdquo; exclaimed Otto, and breathed more quickly. &ldquo;Tell
+      me all that he has said!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will not make me suffer for it!&rdquo; said she. &ldquo;I am innocent, and yet I
+      have cooperated in it: it was only a word but a very unseemly word, and
+      for it one must account at the day of judgment!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not understand you!&rdquo; said Otto, and his eyes glanced around to see
+      whether any one heard. They were quite alone. In the far distance the boat
+      with the fishermen showed itself like a dark speck.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you remember how wild you were as a boy? How you fastened bladders to
+      the cat&rsquo;s legs and tail, and flung her out of the loft-window that she
+      might fly? I do not say this in anger, for I thought a deal of you; but
+      when you became too insolent one might wall say, &lsquo;Can no one, then, curb
+      this lad?&rsquo; See, these words I said!&mdash;that is my whole fault, but
+      since then have lain heavy on my heart. Three years ago came the German
+      Heinrich, and stayed two nights in our house; God forgive it us! Tricks he
+      could play, and he understood more than the Lord&rsquo;s Prayer&mdash;more than
+      is useful to a man. With one trick you were to assist him, but when he
+      gave you the goblet you played your own tricks, and he could make nothing
+      succeed. You would also be clever. Then he cast an evil eye upon you,
+      although he was still so friendly and submissive, because you were a
+      gentleman&rsquo;s child. Do you remember&mdash;no, you will certainly have
+      forgotten&mdash;how you once took the baits of the hooks off and hung my
+      wooden shoes on instead? Then I said in anger, and the anger of man is
+      never good, &lsquo;Can no one, then, tame this boy for me? He was making
+      downright fun of you to your own face,&rsquo; said I to the player. &lsquo;Do you not
+      know some art by which you can tame this wild-cat?&rsquo; Then he laughed
+      maliciously, but I thought no more of the matter. The following day,
+      however, he said, &lsquo;Now I have curbed the lad! You should only see how tame
+      he is become; and should he ever again turn unruly, only ask him what word
+      the German Heinrich whispered in his ear, and you shall. Then see how
+      quiet he will become. He shall not mock this trick!&rsquo; My heart was filled
+      with horror, but I thought afterward it really meant nothing. Ei! ei! from
+      the hour he was here you are no longer the same as formerly; that springs
+      from the magical word he whispered in your ear. You cannot pronounce the
+      word, he told me; but by it you have been enchanted: this, and not
+      book-learning, has worked the change. But you shall be delivered! If you
+      have faith, and that you must have, you shall again become gay, and I,
+      spite of the evil words which I spoke, be able to sleep peacefully in my
+      grave. If you will only lay this upon your heart, now that the moon is in
+      its wane, the trouble will vanish out of your heart as the disk of the
+      moon decreases!&rdquo; And saying this she drew out of her pocket a little
+      leather purse, opened it and took out a piece of folded paper. &ldquo;In this is
+      a bit of the wood out of which our Saviour&rsquo;s cross was made. This will
+      draw forth the sorrow from your heart, and bear it, as it bore Him who
+      took upon Himself the sorrow of the whole world!&rdquo; She kissed it with pious
+      devotion, and then handed it to Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The whole became clear to him. He recollected how in his boyish wantonness
+      he had caused Heinrich&rsquo;s tricks to miscarry, which occasioned much
+      pleasure to the spectators, but in Heinrich displeasure: they soon again
+      became friends, and Otto recognized in him the merry weaver of the
+      manufactory, as he called his former abode. They were alone, Otto asked
+      whether he did not remember his name: Heinrich shook his head. Then Otto
+      uncovered his shoulder, bade him read the branded letters, and heard the
+      unhappy interpretation which gave the death-blow to his gayety. Heinrich
+      must have seen what an impression his words made upon the boy: he gained
+      through them an opportunity of avenging himself, and at the same time of
+      bringing himself again into repute: as a sorcerer. He had tamed him,
+      whispered he to the old woman,&mdash;he had tamed the boy with a single
+      word. At any future wantonness of Otto&rsquo;s, gravity and terror would
+      immediately return should any one ask him, What word did the German
+      Heinrich whisper into thy ear? &ldquo;Only ask him,&rdquo; had Heinrich said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In a perfectly natural manner there lay, truly, enchantment in Heinrich&rsquo;s
+      words, even although it were not that enchantment which the superstition
+      of the old woman would have signified. A revelation of the connection of
+      affairs would have removed her doubts, but here an explanation was
+      impossible to Otto. He pressed her hand, besought her to be calm; no
+      sorrow lay heavy on his heart, except the loss of his dear grandfather.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Every evening have I named your name it my prayers,&rdquo; said the old
+      grandmother. &ldquo;Each time when the harbingers of bad weather showed
+      themselves, and my sons were on the sea, so that we hung out flags or
+      lighted beacons as signals, did I think of the words which had escaped my
+      lips, and which the wicked Heinrich had caught up; I feared lest our Lord
+      might cause my children to suffer for my injustice.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be calm, my dear old woman!&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;Keep for yourself the holy
+      cross, on the virtue of which you rely; may it remove each sorrow from
+      your own heart!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, I am guilty of my own sorrow! yours has a stranger laid upon your
+      heart! Only the sorrow of the guiltless will the cross bear.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The beautiful sentiment which, unconsciously to her, lay in these words,
+      affected Otto. He accepted the present, preserved it, sought to calm the
+      old woman, and once more at parting glanced toward the splendid sea
+      expanse which formed its own boundary.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was almost evening before he reached the house where Rosalie awaited
+      him. His last scene with the blind fisher-woman had again thrown him into
+      his gloomy mood. &ldquo;After all, she really knows nothing!&rdquo; said he to
+      himself. &ldquo;This Heinrich is my evil angel! might he only die soon!&rdquo; It was
+      in Otto&rsquo;s soul as if he could shoot a ball through Heinrich&rsquo;s heart. &ldquo;Did
+      he only lie buried under the heather, and with him my secret! I will have
+      blood! yes, there is something devilish in man! Were Heinrich only dead!
+      But others live who know my birth,&mdash;my sister! my poor, neglected
+      sister, she who had the same right to intellectual development as myself!
+      How I fear this meeting! it will be bitter! I must away. I will hence&mdash;here
+      will my life-germ be stifled! I have indeed fortune&mdash;I will travel!
+      This animated France will drive away these whims, and&mdash;I am away, far
+      removed from my home. In the coming spring I shall be a stranger among
+      strangers!&rdquo; And his thoughts melted into a quiet melancholy. In this
+      manner he reached the hall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XVIII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;L&rsquo;Angleterre jalouse et la Grèce homérique,
+     Toute l&rsquo;Europe admire, et la jeune Amérique
+     Se lève et bat des mains du bord des océans.
+     Trois jours vous ont suffi pour briser vos entraves.
+     Vous êtes les aînés d&rsquo;une race de braves,
+     Vous êtes les fits des géans!&rdquo;
+                                  V. HUGO, Chants du Crépuscule.
+
+                  &ldquo;Politiken, mine Herrer!&rdquo;
+                       MORTONS&rsquo; Lystspil: den Hjemkomne Nabob
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In France there is revolution!&rdquo; was the first piece of information which
+      Otto related. &ldquo;Charles X. has flown with his family. This, they say, is in
+      the German papers.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Revolution?&rdquo; repeated Rosalie, and folded her hands. &ldquo;Unhappy France!
+      Blood has flowed there, and it again flows. There I lost my father and my
+      brother. I became a refugee&mdash;must seek for myself a new father-land.&rdquo;
+       She wiped away a tear from her cheek, and sunk into deep meditation. She
+      knew the horrors of a revolution, and only saw in this new one a
+      repetition of those scenes of terror which she had experienced, and which
+      had driven her out into the world, up into the north, where she struggled
+      on, until at length she found a home with Otto&rsquo;s grandfather&mdash;a
+      resting abode.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Everything great and beautiful powerfully affected Otto&rsquo;s soul; only in
+      one direction had he shown no interest&mdash;in the political direction,
+      and it was precisely politics which had most occupied the grandfather in
+      his seclusion. But Otto&rsquo;s soul was too vivacious, too easily moved, too
+      easily carried away by what lay nearest him. &ldquo;One must first thoroughly
+      enter into life, before the affairs of the world can seize upon us!&rdquo; said
+      he. &ldquo;With the greater number of those who in their early youth occupy
+      themselves with politics, it is merely affectation. It is with them like
+      the boy who forces himself to smoke tobacco so as to appear older than he
+      really is.&rdquo; Beyond his own country, France was the only land which really
+      interested Otto. Here Napoleon had ruled, and Napoleon&rsquo;s name had reached
+      his heart&mdash;he had grown up whilst this name passed from mouth to
+      mouth; the name and the deeds of the hero sounded to him, yet a boy, like
+      a great world adventure. How often had he heard his grandfather, shaking
+      his head, say, &ldquo;Yes, now newspaper writers have little to tell since
+      Napoleon is quiet.&rdquo; And then he had related to him of the hero at Arcole
+      and among the Pyramids, of the great campaign against Europe, of the
+      conflagration at Moscow, and the return from Elba.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Who has not written a play in his childhood? Otto&rsquo;s sole subject was
+      Napoleon; the whole history of the hero, from the snow-batteries at
+      Brienne to the rocky island in the ocean. True, this poem was a wild
+      shoot; but it had sprung from an enthusiastic heart. At that time he
+      preserved it as a treasure. A little incident which is connected with it,
+      and is characteristic of Otto&rsquo;s wild outbreaks of temper when a boy, we
+      will here introduce.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A child of one of the domestics, a little merry boy with whom Otto
+      associated a good deal, was playing with him in his garret. Otto was then
+      writing his play. The boy bantered him, pulling the paper at the same
+      time. Otto forbade him with the threat,&mdash;&ldquo;If thou dost that again I
+      will throw thee out of the window!&rdquo; The boy again immediately pulled at
+      the paper. In a moment Otto seized him by the waist, swung him toward the
+      open window, and would certainly have thrown him out, had not Rosalie
+      fortunately entered the room, and, with an exclamation of horror, seized
+      Otto&rsquo;s arm, who now stood pale as death and trembling in every limb.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In this manner had Napoleon awoke Otto&rsquo;s interest for France. Rosalie also
+      spoke, next to her Switzerland, with most pleasure of this country. The
+      Revolution had livingly affected her, and therefore her discourse
+      regarding it was living. It even seemed to the old preacher as though the
+      Revolution were an event which he had witnessed. The Revolution and
+      Napoleon had often fed his thoughts and his discourse toward this land.
+      Otto had thus, without troubling himself the least about politics, grown
+      up with a kind of interest about France. The mere intelligence of this
+      struggle of the July days was therefore not indifferent to him. He still
+      only knew what the horse-dealer had related; nothing of the congregation,
+      or of Polignac&rsquo;s ministry: but France was to him the mighty world-crater,
+      which glowed with its splendid eruptions, and which he admired from a
+      distance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The old preacher shook his head when Otto imparted this political
+      intelligence to him. A king, so long as he lived, was in his eyes holy,
+      let him be whatever sort of a man he might. The actions of a king,
+      according to his opinion, resembled the words of the Bible, which man
+      ought not to weigh; they should be taken as they were. &ldquo;All authority is
+      from God!&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;The anointed one is holy; God gives to him wisdom; he
+      is a light to whom we must all look up!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He is a man like ourselves!&rdquo; answered Otto. &ldquo;He is the first magistrate
+      of the land, and as such we owe him the highest reverence and obedience.
+      Birth, and not worth, gives him the high post which he fills. He ought
+      only to will that which is good; to exercise justice. His duties are
+      equally great with those of his subjects.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But more difficult, my son!&rdquo; said the old man. &ldquo;It is nothing, as a
+      flower, to adorn the garland; more difficult is it to be the hand which
+      weaves the garland. The ribbon must be tight as well as gently tied; it
+      must not cut into the stems, and yet it must not be too loose. Yes, you
+      young men talk according to your wisdom! Yes, you are wise! quite as wise
+      as the woman who kept a roasted chicken for supper. She placed it upon a
+      pewter plate upon the glowing coals, and went out to attend to her
+      affairs. When she returned the plate was melted, and the chicken lay among
+      the ashes. &lsquo;What a wise cat I have!&rsquo; said she; &lsquo;she has eaten I the plate
+      and left the chicken!&rsquo; See, you talk just so, and regard things from the
+      same foolish point of view. Do not speak like the rest of them in the
+      city! &lsquo;Fear God, and honor the king!&rsquo; We have nothing to argue with these
+      two; they transact their business between them! The French resemble young
+      students; when these have made their examen artium they imagine they are
+      equal to the whole world: they grow restive, and give student-feasts! The
+      French must have a Napoleon, who can give their something to do! If they
+      be left to themselves they will play mad pranks!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let us first see what the papers really say,&rdquo; replied Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The following day a large letter arrived; it was from Wilhelm:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My excellent Otto,&mdash;We have all drunk to Otto Thostrup&rsquo;s health. I
+      raised the glass, and drank the health. The friendship&rsquo;s dissonance YOU
+      has dissolved itself into a harmonious THOU, and thou thyself hast given
+      the accord. All at home speak of thee; even the Kammerjunker&rsquo;s Mamsell
+      chose lately thee, and not her work-box, as a subject of conversation. The
+      evening as thou drovest over the Jutland heaths I seated myself at the
+      piano, and played thy whole journey to my sisters. The journey over the
+      heath I gave them in a monotonous piece, composed of three tones, quite
+      dissimilar to that composed by Rousseau. My sisters were near despair; but
+      I told them it was not more uninteresting than the heath. Sometimes I made
+      a little flight, a quaver; that was the heath-larks which flew up into the
+      air. The introduction to the gypsy-chorus in &lsquo;Preciosa&rsquo; signified the
+      German gypsy-flock. Then came the thema out of &lsquo;Jeannot and Collin&rsquo;&mdash;&lsquo;O,
+      joyous days of childhood!&rsquo;&mdash;and then thou wast at home. I thundered
+      powerfully down in the bass; that was the North Sea, the chorus in thy
+      present grand&rsquo; opéra. Thou canst well imagine that it was quite original.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For the rest, everything at home remains in its old state. I have been in
+      Svendborg, and have set to music that sweet poem, &lsquo;The Wishes,&rsquo; by Carl
+      Bagger. His verses seem to me a little rough; but something will certainly
+      come out of the fellow! Thy own wishes are they which he has expressed.
+      Besides this, the astonishing tidings out of France have given us, and all
+      good people here, an electrical shock. Yes, thou in thy solitude hast
+      certainly heard nothing of the brilliant July days. The Parisians have
+      deposed Charles X. If the former Revolution was a blood-fruit, this one is
+      a true passionflower, suddenly sprung up, exciting astonishment through
+      its beauty, and as soon as the work is ended rolling together its leaves.
+      My cousin Joachim, who as thou knowest is just now at Paris, has lived
+      through these extraordinary days. The day before yesterday we received a
+      long, interesting letter from him, which gave us&mdash;of the particulars
+      as well as of the whole&mdash;a more complete idea than the papers can
+      give us. People assemble in groups round the post-houses to receive the
+      papers as they arrive. I have extracted from my cousin&rsquo;s letter what has
+      struck me most, and send thee these extracts in a supplement. Thou canst
+      thus in thy retirement still live in the world. A thousand greetings from
+      all here. Thou hast a place in mamma&rsquo;s heart, but not less so in mine.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+          &ldquo;Thy friend and brother,
+
+                       &ldquo;WILHELM.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;P. S.&mdash;It is true! My sister Sophie begs thee to bring her a stone
+      from the North Sea. Perhaps thou wilt bring for me a bucket of water; but
+      it must not incommode thee!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This hearty letter transported Otto into the midst of the friendly circle
+      in Funen. The corner of the paper where Wilhelm&rsquo;s name stood he pressed to
+      his lips. His heart was full of noble friendship.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The extract which Wilhelm had made from his cousin&rsquo;s letter was short and
+      descriptive. It might be compared with a beautiful poem translated into
+      good prose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the theatre we interest ourselves for struggling innocence; but we are
+      still more affected when the destiny of a whole nation is to be decided.
+      It is on this account that &ldquo;Wilhelm Tell&rdquo; possesses so much interest. Not
+      of the single individual is here the question, but of all. Here is flesh
+      of our flesh, and bone of our bone. Greater than the play created by the
+      poet was the effect which this description of the July days produced upon
+      Otto. This was the reality itself in which he lived. His heart was filled
+      with admiration for France, who fought for Liberty the holy fight, and
+      who, with the language of the sword, had pronounced the anathema of the
+      age on the enemies of enlightenment and improvement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The old preacher folded his hands as he heard it; his eyes sparkled: but
+      soon he shook his head. &ldquo;May men so judge the anointed ones of God? &lsquo;He
+      who taketh the sword shall perish by the sword!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The king is for the people,&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;not the people for the king!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Louis XVIth&rsquo;s unhappy daughter!&rdquo; sighed Rosalie; &ldquo;for the third time is
+      she driven from her father-land. Her parents and brothers killed! her
+      husband dishonored! She herself has a mind and heart. &lsquo;She is the only man
+      among the Bourbons,&rsquo;&rdquo; said Napoleon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The preacher, with his old-fashioned honesty, and a royalist from his
+      whole heart, regarded the affair with wavering opinion, and with fear for
+      the future. Rosalie thought most of those who were made unhappy of the
+      royal ladies and the poor children. Each followed the impulse of their own
+      nature, and the instinctive feeling of their age; thus did Otto also, and
+      therefore was his soul filled with enthusiasm. Enthusiasm belongs to
+      youth. His thoughts were busied with dreams of Paris; thither flew his
+      wishes. &ldquo;Yes, I will travel!&rdquo; exclaimed he; &ldquo;that will give my whole
+      character a more decided bias: I will and must,&rdquo; added he in thought. &ldquo;My
+      sorrow will be extinguished, the recollections of my childhood be
+      forgotten. Abroad, no terrific figures, as here, will present themselves
+      to me. My father is dead, foreign earth lies upon his coffin!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But the office&mdash;examination!&rdquo; said the old preacher, &ldquo;pass that
+      first. It is always good to have this in reserve, even if thou dost make
+      no use of it. Only make this year thy philosophicum.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And in the spring I shall travel,&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That depends upon thy guardian, my son!&rdquo; said the preacher.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Several days passed, and Otto began to feel it solitary in his home&mdash;all
+      moved here in such a confined circle. His mind was accustomed to a wider
+      sphere of action. He began to grow weary, and then the hours travel with
+      the snail&rsquo;s pace.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+           &ldquo;...minutterna ligesom räcka og strärka sig.
+   Man känner behof at göre sa med.&rdquo; [Note: Sketches of Every-day Life.]
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      He thought of his departure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou must take the road through Lemvig,&rdquo; said Rosalie. &ldquo;I will then visit
+      the family there for a few days; it will make them quite happy to see
+      thee, and I shall then be so much longer with thee. That thou wilt do,
+      wilt thou not?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The day was fixed when they should travel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The evening previous, Otto paid his last visit to the preacher. They spoke
+      together a long time about the deceased grandfather. The preacher gave up
+      several papers to Otto; among them also his father&rsquo;s last letter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In honor of Otto, a bottle of wine was placed upon the table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To thy health, my son!&rdquo; said the preacher, raising his glass. &ldquo;We shall
+      hardly spend another evening together. Thou wilt have much to learn before
+      thou comest as far as I. The world has more thorn-bushes than
+      gold-mountains. The times look unsettled. France commences a new
+      description of campaign in Europe, and certainly will draw along with it
+      all young men: formerly it was the conquerer Napoleon who led to the
+      field; now it is the idea of liberty! May the Lord preserve our good king,
+      and then it will remain well with us! Thou, Otto, wilt fly out into the
+      wide world&mdash;hadst thou only first passed thy examination for office!
+      But when and where-ever thou mayest fly, remember on all occasions the
+      words of Scripture.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We all desire to rule. Phaeton wished to drive the chariot of the sun,
+      but not understanding how to guide the reins, he set fire to the
+      countries, precipitated himself from the chariot, and broke his neck. I
+      have no one in the city of Copenhagen whom I can ask thee to greet for me.
+      All the friends of my youth are scattered to the east and to the west. If
+      any of them still be in the city, they will certainly have forgotten me.
+      But shouldst thou ever go to the Regent&rsquo;s Court, and smoke with the others
+      a pipe under the tree, think of me. I have also sat there when I was young
+      like thee; when the French Revolution drove also the blood quicker through
+      my veins, and thoughts of freedom caused me to carry my head more high.
+      The dear old tree! [Author&rsquo;s Note: At the end of the last century it was
+      felled, and two younger ones, which are now in full growth, planted in its
+      stead.] Yes, but one does not perceive in it, as in me, how many years
+      have passed since then!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He pressed a kiss on Otto&rsquo;s forehead, gave him his blessing, and they
+      parted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto was in a melancholy mood; he felt that he had certainly seen the old
+      man for the last time. When he arrived at home he found Rosalie busy
+      hacking. The following morning, by earliest dawn, they were to travel
+      toward Lemvig. Otto had not been there within these two last years. In old
+      times the journey thither had always been to him a festival, now it was
+      almost indifferent to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He entered his little chamber; for the last time in his life he should now
+      sleep there. From the next morning commenced, so it seemed to him, a new
+      chapter in his life. Byron&rsquo;s &ldquo;Farewell&rdquo; sounded in his ears like an old
+      melody:&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Fare thee well, and if forever,
+                Still for ever fare thee well.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      At break of day the carriage rolled away with him and old Rosalie. Both
+      were silent; the carriage moved slowly along the deep ruts. Otto looked
+      back once more. A lark rose, singing above him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It will be a beautiful day!&rdquo; said the coachman; his words and the song of
+      the lark Rosalie regarded as a good omen for Otto&rsquo;s whole journey.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XIX
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+   &ldquo;Geske.&mdash;Have you put syrup in the coffee?
+   Henrich.&mdash;Yes, I have.
+   Geske.&mdash;Be so good, dear madams, be so kind as to be contented.&rdquo;
+                                      HOLBERG&rsquo;S Political Pewterer.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Lemvig lies, as is well known, on an arm of the Limfjord. The legend
+      relates, that in the Swedish war a troop of the enemy&rsquo;s cavalry compelled
+      a peasant here to mount his horse and serve as a guide. Darkness came on;
+      they found themselves already upon the high sand-banks. The peasant guided
+      his horse toward a steep precipice; in a farm-house on the other side of
+      the fjord they perceived a light. &ldquo;That is Lemvig,&rdquo; said the peasant; &ldquo;let
+      us hasten!&rdquo; He set spurs to his horse, the Swedes followed his example,
+      and they were precipitated into the depth: the following morning their
+      corpses were found. The monument of this bold Lemvig peasant consists of
+      this legend and in the songs of the poets; and these are the monuments
+      which endure the longest. Through this legend the bare precipice receives
+      an intellectual beauty, which may truly compare itself with the naturally
+      beautiful view over the city and the bay.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rosalie and Otto drove into the town. It was two years since he had been
+      here; everything seemed to him, during this time, to have shrunk together:
+      wherever he looked everything was narrow and small. In his recollection,
+      Lemvig was very much larger.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They now drew up before the merchant&rsquo;s house. The entrance was through the
+      shop, which was decorated with wooden shoes, woolen gloves, and iron ware.
+      Close within the door stood two large casks of tea. Over the counter hung
+      an extraordinary stuffed fish, and a whole bunch of felt hats, for the use
+      of both sexes. It was a business en gros and en détail, which the son of
+      the house managed. The father himself was number one in Lemvig; he had
+      ships at sea, and kept open house, as they call it, in the neighborhood.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sitting-room door opened, and the wife herself, a stout, square woman,
+      with an honest, contented countenance, stepped out and received the guests
+      with kisses and embraces. Alas! her good Jutland pronunciation cannot be
+      given in writing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, how glorious that the Mamsell comes and brings Mr. Thostrup with her!
+      How handsome he is become! and how grown! Yes, we have his mark still on
+      the door.&rdquo; She drew Otto along with her. &ldquo;He has shot up more than a
+      quarter of a yard!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He looked at the objects which surrounded him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said she, &ldquo;that instrument we have had since you were last here; it
+      is a present to Maren from her brother. She will now sing; you something.
+      It is astonishing what a voice she has! Last Whitsuntide she sang in the
+      church with the musical people; she sang louder than the organ!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto approached the sofa, over which a large piece of needlework hung, in
+      a splendid gold frame. &ldquo;That is Maren&rsquo;s name-sampler,&rdquo; said the mistress
+      of the house. &ldquo;It is very pretty. See! there stand all our names! Can Mr.
+      Thostrup guess who this is? Here are all the figures worked in open
+      stitch. That ship, there, is the Mariane, which was called after me. There
+      you see the Lemvig Arms&mdash;a tower which stands on the waves; and here
+      in the corner, in regular and irregular stitches, is her name, &lsquo;Maren,
+      October the 24th, 1828.&rsquo; Yes, that is now two years since. She has now
+      worked a cushion for the sofa, with a Turk upon it. It went the round of
+      the city&mdash;every one wished to see it; it is astonishing how Maren can
+      use her hands!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Rosalie inquired after the excellent girl.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is preparing the table,&rdquo; said the lady. &ldquo;Some good friends are coming
+      to us this evening. The secretary will also come; he will then play with
+      Maren. You will doubtless, in Copenhagen, have heard much more beautiful
+      music; ours is quite simple, but they sing from notes: and I think, most
+      likely the secretary will bring his musical-box with him. That is
+      splendid! Only lately he sang a little song to the box, that was much
+      better than to the larger instrument; for I must say he has not the strong
+      chest which Maren has.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The whole family assembled themselves for the first time at the
+      dinner-table. The two persons who took the lowest places at table appeared
+      the most original; these were the shopman and the aunt. Both of them had
+      only at dinner the honor of being with the family; they were quite shut
+      out from the evening parties.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The shopman, who in the shop was the first person, and who could there
+      speak a few words, sat here like a quiet, constrained creature; his hair
+      combed toward one side, and exhibiting two red, swollen hands: no sound
+      escaped his lips; kissing the hand of the lady of the house, at coming and
+      going, was all he did beside eat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The aunt, who was not alone called so by the family, but by the whole of
+      Lemvig, was equally sparing of her words, but her face was constantly
+      laughing. A flowered, red cotton cap fitted close to the thin face, giving
+      something characteristic to the high cheek-bones and hanging lip. &ldquo;She
+      assisted in the household, but could take no part in genteel company,&rdquo; as
+      the lady expressed herself. She could never forget how, at the Reformation
+      Festival, when only the singers sang in the church, aunt began singing
+      with them out of her book, so that the churchwarden was forced to beg her
+      to be silent; but this she took very ill, and declared she had as notch
+      right as the others to praise God, and then sang in defiance. Had she not
+      been &ldquo;aunt,&rdquo; and not belonged to the family to which she did, she would
+      certainly have been turned out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She was now the last person who entered and took her place at table. Half
+      an hour had she been sought after before she was found. She had stood at
+      the end of the garden, before the wooden trellis. Grass had been mown in
+      the field behind the garden, and made into a rick; to see this she had
+      gone to the trellis, the odor had agreeably affected her; she had pressed
+      her face against the trellis-work, and from contemplation of it had fallen
+      into thought, or rather out of thought. There she was found, and the
+      dreamer was shaken into motion. She was again right lively, and laughed
+      each time that Otto looked at her. He had his seat between Maren and the
+      lady of the house, at the upper end of the table. Maren was a very pretty
+      girl&mdash;little, somewhat round, white and red, and well-dressed. A vast
+      number of bows, and a great variety of colors, were her weak side. She was
+      reading at this time &ldquo;Cabal and Love.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou art reading it in German!&rdquo; said the mother.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, it must be a beautiful piece. I speak German very well, but when I
+      wish to read it I get on too slowly with it: I like to get to the end of a
+      book!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The husband had his place at the head of the table. A little black cap sat
+      smoothly on his gray hair, and a pair of clever eyes sparkled in his
+      countenance. With folded hands he prayed a silent prayer, and then bowed
+      his head, before he allowed the dinner to be served. Rosalie sat beside
+      him. Her neighbor on the right seemed very talkative. He was an old
+      soldier, who in his fortieth year had gone as lieutenant with the land&rsquo;s
+      troops, and had permission to wear the uniform, and therefore sat there in
+      a kind of military coat, and with a stiff cravat. He was already deep in
+      Polignac&rsquo;s ministry and the triumph of the July days; but he had the
+      misfortune to confound Lafitte and Lafayette together. The son of the
+      house only spoke of bull-calves. The lady at the table was a little
+      mamsell from Holstebro, who sat beside him, dressed like a girl for
+      Confirmation, in a black silk dress and long red shawl. She was in grand
+      array, for she was on a visit. This young lady understood dress-making,
+      and could play upon the flute; which, however, she never did without a
+      certain bashfulness: besides this, she spoke well, especially upon
+      melancholy events. The bottle of wine only circulated at the upper end of
+      the table; the shopman and aunt only drank ale, but it foamed gloriously:
+      it had been made upon raisin-stalks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He is an excellent man, the merchant, whom you have received as guardian,
+      Mr. Thostrup,&rdquo; said the master of the house. &ldquo;I am in connection with
+      him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But it is strange,&rdquo; interrupted the lady, &ldquo;that only one out of his five
+      daughters is engaged. If the young ladies in Copenhagen do not go off
+      better than that, what shall we say here?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now Mr. Thostrup can take one of them,&rdquo; said the husband. &ldquo;There is
+      money, and you have fortune also; if you get an office, you can live in
+      floribus!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Maren colored, although there was no occasion for coloring; she even cast
+      down her eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What should Mr. Thostrup do with one of them?&rdquo; pursued the wife. &ldquo;He
+      shall have a Jutland maiden! There are pretty young ladies enough here in
+      the country-seats,&rdquo; added she, and laid the best piece of meat upon his
+      plate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do the royal company give pretty operas?&rdquo; asked Maren, and gave another
+      direction to the conversation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto named several, among others Der Freischütz.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That must be horrible!&rdquo; said the lieutenant. &ldquo;They say the wolf-glen is
+      so natural, with a waterfall, and an owl which flutters its wings.
+      Burgomaster Mimi has had a letter from a young lady in Aarhuus, who has
+      been in Copenhagen, and has seen this piece. It was so horrible that she
+      held her hand before her face, and almost fainted. They have a splendid
+      theatre!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, but our little theatre was very pretty!&rdquo; said the lady of the house.
+      &ldquo;It was quite stupid that the dramatic company should have been unlucky.
+      The last piece we gave is still clear in my recollection; it was the
+      &lsquo;Sandseslöse.&rsquo; I was then ill; but because I wished so much to see it, the
+      whole company was so obliging as to act it once more, and that, too, in
+      our sitting-room, where I lay on the sofa and could look on. That was an
+      extraordinary mark of attention from them! Only think&mdash;the
+      burgomaster himself acted with them!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In honor of the strangers, coffee was taken after dinner in the garden,
+      where, under the plum-trees, a swing was fixed. Somewhat later a sailing
+      party was arranged. A small yacht belonging to the merchant lay, just
+      unladen, near the bridge of boats.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto found Maren and the young lady from Holstebro sitting in the arbor.
+      Somewhat startled, they concealed something at his entrance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The ladies have secrets! May one not be initiated?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, not at all!&rdquo; replied Maren.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You have manuscript poems in the little book!&rdquo; said Otto, and boldly
+      approached. &ldquo;Perhaps of your own composition?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, it is only a memorandum-book,&rdquo; said Maren, blushing. &ldquo;When I read
+      anything pretty I copy it, for we cannot keep the books.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then I may see it!&rdquo; said Otto. His eye fell upon the written sheet:&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+             &ldquo;So fliessen nun zwei Wasser
+              Wohl zwischen mir und Dir
+              Das eine sind die Thränen,
+              Das andre ist der See!&rdquo;
+               [Note: Des Knaben Wunderhorn.]
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      he read. &ldquo;That is very pretty! &lsquo;Der verlorne Schwimmer,&rsquo; the poem is
+      called, is it not?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I have copied it out of the secretary&rsquo;s memorandum-book; he has so
+      many pretty pieces.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The secretary has many splendid things!&rdquo; said Otto, smiling.
+      &ldquo;Memorandum-book, musical snuff-box&rdquo;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And a collection of seals!&rdquo; added the young lady from Holstebro.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I must read more!&rdquo; said Otto; but the ladies fled with glowing cheeks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are you already at your tricks, Mr. Thostrup?&rdquo; said the mother, who now
+      entered the garden. &ldquo;Yes, you do not know how Maren has thought of you&mdash;how
+      much she has spoken of you. You never wrote to us; we never heard anything
+      of you, except when Miss Rosalie related us something out of your letters.
+      That was not nice of you! You and Maren were always called bride and
+      bridegroom. You were a pair of pretty children, and your growth has not
+      been disadvantageous to either of you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At four o&rsquo;clock the evening party assembled&mdash;a whole swarm of young
+      ladies, a few old ones, and the secretary, who distinguished himself by a
+      collection of seals hanging to a long watch-chain, and everlastingly
+      knocking against his body; a white shirt-frill, stiff collar, and a cock&rsquo;s
+      comb, in which each hair seemed to take an affected position. They all
+      walked down to the bay. Otto had some business and came somewhat later.
+      Whilst he was crossing, alone, the court-yard, he heard, proceeding from
+      the back of the house, a fearful, wild cry, which ended in violent
+      sobbing. Terrified, he went nearer, and perceived the aunt sitting in the
+      middle of a large heap of turf. The priestess at Delphi could not have
+      looked more agitated! Her close cap she had torn from her head; her long,
+      gray hair floated over her shoulders; and with her feet she stamped upon
+      the turf, like a willful child, until the pieces flew in various
+      directions. When she perceived Otto she became calm in a moment, but soon
+      she pressed her thin hands before her face and sobbed aloud. To learn from
+      her what was the matter was not to be thought of.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, she is only quarrelsome!&rdquo; said the girl, to whom Otto had turned for
+      an explanation. &ldquo;Aunt is angry because she was not invited to sail with
+      the company. She always does so,&mdash;she can be quite wicked! Just
+      lately, when she should have helped me to wring out the sheets, she always
+      twisted them the same way that I did, so that we could never get done, and
+      my hands hurt me very much!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto walked down to the bay. The sail was unfurled, the secretary brought
+      out his musical-box, and, accompanied by its tones, they glided in the
+      burning sunshine over the water.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the other side tea was to be drunk, and then Maren was to sing. Her
+      mother asked her to sing the song with the strong tones, so that Otto
+      might hear what a voice she had.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She sang &ldquo;Dannevang.&rdquo; Her voice had uncommon power, but no style, no
+      grace.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Such a voice, I fancy, you have not heard in the theatre at Copenhagen?&rdquo;
+       said the secretary, with dogmatical gravity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You might wish yourself such a chest!&rdquo; said the lieutenant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The secretary should now sing; but he had a little cold, which he had
+      always.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You must sing to the musical-box!&rdquo; said the lady, and her wish was
+      fulfilled. If Maren had only commenced, one might have believed it a trial
+      of skill between Boreas and Zephyr.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They now walked about, drank tea, and after this they were to return to
+      the house, there to partake of fish and roast meat, a piece of boxed ham,
+      and other good things.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto could by no means be permitted to think of leaving them the following
+      morning; he must remain a few days, and gather strength, so that in
+      Copenhagen he might apply himself well to work. But only one day would he
+      enjoy all the good things which they heaped upon him. He yearned for other
+      people, for a more intellectual circle. Two years before he had agreed
+      splendidly with them all, had found them interesting and intellectual; now
+      he felt that Lemvig was a little town, and that the people were good,
+      excellent people.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The following play again brought capital cookery, good foul, and good wine&mdash;that
+      was to honor Mr. Thostrup. His health was drunk, Maren was more
+      confidential, the aunt had forgotten her trouble, and again sat with a
+      laughing face beside the constrained shopman. They must, it is true, make
+      a little haste over their dinner, for the fire-engine was to be tried; and
+      this splendor, they maintained, Otto must see, since he so fortunately
+      chanced to lie there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How can my mother think that this will give Mr. Thostrup pleasure?&rdquo; said
+      Maren. &ldquo;There is nothing to see in it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That has given him pleasure formerly!&rdquo; answered the mother. &ldquo;It is, also,
+      laughable when the boys run underneath the engine-rain, and the stream
+      comes just in their necks.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She spoke of the former Otto and of the present one&mdash;he was become so
+      Copenhagenish, so refined and nice, as well in the cut of his clothes as
+      in his manners; yet she still found an opportunity of giving him a little
+      hint to further refinement. Only think! he took the sugar for his coffee
+      with his fingers!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But where are the sugar-tongs, the massive silver sugar-tongs?&rdquo; asked
+      she. &ldquo;Maren, dost thou allow him to take the sugar with his fingers?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is more convenient!&rdquo; answered Otto. &ldquo;I do that always.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, but if strangers had been here,&rdquo; said the hostess, in a friendly but
+      teaching tone, &ldquo;we must, like that grand lady you know of, have thrown the
+      sugar out of the window.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In the higher circles, where people have clean fingers, they make use of
+      them!&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;There would be no end of it if one were to take it with
+      the sugar-tongs.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They are of massive silver!&rdquo; said the lady, and weighed them in her hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Toward evening Rosalie went into the garden under the plum trees.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These, also, remind me of my mountains,&rdquo; said she; &ldquo;this is the only
+      fruit which will properly flourish there. Lemvig lies, like La Locle, in a
+      valley,&rdquo; and she pointed, smiling, to the surrounding sand-hills. &ldquo;How
+      entirely different it is here from what it is at home on thy grandfather&rsquo;s
+      estate! There I have been so accustomed to solitude, that it is almost too
+      lively for me here. One diversion follows another.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was precisely this which Otto did not like. These amusements of the
+      small towns wearied him, and he could not delight himself with them, no
+      longer mingle in this life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He wished to set out early the following morning. It would be too
+      exhausting to drive along the dry road in the sun&rsquo;s heat, they all
+      declared; he must wait until the afternoon, then it would be cooler; it
+      was, also, far pleasanter to travel in the night. Rosalie&rsquo;s prayers
+      decided him. Thus, after dinner and coffee, the horses should be put into
+      the carriage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was the last day. Maren was somewhat in a grave mood. Otto must write
+      in her album. &ldquo;He would never come to Lemvig again,&rdquo; said she. As children
+      they had played with each other. Since he went to Copenhagen she had, many
+      an evening, seated herself in the swing near the summer-house and thought
+      of him. Who knows whether she must not have done so when she copied out of
+      the secretary&rsquo;s memorandum-book, the verses,&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+             &ldquo;So fliessen nun zwei Wasser
+              Wohl zwischen mir and Dir?&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      The sea certainly flows between Aarhuus and Copenhagen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Maren will perhaps go over for the winter,&rdquo; said the mother; &ldquo;but we dare
+      not speak too much about it, for it is not yet quite settled. It will
+      really make her gayer! lately she has been very much inclined to
+      melancholy, although God knows that we have denied her no pleasure!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There now arrived a quantity of letters from different acquaintance, and
+      from their acquaintance: if Mr. Thostrup would have the goodness to take
+      care of this to Viborg, these to Aarhuus, and the others as far as
+      Copenhagen. It was a complete freight, such as one gets in little towns,
+      just as though no post went through the country.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The carriage stopped before the door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rosalie melted into tears. &ldquo;Write to me!&rdquo; said she. &ldquo;Thee I shall never
+      see again! Greet my Switzerland when thou comest there!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The others were merry. The lady sang,&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+                &ldquo;O could I, like a cloud, but fly!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      The young lady from Holstebro bowed herself before him with an Album-leaf
+      its her hand, upon which she must beg Mr. Thostrup to write her something.
+      Maren gave him her hand, blushed and drew back: but as the carriage rolled
+      away she waved her while handkerchief through the open window: &ldquo;Farewell!
+      Farewell!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XX
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Stop! cried Patroclus, with mighty, thundering voice.&rdquo;
+      &mdash;WILSTER&rsquo;S Iliad.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The parting with Rosalie, the hospitality of the family, and their sincere
+      sympathy, touched Otto; he thought upon the last days, upon his whole
+      sojourn in his home. The death of his grandfather made this an important
+      era in his life. The quiet evening and the solitary road inclined him
+      still more to meditation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      How cheering and interesting had been a visit to Lemvig in former times!
+      Then it furnished matter for conversation with Rosalie for many weeks; it
+      now lay before him a subject of indifference. The people were certainly
+      the same, therefore the change must have taken place in himself. He
+      thought of Copenhagen, which stood so high, and of the people there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;After all, the difference is not so great!&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;In Copenhagen the
+      social foci are more numerous, the interests more varied; each day brings
+      a fresh topic of conversation, and one can choose one&rsquo;s society. The
+      multitude, on the contrary, has something citizenish; it obtrudes itself
+      even from beneath the ball-dress which shows itself at court; it is seen
+      in the rich saloon of the wholesale merchant, as well as in the house of
+      the brandy distiller, whose possessions give to him and his two brewers
+      the right of election. It is the same food which is presented to us; in
+      the small towns one has it on earthenware, in Copenhagen on china. If one
+      had only the courage, in the so-called higher classes, to break through
+      the gloss which life in a greater circle, which participation in the
+      customs of the world, has called forth, one should soon find in many a
+      lady of rank, in many a nobleman who sits not alone in the theatre, on the
+      first bench, merely that empty common earthenware; and that, as with the
+      merchant&rsquo;s wife in Lemvig, a déjeuner or a soirée, like some public event,
+      will occupy the mind before and after its occurrence. A court-ball, at
+      which either the son or daughter has figured, resembles the most brilliant
+      success in an examination for office. We laugh at the authorities of
+      Lemvig, and yet with us the crowd runs after nothing but authorities and
+      newspapers. This is a certain state of innocence. How many a poor officer
+      or student must play the subordinate part of the shopman at the table of
+      the rich, and gratefully kiss the hand of the lady of the house because
+      she has the right of demanding gratitude? And in the theatre, with the
+      multitude, what does not &lsquo;an astonishing chest&rsquo; do? A strength of voice
+      which can penetrate right through the leather of the mind gains stormy
+      applause, whilst taste and execution can only be appreciated by the few.
+      The actor can be certain of applause if he only thunder forth his parting
+      reply. The comedian is sure of a shout of bravo if he puts forth an
+      insipidity, and rubs his legs together as if replying with spirit and
+      humor. The massive plate in the house gives many a lady the boldness to
+      teach that in which she herself might perhaps have been instructed. Many a
+      lady, like the Mamsell from Holstebro, dresses always in silk and a long
+      shawl, and if one asks after her profession one finds it consists at most
+      in dress-making; perhaps she does not even possess the little accompanying
+      talent of playing the flute. How many people do not copy, like Maren, out
+      of other people&rsquo;s memorandum-books, and do not excel musical-boxes! still
+      one hears a deal of musical snuff-box music, and is waited upon by voices
+      which are equally as insignificant as the secretary&rsquo;s.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      These were pretty much Otto&rsquo;s reflections, and certainly it was a good
+      feeling which lay at the bottom of them. Let us remember in our judgment
+      that he was so young, and that he had only known Copenhagen <i>one</i>
+      year; otherwise he would most certainly have thought <i>quite differently</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Night spread itself over the heath, the heavens were clear. Slowly the
+      carriage wound along through the deep sand. The monotonous sound, the
+      unchanging motion, all rendered Otto sleepy. A falling star shot like a
+      fire column across the sky&mdash;this woke him for a moment; he soon again
+      bowed his head and slept, fast and deep. It was an hour past midnight,
+      when he was awoke by a loud cry. He started up&mdash;the fire burnt before
+      them; and between it and the horse stood two figures, who had taken hold
+      of the leather reins. Close beside them was a cart, under which was placed
+      a sort of bed, on which slept a woman and some children.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Will you drive into the soup-kettle?&rdquo; asked a rough voice, whilst another
+      scolded in a gibberish which was unintelligible to Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It had happened to the coachman as to him, only that the coachman had
+      fallen asleep somewhat later; the horses had lost their track, and
+      uncertain, as they had long been, they were now traversing the impassable
+      heath. A troop of the so-called Scavengers, who wander through these
+      districts a nomadic race, had here taken up their quarters for the night,
+      had made a fire and hung the kettle over it, to cook some pieces of a lamb
+      they had stolen on their journey.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They were about half a mile from the highway,&rdquo; said an elderly woman who
+      was laying some bushes of heath under the kettle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Half a mile?&rdquo; replied a voice from the other side of the cart, and Otto
+      remarked a man who, wrapped in a large gray riding-cloak, had stretched
+      himself out among the heather. &ldquo;It is not a quarter of a mile to the
+      highway if people know how to direct their course properly!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The pronunciation of the man was somewhat foreign, but pure, and free from
+      the gibberish which the others employed in their speech. The voice seemed
+      familiar to Otto, his ear weighed each syllable, and his blood ran quicker
+      through his veins: &ldquo;It is the German Heinrich, the evil angel of my life!&rdquo;
+       he felt, and wrapt himself closer in his mantle, so that his countenance
+      was concealed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A half-grown lad came forward and offered himself as a guide.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But the lad must have two marks!&rdquo; said the woman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto nodded assent, and glanced once more toward the man in whom he
+      believed he recognized the German Heinrich; the man had again carelessly
+      stretched himself among the heath, and did not seem inclined to enter into
+      farther discourse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The woman desired the payment in advance, and received it. The boy led the
+      horses toward one side; at the moment the fire flare up between the
+      turf-sods, a great dog, with a loose cord about his neck, sprang forward
+      and ran barking after the carriage, which now travelled on over the heath
+      in the gloomy night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXI
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Poetry does not always express sorrow; the rainbow can also
+     arch across a cloudless blue firmament.&rdquo;&mdash;JEAN PAUL.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      We again find ourselves in Copenhagen, where we meet with Otto, and may
+      every day expect Wilhelm, Miss Sophie, and the excellent mamma; they would
+      only stay a few weeks. To learn tidings of their arrival, Otto determined
+      to pay a visit where they were expected; we know the house, we were
+      present at the Christmas festival: it was here that Otto received his
+      noble pedigree.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We will now become somewhat better acquainted with the family. The husband
+      had a good head, as people sat, had an excellent wine-cellar, and was, as
+      one of the friends maintained, a good l&rsquo;hombre player. But the soul of the
+      house, the animating genius, which drew into this circle all that
+      possessed life and youth, was the wife. Beautiful one could by no means
+      call her, but, enchanted by her natural loveliness, her mind, and her
+      unaffectedness, you forgot this in a few moments. A rare facility in
+      appreciating the comic of every-day life, and a good-humored originality
+      in its representation, always afforded her rich material for conversation.
+      It was as if Nature, in a moment of thoughtlessness, had formed an insipid
+      countenance, but immediately afterward strove to make good her fault by
+      breathing into it a soul, which, even through pale blue eyes, pale cheeks,
+      and ordinary features, could make her beauty felt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When Otto entered the room he heard music. He listened: it must be either
+      Weyse or Gerson.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is the Professor Weyse,&rdquo; said the servant, and Otto opened the door
+      softly, without knocking.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The astral-lamp burnt upon the table; upon the sofa sat two young ladies.
+      The mistress of the house nodded Otto a friendly welcome, but then smiling
+      laid her finger on her lips, as a sign of silence, and pointed to a chair,
+      on which he seated himself, and listened to the soft tones, which, like
+      spirits, floated from the piano at which the musician sat. It was as if
+      the slumbering thoughts and feelings of the soul, which in every breast
+      find a response, even among the most opposite nations, had found a voice
+      and language. The fantasies died away in a soft, spiritual piano. Thus
+      lightly has Raphael breathed the Madonna di Foligno upon the clouds; she
+      rests there as a soap-bubble rests upon velvet. That dying away of the
+      tomes resembled the thoughts of the lover when his eye closes, and the
+      living dream of his heart imperceptibly merges and vanishes in sleep.
+      Reality is over.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Here also the tones ceased.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+            &ldquo;Der Bettelvogt von Ninive
+             Zog hinab zum Genfersee,
+                  Hm, hm!&rdquo;
+              [Author&rsquo;s Note: An old popular German song.]
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      commenced the musician once more, with an originality and spirit which
+      influenced the whole company. Far too soon did he again break off, after
+      he had enchanted all ears by his own treasures, as well as by the
+      curiosities of the people&rsquo;s life in the world of sound. Only when he was
+      gone did admiration find words; the fantasies still echoed in every heart.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;His name deserves to be known throughout Europe!&rdquo; said the gracious lady;
+      &ldquo;how few people in the world know Weyse and Kuhlau!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is the misfortune of a musician being born in a small country,&rdquo; said
+      Otto. &ldquo;His works become only manuscript for friends; his auditory extends
+      only from Skagen to Kiel: there the door is closed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One must console one&rsquo;s self that everything great and good becomes at
+      length known,&rdquo; said the cousin of the family, who is known to us by his
+      verses for the Christmas-tree. &ldquo;The nations will become acquainted with
+      everything splendid in the kingdom of mind, let it bloom in a small or in
+      a large country. Certainly during this time the artist may have died, but
+      then he must receive compensation in another world.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I truly believe,&rdquo; returned the gracious lady, &ldquo;that he would wish a
+      little in advance here below, where it is so ordered that the immortal
+      must bow himself before the mortal.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Certainly,&rdquo; replied Otto; &ldquo;the great men of the age are like mountains;
+      they it is which cause the land to be seen from afar, and give it
+      importance, but in themselves they are bare and cold; their heights are
+      never properly known.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Very beautiful,&rdquo; said the lady; &ldquo;you speak like a Jean Paul.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At this moment the door opened, and all were surprised by the entrance of
+      Miss Sophie, Wilhelm, and the dear mamma. They were not expected before
+      the following evening. They had travelled the whole day through Zealand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We should have been here to dinner,&rdquo; said Sophie, &ldquo;but my brother could
+      not get his business finished in Roeskelde; then he had forgotten to order
+      horses, and other little misadventures occurred: six whole hours we
+      remained there. Mamma contracted quite a passion there&mdash;she fell
+      fairly in love with a young girl, the pretty Eva.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, she is a nice creature!&rdquo; said the old lady. &ldquo;Had I not reason, Mr.
+      Thostrup? You and my Wilhelm had already made her interesting to me. She
+      has something so noble, so refined, which one so rarely meets with in the
+      lower class; she deserves to come among educated people.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Otto, what shall our hearts say,&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm, &ldquo;when my good mother
+      is thus affected?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They assembled round the tea-table. Wilhelm addressed Otto with the
+      confidential &ldquo;thou&rdquo; which Otto himself had requested.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We will drink together in tea and renew our brotherhood.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto smiled, but with such a strangely melancholy air, and spoke not a
+      word.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He&rsquo;s thinking about the old grandfather,&rdquo; thought Wilhelm, and laid his
+      hand upon his friend&rsquo;s shoulder. &ldquo;The Kammerjunker and his ladies greet
+      thee!&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;I believe the Mamsell would willingly lay thee in her own
+      work-box, were that to be done.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto remained quiet, but in his soul there was a strange commotion. It
+      would be a difficult thing to explain this motive, which belonged to his
+      peculiarity of mind; it entered among the mysteries of the soul. The
+      multitude call it in individuals singularity, the psychologist finds a
+      deeper meaning in it, which the understanding is unable to fathom. We have
+      examples of men, whose strength of mind and body were well known, feeling
+      faint at the scent of a rose; others have been thrown into a convulsive
+      state by touching gray paper. This cannot be explained; it is one of the
+      riddles of Nature. A similar relaxing sensation Otto experienced when he,
+      for the first time, heard himself addressed as &ldquo;thou&rdquo; by Wilhelm. It
+      seemed to him as though the spiritual band which encircled them loosened
+      itself, and Wilhelm became a stranger. It was impossible for Otto to
+      return the &ldquo;thou,&rdquo; yet, at the same time, he felt the injustice of his
+      behavior and the singularity, and wished to struggle against it; he
+      mastered himself, attained a kind of eloquence, but no &ldquo;thou&rdquo; would pass
+      his lips.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To thy health, Otto,&rdquo; said Wilhelm, and pushed his cup against Otto&rsquo;s.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Health!&rdquo; said Otto, with a smile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is true,&rdquo; began the cousin, &ldquo;I promised you the other day to bring my
+      advertisements with me; the first volume is closed.&rdquo; And he drew from his
+      pocket a book in which a collection of the most original Address-Gazette
+      advertisements, such as one sees daily, was pasted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have one for you,&rdquo; said the lady; &ldquo;I found it a little time since. &lsquo;A
+      woman wishes for a little child to bottle.&rsquo; Is not that capital?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here is also a good one,&rdquo; said Wilhelm, who had turned over the leaves of
+      the book: &ldquo;&lsquo;A boy of the Mosaic belief may be apprenticed to a
+      cabinet-maker, but he need not apply unless he will eat everything that
+      happens to be in the house.&rsquo; That is truly a hard condition for the poor
+      lad.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Almost every day,&rdquo; said the cousin, &ldquo;one may read, &lsquo;For the play of
+      to-day or to-morrow is a good place to be had in the third story in the
+      Christenbernikov Street.&rsquo; The place is a considerable distance from the
+      theatre.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Theatre!&rdquo; exclaimed the master of the house, who now entered to take his
+      place at the tea-table, &ldquo;one can soon hear who has that word in his mouth;
+      now is he again at the theatre! The man can speak of nothing else. There
+      ought, ready, to be a fine imposed, which he should pay each time he
+      pronounces the word theatre. I would only make it a fine of two skillings,
+      and yet I dare promise that before a month was over he would be found to
+      pay in fines his whole pocket-money, and his coat and boots besides. It is
+      a real mania with the man! I know no one among my young friends,&rdquo; added
+      he, with an ironical smile at Wilhelm,&mdash;&ldquo;no, not one, who has such a
+      hobby-horse as our good cousin.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here thou art unjust to him!&rdquo; interrupted his wife; &ldquo;do not place a fine
+      upon him, else I will place thee in a vaudeville! Thy life is in politics;
+      our cousin&rsquo;s in theatrical life; Wilhelm&rsquo;s in thorough-bass; and Mr.
+      Thostrup&rsquo;s in learned subjects. Each of you is thus a little nail in the
+      different world-wheels; whoever despises others shows that he considers
+      his wheel the first, or imagines that the world is a wheelbarrow, which
+      goes upon one wheel! No, it is a more complicated machine.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Later in the evening, when the company broke up, Otto and Wilhelm went
+      together.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not think,&rdquo; said Wilhelm, &ldquo;that thou hast yet said thou to me. Is it
+      not agreeable to thee?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was my own wish, my own request,&rdquo; replied Otto. &ldquo;I have not remarked
+      what expressions I have employed.&rdquo; He remained silent. Wilhelm himself
+      seemed occupied with unusual thoughts, when he suddenly exclaimed: &ldquo;Life
+      is, after all, a gift of blessings! One should never make one&rsquo;s self
+      sorrows which do not really exist! &lsquo;Carpe diem,&rsquo; said old Horace.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That will we!&rdquo; replied Otto; &ldquo;but now we must first think of our
+      examination.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They pressed each other&rsquo;s hands and parted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But I have heard no thou!&rdquo; said Wilhelm to himself &ldquo;He is an oddity, and
+      yet I love him! In this consists, perhaps, my own originality.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He entered his room, where the hostess had been cleaning, and had arranged
+      the books and papers in the nicest order. Wilhelm truly called it
+      disorder; the papers in confusion and the books in a row. The lamp even
+      had a new place; and this was called order!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Smiling, he seated himself at the piano; it was so long since they had
+      said &ldquo;Good day&rdquo; to each other! He ran over the keys several times, then
+      lost himself in fantasies. &ldquo;That is lovely!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;But it is not
+      my property! What does it belong to? It melts into my own feelings!&rdquo; He
+      played it again. It was a thema out of &ldquo;Tancredi,&rdquo; therefore from Rossini,
+      even the very composer whom our musical friends most looked down upon; how
+      could he then guess who had created those tones which now spoke to his
+      heart? His whole being he felt penetrated by a happiness, a love of life,
+      the cause of which he knew not. He thought of Otto with a warmth which the
+      latter&rsquo;s strange behavior did not deserve. All beloved beings floated so
+      sweetly before his mind. This was one of those moments which all good
+      people know; one feels one&rsquo;s self a member of the great chain of love
+      which binds creation together.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So long as the rose-bud remains folded together it seems to be without
+      fragrance; yet only one morning is required, and the fine breath streams
+      from the crimson mouth. It is only one moment; it is the commencement of a
+      new existence, which already has lain long concealed in the bud: but one
+      does not see the magic wand which works the change. This spiritual
+      contrast, perhaps, took place in the past hour; perhaps the last evening
+      rays which fell upon the leaves concealed this power! The roses of the
+      garden must open; those of the heart follow the same laws. Was this love?
+      Love is, as poets say, a pain; it resembles the disease of the mussel,
+      through which pearls are formed. But Wilhelm was not sick; he felt himself
+      particularly full of strength and enjoyment of life. The poet&rsquo;s simile of
+      the mussel and the pearl sounds well, but it is false. Most poets are not
+      very learned in natural history; and, therefore, they are guilty of many
+      errors with regard to it. The pearl is formed on the mussel not through
+      disease; when an enemy attacks her she sends forth drops in her defense,
+      and these change into pearls. It is thus strength, and not weakness, which
+      creates the beautiful. It would be unjust to call love a pain, a sickness;
+      it is an energy of life which God has planted in the human breast; it
+      fills our whole being like the fragrance which fills each leaf of the
+      rose, and then reveals itself among the struggles of life as a pearl of
+      worth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      These were Wilhelm&rsquo;s thoughts; and yet it was not perfectly clear to him
+      that he loved with his whole soul, as one can only love once.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The following forenoon he paid a visit to Professor Weyse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are going to Roeskelde, are you not?&rdquo; asked Wilhelm. &ldquo;I have heard
+      you so often play the organ here in Our Lady&rsquo;s church, I should very much
+      like to hear you there, in the cathedral. If I were to make the journey,
+      would you then play a voluntary for me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will not come!&rdquo; said the musician.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shall come!&rdquo; answered Wilhelm, and kept his word. Two days after this
+      conversation he rolled through the streets of Roeskelde.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am come for a wager! I shall hear Weyse play the organ!&rdquo; said he to the
+      host, although there was no need for an apology.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bulwer in his romance, &ldquo;The Pilgrims of the Rhine,&rdquo; has with endless grace
+      and tenderness called forth a fairy world. The little spirits float there
+      as the breath of air floats around the material reality; one is forced to
+      believe in their existence. With a genius powerful as that which inspired
+      Bulwer, glorious as that which infused into Shakespeare the fragrance we
+      find breathed over the &ldquo;Midsummer-night&rsquo;s Dream,&rdquo; did Weyse&rsquo;s tones fill
+      Wilhelm; the deep melodies of the organ in the old cathedral had indeed
+      attracted him to the quiet little town! The powerful tones of the heart
+      summoned him! Through them even every day things assumed a coloring, an
+      expression of beauty, such as Byron shows us in words, Thorwaldsen in the
+      hard stone, Correggio in colors.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We have by Goethe a glorious poem, &ldquo;Love a Landscape-painter.&rdquo; The poet
+      sits upon a peak and gazes before him into the mist, which, like canvas
+      spread upon the easel, conceals all heights and expanses; then comes the
+      God of Love and teaches him how to paint a picture on the mist. The little
+      one now sketches with his rosy fingers a picture such as only Nature and
+      Goethe give us. Were the poet here, we could offer him no rock on which he
+      might seat himself, but something, through legends and songs, equally
+      beautiful. He would then sing,&mdash;I seated myself upon the mossy stone
+      above the cairn; the mist resembled outstretched canvas. The God of Love
+      commenced on this his sketch. High up he painted a glorious still, whose
+      rays were dazzling! The edges of the clouds he made as of gold, and let
+      the rays penetrate through them; then painted he the fine light boughs of
+      fresh, fragrant trees; brought forth one hill after the other. Behind
+      these, half-concealed, lay a little town, above which rose a mighty
+      church; two tall towers with high spires rose into the air; and below the
+      church, far out, where woods formed the horizon, drew he a bay so
+      naturally! it seemed to play with the sunbeams as if the waves splashed up
+      against the coast. Now appeared flowers; to the fields and meadows he gave
+      the coloring of velvet and precious stones; and on the other side of the
+      bay the dark woods melted away into a bluish mist. &ldquo;I can paint!&rdquo; said the
+      little one; &ldquo;but the most difficult still remains to do.&rdquo; And he drew with
+      his delicate finger, just where the rays of the sun fell most glowingly, a
+      maiden so gentle, so sweet, with dark blue eyes and cheeks as blooming as
+      the rosy fingers which formed the picture. And see! a breeze arose; the
+      leaves of the trees quivered; the expanse of water ruffled itself; the
+      dress of the maiden was gently stirred; the maiden herself approached: the
+      picture itself was a reality! And thus did the old royal city present
+      itself before Wilhelm&rsquo;s eyes, the towers of the cathedral, she tay, the
+      far woods, and&mdash;Eva!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The first love of a pure heart is holy! This holiness may be indicated,
+      but not described! We return to Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0022" id="link2HCH0022">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;A man only gains importance by a poet&rsquo;s fancy, when his
+     genius vividly represents to our imagination a clearer, but
+     not an ennobled image of men and objects which have an
+     existence; then alone he understands how to idealize.&rdquo;&mdash;H.
+     HERTZ.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      We pass on several weeks. It was toward the end of September, the examen
+      philosophicum was near. Preparations for this had been Otto&rsquo;s excuse for
+      not yet having visited the family circle of his guardian, the merchant
+      Berger. This was, however, brought about by Otto&rsquo;s finding one day, when
+      he went to speak with his guardian, the mistress of the house in the same
+      room. We know that there are five daughters in the house, and that only
+      one is engaged, yet they are all well-educated girls&mdash;domestic girls,
+      as their mother assured her friend upon more than one occasion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So, then, I have at length the honor of making your acquaintance,&rdquo; said
+      Mrs. Berger, &ldquo;this visit, truly, is not intended either for me or the
+      children, but still you must now drink a cup of coffee with us. Within it
+      certainly looks rather disorderly; the girls are making cloaks for the
+      winter. We will not put ourselves out of the way for you: you shall be
+      regarded as a member of the family: but then you must come to us in a
+      friendly way. Every Thursday our son-in-law dines with us, will you then
+      be contented with our dinner? Now you shall become acquainted with my
+      daughters.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And I must to my office,&rdquo; said the husband; &ldquo;therefore let us consider
+      Thursday as an appointment. We dine at three o&rsquo;clock, and after coffee
+      Laide gives us music.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady now conducted Otto into the sitting-room, where he found the four
+      daughters in full activity with a workwoman. The fifth daughter, Julle,
+      was, as they had told him, gone to the shops for patterns: yesterday she
+      had run all over the town, but the patterns she received were not good.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady told him the name of each daughter; their characteristics he
+      naturally learnt later.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All the five sisters had the idea that they were so extremely different,
+      and yet they resembled each other to a hair. Adelaide, or Laide, as she
+      was also called, was certainly the prettiest; that she well knew also,
+      therefore she would have a fur cape, and no cloak; her figure should be
+      seen. Christiane was what one might call a practical girl; she knew how to
+      make use of everything. Alvilde had always a little attack of the
+      tooth-ache; Julle went shopping, and Miss Grethe was the bride. She was
+      also musical, and was considered witty. Thus she said one evening when the
+      house-door was closed, and groaned dreadfully on its hinges, &ldquo;See now, we
+      have port wine after dinner.&rdquo; [Translator&rsquo;s Note: A pun which it is
+      impossible to translate. The Danish word Portviin according to sound, may
+      mean either port wine or the creaking of a door.] The brother, the only
+      son of the house, with whom we shall become better acquainted, had written
+      down this conceit; &ldquo;but that was only to be rude toward her,&rdquo; said Miss
+      Grethe. &ldquo;Such good ideas as this I have every hour of the day!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      We ought really to accuse these excellent girls of nothing foolish; they
+      were very good and wise. The lover, Mr. Svane, was also a zealous wit; he
+      was so lively, they said. Every one with whom he became a little familiar
+      he called immediately Mr. Petersen, and that was so droll!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now the father has invited Mr. Thostrup to come on Thursday!&rdquo; said the
+      lady. &ldquo;I also think, if we were to squeeze ourselves a little together, he
+      might find a place with us in the box; the room is, truly, very confined.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto besought them not to incommode themselves.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, it is a large box!&rdquo; said the lady, but she did not say how many of
+      them were already in it. Only eleven ladies went from the family itself.
+      They were obliged to go to the theatre in three parties, so that people
+      might not think; if they all went together, there was a mob. One evening,
+      when the box had been occupied by eighteen persons, beside several
+      twelve-year old children, who had sat in people&rsquo;s laps, or stood before
+      them, and the whole party had returned home in one procession, and were
+      standing before the house door to go in, people streamed together,
+      imagining there was some alarm, or that some one had fallen into
+      convulsions. &ldquo;What is the matter?&rdquo; they asked, and Miss Grethe immediately
+      replied, &ldquo;It is a select company!&rdquo; [Translator&rsquo;s Note: A select or
+      shut-out company. We regret that this pun, like the foregoing one, is
+      untransferable into English.] Since that evening they returned home in
+      separate divisions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is really a good box!&rdquo; said Alvilde; &ldquo;if we had only other neighbors!
+      The doors are opening and shutting eternally, and make a draught which is
+      not bearable for the teeth. And then they speak so loud! the other night I
+      did not hear a single word of the pretty song about Denmark.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But did you lose much through that?&rdquo; asked Otto, smiling, and soon they
+      found themselves very much at variance, just as if they had been old
+      acquaintances. &ldquo;I do not think much of these patriotic scraps, where the
+      poet, in his weakness, supports himself by this beautiful sentiment of
+      patriotism in the people. You will certainly grant that here the multitude
+      always applauds when it only hears the word &lsquo;Father-land,&rsquo; or the name of
+      &lsquo;Christian IV.&rsquo; The poet must give something more; this is a left-handed
+      kind of patriotism. One would really believe that Denmark were the only
+      country in the world!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fie, Mr. Thostrup!&rdquo; said the lady: &ldquo;do you not then love your
+      father-land?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I believe I love it properly!&rdquo; returned he: &ldquo;and because it really
+      possesses so much that is excellent do I desire that only what is genuine
+      should be esteemed, only what is genuine be prized.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I agree in the main with Mr. Thostrup,&rdquo; said Miss Grethe, who was busied
+      in unpicking and turning her cloak, in order, as she herself said, to
+      spoil it on the other side. &ldquo;I think he is right! If a poem is well spoken
+      on the stage, it has always a kind of effect. It is just the same as with
+      stuffs&mdash;they may be of a middling quality and may have an unfavorable
+      pattern, but if they are worn by a pretty figure they look well after
+      all!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am often vexed with the public!&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;It applauds at improper
+      places, and sometimes exhibits an extraordinary innocence.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Those are &lsquo;the lords of the kingdom of mind,&rsquo;&rdquo; said Miss Grethe, smiling.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+   [Note: &ldquo;We are the lords of the kingdom of mind!
+         We are the stem which can never decay!&rdquo;
+          &mdash;Students&rsquo; Song, by CHRISTIAN WINTHER.]
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, the <i>neighbors</i>!&rdquo; replied Otto quickly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At this moment Miss Julle entered. She had been wandering from shop to
+      shop, she said, until she could bear it no longer! She had had the stuffs
+      down from all the shelves, and at length had succeeded so far as to become
+      possessed of eight small pieces&mdash;beautiful patterns, she maintained.
+      And now she knew very well where the different stuffs were to be had, how
+      wide they were, and how much the yard. &ldquo;And whom did I meet?&rdquo; said she;
+      &ldquo;only think! down the middle of East Street came the actor&mdash;you know
+      well! Our little passion! He is really charming off the stage.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did you meet him?&rdquo; said Laide. &ldquo;That girl is always lucky!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Thostrup,&rdquo; said the mother, presenting him, for the young lady seemed
+      to forget him entirely, so much was she occupied with this encounter and
+      her patterns.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Julle bowed, and said she had seen him before: he had heard Mynster, and
+      had stood near the chair where she sat; he was dressed in an olive-green
+      coat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then you are acquainted with each other!&rdquo; said the lady. &ldquo;She is the most
+      pious of all the children. When the others rave about Spindler and Johanne
+      Schoppenhauer, she raves about the clergyman who confirmed her. You know
+      my son? He became a student a year before you. He sees you in the club
+      sometimes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There you will have seen him more amiable than you will find him at
+      home,&rdquo; said Adelaide. &ldquo;Heaven knows he is not gallant toward his sisters!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sweet Laide, how can you say so!&rdquo; cried the mother. &ldquo;You are always so
+      unjust toward Hans Peter! When you become better acquainted with him, Mr.
+      Thostrup, you will like him; he is a really serious young man, of
+      uncorrupted manners. Do you remember, Laide, how he hissed that evening in
+      the theatre when they gave that immoral piece? And how angry he is with
+      that &lsquo;Red Riding Hood?&rsquo; O, the good youth! Besides, in our family, you
+      will soon meet with an old acquaintance&mdash;in a fortnight a lady out of
+      Jutland will come here. She remains the winter here. Do you not guess who
+      it is? A little lady from Lemvig!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Maren!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, truly!&rdquo; said the lady. &ldquo;She is said to have such a beautiful voice!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, in Lemvig,&rdquo; remarked Adelaide. &ldquo;And what a horrible name she has! We
+      must christen her again, when she comes. She must be called Mara, or
+      Massa.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We could call her Massa Carara!&rdquo; said Grethe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No; she shall be called Maja, as in the &lsquo;Every-day Tales,&rsquo;&rdquo; said
+      Christiane.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am of Jane&rsquo;s opinion!&rdquo; said the mother. &ldquo;We will christen her again,
+      and call her Maja.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0023" id="link2HCH0023">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXIII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     Men are not always what they seem.&mdash;LESSING.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Our tale is no creation of fancy; it is the reality in which we live; bone
+      of our bone, and flesh of our flesh. Our own time and the men of our own
+      age we shall see. But not alone will we occupy ourselves with every-day
+      life, with the moss on the surface; the whole tree, from the roots to the
+      fragrant leaves, will we observe. The heavy earth shall press the roots,
+      the moss and bark of every-day life adhere to the stern, the strong boughs
+      with flowers and leaves spread themselves out, whilst the sun of poetry
+      shall shine among them, and show the colors, odor, and singing-birds. But
+      the tree of reality cannot shoot up so soon as that of fancy, like the
+      enchantment in Tieck&rsquo;s &ldquo;Elves.&rdquo; We must seek our type in nature. Often may
+      there be an appearance of cessation; but that is not the case. It is even
+      so with our story; whilst our characters, by mutual discourse, make
+      themselves worthy of contemplation, there arises, as with the individual
+      branches of the tree, an unseen connection. The branch which shoots high
+      up in the air, as though it would separate itself from the mother-stem,
+      only presses forward to form the crown, to lend uniformity to the whole
+      tree. The lines which diverge from the general centre are precisely those
+      which produce the harmony.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We shall, therefore, soon see, though these scenes out of every-day life
+      are no digression from the principal events, nothing episodical which one
+      may pass over. In order still sooner to arrive at a clear perception of
+      this assertion, we will yet tarry a few moments in the house of Mr.
+      Berger, the merchant; but in the mean time we have advanced three weeks.
+      Wilhelm and Otto had happily passed their examen philosophicum. The latter
+      had paid several visits, and was already regarded as an old friend of the
+      family. The lover already addressed him with his droll &ldquo;Good day, Mr.
+      Petersen;&rdquo; and Grethe was witty about his melancholy glance, which he was
+      not always able to conquer. She called it &ldquo;making faces,&rdquo; and besought him
+      to appear so on the day of her funeral.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The object of the five sisters&rsquo; first Platonic love had been their
+      brother. They had overwhelmed him with caresses and tenderness, had
+      admired and worshipped him. &ldquo;The dear little man!&rdquo; they called him; they
+      had no other. But Hans Peter was so impolite and teasing toward the dear
+      sisters, that they were found to resign him so soon as one of them had a
+      lover. Upon this lover they all clung. Each one seemed to have a piece of
+      him. He was Grethe&rsquo;s bridegroom, would be their brother-in-law. They might
+      address him with the confidential thou, and even give him a little kiss.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto&rsquo;s appearance in the family caused these rays to change their
+      direction. Otto was handsome, and possessed of fortune; either of which
+      often suffices to bow a female heart. Beauty bribes the thoughtless;
+      riches, the prudent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Maren, or as she was here called, Maja, had arrived. The young ladies had
+      already pulled off some of her bows, arranged her hair differently, and
+      made one of her silk handkerchiefs into an apron; but, spite of all this
+      finesse, she still remained the lady from Lemvig. They could remove no
+      bows from her pronunciation. She had been the first at home; here she
+      could not take that rank. This evening she was to see in the theatre, for
+      the first time, the ballet of the &ldquo;Somnambule.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is French!&rdquo; said Hans Peter; &ldquo;and frivolous, like everything that we
+      have from them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, the scene in the second act, where she steps out of the window,&rdquo;
+       said the merchant; &ldquo;that is very instructive for youth!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But the last act is sweet!&rdquo; cried the lady. &ldquo;The second act is certainly,
+      as Hans Peter very justly observed, somewhat French. Good heavens! he gets
+      quite red, the sweet lad!&rdquo; She extended her hand to him, and nodded,
+      smiling, whereupon Hans Peter spoke very prettily about the immorality on
+      the stage. The father also made some striking observation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said the lady, &ldquo;were all husbands like thee, and all young men like
+      Hans Peter, they would speak in another tone on the stage, and dress in
+      another manner. In dancing it is abominable; the dresses are so short and
+      indecent, just as though they had nothing on! Yet, after all, we must say
+      that the &lsquo;Somnambule&rsquo; is beautiful. And, really, it is quite innocent!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They now entered still deeper into the moral: the conversation lasted till
+      coffee came.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Maren&rsquo;s heart beat even quicker, partly in expectation of the play,
+      through hearing of the corruptions of this Copenhagen Sodom. She heard
+      Otto defend this French piece; heard him speak of affectation. Was he then
+      corrupted? How gladly would she have heard him discourse upon propriety,
+      as Hans Peter had done. &ldquo;Poor Otto!&rdquo; thought she; &ldquo;this is having no
+      relations, but being forced to struggle on in the world alone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The merchant now rose. He could not go to the theatre. First, he had
+      business to attend to; and then he must go to his club, where he had
+      yesterday changed his hat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, then, it has happened to thee as to Hans Peter!&rdquo; said the lady.
+      &ldquo;Yesterday, in the lecture-room, he also got a strange hat. But, there,
+      thou hast his hat!&rdquo; she suddenly exclaimed, as her eye fell upon the hat
+      which her husband held in his hand. &ldquo;That is Hans Peter&rsquo;s hat! Now, we
+      shall certainly find that he has thine! You have exchanged them here at
+      home. You do not know each other&rsquo;s hats, and therefore you fancy this
+      occurred from home.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      One of the sisters now brought the hat which Hans Peter had got in
+      mistake. Yes, it was certainly the father&rsquo;s. Thus an exchange in the
+      house, a little intermezzo, which naturally, from its insignificance, was
+      momentarily forgotten by all except the parties concerned, for to them it
+      was an important moment in their lives; and to us also, as we shall see,
+      an event of importance, which has occasioned us to linger thus long in
+      this circle. In an adjoining room will we, unseen spirits, watch the
+      father and son. They are alone; the family is already in the theatre. We
+      may, indeed, watch them&mdash;they are true moralists. It is only a moral
+      drawn from a hat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But the father&rsquo;s eyes rolled, his cheeks glowed, his words were
+      sword-strokes, and must make an impression on any disposition as gentle as
+      his son&rsquo;s; but the son stood quiet, with a firm look and with a smile on
+      his lips, such as the moral bestows. &ldquo;You were in the adjoining room!&rdquo;
+       said he. &ldquo;Where it is proper for you to be there may I also come.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Boy!&rdquo; cried the father, and named the place, but we know it not; neither
+      know we its inhabitants. Victor Hugo includes them in his &ldquo;Children&rsquo;s
+      Prayer,&rdquo; in his beautiful poem, &ldquo;La Prière pour Tous.&rdquo; The child prays for
+      all, even &ldquo;for those who sell the sweet name of love.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [Note: &ldquo;Prie!... Pour les femmes échevelées Qui vendent
+      le doux nom d&rsquo;amour!&rdquo;]
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let us be silent with each other!&rdquo; said the son. &ldquo;I am acquainted with
+      many histories. I know another of the pretty Eva!&rdquo;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Eva!&rdquo; repeated the father.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We will hear no more! It is not proper to listen. We see the father and
+      son extend their hands. It appeared a scene of reconciliation. They
+      parted: the father goes to his business, and Hans Peter to the theatre, to
+      anger himself over the immorality in the second act of the &ldquo;Somnambule.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0024" id="link2HCH0024">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXIV
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;L&rsquo;amour est pour les coeurs,
+     Ce que l&rsquo;aurore est pour les fleurs,
+     Et le printemps pour la nature.&rdquo;&mdash;VIGUE.
+
+     &ldquo;Love is a childish disease and like the small-pox. Some
+     die, some become deformed, others are more or less scarred,
+     while upon others the disease does not leave any visible
+     trace.&rdquo;&mdash;The Alchemist, by C. HAUCH.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be candid, Otto!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, as he one day visited his friend. &ldquo;You
+      cannot make up your mind to say thou to me; therefore let it be. We are,
+      after all, good friends. It is only a form; although you must grant that
+      in this respect you are really a great fool.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto now explained what an extraordinary aversion he had felt, what a
+      painful feeling had seized upon him, and made it impossible to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There you were playing the martyr!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, laughing. &ldquo;Could you
+      not immediately tell me how you were constituted? So are most men. When
+      they have no trouble, they generally hatch one themselves; they will
+      rather stand in the cold shadow than in the warm sunshine, and yet the
+      choice stands open to us. Dear friend, reflect; now we are both of us on
+      the stream: we shall soon be put into the great business-bottles, where we
+      shall, like little devils, stretch and strain ourselves without ever
+      getting out, until life withdraws from us!&rdquo; He laid his arm confidentially
+      upon Otto&rsquo;s shoulder. &ldquo;Often have I wished to speak with you upon one
+      point! Yes, I do not desire that you should confess every word, every
+      thought to me. I already know that I shall be able to prove to you that
+      the thing lies in a region where it cannot have the power which you
+      ascribe to it. In the cold zones a venomous bite does not operate as
+      dangerously as in warmer ones; a sorrow in childhood cannot overpower us
+      as it does in riper age. Whatever misfortune may have happened to you when
+      a child, if in your wildness&mdash;you yourself say that you were wild&mdash;whatsoever
+      you may have then done, it cannot, it ought not to influence your whole
+      life: your understanding could tell you this better than I. At our age we
+      find ourselves in the land of joy, or we never enter it!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are a happy man!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto, and gazed sorrowfully before him.
+      &ldquo;Your childhood afforded you only joy and hope! Only think of the solitude
+      in which mine was passed. Among the sand-hills of the west coast my days
+      glided away: my grandfather was gloomy and passionate; our old preacher
+      lived only in a past time which I knew not, and Rosalie regarded the world
+      through the spectacles of sorrow. Such an environment might well cast a
+      shadow upon my life-joy. Even in dress, one is strangely remarkable when
+      one comes from afar province to the capital; first this receives another
+      cut, and one gradually becomes like those around one. The same thing
+      happens in a spiritual relation, but one&rsquo;s being and ideas one does not
+      change so quickly as one&rsquo;s clothes. I have only been a short time among
+      strangers, and who knows?&rdquo; added he, with a melancholy smile, &ldquo;perhaps I
+      shall come into equilibrium when some really great misfortune happens to
+      me and very much overpowers me, and then I may show the same carelessness,
+      the same phlegm as the multitude.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A really great misfortune!&rdquo; repeated Wilhelm. &ldquo;You do, indeed, say
+      something. That would be a very original means of cure, but you are an
+      original being. Perhaps lay this means you might really be healed. &lsquo;Make
+      no cable out of cobweb!&rsquo; said a celebrated poet whose name does not occur
+      to me at this moment. But the thought is good, you should have it
+      embroidered upon your waistcoat, so that you might have it before your
+      eyes when you droop your head. Do not look so grave; we are friends, are
+      we not? Among all my young acquaintance you are the dearest to me,
+      although there are moments when I know not how it stands with us. I could
+      confide every secret to you, but I am not sure that you would be equally
+      open with me. Do not be angry, my dear friend! There are secrets of so
+      delicate a nature, that one may not confide them even to the dearest
+      friend. So long as we preserve <i>our</i> secret it is our prisoner; it is
+      quite the contrary, however, so soon as we have let it escape us. And yet,
+      Otto, you are so dear to me, that I believe in you as in my own heart.
+      This, even now, bears a secret which penetrates me with joy and love of
+      life! I must speak cut. But you must enter into my joy, partake in it, or
+      say nothing about it; you have then heard nothing&mdash;nothing! Otto, I
+      love! therefore am I happy, therefore is there sunshine in my heart, life
+      joy in my veins! I love Eva, the beautiful lovely Eva!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto pressed his hand, but preserved silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, not so!&rdquo; cried Wilhelm. &ldquo;Only speak a word! Do you I&rsquo;m in a
+      conception of the world which has opened before me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Eva is beautiful! very beautiful!&rdquo; said Otto, slowly. &ldquo;She is innocent
+      and good. What can one wish for more? I can imagine how she fills your
+      whole heart! But will she do so always? She will not always remain young,
+      always lovely! Has she, then, mind sufficient to be everything to you?
+      Will this momentary happiness which you prepare for her and yourself be
+      great enough to outweigh&mdash;I will not say the sorrow, but the
+      discontent which this union will bring forth in your family? For God&rsquo;s
+      sake, think of everything!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My dear fellow!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, &ldquo;your old preacher now really speaks out
+      of you! But enough: I can bear the confession. I answer, &lsquo;Yes, yes!&rsquo; with
+      all my heart, &lsquo;yes!&rsquo; Wherefore will you now bring me out of my sunshine
+      into shade? Wherefore, in my joy over the beauty of the rose should I be
+      reminded that the perfume and color will vanish, that the leaves will
+      fall? It is the course of life! but must one, therefore, think of the
+      grave, of the finale, when the act begins?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Love is a kind of monomania,&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;it may be combated: it depends
+      merely upon our own will.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah, you know this not at all!&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;But it will come in due
+      time, and then you will be far more violent than others! Who knows?
+      perhaps this is the sorrow of which you spoke, the misfortune which should
+      bring your whole being into equipoise! That was also a kind of search
+      after the sorrowful. I will sincerely wish that your heart may be filled
+      with love as mine is; then will the influence of the sand-hills vanish,
+      and you will speak with me as you ought to do, and as my confidence
+      deserves!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That will I!&rdquo; replied Otto. &ldquo;You make the poor girl miserable! Now you
+      love Eva, but then you will no longer be able. The distance between you
+      and her is too great, and I cannot conceive how the beauty of her
+      countenance can thus fill your whole being. A waiting-girl! yes, I repeat
+      the name which offends your ear: a waiting-girl! Everywhere will it be
+      repeated. And you? No one can respect nobility less than I do&mdash;that
+      nobility which is only conferred by birth; it is nothing, and a time will
+      come when this will not be prized at all, when the nobility of the soul
+      will be the only nobility. I openly say this to you, who are a nobleman
+      yourself. The more development of mind, the more ancestors! But Eva has
+      nothing, can have nothing, except a pretty face, and this is what has
+      enchained you; you are become the servant of a servant, and that is
+      degrading yourself and your nobility of mind!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Thostrup!&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm, &ldquo;you wound me! This is truly not the
+      first time, but now I am weary of it. I have shown too much good nature,
+      and that is the most unfortunate failing a man can be cursed with!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He seated himself at the piano, and hammered away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto was silent a moment, his checks glowed, but he was soon again calm,
+      and in a joking tone said: &ldquo;Do not expend your anger upon that poor
+      instrument because we disagree in our views. You are playing only
+      dissonances, which offend my ear more than your anger!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Dissonances!&rdquo; repeated Wilhelm. &ldquo;Cannot you hear that they are harmonies?
+      There are many things for which you have a bad ear!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto knew how to lead his anger to different points regarding which they
+      had formerly been at variance, but he spoke with such mildness that
+      Wilhelm&rsquo;s anger rather abated than increased.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They were again friends, but regarding Eva not one word more was said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I should not be an honest and true friend to him, were I to let him be
+      swallowed up by this whirlpool!&rdquo; said Otto to himself, when he was alone.
+      &ldquo;At present he is innocent and good but at his age, with his gay
+      disposition!&mdash;I must warn Eva! soon! soon! The snow which has once
+      been trodden is no longer pure! Wilhelm will scarcely forgive me! But I
+      must!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      On the morrow it was impossible for him to travel to Roeskelde, but the
+      following day he really would and must hasten thither.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Still, in the early morning hour, Eva occupied his thoughts; she busied
+      Wilhelm&rsquo;s also, but in a different way: but they agreed in the purity of
+      their intentions. There was still a third, whose blood was put in motion
+      at the mention of her name, who said: &ldquo;The pretty Eva is a servant there!
+      One must speak with her. The family can make an excursion there!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You sweet children!&rdquo; said the merchant&rsquo;s wife, &ldquo;the autumn is charming,
+      far pleasanter than the whole summer! The father, should the weather
+      remain good, will make an excursion with us to Lethraborg the day after
+      to-morrow. We will then walk in the beautiful valley of the Hertha, and
+      pass the night at Roeskelde. Those will be two delightful days! What an
+      excellent father you have! But shall we not invite Mr. Thostrup to go with
+      us? We are so many ladies, and it looks well to have a few young gentlemen
+      with us. Grethe, thou must write an invitation; thou canst write thy
+      father&rsquo;s name underneath.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0025" id="link2HCH0025">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXV
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;These poetical letters are so similar to those of Baggesen,
+     that we could be almost tempted to consider the news of his
+     death as false, although so well affirmed that we must
+     acknowledge it.&rdquo;&mdash;Monthly Journal of Literature.
+
+     &ldquo;She is as slender as the poplar-willow, as fleet as the
+     hastening waters. A Mayflower odorous and sweet.&rdquo;&mdash;H. P.
+     HOLST.
+
+     &ldquo;Ah, where is the rose?&rdquo;&mdash;Lulu, by GUNTELBURG.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The evening before Otto was to travel with the merchant&rsquo;s family to
+      Roeskelde he called upon the family where Miss Sophie was staying. Her
+      dear mamma had left three days before. Wilhelm had wished to accompany him
+      to Roeskelde, but the mother did not desire it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We have had a pleasure to-day,&rdquo; said Sophie, &ldquo;a pleasure from which we
+      shall long have enjoyment. Have you seen the new book, the &lsquo;Letters of a
+      Wandering Ghost?&rsquo; It is Baggesen himself in his most perfect beauty, a
+      music which I never believed could have been given in words. This is a
+      poet! He has made July days in the poetry of Denmark. Natural thoughts are
+      so strikingly, and yet so simply expressed; one has the idea that one
+      could write such verses one&rsquo;s self, they fall so lightly.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They are like prose,&rdquo; said the lady, &ldquo;and yet the most beautifully
+      perfect verse I know. You must read the book, Mr. Thostrup!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps you will read to us this evening?&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;I should very
+      much like to hear it again.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In a second reading one shall enter better into the individual beauties,&rdquo;
+       said the lady of the house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will remain and listen,&rdquo; said the host.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This must be a masterpiece!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto,&rdquo;&mdash;a true masterpiece,
+      since all are so delighted with it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is Baggesen himself; and truly as he must sing in that world where
+      everything mortal is ennobled.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Meadows all fragrance, the strongholds of pleasure,
+        Heaven blue streamlets,
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      That speed through the green woods in musical measure,&rsquo;&rdquo; began Otto, and
+      the spiritual battle-piece with beauty and tone developed itself more and
+      more; they found themselves in the midst of the winter camp of the Muses,
+      where the poet with
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     ...&ldquo;lyre on his shoulder and sword at....
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Hastened to fight with the foes of the Muses.&rdquo; Otto&rsquo;s gloomy look won
+      during the perusal a more animated expression. &ldquo;Excellent!&rdquo; exclaimed he;
+      &ldquo;this is what I myself have thought and felt, but, alas! have been unable
+      to express.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am a strange girl,&rdquo; said Sophie; &ldquo;whenever I read a new poet of
+      distinguished talent, I consider that he is the greatest. It was so with
+      Byron and Victor Hugo. &lsquo;Cain&rsquo; overwhelmed me, &lsquo;Notre Dame&rsquo; carried me away
+      with it. Once I could imagine no greater poet than Walter Scott, and yet I
+      forget him over Oehlenschläger; yes, I remember a time when Heiberg&rsquo;s
+      vaudevilles took almost the first place among my chosen favorites. Thus I
+      know myself and my changeable disposition, and yet I firmly believe that I
+      shall make an exception with this work. Other poets showed me the objects
+      of the outer world, this one shows me my own mind: my own thoughts, my own
+      being he presents before me, and therefore I shall always take the same
+      interest in the Ghost&rsquo;s Letters.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They are true food for the mind,&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;they are as words in
+      season; there must be movement in the lake, otherwise it will become a
+      bog.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The author is severe toward those whom he has introduced,&rdquo; said the lady;
+      &ldquo;but he carries, so to say, a sweet knife. A wound from a sharp
+      sword-blade is not so painful as that from a rusty, notched knife.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But who may the author be?&rdquo; said Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;May we never learn!&rdquo; replied Otto. &ldquo;Uncertainty gives the book something
+      piquant. In such a small country as ours it is good for the author to be
+      unknown. Here we almost tread upon each other, and look into each other&rsquo;s
+      garments. Here the personal conditions of the author have much to do with
+      success; and then there are the newspapers, where either friend or enemy
+      has an assistant, whereas the being anonymous gives it the patent of
+      nobility. It is well never to know an author. What does his person matter
+      to us, if his book is only good?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Crush and confound the rabble dissolute That desecrate thy poet&rsquo;s
+      grave?&rsquo;&rdquo; read Otto, and the musical poem was at an end. All were enchanted
+      with it. Otto alone made some small objections: &ldquo;The Muses ought not to
+      come with &lsquo;trumpets and drums,&rsquo; and so many expressions similar to &lsquo;give a
+      blow on the chaps,&rsquo; etc., ought not to appear.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But if the poet will attack what is coarse,&rdquo; said Sophie, &ldquo;he must call
+      things by their proper names. He presents us with a specimen of the
+      prosaic filth, but in a soap-bubble. We may see it, but not seize upon it.
+      I consider that you are wrong!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The conception of idea and form,&rdquo; said Otto, &ldquo;does not seem to be
+      sufficiently presented to one; both dissolve into one. Even prose is a
+      form.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But the form itself is the most important,&rdquo; said the lady of the house;
+      &ldquo;with poetry as with sculpture, it is the form which gives the meaning.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, pardon me!&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;poetry is like the tree which God allows to
+      grow. The inward power expresses itself in the form; both are equally
+      important, but I consider the internal as the most holy. This is here the
+      poet&rsquo;s thought. The opinion which he expresses affects us as much as the
+      beautiful dress in which he has presented it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now commenced a contest upon form and material, such as was afterward
+      maintained throughout the whole of Copenhagen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shall always admire the &lsquo;Letters of a Wandering Ghost,&rsquo;&rdquo; said Sophie,&mdash;&ldquo;always
+      rave about these poems. To-night I shall dream of nothing but this work of
+      art.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      How little men can do that which they desire, did this very moment teach.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When we regard the fixed star through a telescope and lose ourselves in
+      contemplation, a little hair can conceal the mighty body, a grain of dust
+      lead us from these sublime thoughts. A letter came for Miss Sophie; a
+      traveller brought it from her mother: she was already in Funen, and
+      announced her safe arrival.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And the news?&rdquo; said the hostess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mamma has hired a new maid, or, rather, she has taken to be with her an
+      amiable young girl&mdash;the pretty Eva in Roeskelde. Mr. Thostrup and
+      Wilhelm related to us this summer several things about her which make her
+      interesting. We saw her on our journey hither, when mamma was prepossessed
+      by her well-bred appearance. Upon her return, the young girl has quite won
+      her heart. It really were a pity if such a pretty, respectable girl
+      remained in a public-house. She is very pretty; is she not, Mr. Thostrup?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Very pretty!&rdquo; answered Otto, becoming crimson, for Sophie said this with
+      an emphasis which was not without meaning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The following day, at an early hour, Otto found himself at the merchant&rsquo;s.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Spite of the changeable weather of our climate, all the ladies were in
+      their best dresses. Three persons must sit upon each seat. Hans Peter and
+      the lover had their place beside the coachman. It was a long time before
+      the cold meat, the provision for several days, was packed up, and the
+      whole company were seated. At length, when they had got out of the city,
+      Christiane recollected that they had forgotten the umbrellas, and that,
+      after all, it would be good to have them. The coachman must go back for
+      them, and meantime the carriage drew up before the Column of Liberty. The
+      poor sentinel must now become an object of Miss Grethe&rsquo;s interest. Several
+      times the soldier glanced down upon his regimentals. He was a Krähwinkler,
+      who had an eye to his own advantage. A man who rode past upon a load of
+      straw occupied a high position. That was very interesting.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto endeavored to give the conversation another direction. &ldquo;Have not you
+      seen the new poem which has just appeared, the &lsquo;Letters of a Wandering
+      Ghost?&rsquo;&rdquo; asked he, and sketched out their beauty and tendency.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Doubtless, very heavy blows are dealt!&rdquo; said Mr. Berger, &ldquo;the man must be
+      witty&mdash;Baggesen to the very letter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The &lsquo;Copenhagen Post&rsquo; is called the pump!&rdquo; said Hans Peter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is superb!&rdquo; cried Grethe. &ldquo;Who does it attack besides?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Folks in Soroe, and this &lsquo;Holy Andersen,&rsquo; as they call him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Does he get something?&rdquo; said Laide. &ldquo;That I will grant him for his milk
+      and water. He was so impolite toward the ladies!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I like them to quarrel in this way!&rdquo; said the merchant&rsquo;s lady. &ldquo;Heiberg
+      will doubtless get his share also, and then he will reply in something
+      merry.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said Mr. Berger, &ldquo;he always knows how to twist things in such a
+      manner that one must laugh, and then it is all one to us whether he is
+      right or not.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This book is entirely for Heiberg,&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;The author is anonymous,
+      and a clever man.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good Heavens! you are not the author, Mr. Thostrup?&rdquo; cried Julle, and
+      looked at him with a penetrating gaze. &ldquo;You can manage such things so
+      secretly! You think so highly of Heiberg: I remember well all the
+      beautiful things you said of his &lsquo;Walter the Potter&rsquo; and his &lsquo;Psyche.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto assured her that he could not confess to this honor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They reached Roeskelde in the forenoon, but Eva did not receive them. The
+      excursion to Lethraborg was arranged; toward evening they should again
+      return to the inn, and then Eva would certainly appear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The company walked in the garden at Lethraborg: the prospect from the
+      terrace was beautiful; they looked through the windows of the castle, and
+      at length came to the conclusion that it would be best to go in.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There are such beautiful paintings, people say!&rdquo; remarked the lover.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We must see them,&rdquo; cried all the ladies.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you often visit the picture-gallery of the Christiansborg?&rdquo; inquired
+      Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I cannot say that we do!&rdquo; returned Mrs. Berger. &ldquo;You well know that what
+      is near one seldom sees, unless one makes a downright earnest attempt, and
+      that we have not yet done. Besides, not many people go up: that wandering
+      about the great halls is so wearying.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There are splendid pieces by Ruysdal!&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Salvator Rosa&rsquo;s glorious &lsquo;Jonas&rsquo; is well worth looking at!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, we really must go at once, whilst our little Maja is here. It does
+      not cost more than the Exhibition, and we were there three times last
+      year. The view from the castle windows toward the canal, as well as toward
+      the ramparts, is so beautiful, they say.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The company now viewed the interior of Lethraborg, and then wandered
+      through the garden and in the wood. The trees had their autumnal coloring,
+      but the whole presented a variety of tints far richer than one finds in
+      summer. The dark fir-trees, the yellow beeches and oaks, whose outermost
+      branches had sent forth light green shoots, presented a most picturesque
+      effect, and formed a splendid foreground to the view over old Leire, the
+      royal city, now a small village, and across the bay to the splendid
+      cathedral.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That resembles a scene in a theatre!&rdquo; cried Mrs. Berger, and immediately
+      the company were deep in dramatic affairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Such a decoration they should have in the royal theatre!&rdquo; said Hans
+      Peter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, they should have many such!&rdquo; said Grethe. &ldquo;They should have some
+      other pieces than those they have. I know not how it is with our poets;
+      they have no inventive power. Relate the droll idea which thou hadst the
+      other day for a new piece!&rdquo; said she to her lover, and stroked his cheeks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O,&rdquo; said he, and affected a kind of indifference, &ldquo;that was only an idea
+      such as one has very often. But it might become a very nice piece. When
+      the curtain is drawn up, one should see close upon the lamps the
+      gable-ends of two houses. The steep roofs must go down to the stage, so
+      that it is only half a yard wide, and this is to represent a watercourse
+      between the two houses. In each garret a poor but interesting family
+      should dwell, and these should step forth into the watercourse, and there
+      the whole piece should be played.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But what should then happen?&rdquo; asked Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said the lover, &ldquo;I have not thought about that; but see, there is
+      the idea! I am no poet, and have too much to do at the counting-house,
+      otherwise one might write a little piece.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Heavens! Heiberg ought to have the idea!&rdquo; said Grethe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, then it would be a vaudeville,&rdquo; said the lover, &ldquo;and I cannot bear
+      them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, it might be made charming!&rdquo; cried Grethe. &ldquo;I see the whole piece! how
+      they clamber about the roofs! The idea is original, thou sweet friend!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      By evening the family were again in Roeskelde.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The merchant sought for Eva. Otto inquired after her, so did Hans Peter
+      also, and all three received the same answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is no longer here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0026" id="link2HCH0026">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXVI
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;I wish I was air, that I could beat my wings, could chase
+     the clouds, and try to fly over the mountain summits: that
+     would be life.&rdquo;&mdash;F. RÜCKERT.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The first evening after Otto&rsquo;s return to Copenhagen he spent with Sophie,
+      and the conversation turned upon his little journey. &ldquo;The pretty Eva has
+      vanished!&rdquo; said he.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You had rejoiced in the prospect of this meeting, had you not?&rdquo; asked
+      Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, not in the least!&rdquo; answered Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And you wish to make me believe that? She is really pretty, and has
+      something so unspeakably refined, that a young gentleman might well be
+      attracted by her. With my brother it is not all quite right in this
+      respect; but, candidly speaking, I am in great fear on your account, Mr.
+      Thostrup. Still waters&mdash;you know the proverb? I might have spared you
+      the trouble. The letter which I received a few evenings ago informed me of
+      her departure. Mamma has taken her with her. It seemed to her a sin to
+      leave that sweet, innocent girl in a public-house. The host and hostess
+      were born upon our estate, and look very much up to my mother; and as Eva
+      will certainly gain by the change, the whole affair was soon settled. It
+      is well that she is come under mamma&rsquo;s oversight.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The girl is almost indifferent to me!&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Almost!&rdquo; repeated Sophie. &ldquo;But this almost, how many degrees of warmth
+      does it contain? &lsquo;O Vérité! Où sont les autels et tes prêtres?&rsquo;&rdquo; added
+      she, and smiling raised her finger.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Time will show how much you are in error!&rdquo; answered Otto with much
+      calmness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady of the house now entered, she had made various calls; everywhere
+      the Ghost&rsquo;s Letters were the subject of conversation, and now the
+      conversation took the same direction.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was often renewed. Otto was a very frequent guest at the house. The
+      ladies sat at their embroidery frames and embroidered splendid pieces of
+      work, and Otto must again read the &ldquo;Letters of the Wandering Ghost;&rdquo; after
+      this they began &ldquo;Calderon,&rdquo; in whom Sophie found something resembling the
+      anonymous author. The world of poetry afforded subjects for discourse, and
+      every-day life intermingled its light, gay scenes; if Wilhelm joined them,
+      he must give them music, and all remarked that his fantasies were become
+      far richer, far softer. He had gained his touch from Weyse, said they. No
+      one thought how much one may learn from one&rsquo;s own heart. With this
+      exception he was the same joyous youth as ever. No one thought of him and
+      Eva together. Since that evening when the friends had almost quarreled, he
+      had never mentioned her name; but Otto had remarked how when any female
+      figure met them, Wilhelm&rsquo;s eyes flashed, and how, in society, he singled
+      out the most beautiful. Otto said jokingly to him, that he was getting
+      oriental thoughts. Oehlenschläger&rsquo;s &ldquo;Helge,&rdquo; and Goethe&rsquo;s Italian sonnets
+      were now Wilhelm&rsquo;s favorite reading. The voluptuous spirit of these poems
+      agreed with the dreams which his warm feelings engendered. It was Eva&rsquo;s
+      beauty&mdash;her beauty alone which had awoke this feeling in him; the
+      modesty and poverty of the poor girl had captivated him still more, and
+      caused him to forget rank and condition. At the moment when he would
+      approach her, she was gone. The poison was now in his blood. If is gay and
+      happy spirit did not meanwhile let him sink into melancholy and
+      meditation; his feeling for beauty was excited, as he himself expressed
+      it. In thought he pressed beauty to his heart, but only in thought&mdash;but
+      even this is sin, says the Gospel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto, on the contrary, moved in the lists of philosophy and poetry. Here
+      his soul conceived beauty&mdash;inspired, he expressed it; and Sophie&rsquo;s
+      eyes flashed, and rested with pleasure on him. This flattered him and
+      increased his inspirations. For many years no winter had been to him so
+      pleasant, had passed away so rich in change as this; he caught at the
+      fluttering joy and yet there were moments when the though pressed upon him&mdash;&ldquo;Life
+      is hastening away, and I do not enjoy it.&rdquo; In the midst of his greatest
+      happiness he experienced a strange yearning after the changing life of
+      travel. Paris glanced before his eyes like a star of fortune.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Out into the bustling world!&rdquo; said he so often to Wilhelm, that the same
+      thought was excited in him. &ldquo;In the spring we will travel!&rdquo; Now were plans
+      formed; circumstances were favorable. Thus in the coming spring, in April,
+      the still happier days should begin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We will fly to Paris!&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;to joy and pleasure!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Joy and pleasure were to be found at home, and were found: we will
+      introduce the evening which brought them; perhaps we shall also find
+      something more than joy and pleasure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0027" id="link2HCH0027">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXVII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;A midsummer day&rsquo;s entertainment&mdash;but how? In February? Yea,
+     some here and behold it!&rdquo;&mdash;DR. BALFUNGO.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      With us the students form no Burschenschafts, have no colors. The
+      professors do not alone in the chair come into connection with them; the
+      only difference is that which exists between young and old scholars. Thus
+      they come in contact with each other, thus they participate in their
+      mutual pleasures. We will spend an evening of this kind in the Students&rsquo; 
+      Club, and then see for ourselves whether Miss Sophie were right when she
+      wished she were a man, merely that she might be a student and member of
+      this club. We choose one evening in particular, not only that we may seek
+      a brilliant moment, but because this evening can afford us more than a
+      description.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An excursion to the park had often been discussed in the club. They wished
+      to hire the Caledonia steam-packet. But during the summer months the
+      number of members is less; the majority are gone to the provinces to visit
+      their relations. Winter, on the contrary, assembles them all. This time,
+      also, is the best for great undertakings. The long talked of excursion to
+      the park was therefore fixed for Carnival Monday, the 14th of February,
+      1831. Thus ran the invitations to the professors and older members. &ldquo;It
+      will be too cold for me,&rdquo; replied one. &ldquo;Must one take a carriage for one&rsquo;s
+      self?&rdquo; asked mother. No, the park was removed to Copenhagen. In the
+      Students&rsquo; Club itself, in the Boldhuus Street, No. 225, was the park-hill
+      with its green trees, its swings, and amusements. See, only the scholars
+      of the Black School could have such ideas!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The evening of the 114th of February drew near. The guests assembled in
+      the rooms on the first floor. Meanwhile all was arranged in the second
+      story. Those who represented jugglers were in their places. A thundering
+      cracker was the steamboat signal, and now people hastened to the park,
+      rushing up-stairs, where two large rooms had, with great taste and humor,
+      been converted into the park-hill. Large fir-trees concealed the walls&mdash;you
+      found yourself in a complete wood. The doors which connected the two rooms
+      were decorated with sheets, so that it looked as if you were going through
+      a tent. Hand-organs played, drums and trumpets roared, and from tents and
+      stages the hawkers shouted one against the other. It was a noise such as
+      is heard in the real park when the hubbub has reached its height. The most
+      brilliant requisites of the real park were found here, and they were not
+      imitated; they were the things themselves. Master Jakel&rsquo;s own puppets had
+      been hired; a student, distinguished by his complete imitation of the
+      first actors, represented them by the puppets. The fortress of
+      Frederiksteen was the same which we have already seen in the park. &ldquo;The
+      whole cavalry and infantry,&mdash;here a fellow without a bayonet, there a
+      bayonet without a fellow!&rdquo; The old Jew sat under his tree where he
+      announced his fiftieth park jubilee: here a student ate flax, there
+      another exhibited a bear; Polignac stood as a wax figure outside a
+      cabinet. The Magdalene convent exhibited its little boxes, the drum-major
+      beat most lustily, and from a near booth came the real odor of warm
+      wafer-cakes. The spring even, which presented itself in the outer room,
+      was full of significance. Certainly it was only represented by a tea-urn
+      concealed between moss and stones, but the water was real water, brought
+      from the well in Christiansborg. Astounding and full of effect was the
+      multitude of sweet young girls who showed themselves. Many of the youngest
+      students who had feminine features were dressed as ladies; some of them
+      might even be called pretty. Who that then saw the fair one with the
+      tambourine can have forgotten her? The company crowded round the ladies.
+      The professors paid court to them with all propriety, and, what was best
+      of all, some ladies who were less successful became jealous of the others.
+      Otto was much excited; the noise, the bustle, the variety of people, were
+      almost strikingly given. Then came the master of the fire-engines, with
+      his wife and little granddaughter; then three pretty peasant girls; then
+      the whole Botanical Society, with their real professor at their head. Otto
+      seated himself in a swing; an itinerant flute-player and a drummer
+      deafened him with dissonances. A young lady, one of the beauties, in a
+      white dress, and with a thin handkerchief over her shoulders, approached
+      and threw herself into his arms. It was Wilhelm! but Otto found his
+      likeness to Sophie stronger than he had ever before noticed it to be; and
+      therefore the blood rushed to his cheeks when the fair one threw her arms
+      around him, and laid her cheek upon his: he perceived more of Sophie than
+      of Wilhelm in this form. Certainly Wilhelm&rsquo;s features were coarser&mdash;his
+      whole figure larger than Sophie&rsquo;s; but still Otto fancied he saw Sophie,
+      and therefore these marked gestures, this reeling about with the other
+      students, offended his eyes. When Wilhelm seated himself on his knee, and
+      pressed his cheek to his, Otto felt his heart beat as in fever; it sent a
+      stream of fire through his blood: he thrust him away, but the fair one
+      continued to overwhelm him with caresses.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There now commenced, in a so-called Krähwinkel theatre, the comedy, in
+      which were given the then popular witticisms of Kellerman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady clung fast to Otto, and flew dancing with him through the crowd.
+      The heat, the noise, and, above all, the exaggerated lacing, affected
+      Wilhelm; he felt unwell. Otto led him to a bench and would have unfastened
+      his dress, but all the young ladies, true to their part, sprang forward,
+      pushed Otto aside, surrounded their sick companion and concealed her,
+      whilst they tore up the dress behind so that she might have air: but, God
+      forbid! no gentleman might see it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Toward evening a song was commenced, a shot was heard, and the last verse
+      announced:&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;The gun has been fired, the vessel must fly
+       To the town from the green wood shady.
+     Come, friends, now we to the table will hie,
+       A gentleman and a fair lady.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      And now all rushed with the speed of a steamboat downstairs, and soon sat
+      in gay rows around the covered tables.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm was Otto&rsquo;s lady&mdash;the Baron was called the Baroness; the
+      glasses resounded, and the song commenced:&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;These will drink our good king&rsquo;s health,
+       Will drink it here, his loyal students.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      And that patriotic song:&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;I know a land up in the North
+       Where it is good to be.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      It concluded with&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+                        &ldquo;An hurrah
+     For the king and the rescript!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      In joy one must embrace everything joyful, and that they did. Here was the
+      joy of youth in youthful hearts.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;No condition&rsquo;s like the student&rsquo;s;
+       He has chosen the better way!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      so ran the concluding verse of the following song, which ended with the
+      toast,&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;For her of whom the heart dreams ever,
+       But whom the lips must never name!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      It was then that Wilhelm seemed to glow with inward fire; he struck his
+      glass so violently against Otto&rsquo;s that it broke, and the wine was spilt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A health to the ladies!&rdquo; cried one of the signors.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A health to the ladies!&rdquo; resounded from the different rooms, which were
+      all converted into the banquet-hall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The ladies rose, stood upon their chairs, some even upon the table, bowed,
+      and returned thanks for the toast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no,&rdquo; whispered Otto to Wilhelm, at the same time pulling him down.
+      &ldquo;In this dress you resemble your sister so much, that it is quite horrible
+      to me to see you act a part so opposed to her character!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And your eyes,&rdquo; Said Wilhelm, smiling, &ldquo;resemble two eyes which have
+      touched my heart. A health to first love!&rdquo; cried he, and struck his glass
+      against Otto&rsquo;s so that the half of his wine was again lost.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+The champagne foamed, and amidst noise and laughter, as during the
+carnival joy, a new song refreshed the image of the nark which they had
+just left:&mdash;     &ldquo;Here if green trees were not growing
+       Fresh as on yon little hill,
+     Heard we not the fountains flowing,
+       We in sooth should see them still!
+     Tents were filled below, above,
+     Filled with everything but love!
+
+     ***
+
+     Here went gratis brushing-boys&mdash;     Graduated have they all!
+     Here stood, who would think it, sir?
+     A student as a trumpeter!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A health to the one whose eyes mine resemble!&rdquo; whispered Otto, carried
+      along with the merriment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That health we have already drunk!&rdquo; answered Wilhelm, &ldquo;but we cannot do a
+      good thing too often.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then you still think of Eva?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She was beautiful! sweet! who knows what might have happened had she
+      remained here? Her fate has fallen into mamma&rsquo;s hands, and she and the
+      other exalted Nemesis must now conduct the affair: I wash my hands of it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are you recovered?&rdquo; asked Otto. &ldquo;But when you see Eva again in the
+      summer?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I hope that I shall not fall sick,&rdquo; replied Wilhelm; &ldquo;I have a strong
+      constitution. But we must now hasten up to the dance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      All rushed from the tables, and up-stairs, where the park was arranged.
+      There was now only the green wood to be seen. Theatres and booths had been
+      removed. Gay paper-lamps hung among the branches, a large orchestra
+      played, and a half-bacchanalian wood-ball commenced. Wilhelm was Otto&rsquo;s
+      partner, but after the first dance the lady sought out for herself a more
+      lively cavalier.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto drew back toward the wall where the windows were concealed by the
+      boughs of Fir-tree. His eye followed Wilhelm, whose great resemblance to
+      Sophie made him melancholy; his hand accidentally glided through the
+      branches and touched the window-seat; there lay a little bird&mdash;it was
+      dead!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To increase the illusion they had bought a number of birds, which should
+      fly about during the park-scene, but the poor little creatures had died
+      from fright at the wild uproar. In the windows and corners they lay dead.
+      It was one of these birds that Otto found.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is dead!&rdquo; said he to Wilhelm, who approached him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, that is capital!&rdquo; returned the friend; &ldquo;here you have something over
+      which you may be sentimental!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto would not reply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Shall we dance a Scotch waltz?&rdquo; asked Wilhelm laughing, and the wine and
+      his youthful blood glowed in his cheeks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wish you would put on your own dress!&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;You resemble, as I
+      said before, your sister&rdquo;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And I am my sister,&rdquo; interrupted Wilhelm, in his wantonness. &ldquo;And as a
+      reward for your charming readings aloud, for your excellent conversation,
+      and the whole of your piquant amiability, you shall now be paid with a
+      little kiss!&rdquo; He pressed his lips to Otto&rsquo;s forehead; Otto thrust him back
+      and left the company.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Several hours passed before he could sleep; at length he was forced to
+      laugh over his anger: what mattered it if Wilhelm resembled his sister?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The following morning Otto paid her a visit. All listened with lively
+      interest to his description of the merry St. John&rsquo;s day in February. He
+      also related how much Wilhelm had resembled his sister, and how unpleasant
+      this had been to him; and they laughed. During the relation, however, Otto
+      could not forbear drawing a comparison. How great a difference did he now
+      find! Sophie&rsquo;s beauty was of quite another kind! Never before had he
+      regarded her in this light. Of the kisses which Wilhelm had given him, of
+      course, they did not speak; but Otto thought of them, thought of them
+      quite differently to what he had done before, and&mdash;the ways of Cupid
+      are strange! We will now see how affairs stand after advancing fourteen
+      days.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0028" id="link2HCH0028">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXVIII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+   &ldquo;Huzza for Copenhagen and for Paris! may they both flourish!&rdquo;
+                                     The Danes in Paris by HEIBERG.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm&rsquo;s cousin, Joachim, had arrived from Paris. We remember the young
+      officer, out of whose letters Wilhelm had sent Otto a description of the
+      struggle of the July days. As an inspired hero of liberty had he returned;
+      struggling Poland had excited his lively interest, and he would willingly
+      have combated in Warsaw&rsquo;s ranks. His mind and his eloquence made him
+      doubly interesting. The combat of the July days, of which he had been an
+      eye-witness, he described to them. Joachim was handsome; he had an elegant
+      countenance with sharp features, and was certainly rather pale&mdash;one
+      might perhaps have called him worn with dissipation, had it not been for
+      the brightness of his eyes, which increased in conversation. The fine dark
+      eyebrow, and even the little mustache, gave the countenance all expression
+      which reminded one of fine English steel-engravings. His figure was small,
+      almost slender, but the proportions were beautiful. The animation of the
+      Frenchman expressed itself in every motion, but at the same time there was
+      in him a certain determination which seemed to say: &ldquo;I am aware of my own
+      intellectual superiority!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He interested every one: Otto also listened with pleasure when Cousin
+      Joachim related his experiences, but when all eyes were turned toward the
+      narrator, Otto fixed his suddenly upon Sophie, and found that she could
+      moderate his attentions. Joachim addressed his discourse to all, but at
+      the points of interest his glance rested alone on the pretty cousin! &ldquo;She
+      interests him!&rdquo; said Otto to himself. &ldquo;And Cousin Joachim?&rdquo; Yes, he
+      relates well; but had we only traveled we should not be inferior to him!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Charles X. was a Jesuit!&rdquo; said Joachim; &ldquo;he strove after an unrestrained
+      despotism, and laid violent hands on the Charter. The expedition against
+      Algiers was only a glittering fire-work arranged to flatter the national
+      pride&mdash;all glitter and falseness! Like Peirronnet, through an embrace
+      he would annihilate the Charter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The conversation now turned from the Jesuits to the Charter and Polignac.
+      The minute particulars, which only an eyewitness can relate, brought the
+      struggle livingly before their eyes. They saw the last night, the
+      extraordinary activity in the squares where the balls were showered, and
+      in the streets where the barricades were erected. Overturned wagons and
+      carts, barrels and stones, were heaped upon each other&mdash;even the
+      hundred year-old trees of the Boulevards were cut down to form barricades:
+      the struggle began, Frenchman fought against Frenchman&mdash;for liberty
+      and country they sacrificed their life.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+      [Note:
+     &ldquo;Ceux qui pieusement sont morts pour la patrie
+     Ont droit qu&rsquo;à leur cerceuil la foule vienne et prie:
+     Entre le plus beaux noms, leur nom est le plus beau.
+     Toute gloire, près d&rsquo;eux, passe et tombe éphèmere
+     Et, comme ferait une mère,
+     La voix d&rsquo;un peuple entier les berce en leur tombeau!&rdquo;
+      &mdash;VICTOR HUGO.]
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      And he described the victory and Louis Philippe, whom he admired and
+      loved.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That was a world event,&rdquo; said the man of business. &ldquo;It electrified both
+      king and people. They still feel the movement. Last year was an
+      extraordinary year!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For the Copenhageners also,&rdquo; said Otto, &ldquo;there were three colors. These
+      things occupied the multitude with equal interest: the July Revolution,
+      the &lsquo;Letters of a Wandering Ghost,&rsquo; and Kellermann&rsquo;s &lsquo;Berlin Wit.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now you are bitter, Mr. Thostrup,&rdquo; said the lady of the house. &ldquo;The
+      really educated did not occupy themselves with these Berlin &lsquo;Eckensteher&rsquo; 
+      which the multitude have rendered national!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But they hit the right mark!&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;they met with a reception from
+      the citizens and people in office.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That I can easily believe,&rdquo; remarked Joachim; &ldquo;that is like the people
+      here!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is like the people abroad!&rdquo; said the hostess. &ldquo;In Paris they pass
+      over still more easily from a revolution, in which they themselves have
+      taken part, to a review by Jules Janin, or to a new step of Taglioni&rsquo;s,
+      and from that to &lsquo;une histoire scandaleuse!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, my gracious lady, of the last no one takes any notice&mdash;it
+      belongs to the order of the day!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That I can easily believe!&rdquo; said Miss Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The man of business now inquired after the Chamber. The cousin&rsquo;s answer
+      was quite satisfactory. The lady of the house wished to hear of the
+      flower-markets, and of the sweet little inclosed gardens in the Places.
+      Sophie wished to hear of Victor Hugo. She received a description of him,
+      of his abode in the Place Royale, and of the whole Europe littéraire
+      beside. Cousin Joachim was extremely interesting.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto did not pay another visit for two days.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where have you been for so long?&rdquo; asked Sophie, when he came again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;With my books!&rdquo; replied he: there lay a gloomy expression in his eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, you should have come half an hour earlier&mdash;our cousin was here!
+      He was describing to me the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. O, quite
+      excellently!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He is an interesting young man!&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The glorious garden!&rdquo; pursued Sophie, without remarking the emphasis with
+      which Otto had replied. &ldquo;Do you not remember, Mr. Thostrup, how Barthélemi
+      has spoken of it? &lsquo;Où tout homme, qui rêve à son pays absent, Retrouve ses
+      parfums et son air caressant.&rsquo; In it there is a whole avenue with cages,
+      in which are wild beasts,&mdash;lions and tigers! In small court-yards,
+      elephants and buffaloes wander about at liberty! Giraffes nibble the
+      branches of high trees! In the middle of the garden are the courts for
+      bears, only there is a sort of well in which the bears walk about; it is
+      surrounded by no palisades, and you stand upon the precipitous edge! There
+      our cousin stood!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But he did not precipitate himself down!&rdquo; said Otto, with indifference.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What is the matter?&rdquo; asked Sophie. &ldquo;Are you in your elegiac mood? You
+      look as I imagine Victor Hugo when he has not made up his mind about the
+      management of his tragic catastrophe!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is my innate singularity!&rdquo; replied Otto. &ldquo;I should have pleasure in
+      springing down among the bears of which you relate!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And in dying?&rdquo; asked Sophie. &ldquo;No, you must live. &lsquo;C&rsquo;est le bonheur de
+      vivre Qui fait la gloire de mourir.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You speak a deal of French to-day,&rdquo; said Otto, with a friendliness of
+      manner intended to soften the bitterness of the tone. &ldquo;Perhaps your
+      conversation with the lieutenant was in that language?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;French interests me the most!&rdquo; replied she. &ldquo;I will ask our cousin to
+      speak it often with me. His accent is excellent, and he is himself a very
+      interesting man!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No doubt of it!&rdquo; answered Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will remain and dine with us?&rdquo; said the lady of the house, who now
+      entered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto did not feel well.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These are only whims,&rdquo; said Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The ladies made merry, and Otto remained. Cousin Joachim came and was
+      interesting&mdash;very interesting, said all. He related of Paris, spoke
+      also of Copenhagen, and drew comparisons. The quietness of home had made
+      an especial impression on him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;People here,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;go about as if they bore some heavy grief, or
+      some joy, which they might not express. If one goes into a coffee-house,
+      it is just as if one entered a house of mourning. Each one seats himself,
+      a newspaper in his hand, in a corner. That strikes one when one comes from
+      Paris! One naturally has the thought,&mdash;Can these few degrees further
+      north bring so much cold into the blood? There is the same quiet in our
+      theatre. Now I love this active life. The only boldness the public permits
+      itself is hissing a poor author; but a wretched singer, who has neither
+      tone nor manner, a miserable actress, will be endured, nay, applauded by
+      good friends&mdash;an act of compassion. She is so fearful! she is so
+      good! In Paris people hiss. The decoration master, the manager, every one
+      there receives his share of applause or blame. Even the directors are
+      there hissed, if they manage badly.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are preaching a complete revolution in our theatrical kingdom!&rdquo; said
+      the lady of the house. &ldquo;The Copenhageners cannot ever become Parisians,
+      and neither should they.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The theatre is here, as well as there, the most powerful organ of the
+      people&rsquo;s life. It has the greatest influence, and ours stands high, very
+      high, when one reflects in what different directions it must extend its
+      influence. Our only theatre must accommodate itself, and represent, at the
+      same time, the Theatre Français, the grand Opera, the Vaudeville, and
+      Saint-Martin; it must comprehend all kinds of theatrical entertainments.
+      The same actors who to-day appear in tragedy, must to-morrow show
+      themselves in a comedy or vaudeville. We have actors who might compare
+      themselves with the best in Paris&mdash;only <i>one</i> is above all ours,
+      but, also, above all whom I have seen in Europe, and this one is
+      Mademoiselle Mars. You will, doubtless, consider the reason extraordinary
+      which gives this one, in my opinion, the first place. This is her age,
+      which she so completely compels you to forget. She is still pretty; round,
+      without being called fat. It is not through rouge, false hair, or false
+      teeth, that she procures herself youth; it lies in her soul, and from
+      thence it flows into every limb&mdash;every motion becomes charming! She
+      fills you with astonishment! her eyes are full of expression, and her
+      voice is the most sonorous which I know! It is indeed music! How can one
+      think of age when one is affected by an immortal soul? I rave about
+      Léontine Fay, but the old Mars has my heart. There is also a third who
+      stands high with the Parisians&mdash;Jenny Vertprè, at the Gymnase
+      Dramatique, but she would be soon eclipsed were the Parisians to see our
+      Demoiselle Pätges. She possesses talent which will shine in every scene.
+      Vertprè has her loveliness, her whims, but not her Proteus-genius, her
+      nobility. I saw Vertprè in &lsquo;La Reine de Seize Ans,&rsquo;&mdash;a piece which we
+      have not yet; but she was only a saucy soubrette in royal splendor&mdash;a
+      Pernille of Holberg&rsquo;s, as represented by a Parisian. We have Madame
+      Wexschall, and we have Frydendal! Were Denmark only a larger country,
+      these names would sound throughout Europe!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He now described the decorations in the &ldquo;Sylphide,&rdquo; in &ldquo;Natalia,&rdquo; and in
+      various other ballets, the whole splendor, the whole magnificence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But our orchestra is excellent!&rdquo; said Miss Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It certainly contains several distinguished men,&rdquo; answered Joachim; &ldquo;but
+      must one speak of the whole? Yes, you know I am not musical, and cannot
+      therefore express myself in an artistical manner about music, but certain
+      it is that something lay in my ear, in my feeling, which, in Paris,
+      whispered to me, &lsquo;That is excellent!&rsquo; Here, on the contrary, it cries,
+      &lsquo;With moderation! with moderation!&rsquo; The voice is the first; she is the
+      lady; the instruments, on the contrary, are the cavaliers who shall
+      conduct the former before the public. Gently they should take her by the
+      hand; she must stand quite foremost; but here the instruments thrust her
+      aside, and it is to me as if each instrument would have the first place,
+      and constantly shouted, &lsquo;Here am I! here am I!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That sounds very well!&rdquo; said Sophie; &ldquo;but one may not believe you! You
+      have fallen in love with foreign countries, and, therefore, at home
+      everything must be slighted.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By no means! The Danish ladies, for instance, appear the prettiest, the
+      most modest whom I have known.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Appear?&rdquo; repeated Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Joachim possesses eloquence,&rdquo; said the lady of the house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That has developed itself abroad!&rdquo; answered he: &ldquo;here at home there are
+      only two ways in which it can publicly develop itself&mdash;in the pulpit,
+      and at a meeting in the shooting-house. Yet it is true that now we are
+      going to have a Diet and a more political life. I feel already, in
+      anticipation, the effect; we shall only live for this life, the newspapers
+      will become merely political, the poets sing politics the painters choose
+      scenes from political life. &lsquo;C&rsquo;est un Uebergang!&rsquo; as Madame La Flèche
+      says. [Author&rsquo;s Note: Holberg&rsquo;s Jean de France.] Copenhagen is too small
+      to be a great, and too great to be a small city. See, there lies the
+      fault!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto felt an irresistible desire to contradict him in most things which he
+      said about home. But the cousin parried every bold blow with a joke.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Copenhagen must be the Paris of the North,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;and that it
+      certainly would become in fifty, or twice that number of years. The
+      situation was far more beautiful than that of the city of the Seine. The
+      marble church must be elevated, and become a Pantheon, adorned with the
+      works of Thorwaldsen and other artists; Christiansborg, a Louvre, whose
+      gallery you visit; Öster Street and Pedermadsen&rsquo;s passage, arcades such as
+      are in Paris, covered with glass roofs and flagged, shops on both sides,
+      and in the evening, when thousands of gas-lamps burnt, here should be the
+      promenade; the esplanades would be the Champs Elysées, with swings and
+      slides, music, and mâts de cocagne. [Author&rsquo;s Note: High smooth poles, to
+      the top of which victuals, clothes, or money are attached. People of the
+      lower classes then try to climb up and seize the prizes. The best things
+      are placed at the very top of the pole.] On the Peblinger Lake, as on the
+      Seine, there should be festive water excursions made. Voilà!&rdquo; exclaimed
+      he, &ldquo;that would be splendid!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That might be divine!&rdquo; said Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Animation and thought lay in the cousin&rsquo;s countenance; his fine features
+      became striking from their expression. Thus did his image stamp itself in
+      Otto&rsquo;s soul, thus did it place itself beside Sophie&rsquo;s image as she stood
+      there, with her large brown eyes, round which played thought and smiles,
+      whilst they rested on the cousin. The beautifully formed white hand, with
+      its taper fingers, played with the curls which fell over her cheeks. Otto
+      would not think of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0029" id="link2HCH0029">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXIX
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;And if I have wept alone, it is my own sorrow.&rdquo;&mdash;GOETHE
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Latterly Otto had been but seldom at Mr. Berger&rsquo;s. He had no interest
+      about the merchant&rsquo;s home. The family showed him every politeness and mark
+      of confidence; but his visits became every week more rare. Business
+      matters, however, led him one day there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Chance or fate, as we call it, if the shadow of a consequence shows
+      itself, caused Maren to pass through the anteroom when Otto was about
+      taking his departure. She was the only one of the ladies at home. In three
+      weeks she would return to Lemvig. She said that she could not boast of
+      having enjoyed Mr. Thostrup&rsquo;s society too often.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your old friends interest you no longer!&rdquo; added she, somewhat gravely.
+      With this exception she had amused herself very well in the city, had seen
+      everything but the stuffed birds, and these she should see to-morrow. She
+      had been seven times in the theatre, and had seen the &ldquo;Somnambule&rdquo; twice.
+      However, she had not seen &ldquo;Der Frieschütz,&rdquo; and she had an especial desire
+      to see this on account of the wolf-glen. At Aarhuus there was a place in
+      the wood, said she, called the wolf-glen; this she knew, and now wished to
+      see whether it resembled the one on the stage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;May I then greet Rosalie from you?&rdquo; she asked at length.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will still remain three weeks here,&rdquo; said Otto: &ldquo;it is too soon to
+      speak of leave-taking.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But you scarcely ever come here,&rdquo; returned she. &ldquo;You have better places
+      to go to! The Baron&rsquo;s sister certainly sees you oftener; she is said to be
+      a pretty and very clever girl: perhaps one may soon offer one&rsquo;s
+      congratulations?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto became crimson.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In spring you will travel abroad,&rdquo; pursued she; &ldquo;we shall not then see
+      you in Jutland: yes, perhaps you will never go there again! That will make
+      old Rosalie sad: she thinks so incredibly much of you. In all the letters
+      which I have received here there were greetings to Mr. Thostrup. Yes, I
+      have quite a multitude of them for you; but you do not come to receive
+      them, and I dare not pay a visit to such a young gentleman. For the sake
+      of old friendship let me, at least, be the first who can relate at home of
+      the betrothal!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How can you have got such a thought?&rdquo; replied Otto. &ldquo;I go to so many
+      houses where there are young ladies; if my heart had anything to do with
+      it, I should have a bad prospect. I have great esteem for Miss Sophie; I
+      speak with her as with you, that is all. I perceive that the air of
+      Copenhagen has affected you; here in the city they are always betrothing
+      people. This comes from the ladies in the house here. How could you
+      believe such stories?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Maren also joked about it, but after they had parted she seated herself in
+      a corner, drew her little apron over her head and wept; perhaps because
+      she should soon leave the lively city, where she had been seven times to
+      the theatre, and yet had not seen the wolf-glen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Betrothed!&rdquo; repeated Otto to himself, and thought of Sophie, of the
+      cousin, and of his own childhood, which hung like a storm-cloud in his
+      heaven. Many thoughts passed through his mind: he recollected the
+      Christmas Eve on which he had seen Sophie for the first time, when she, as
+      one of the Fates, gave him the number. He had 33, she 34; they were united
+      by the numbers following each other. He received the pedigree, and was
+      raised to her nobility. The whole joke had for him a signification. He
+      read the verse again which had accompanied it. The conclusion sounded
+      again and again in his ears:&mdash;&ldquo;From this hour forth thy soul high
+      rank hath won her, Nor will forget thy knighthood and thy honor!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Sophie!&rdquo; he exclaimed aloud, and the fire which had long smouldered in
+      his blood now burst forth in flames. &ldquo;Sophie! thee must I press to my
+      heart!&rdquo; He lost himself in dreams. Dark shapes disturbed them. &ldquo;Can she
+      then be happy? Can I? The picture which she received where the covering of
+      ice was broken and the faithful dog watched in vain, is also significant.
+      That is the fulfillment of hopes. I sink, and shall never return!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The image of the cousin mingled in his dreams. That refined countenance
+      with the little mustache looked forth saucily and loquaciously; and
+      Sophie&rsquo;s eyes he saw rest upon the cousin, whilst her white hand played
+      with the brown curls which fell over her cheek.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Sophie!&rdquo; sighed Otto, and fell asleep.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0030" id="link2HCH0030">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXX
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+           ...&rdquo;We live through others,
+     We think we are others; we seem
+     Others to be... And so think others of us.&rdquo;
+                                       SCHEFER.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      When the buds burst forth we will burst forth also! had Otto and Wilhelm
+      often said. Their plan was, in the spring to travel immediately to Paris,
+      but on their way to visit the Rhine, and to sail from Cologne to
+      Strasburg.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, one must see the Rhine first!&rdquo; said Cousin Joachim; &ldquo;when one has
+      seen Switzerland and Italy, it does not strike one nearly as much. That
+      must be your first sight; but you should not see it in spring, but toward
+      autumn. When the vines have their full variety of tint, and the heavy
+      grapes hang from the stems, see, it is then the old ruins stand forth.
+      These are the gardens of the Rhine! Another advantage which you have in
+      going there in autumn is that you then enter Paris in winter, and that one
+      must do; then one does not come post festum; then is the heyday of gayety&mdash;the
+      theatre, the soirées, and everything which can interest the beau monde.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Although Otto did not generally consider the cousin&rsquo;s words of much
+      weight, he this time entered wonderfully into his views. &ldquo;It would
+      certainly be the most prudent to commence their journey toward autumn,&rdquo; he
+      thought: &ldquo;there could be no harm in preparing themselves a little more for
+      it!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is always good!&rdquo; said Joachim; &ldquo;but, what is far more advantageous
+      abroad than all the preparations you can make at home, is said in a few
+      words&mdash;give up all intercourse with your own country-people! Nowadays
+      every one travels! Paris is not now further from us than Hamburg was some
+      thirty years ago. When I was in Paris I found there sixteen or seventeen
+      of my countrymen. O, how they kept together! Eleven of them dwelt in the
+      same hôtel: they drank coffee together, walked out together, went to the
+      restaurateur&rsquo;s together, and took together half a bench in the theatre.
+      That is the most foolish thing a person can do! I consider travelling
+      useful for every one, from the prince to the travelling journeyman. But we
+      allow too many people to travel! We are not rich, therefore restrictions
+      should be made. The creative artist, the poet, the engineer, and the
+      physician must travel; but God knows why theologians should go forth. They
+      can become mad enough at home! They come into Catholic countries, and then
+      there is an end of them! Wherefore should book-worms go forth? They shut
+      themselves up in the diligence and in their chambers, rummage a little in
+      the libraries, but not so much as a pinch of snuff do they do us any good
+      when they return! Those who cost the most generally are of the least use,
+      and bring the country the least honor! I, thank God! paid for my journey
+      myself, and am therefore free to speak my opinion!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      We will now hear what Miss Sophie said, and therefore advance a few days.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We keep you then with us till August!&rdquo; said she, once when she was alone
+      with Otto. &ldquo;That is wise! You can spend some time with us in Funen, and
+      gather strength for your journey. Yes, the journey will do you good!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I hope so!&rdquo; answered Otto. &ldquo;I am perhaps able to become as interesting as
+      your cousin, as amiable!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That would be requiring too much from you!&rdquo; said Sophie, bantering him.
+      &ldquo;You will never have his humor, his facility in catching up character. You
+      will only preach against the depravity of the Parisians; you will only be
+      able to appreciate the melancholy grandeur of Switzerland and the solitude
+      of the Hungarian forests.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You would make a misanthrope of me, which I by no means am.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But you have an innate talent for this character!&rdquo; answered Sophie.
+      &ldquo;Something will certainly be polished away by this journey, and it is on
+      account of this change that I rejoice.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Must one, then, have a light, fickle mood to please you?&rdquo; asked Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, certainly!&rdquo; answered Sophie, ironically.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then it is true what your cousin told me!&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;If one will be
+      fortunate with the ladies, one must at least be somewhat frivolous, fond
+      of pleasure, and fickle,&mdash;that makes one interesting. Yes, he has
+      made himself acquainted with the world, he has experience in everything!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, perfectly!&rdquo; said Sophie, and laughed aloud.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto was silent, with contracted brow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wish you sunshine!&rdquo; said Sophie, and smiling raised her finger. Otto
+      remained unchanged&mdash;he wrinkled his brow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You must change very much!&rdquo; said she, half gravely; and danced out of the
+      room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Three weeks passed by, rich in great events in the kingdom of the heart;
+      it was still a diplomatic secret: the eyes betrayed it by their pantomimic
+      language, the mouth alone was silent, and it is after all the deciding
+      power.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto visited the merchant&rsquo;s family. Maren had departed just the day
+      before. In vain had she awaited his visit throughout the three weeks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You quite forget your true friends!&rdquo; said the ladies. &ldquo;Believe us, Maja
+      was a little angry with you, and yet we have messages. Now she is sailing
+      over the salt sea.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was not precisely the case; she was already on land, and just at this
+      moment was driving over the brown heath, thinking of Copenhagen and the
+      pleasures there, and of the sorrow also&mdash;it is so sad to be forgotten
+      by a friend of childhood! Otto was so handsome, so clever&mdash;she did
+      not dream at all how handsome and clever she herself would appear at home.
+      Beauty and cleverness they had discovered in her before she left; now she
+      had been in the capital, and that gives relief.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The little birds fluttered round the carriage; perhaps they sang to her
+      what should happen in two years: &ldquo;Thou wilt be a bride, the secretary&rsquo;s
+      lovely little bride; thou shalt have both him and the musical-box! Thou
+      wilt be the grandest lady in the town, and yet the most excellent mother.
+      Thy first daughter shall be called Maja&mdash;that is a pretty name, and
+      reminds thee of past days!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0031" id="link2HCH0031">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXXI
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;The monastery is still called &lsquo;Andersskov&rsquo; (the wood of
+     Anders) in memory of its being the habitation of the pious
+     Anders.
+
+     &ldquo;The hill on which he awoke, comforted by sleep, is still
+     called &lsquo;Hvile höi&rsquo; (the hill of rest). A cross having a
+     Latin inscription, half-effaced, marks the spot.&rdquo;&mdash;J. L.
+     HEIBERG.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      It was spring, fresh, life-bearing spring! Only one day and one night, and
+      the birds of passage were back again; the woods made themselves once more
+      young with green, odorous leaves; the Sound had its swimming Venice of
+      richly laden vessels; only one day and one night, and Sophie was removed
+      from Otto&mdash;they were divided by the salt sea; but it was spring in
+      his heart; from it flew his thoughts, like birds of passage, to the island
+      of Funen, and there sang of summer. Hope gave him more &ldquo;gold and green
+      woods&rdquo; than the ships bear through the Sound, more than Zealand&rsquo;s bays can
+      show. Sophie at parting pressed his hand. In her eyes lay what his heart
+      might hope and dream.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He forgot that hope and dreams were the opposites of reality.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cousin Joachim had gone to Stockholm, and would not return either in the
+      spring or summer to Funen. On the contrary, Otto intended to spend a few
+      weeks at the country-seat; not before August would he and Wilhelm travel.
+      There would at least be one happy moment, and many perhaps almost as
+      happy. In his room stood a rose-bush, the first buds formed themselves,
+      and opened their red lips&mdash;as pure and tender as these leaves was
+      Sophie&rsquo;s cheek: he bent over the flower, smiled and read there sweet
+      thoughts which were related to his love. A rose-bud is a sweet mystery.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+                   &ldquo;The myriad leaves enmaze
+                    Small labyrinthine ways
+                    Where spicy odor flows,
+                    Thou lovelv bud o&rsquo; the rose!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      The day came on which Otto, after he had comfortably terminated his visits
+      of leave-taking, at midday, in the company of three young students
+      travelled away through Zealand. They had taken a carriage together as far
+      as Slagelse, where, like Abraham&rsquo;s and Lot&rsquo;s shepherds, they should
+      separate to the right and left. Otto remained alone, in order to travel
+      post that night to Nyborg. It was only four o&rsquo;clock in the afternoon, Otto
+      had no acquaintance here, therefore it was but to take a walk.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There still exist remains of the old Antvorskov convent, [Author&rsquo;s Note:
+      The convent was founded by Waldemar I., 1177.] do there not?&rdquo; asked he.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, but very little!&rdquo; answered the host. &ldquo;The convent became a castle,
+      the castle a private house, and now within the last few years, on account
+      of the stones, it has been still more pulled down. You will find nothing
+      old remaining, except here and there in the garden a piece of a red wall
+      standing out. But the situation is beautiful! If you will only take the
+      road toward the large village called Landsgrav, you are on the way to
+      Korsöer, and close to the cross of the holy Anders. It is a right pleasant
+      excursion!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Convent ruins and the holy cross!&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;that sounds quite
+      romantic!&rdquo; And he commenced his wanderings.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A few scholars from the Latin school, with their books held together by a
+      strait, and then a square built lancer, who greeted in military style an
+      elderly-young lady, who was seated behind a barricade of geraniums and
+      wall flowers, were the only individuals he met with on his way. Yet Otto
+      remarked that the windows were opened as he passed; people wanted to see
+      who the stranger might be who was going up the street.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A long avenue led from the town to the castle. On either side the way lay
+      detached houses, with little gardens. Otto soon reached the remains of old
+      Antvorskov. The way was red from the stones which were flung about, and
+      were now ground to dust. Huge pieces of wall, where the mortar and stone
+      were united in one piece, lay almost concealed among the high nettles.
+      Rather more distant stood a solitary house of two stories. It was narrow,
+      and whitewashed. A thick pilaster, such as one sees in churches, supported
+      the strong wall. This was half of the last wing of the castle,&mdash;a
+      mingling of the ancient and incident, of ruin and dwelling-house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto went into the garden, which was laid out upon the hill itself, and
+      its terraces. Here were only young trees; but the walks were everywhere
+      overgrown. The view stretched itself far over the plain, toward the Belt
+      and Funen. He descended from the terrace down to the lowest wall. In this
+      there yet remained a piece of an old tombstone, of the age of the convent,
+      on which you perceived the trace of a female form; and near to this the
+      figure of a skeleton, round which was twined a snake. Otto stood sunk in
+      contemplation, when an old man, with two water-buckets suspended from a
+      yoke on his shoulders, approached a near well.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The old man was very ready to commence a conversation. He told of
+      excavations, and of an underground passage which had not been discovered,
+      but which, according to his opinion, was certainly in existence. So far
+      they had only found a few walled-round spaces, which had most probably
+      been prisons. In one of these was an iron chain fastened into the wall.
+      But with regard to the underground passage, they had only not yet
+      discovered the right place, for it must exist. It led from here, deep
+      under the lake and forest, toward Soröe. There were large iron gates
+      below. At Christmas one could hear how they were swung to and fro.
+      &ldquo;Whoever should have that which is concealed there,&rdquo; said the old man,
+      &ldquo;would be a made man, and need not neither slip nor slide.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto looked at the solitary wing which rose up over the terrace. How
+      splendid it had been here in former times!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Close to the large wood, several miles in extent, which stretches itself
+      on the other side of Soröe, down to the shore of the King&rsquo;s Brook, lay the
+      rich convent where Hans Tausen spoke what the Spirit inspired him with.
+      Times changed; the convent vanished;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+                 &ldquo;Halls of state
+      Tower upon that spot elate;
+      Where the narrow cell once stood;&rdquo;
+      [Author&rsquo;s Note: Anders-skov, by Oehlenschläger.]
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      where the monks sang psalms, knights and ladies danced to the sound of
+      beating drums: but these tone&rsquo;s ceased; the blooming cheeks became dust.
+      It was again quiet. Many a pleasant time did Holberg ride over from Soröe,
+      through the green wood, to visit the steward of Antvorskov. Otto
+      recollected what one of his daughters, when an old woman, had related to a
+      friend of his. She was a child, and lay in the cradle, when old Holberg
+      came riding there, with a little wheaten loaf and a small pot of preserve
+      in his pocket&mdash;his usual provision on such little excursions. The
+      steward&rsquo;s young wife sat at her spinning-wheel. Holberg paced up and down
+      the room with the husband; they were discussing politics. This interested
+      the wife, and she joined in the conversation. Holberg turned round to her,&mdash;&ldquo;I
+      fancy the distaff speaks!&rdquo; said he. This the wife could never forget.
+      [Translator&rsquo;s Note: Rokkehoved, distaff, means also dunce in Danish.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto smiled at this recollection of the witty but ungallant poet, quitted
+      the garden, and went through a winding hollow way, where the luxuriant
+      briers hung in rich masses over the stone fence. Slagelse, with its high
+      hills in the background, looked picturesque. He soon reached Landsgrav.
+      The sun went down as he walked over the field where the wooden cross
+      stands, with its figure of the Redeemer, in memory of the holy Anders.
+      Near it he perceived a man, who appeared to kneel. One hand held fast by
+      the cross; in the other was a sharp knife, with which he was probably
+      cutting out his name. He did not observe Otto. Near the man lay a box
+      covered with green oil-cloth; and in the grass lay a knapsack, a pair of
+      boots, and a knotty stick. It must be a wandering journeyman, or else a
+      pedlar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto was about to return, when the stranger rose and perceived him. Otto
+      stood as if nailed to the earth. It was the German Heinrich whom he saw
+      before him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is not that Mr. Thostrup?&rdquo; said the man and that horrible grinning smile
+      played around his mouth. &ldquo;No, that I did not expect!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Does it go well with you, Heinrich?&rdquo; asked Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There&rsquo;s room for things to mend!&rdquo; replied Heinrich &ldquo;It goes better with
+      you! Good Lord, that you should become such a grand gentleman! Who would
+      have thought it, when you rode on my knee, and I pricked you in the arm?
+      Things go on strangely in this world! Have you heard of your sister? She
+      was not so much spoiled as you! But she was a beautiful child!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have neither seen her nor my parents!&rdquo; replied he, with a trembling
+      which he strove to conquer. &ldquo;Do you know where she is?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am always travelling!&rdquo; said Heinrich; &ldquo;but thus much I know, that she
+      is still in Funen. Yes, she must take one of us, an unpretending husband!
+      You can choose a genteel young lady for yourself. That&rsquo;s the way when
+      people are lucky. You will become a landed proprietor. Old Heinrich will
+      then no doubt obtain permission to exhibit his tricks on your estate? But
+      none of its will speak of former times!&mdash;of the red house on the
+      Odense water!&rdquo; This last he whispered quite low. &ldquo;I shall receive a few
+      shillings from you?&rdquo; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You shall have more!&rdquo; said Otto, and gave to him. &ldquo;But I wish us to
+      remain strangers to each other, as we are!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, certainly, certainly!&rdquo; said Heinrich, and nodded affirmatively with
+      his head, whilst his eyes rested on the gift Otto had presented him with.
+      &ldquo;Then you are no longer angry with my joke in Jutland?&rdquo; asked he with a
+      simpering smile, and kissed Otto&rsquo;s hand. &ldquo;I should not have known you
+      then. Had you not shown me your shoulder, on which I saw the letters O and
+      T which I myself had etched, it would never have occurred to me that we
+      knew each other! But a light suddenly flashed across me. I should have
+      said Otto Thostrup; but I said &lsquo;Odense Tugt-huus.&rsquo; [Note: Odense house of
+      correction.] That was not handsome of me, seeing you are such a good
+      gentleman!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, now adieu!&rdquo; said Otto, and extended to him unwillingly his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There, our Saviour looks down upon us!&rdquo; said the German Heinrich, and
+      fixed his eyes upon the figure on the cross. &ldquo;As certainly as He lives may
+      you rely upon the silence of my mouth. He is my Redeemer, who hangs there
+      on the cross, just as he is etched upon my skin, and as he stands along
+      the high-roads in my father-land. Here is the only place in the whole
+      country where the sign of the cross stands under the free heaven; here I
+      worship: for you must know, Mr. Thostrup, I am not of your faith, but of
+      the faith of the Virgin Mary. Here I have cut into the wood the holy sign,
+      such as is placed over every door in my father-land,&mdash;an I, an H, and
+      this S. In this is contained my own name; for H stands for Heinrich; I,
+      for I myself; and S means Sinner; that is, I, Heinrich, Sinner. Now I have
+      completed my worship, and you have given me a handsome skilling, I shall
+      now go to my bed at the public-house; and if the girl is pretty, and lets
+      one flatter her, I am still young enough, and shall fancy that I am Mr.
+      Thostrup, and have won that most glorious, elegant young lady! Hurrah! it
+      is a player&rsquo;s life which we lead!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto left him, but heard how Heinrich sang:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+           &ldquo;Tri, ri, ro,
+   The summer comes once mo!
+     To beer, boys! to beer
+   The winter lies in bands, O!
+     And he who won&rsquo;t come here,
+   We&rsquo;ll trounce him with our wands, O!
+            Yo, yo, yo,
+   The summer comes once mo!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      As, suddenly on a clear sunny day, a cloud can appear, extinguish the warm
+      sunshine, conceal the green coast, and change everything into gray mist
+      forms, so was it now with Otto, who had but just before felt himself so
+      happy and full of youthful joy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You can sleep quietly!&rdquo; said the host, when Otto returned to Slagelse;
+      &ldquo;you shall be wakened early enough to leave with the mail.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But his rest was like a delirium.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The post-horn sounded in the empty street; they rolled away&mdash;it was
+      at daybreak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is that a gallows?&rdquo; inquired one of the travellers, and pointed toward
+      the hill, where at this distance the cross looked like a stake.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is the cross of the holy Anders!&rdquo; replied Otto; and livingly stood
+      before him the recollections of the evening before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Does that really exist?&rdquo; said the stranger. &ldquo;I have read of it in the
+      &lsquo;Letters of a Wandering Ghost.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was a beautiful morning, the sun shone warmly, the sea was smooth as
+      a mirror, and so much the faster did the steamboat glide away. The vessel
+      with the mail, which had set sail two hours earlier, still lay not far
+      from land. The sails hung down loosely; not a breeze stirred them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The steamboat glided close past her; the passengers in the mail-vessel,
+      the greater portion coachmen, travelling journeymen, and peasants, stood
+      on the deck to see it. They waved greetings. One of the foremost leaned on
+      his knotty stick, pulled off his hat, and shouted, &ldquo;Good morning, my noble
+      gentlefolk!&rdquo; It was the German Heinrich; he then was going to Funen.
+      Otto&rsquo;s heart beat faster, he gazed down among the rushing waves which
+      foamed round the paddle, where the sunbeams painted a glorious rainbow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is lovely!&rdquo; said one of the strangers, close to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Very lovely!&rdquo; returned Otto, and stilled the sigh which would burst forth
+      from his breast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Scarcely two hours were fled&mdash;the cables were flung upon the Nyborg
+      bridge of boats, and the steamboat made fast to the island of Funen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0032" id="link2HCH0032">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXXII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;It is so sweet when friendly hands bid you a hearty
+     welcome, so dear to behold well-known features, wherever you
+     turn your eyes. Everything seems so home-like and quiet
+     about you and in your own breast.&rdquo;   HENRIETTE HAUCK.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Otto immediately hired a carriage, and reached the hall just about
+      dinner-time. In the interior court-yard stood two calashes and an Holstein
+      carriage; two strange coachmen, with lace round their hats, stood in
+      animated discourse when Otto drove in through the gate. The postilion blew
+      his horn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be quiet there!&rdquo; cried Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There are strangers at the hall!&rdquo; said the postilion; &ldquo;I will only let
+      them know that another is coming.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto gazed at the garden, glanced up toward the windows, where mine of the
+      ladies showed themselves only out of a side building a female head was
+      stretched out, whose hair was put back underneath a cap. Otto recognized
+      the grown-together eyebrows. &ldquo;Is she the first person I am to see here?&rdquo;
+       sighed he; and the carriage rolled into the inner court. The dogs barked,
+      the turkey-cocks gobbled, but not Wilhelm showed himself. The Kammerjunker
+      came&mdash;the excellent neighbor! and immediately afterward Sophie; both
+      exclaimed with smiles, &ldquo;Welcome!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See, here we have our man!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker; &ldquo;we can make use of
+      him in the play!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is glorious you are come!&rdquo; cried Sophie. &ldquo;We shall immediately put you
+      under arrest.&rdquo; She extended her hand to him&mdash;he pressed it to his
+      lips. &ldquo;We will have tableaux vivants this evening!&rdquo; said she: &ldquo;the pastor
+      has never seen any. We have no service from Wilhelm; he is in Svendborg,
+      and will not return for two days. You must be the officer; the
+      Kammerjunker will represent the Somnambulist, who comes with her light
+      through the window. Will you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Everything you desire!&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do not speak of it!&rdquo; returned Sophie, and laid her finger on her lips.
+      The mother descended the steps.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Dear Thostrup!&rdquo; said she, and pressed, with warm cordiality, both his
+      hands. &ldquo;I have really quite yearned after you. Now Wilhelm is away, you
+      must for two whole days put up with us alone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto went through the long passage where hung the old portraits; it was as
+      if these also wished welcome. It only seemed a night full of many dreams
+      which had passed since he was here; a year in the lapse of time is also
+      not so long as a winter&rsquo;s night in the life of man.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Here it was so agreeable, so home-like; no one could have seen by the
+      trees that since then they had stood stripped of leaves and covered with
+      snow; luxuriantly green they waved themselves in the sun&rsquo;s warmth, just as
+      when Otto last gazed out of this window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He had the red room as before. The dinner-bell rang.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Louise met him in the passage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thostrup!&rdquo; exclaimed she, with delight, and seized his hand. &ldquo;Now, it is
+      almost a year and a day since I saw you!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes much has happened in this year!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker. &ldquo;Come soon to
+      me, and you shall see what I have had made for pastime&mdash;a
+      bowling-green! Miss Sophie has tried her skill upon it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Kammerjunker took the mother to dinner. Otto approached Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Will you not take the Kammerjunker&rsquo;s sister?&rdquo; whispered she.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mechanically, Otto made his bow before Miss Jakoba.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Take one of the young ladies!&rdquo; said she; &ldquo;you would rather do that?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto bowed, cast a glance toward Sophie; she had the old pastor. Otto
+      smiled, and conducted Jakoba to table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Mamsell, renowned through her work-box, sat on his left hand. He
+      observed the company who, beside those we have already mentioned,
+      consisted of several ladies and gentlemen whom he did not know. One chair
+      was empty, but it was soon occupied; a young girl, quiet in her attire,
+      and dressed like Louise, entered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why do you come so late?&rdquo; asked Sophie, smiling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is only known to Eva and me!&rdquo; said Louise, and smiled at the young
+      girl.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Eva seated herself. It was, perhaps, the complete resemblance of their
+      dress which induced Otto to observe both her and Louise so closely, and
+      even against his own will to draw comparisons. Both wore a simple dark
+      brown dress, a small sea-green handkerchief round the neck. Louise seemed
+      to him enchanting&mdash;pretty one could not call her: Eva, on the
+      contrary, was ideal; there lay something in her appearance which made him
+      think of the pale pink hyacinth. Every human being has his invisible
+      angel, says the mythos; both are different and yet resemble each other.
+      Eva was the angel; Louise, on the contrary, the human being in all its
+      purity. Otto&rsquo;s eyes encountered those of Sophie&mdash;they were both
+      directed to the same point. &ldquo;What power! what beauty!&rdquo; thought he. Her
+      mind is far above that of Louise, and in beauty she is a gorgeous flower,
+      and not, like Eva, a fine, delicate hyacinth. He drew eloquence from these
+      eyes, and became interesting like the cousin, although he had not been in
+      Paris.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Kammerjunker spoke of sucking-pigs, but that also was interesting;
+      perhaps be drew his inspiration out of the same source as Otto. He spoke
+      of the power of green buckwheat, and how the swine which eat it become
+      mad. From this doubtless originated the legend of the devil entering into
+      the swine. It is only coal-black pigs which can digest green buckwheat; if
+      they have a single white speck upon them, they become ill at eating. &ldquo;This
+      is extraordinary,&rdquo; exclaimed he.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In his enthusiasm his discourse became almost a cry, which caused Miss
+      Jakoba to say that one might almost think that he himself had eaten green
+      buckwheat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto meantime cut out of the green melon-peel a man, and made him ride on
+      the edge of his glass; that withdrew Sophie&rsquo;s attention from the
+      Kammerjunker. The whole company found that this little cut-out figure was
+      very pretty; and the Mamsell begged that she might have it&mdash;it should
+      lie in her work-box.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Toward evening all were in preparation for the approaching tableaux.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Eva must represent Hero. With a torch in her hand she must kneel on a
+      table, which was to be draped so as to represent a balcony. The poor girl
+      felt quite unhappy at having to appear in this manner. Sophie laughed at
+      her fear, and assured her that she would be admired, and that therefore
+      she must and should.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Give way to my sister,&rdquo; said Louise, in a beseeching voice; and Eva was
+      ready, let down her long brown hair, and allowed Sophie to arrange the
+      drapery.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto must put on an officer&rsquo;s uniform. He presented himself to the
+      sisters.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That gold is not sewn fast on the collar,&rdquo; said Sophie, and undertook to
+      rectify it. He could easily keep the uniform on whilst she did this, said
+      she. Her soft hand touched Otto&rsquo;s cheek, it was like an electric shock to
+      him; his blood burned; how much he longed to press the hand to his lips!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They all burst out laughing when the Kammerjunker appeared in a white
+      petticoat which only reached a little below the knee, and in a large white
+      lady&rsquo;s dressing-jacket. Miss Sophie must arrange his hair. She did it
+      charmingly; her hand stroked the hair away from his brow, and glided over
+      his cheeks: he kissed it; she struck him in the face, and begged him not
+      to forget himself! &ldquo;We are ladies,&rdquo; said he, and rose in his full
+      splendor. They all laughed except Otto; he could not&mdash;he felt a
+      desire to beat him. The spectators arranged themselves in a dark room, the
+      folding doors were opened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Eva as Hero, in a white linen robe, her hair hanging down on her
+      shoulders, and a torch in her hand, gazed out over the sea. No painter
+      could have imagined anything more beautiful; the large dark-blue eyes
+      expressed tenderness and melancholy; it was Eva&rsquo;s natural glance, but here
+      you saw her quiet. The fine black eyebrows increased the expression, the
+      whole figure was as if breathed into the picture.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now followed a new picture&mdash;Faust and Margaret in the arbor; behind
+      stood Mephistophiles, with his devilish smile. The Kammerjunker&rsquo;s Mamsell
+      was Margaret. When the doors were opened she sent forth aloud cry, and ran
+      away; she would not stay, she was so afraid. The group was disarranged,
+      people laughed and found it amusing, but the Kammerjunker scolded aloud,
+      and swore that she should come in again; at that the laughter of the
+      spectators increased, and was not lessened when the Kammerjunker,
+      forgetting his costume as the Somnambule, half stepped into the frame in
+      which the pictures were represented, and seated the Mamsell on the bench.
+      This group was only seen for one moment: the dorors were again closed; the
+      spectators applauded, but a whistle was heard. Laughter, and the hum of
+      conversation, resounded through the room; and it was impossible to obtain
+      perfect quiet, although a new picture already shone in the frame. It was
+      Sophie as Correggio&rsquo;s &ldquo;Magdalene&rdquo;: her rich hair fell in waves over her
+      shoulders and round arms; before her lay the skull and the holy book.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto&rsquo;s blood flowed faster; never had he seen Sophie more beautiful. The
+      audience, however, could not entirely forget the comic scene which they
+      had just witnessed; there was heard a faint suppressed laughter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This at length was able to take its free course when the following picture
+      presented itself, where the Kammerjunker, as the Somnambule, his hand
+      half-concealing the extinguished light, showed himself at the open window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A most stormy burst of applause was awarded to the actors.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Miss Sophie has arranged the whole!&rdquo; cried the Kammerjunker, and now her
+      name sounded from the lips of all the audience.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Not before two days did Wilhelm return. He and Otto slept in the same
+      apartment. Otto told of the tableaux, and said how lovely Eva had been as
+      Hero.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That I can well believe,&rdquo; replied Wilhelm, but did not enter further into
+      the subject; he laughed about the Kammerjunker and the disarranged group.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto again named Eva, but Wilhelm lightly passed over this subject in his
+      replies. Otto could not fathom their connection.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Shall we not go to sleep?&rdquo; said Wilhelm; they wished each other
+      good-night, and it was quiet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The old man Sleep, as Tieck has described him, with the box out of which
+      he brings his dream-puppets, now commenced his nightly dramatic
+      adventures, which lasted until the sun shone in through the window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0033" id="link2HCH0033">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXXIII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;He draws nearer and nearer to her.
+     &lsquo;O, give my hope an answer by this pink-flower.&rsquo; 
+     She sighs: &lsquo;O, I will&mdash;no&mdash;I will not.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+                              The Dancer, by PALUDAN-MÜLLER
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shall get to know!&rdquo; thought Otto. &ldquo;This violent love cannot be
+      evaporated.&rdquo; He paid attention to every little occurrence. Eva was the
+      same quiet, modest creature as formerly&mdash;a house-fairy who exercised
+      a friendly influence over all. Wilhelm spoke with her, but not with
+      passion, neither with affected indifference. However, we cannot entirely
+      rely upon Otto&rsquo;s power of observation: his glance was directed too often
+      toward a dearer object&mdash;his attention was really directed to Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They walked in the garden.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Once as you certainly know,&rdquo; said Otto, &ldquo;your brother had a fancy for the
+      pretty Eva. Is it not, therefore, somewhat dangerous her living here? Has
+      your mother been prudent?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For Wilhelm I am quite unconcerned!&rdquo; answered Sophie. &ldquo;Only take care of
+      yourself! Eva is very amiable, and has very much changed for the better
+      since she came here. My sister Louise quite raves about her, and my mother
+      regards her almost as an adopted daughter. You have certainly remarked
+      that she is not kept in the background. Yet she is weak; she resembles the
+      tender mountain-flowers which grow in ice and snow, but which bow their
+      heads in the soft mountain air, when it is warmed by the sun. It really
+      seems to me that she is become weaker since she has enjoyed our care and
+      happy days. When I saw her at Roeskelde she was far more blooming.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps she thinks of your brother&mdash;thinks of him with quiet
+      sorrow?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That I do not think is the case,&rdquo; replied Sophie; &ldquo;otherwise Louise would
+      have heard something of it. She possesses Eva&rsquo;s entire confidence. You may
+      make yourself easy, if you are jealous!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What make you conjecture this? My thoughts are directed above, and not
+      beneath me!&rdquo; said he, with a kind of pride, &ldquo;I feel that I could never
+      fall in love with Eva. Feel love toward her? no! Even when I think of it,
+      I feel almost as though I had some prejudice against her. But you joke;
+      you will rally me, as you have so often done. We shall soon part! Only two
+      months longer shall I remain in Denmark! Two long years abroad! How much
+      may occur in that time! Will you think of me&mdash;really think of me,
+      Miss Sophie?&rdquo; He bent, and kissed her hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie became crimson. Both were silent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are you here!&rdquo; said the mother, who came out of a side walk.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto stooped lower, and broke one of the beautiful stocks which hung over
+      the border.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are you taking Louise&rsquo;s favorite flowers?&rdquo; said she, smiling. &ldquo;This bed
+      is declared to be inviolable.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was so unfortunate as to break it!&rdquo; said Otto, confused.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He wished to gather the dark-red pink for my table-garland!&rdquo; said Sophie.
+      &ldquo;If he took it, my conscience would be clear!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And they all three walked along speaking of cherries, gooseberries, of the
+      linen on the bleaching-ground, and of the warm summer&rsquo;s day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the evening Eva and the two sisters sat at their work, Otto and Wilhelm
+      had taken their seats beside them. They spoke of Copenhagen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie knew how to introduce a number of little anecdotes, which she had
+      gathered among the young ladies there. Otto entered into her ideas, and
+      knew cleverly how to support what she said. What in reality interested
+      young ladies was discussed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When a girl is confirmed, all manner of fancies awake!&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;She
+      experiences a kind of inclination for the heart of man; but this may not
+      be acknowledged, except for two friends to the clergyman and the
+      physician. For these she has quite a passion, especially for the former;
+      she stands in a kind of spiritual rapport with him. His physical
+      amiability melts into the spiritual. Thus her first love one may designate
+      clergyman-love.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is well said!&rdquo; exclaimed Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He preaches himself so deeply into her heart!&rdquo; pursued Otto. &ldquo;She melts
+      into tears, kisses his hand, and goes to church; but not for the sake of
+      God, but on account of the sweet clergyman!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, I know that so well!&rdquo; said Sophie, and laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fie! you do not mean so!&rdquo; said Louise; &ldquo;and I do not know how you can say
+      such a thing Mr. Thostrup! That is frightful! You do not in the least know
+      a young girl&rsquo;s soul! do not know the pure feeling with which she inclines
+      herself to the man who has laid open before her the holy things of
+      religion! Do not make sport of the innocent, the pure, which is so far
+      removed from every earthly impression!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I assure you,&rdquo; said Otto, smiling, &ldquo;were I a poet, I would make the
+      clergyman-love ridiculous in a hundred witty epigrams; and were I a
+      teacher, I would protest against it from the chair.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That would be scattering poison into a well!&rdquo; said Louise. &ldquo;You, as a
+      man, do not know the pure, the holy sentiment which exists in a young
+      girl&rsquo;s bosom. Eva, thou art certainly of my opinion?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Neither is this Mr. Thostrup&rsquo;s opinion?&rdquo; answered she, and looked at him
+      with a mild gravity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm laughed aloud.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0034" id="link2HCH0034">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXXIV
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Alas, I am no sturdy oak!
+     Alas, I&rsquo;m but the flower
+       That wakes the kiss of May!
+     And when has fled its little hour,
+       Will voice of Death obey.&rdquo;&mdash;RUCKERT.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The following afternoon came visitors&mdash;two young ladies from Nyborg,
+      friends of Sophie and Louise. Before dinner they would take a walk through
+      the wood to an inclosure where the flax was in bloom. Otto was to
+      accompany them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am also of the party!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, who just galloped into
+      the court-yard as the ladies, with Otto, were about setting out on their
+      excursion. Thus the whole company consisted of five ladies and two
+      gentlemen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The cows are not in the field over which we must go, are they?&rdquo; asked
+      Eva.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, my good girl!&rdquo; returned Sophie; &ldquo;you may be quite easy! Besides, we
+      have two gentlemen with us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes; but they would not be able to protect us from the unruly bullocks!&rdquo;
+       said Louise. &ldquo;But we have nothing to fear. Where we are going the cows do
+      not go until after they are milked. I am no heroine! Besides, it is not
+      long since one bullock nearly gored the cowherd to death. He also gored
+      Sidsel a great hole in her arm just lately: you remember the girl with her
+      eyebrows grown together?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There is also in the wood a wild sow, with eleven sucking pigs!&rdquo; said
+      Sophie, in ironical gravity; &ldquo;it would not be agree able to meet with
+      her!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is almost as dangerous as the bullocks!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, and
+      laughed at Eva.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The conversation took another turn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Shall we not visit Peter Cripple?&rdquo; asked Sophie. &ldquo;The gentlemen can then
+      see the smith&rsquo;s pretty daughter; she is really too beautiful to be his
+      wife!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is Peter Cripple married?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, the wedding will be held on Sunday!&rdquo; replied the Kammerjunker; &ldquo;but
+      the bride is already in the house. The bans were published last Sunday,
+      and they immediately commenced housekeeping together. This often takes
+      place even earlier, when a man cannot do without a wife. She has taken him
+      on account of his full money-bags!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, with the peasant it is seldom love which brings about the affair!&rdquo;
+       said Louise. &ldquo;Last year there was quite a young girl who married a man who
+      might have been her grandfather. She took him only, she said, because he
+      had such a good set of earthenware.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These were very brittle things to marry upon!&rdquo; remarked Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Meantime they were nearly come to the edge of the wood. Here stood a
+      little house; hops hung luxuriantly over the hedge, the cat stood with
+      bent back upon the crumbling edge of the well.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie, at the head of the whole company, stepped into the room, where
+      Peter Cripple sat on the table sewing; but, light and active as an elf, he
+      sprang down from the table to kiss her hand. The smith&rsquo;s pretty daughter
+      was stirring something in an iron pot in the hearth. St. John&rsquo;s wort,
+      stuck between the beams and the ceiling, shot forth in luxuriant growth,
+      prophesying long life to the inhabitants of the house. On the sooty
+      ceiling glittered herrings&rsquo; souls, as a certain portion of the herring&rsquo;s
+      entrails is called, and which Peter Cripple, following the popular belief,
+      had flung up to the ceiling, convinced that so long as they hung there he
+      should be freed from the ague.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto took no part in the conversation, but turned over a quantity of songs
+      which he found; they were stitched together in a piece of blue
+      tobacco-paper. The principal contents were, &ldquo;New, Melancholy Songs,&rdquo; &ldquo;Of
+      the Horrible Murder,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Audacious Criminal,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Devil in Salmon
+      Lane,&rdquo; &ldquo;Boat&rsquo;s Fall,&rdquo; and such things; which have now supplanted, among
+      the peasants, the better old popular songs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With Louise, Eva, and one of the ladies from Nyborg, Otto slowly preceded
+      the others, who had still some pleasantries to say before leaving Peter
+      Cripple and his bride.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Shall we not go over the inclosure to the cairn?&rdquo; said Louise. &ldquo;It is
+      clear to-day; we shall see Zealand. The others will follow us; here, from
+      the foot-path, they will immediately discover us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto opened the gate and they went through the inclosure. They had already
+      advanced a considerable way, when the Kammerjunker and his ladies reached
+      the foot-path from which they could see the others.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They are going to the cairn,&rdquo; said he.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then they will have a little fright!&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;Down in the corner of
+      the inclosure lie the young cattle. They may easily mistake them for cows,
+      and the wild bullocks!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Had we not better call them back?&rdquo; asked the other lady.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But we must frighten them a little,&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;Shout to them that
+      there are the cows!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, that I can do with a clear conscience!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker; and
+      he shouted as loud as he could, &ldquo;There are the cows! Turn back! turn
+      back!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Eva heard it the first. &ldquo;O God!&rdquo; said she, &ldquo;hear what they are calling to
+      us!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto glanced around, but saw no cows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They are standing still!&rdquo; said Sophie; &ldquo;call once again!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Kammerjunker shouted as before, and Sophie imitated the lowing of the
+      cows. At this noise the young cattle arose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Louise now became aware of them. &ldquo;O heavens!&rdquo; exclaimed she; &ldquo;there, down
+      in the corner of the inclosure, are all the cows!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let us run!&rdquo; cried Eva, and took to flight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For God&rsquo;s sake, do not run!&rdquo; cried Otto; &ldquo;walk slowly and quietly,
+      otherwise they may come!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come away, away!&rdquo; resounded from the wood.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Lord!&rdquo; shrieked Eva, when she saw the creatures raise their tails in
+      the air as soon as they perceived the fugitives.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now they are coming!&rdquo; cried the lady who accompanied them, and sent forth
+      a loud scream.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Eva fled first, as if borne by the wind; the lady followed her, and Louise
+      ran on after them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto now really saw all the cattle, which, upon the ladies flight, had
+      instinctively followed, chasing over the field after them in the same
+      direction.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nothing now remained for him but, like the others, to reach the gate. This
+      he opened, and had just closed again, when the cattle were close upon
+      them, but no one had eyes to see whether the cattle were little or big.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now there is no more danger!&rdquo; cried Otto, as soon as he had well closed
+      the gate; but the ladies still fled on, passing among the trees until they
+      reached the spot where the Kammerjunker and his two ladies awaited them
+      with ringing laughter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie was obliged to support herself against a tree through all the
+      amusement. It had been a most remarkable spectacle, this flight; Eva at
+      the head, and Mr. Thostrup rushing past them to open the gate. Louise was
+      pale as death, and her whole body trembled; the friend supported her arm
+      and forehead on a tree, and drew a long breath.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bah!&rdquo; again cried Sophie, and laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But where is Eva?&rdquo; asked Otto, and shouted her name.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She ran here before me!&rdquo; said Louise; &ldquo;she is doubtless leaning against a
+      tree, and recovering her strength.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Eva!&rdquo; cried Sophie. &ldquo;Where is my hero: &lsquo;I want a hero!&rsquo;&rdquo; [Author&rsquo;s Note:
+      Byron&rsquo;s Don Juan.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto returned to seek her. At this moment Wilhelm arrived.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Kammerjunker regretted that he had not seen the race with them, and
+      related the whole history to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O come! come!&rdquo; they heard Otto shout. They found him kneeling in the high
+      grass. Eva lay stretched out on the ground; she was as pale as death; her
+      head rested in Otto&rsquo;s lap.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;God in heaven!&rdquo; cried Wilhelm, and flung himself down before her. &ldquo;Eva!
+      Eva! O, she is dead! and thou art to blame for it, Sophie! Thou hast
+      killed her!&rdquo; Reproachfully he fixed his eyes on his sister. She burst into
+      tears, and concealed her face in her hands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto ran to the peasant&rsquo;s cottage and brought water. Peter Cripple himself
+      hopped like a mountain-elf behind him through the high nettles and
+      burdocks, which closed above and behind him again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Kammerjunker took Eva in his strong arms and carried her to the
+      cottage. Wilhelm did not leave hold of her hand. The others followed in
+      silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Try and get her home,&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;I myself will fetch the physician!&rdquo;
+       He rushed forth, and hastened through the wood to the ball, where he
+      ordered the men to bring out a sedan-chair for the invalid; then had
+      horses put into one of the lightest carriages, seated himself in it as
+      coachman, and drove away to Nyborg, the nearest town, which, however, was
+      distant almost twenty miles.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie was inconsolable. &ldquo;It is my fault!&rdquo; she said, and wept.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto found her sitting before the house, under an elder-tree. She could
+      not endure to see Eva&rsquo;s paleness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are innocent,&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;Believe me, to-morrow Eva will be
+      completely restored! She herself,&rdquo; added he, in an assuaging tone,
+      &ldquo;behaved in an imprudent manner. I warned her not to run. Her own terror
+      is to blame for all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no,&rdquo; returned Sophie; &ldquo;my folly, my extravagance, has caused the
+      whole misfortune!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now it is much better,&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, coming out of the house.
+      &ldquo;She must be devilish tender to fly before a few calves! I really must
+      laugh when I think of it, although it did come to such an end!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The men now arrived whom Wilhelm had sent with the sedan-chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Eva thought she could walk, if she might lean upon some one; but it would
+      be better, her friends thought, if she were carried.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Dost thou feel any pain?&rdquo; asked Louise, and gave her a sisterly kiss on
+      the brow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, none at all,&rdquo; replied Eva. &ldquo;Do not scold me for having frightened you
+      so. I am so fearful, and the bullock were close behind us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They were, God help me, only calves!&rdquo; answered the Kammerjunker; &ldquo;they
+      wished to play, and only ran because you ran!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was a foolish joke of mine!&rdquo; said Sophie, and seized Eva&rsquo;s hand. &ldquo;I am
+      very unhappy about it!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O no!&rdquo; said Eva, and smiled so pensively, yet happily. &ldquo;To-morrow I shall
+      be quite well again!&rdquo; Her eye seemed to seek some one.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto understood the glance. &ldquo;The physician is sent for. Wilhelm has
+      himself driven over for him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Toward the middle of the wood the mother herself approached them; she was
+      almost as pale as Eva.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All sought to calm her; Eva bowed her head to kiss the good lady&rsquo;s hand.
+      The Kammerjunker told the story to her, and she shook her head. &ldquo;What an
+      imprudent, foolish joke!&rdquo; said she; &ldquo;here you see the consequences!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Not before late in the afternoon did Wilhelm return with the physician; he
+      found his patient out of all danger, but prescribed what should still be
+      done. Quiet and the warm summer air would do the most for her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See,&rdquo; said Otto, when, toward evening he met Sophie in the garden,
+      &ldquo;to-day Wilhelm did not conceal his feelings!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I fear that you are right!&rdquo; returned Sophie. &ldquo;He loves Eva, and that is
+      very unfortunate. Tell me what you know about it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know almost nothing!&rdquo; said Otto, and told about little Jonas and the
+      first meeting with Eva.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, that he has told us already himself! But do you know nothing more?&rdquo;
+       Her voice became soft, and her eyes gazed full of confidence into Otto&rsquo;s.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He related to her the short conversation which he had had last autumn with
+      Wilhelm, how angry he had been with his candid warning, and how since then
+      they had never spoken about Eva.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I must confide my fear to our mother!&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;I almost now am glad
+      that he will travel in two months, although we shall then lose you also!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And Otto&rsquo;s heart beat; the secret of his heart pressed to his lips; every
+      moment he would speak it. But Sophie had always still another question
+      about her brother; they were already out of the garden, already in the
+      court-yard, and yet Otto had said nothing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Therefore was he so quiet when, late in the evening, he and Wilhelm
+      entered their chamber. Wilhelm also spoke no word, but his eye repeatedly
+      rested expectantly on Otto, as if waiting for him to break the silence.
+      Wilhelm stepped to the open window and drank in the fresh air, suddenly he
+      turned round, flung his arms round Otto, and exclaimed, &ldquo;I can no longer
+      endure it! I must say it to some one! I love her, and will never give her
+      up, let every one be opposed! I have now silently concealed my feelings
+      for some months; I can do so no longer, or I shall become ill, and for
+      that I am not made!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Does she know this?&rdquo; asked Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, and yes! I do not know what I should answer! Here at home I have
+      never spoken alone with her. The last time when Weyse played on the organ
+      at Roeskelde I had bought a pretty silk handkerchief, and this I took with
+      me for her; I know not, but I wished to give her pleasure. There came a
+      woman past with lovely stocks; I stood at the open window; she offered me
+      a bouquet, and I bought it. &lsquo;Those are lovely flowers!&rsquo; said Eva, when she
+      entered. &lsquo;They will fade with me!&rsquo; said I; &lsquo;put them in water and keep
+      there for yourself!&rsquo; She wished only to have a few, but I obliged her to
+      take them all: she blushed, and her eyes gazed strangely down into my
+      soul. I know not what sort of a creature I became, but it was impossible
+      for me to give her the handkerchief; it seemed to me that this would
+      almost be an offense. Eva went away with the flowers, but the next morning
+      it seemed to me that she was uneasy; I fancied I saw her color come and go
+      when I bade her adieu! She must have read the thoughts in my soul!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And the handkerchief?&rdquo; interrupted Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I gave it to my sister Sophie,&rdquo; said Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0035" id="link2HCH0035">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXXV
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+             &ldquo;Tell me
+     What would my heart?
+       My heart&rsquo;s with thee,
+     With thee would have a part.&rdquo;
+                GOETHE&rsquo;S West-östlicher Divan.
+
+     &ldquo;There stands the man again&mdash;
+     The man with gloomy mien.&rdquo;
+              Memories of Travel, by B. C. INGEMANN.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Several days passed; the fine crimson again returned to Eva&rsquo;s cheeks. The
+      first occasion of her going out with the others was to see the rape-stalks
+      burned. These were piled together in two immense stacks. In the morning,
+      at the appointed hour, which had been announced through the neighborhood
+      that no one might mistake it for a conflagration, the stalks were set fire
+      to. This took place in the nearest field, close beside the hall, where the
+      rape-seed was threshed upon an out-spread sail.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The landscape-painter, Dahl, has given us a picture of the burning
+      Vesuvius, where the red lava pours down the side of the mountain; in the
+      background one sees across the bay as far as Naples and Ischia: it is a
+      piece full of great effect. Such a splendid landscape is not to be found
+      in flat Denmark, where there are no great natural scenes, and yet this
+      morning presented even there a picture with the same brilliant coloring.
+      We will study it. In the foreground there is a hedge of hazels, the nuts
+      hang in great clusters, and contrast strongly with their bright green
+      against the dark leaves; the blue chicory-flower and the blood-red poppy
+      grew on the side of the ditch, upon which are some tall rails, over which
+      the ladies have to climb: the delicate sylph-like figure is Eva. In the
+      field, where nothing remains but the yellow stubble, stand Otto and
+      Wilhelm; two magnificent hounds wag their tails beside them. To the left
+      is a little lake, thickly overgrown with reeds and water-lilies, with the
+      yellow trollius for its border. In the front, where the wood retreats,
+      lie, like a great stack, the piled-together rape-stalks: the man has
+      struck fire, has kindled the outer side of them, and with a rapidity like
+      that of the descending lava the red fire flashes up the gigantic pile. It
+      crackles and roars within it. In a moment it is all a burning mound; the
+      red flames flash aloft into the blue air, high above the wood which is now
+      no longer visible. A thick black smoke ascends up into the clear air,
+      where it rests like a cloud. Out of the flames, and even out of the smoke,
+      the wind carries away large masses of fire, which, crackling and cracking,
+      are borne on to the wood, and which fill the spectator with apprehension
+      of their falling upon the nearest trees and burning up leaf and branch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let us go further off,&rdquo; said Sophie; &ldquo;the heat is too great here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They withdrew to the ditch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, how many nuts!&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm; &ldquo;and I do not get one of them! I
+      shall go after them if they be ripe.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But you have grapes and other beautiful fruit!&rdquo; said Eva smiling. &ldquo;We
+      have our beautiful things at home!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, it is beautiful, very beautiful at home!&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm;
+      &ldquo;glorious flowers, wild nuts; and there we have Vesuvius before us!&rdquo; He
+      pointed to the burning pile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; said Sophie; &ldquo;it seems to me much more like the pile upon which the
+      Hindoo widow lays herself alive to be burned! That must be horrible!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One should certainly be very quickly dead!&rdquo; said Eva.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Would you actually allow yourself to be burned to death, if you were a
+      Hindoo widow&mdash;after, for instance, Mr. Thostrup, or after Wilhelm,&rdquo;
+       said she, with a slight embarrassment, &ldquo;if he lay dead in the fire?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If it were the custom of the country, and I really had lost the only
+      support which I had in the world&mdash;yes, so I would!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, no, no!&rdquo; said Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In fact it is brilliant!&rdquo; exclaimed Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Burning is not, perhaps, the most painful of deaths!&rdquo; said Otto, and
+      plucked in an absent manner the nuts from the hedge. &ldquo;I know a story about
+      a true conflagration.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What is it like?&rdquo; asked Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet it is not a story to tell in a large company; it can only be heard
+      when two and two are together. When I have an opportunity, I shall tell
+      it!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, I know it!&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;You can relate it to one of my sisters
+      there, whichever you like best! Then I shall&mdash;yes, I must relate it
+      to Eva!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is too early in the day to hear stories told!&rdquo; said Louise; &ldquo;let us
+      rather sing a song!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, then we shall have to weep in the evening,&rdquo; replied Wilhelm. And they
+      had neither the song nor the story.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mamma came wandering with Vasserine, the old, faithful hound: they two
+      also wished to see how beautiful the burning looked. It succeeded
+      excellently with the rape-stalks; but the other burning, of which the
+      story was to be told, it did not yet arrive at an outbreak! It might be
+      expected, however, any hour in the day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the evening Otto walked alone through the great chestnut avenue. The
+      moon shone brightly between the tree-branches. When he entered the
+      interior court Wilhelm and Sophie skipped toward him, but softly, very
+      softly. They lifted their hands as if to impress silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come and see!&rdquo; said Sophie; &ldquo;it is a scene which might be painted! it
+      goes on merrily in the servants&rsquo; hall; one can see charmingly through the
+      window!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, come!&rdquo; said Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto stole softly forward. The lights shone forth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Within there was laughter and loud talking; one struck upon the table,
+      another sung,&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+        &ldquo;And I will away to Prussia land,
+             Hurrah!
+         And when I am come to Prussia land,
+             Hurrah!&rdquo;  [Note: People&rsquo;s song.]
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Otto looked in through the window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Several men and maids sat within at the long wooden table at the end of
+      this stood Sidsel in a bent attitude, her countenance was of a deep
+      crimson; she spoke a loud oath and laughed&mdash;no one imagined that they
+      were observed. All eyes were riveted upon a great fellow who, with his
+      shirt-sleeves rolled up, and a pewter tankard in his hand, was standing
+      there. It was the German Heinrich, who was exhibiting to them his
+      conjuring tricks. Otto turned pale; had the dead arisen from the bier
+      before him it could not have shocked him more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hocus-pocus Larifari!&rdquo; cried Heinrich within, and gave the tankard to a
+      half-grown fellow, of the age between boy and man.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If thou hast already a sweetheart,&rdquo; said he; &ldquo;then the corn which is
+      within it will be turned to flour; but if thou art still only a young
+      cuckoo, then it will remain only groats.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Anders Peersen!&rdquo; said all the girls laughing, &ldquo;now we shall see
+      whether thou art a regular fellow!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie stole away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The echoing laughter and clapping of hands announced the result.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it not the same person who was playing conjuring tricks in the park?&rdquo;
+       inquired Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, certainly,&rdquo; replied Otto; &ldquo;he is to me quite repulsive!&rdquo; And so
+      saying, he followed Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Late in the evening, when all had betaken themselves to rest, Wilhelm
+      proposed to Otto that they should make a little tour, as he called it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I fancy Meg Merrilies, as my sister calls Sidsel,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;has made a
+      conquest of the conjuror, although he might be her father. They have been
+      walking together down the avenue; they have been whispering a deal
+      together; probably he will to-night sleep in one of the barns. I must go
+      and look after him; he will be lying there and smoking his pipe, and may
+      set our whole place on fire. Shall we go down together? We can take
+      Vasserine and Fingel with us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let him sleep!&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;he will not be so mad as to smoke tobacco in
+      the straw! To speak candidly, I do not wish to be seen by him. He was
+      several times at my grandfather&rsquo;s house. I have spoken with him, and now
+      that I dislike him I do not wish to see him!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then I will go alone!&rdquo; said Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto&rsquo;s heart beat violently; he stood at the open window and looked out
+      over the dark wood, which was lit up by the moon. Below in the court he
+      heard Wilhelm enticing the dogs out. He heard yet another voice, it was
+      that of the steward, and then all was again silent. Otto thought upon the
+      German Heinrich and upon Sophie, his life&rsquo;s good and bad angels; and he
+      pictured to himself how it would be if she extended to him her hand&mdash;was
+      his bride! and Heinrich called forth before her the recollections which
+      made his blood curdle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It seemed to him as if something evil impended over him this night. &ldquo;I
+      feel a forewarning of it!&rdquo; said he aloud.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm came not yet back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Almost an hour passed thus. Wilhelm entered, both dogs were with him; they
+      were miry to their very sides.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did you meet any one?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, there was some one,&rdquo; said Wilhelm, &ldquo;but not in the barn. The stupid
+      dogs seemed to lose their nature; it was as if there was a somebody
+      stealing along the wall, and through the reeds in the moat. The hounds
+      followed in there; you can see how they look!&mdash;but they came the next
+      moment back again, whined, and hung down their ears and tails. I could not
+      make them go in again. Then the steward was superstitious! But, however,
+      it could only be either the juggler, or one of the servant-men who had
+      stilts. How otherwise any one could go in among the reeds without getting
+      up to their necks, I cannot conceive!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      All was again perfectly still without. The two friends went to the open
+      window, threw their arms over each other&rsquo;s shoulders, and looked out into
+      the silent night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0036" id="link2HCH0036">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXXVI.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Bring&rsquo; häusliche Hülfe
+     Incubus! incubus.
+     Tritt herhor und mache den Schluss.&rdquo;
+                             GOETHE&rsquo;s Faust.
+
+     &ldquo;Es giebt so bange Zeiten,
+     Es giebt so trüben Muth!&rdquo;&mdash;NOVALIS.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The next morning Wilhelm related his evening adventure at the
+      breakfast-table; the sisters laughed at it. The mother, on the contrary,
+      was silent, left the room, and after some time returned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There have been thieves here!&rdquo; said she, &ldquo;and one might almost imagine
+      that they were persons in the household itself. They have been at the
+      press where the table-linen is kept, and have not been sparing in their
+      levies. The beautiful old silver tankard, which I inherited from my
+      grandmother, is also missing. I would much sooner have given the value of
+      the silver than have lost that piece!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Will not the lady let it be tried by the sieve?&rdquo; asked the old servant:
+      &ldquo;that is a pretty sure way!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is nothing but superstition,&rdquo; answered she; &ldquo;in that way the
+      innocent may so easily be suspected.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As the lady pleases!&rdquo; said the servant, and shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the mean time a search through the house was instituted. The boxes of
+      the domestics were examined, but nothing was discovered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you would only let the sieve be tried!&rdquo; said the old servant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the afternoon Otto went into the garden; he fell into discourse with
+      the gardener, and they spoke of the theft which had occurred.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It vexes every one of us,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;because we think much of the lady,
+      and of the whole family. And some one must, nevertheless, be suspected. We
+      believe that it was Sidsel, for she was a good-for-nothing person! We
+      folks tried among ourselves with the sieve, but however, at the mention of
+      her name, if it did not move out of its place. We had set it upon the
+      point of a knife, and mentioned the name of every person about the place,
+      but it stood as if it were nailed quite fast. But there was really
+      something to see, which not one of us would have believed. I&rsquo;ll say no
+      more about it, although we had every one of us our own thoughts. I would
+      have taken my oath of it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto pressed him to mention the person who was suspected.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, to you perhaps, I may mention it,&rdquo; replied he; &ldquo;but you will not say
+      anything about it? As we were standing today, at noon, around the sieve,
+      and it did not move at Sidsel&rsquo;s name, she became angry, because a word bad
+      been let fall which could not be agreeable to her if she were innocent.
+      She drew herself up as if in a passion, and said to us, &lsquo;But there are
+      also in the hall a many people besides us, who may slip and slide! There
+      are strangers here, and the fine Mamsell, and the farmers. Yes, I suspect
+      no one, but every one ought to be named!&rsquo; 
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And so we did it. Yes, we mentioned even your name, Mr. Thostrup,
+      although we knew very well that you were guiltless of the charge; but we
+      would not excuse any one. The sieve stood quite entirely still until we
+      mentioned Eva&rsquo;s name, and then it moved. Not one of us actually could
+      believe it, and the servant Peter said also that it was because of the
+      draught from the chimney. We mentioned yet once more all the names, and
+      the sieve stood still until we came to Eva&rsquo;s, and then we perceived very
+      plainly a movement. The servant Peter at the same moment gave a great blow
+      to the sieve, so that it fell to the ground, and he swore that it was a
+      lie, and that he would answer for Eva. I would have done so too; but yet
+      it was very extraordinary with the sieve! Most of the folks, however, have
+      their own thoughts, but no one venture to express them to the gentry who
+      think so much of her. I cannot, however, rightly reconcile it to myself!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is innocent!&rdquo; said Otto; and it amazed him that any one should cast
+      the slightest suspicion on Eva. He thought of German Heinrich and Sidsel,
+      who alone appeared to him suspicious. There then occurred to him an
+      experiment of which he had heard from Rosalie. It now seemed to him
+      available, and, physiologically considered, much more certain than that
+      with the sieve.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Probably it may lead to a discovery,&rdquo; said he, after he had communicated
+      his whole plan to Sophie and the steward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, we mast try it!&rdquo; said she; &ldquo;it is excellent! I also will be put to
+      the proof, although I am initiated into the mystery.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, you, your sister, Wilhelm, Eva, we all of us must,&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;Only
+      I will not do the speaking: that the steward must do.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is proper, very proper!&rdquo; replied she: &ldquo;it shall be tried this
+      evening when it is dark.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The time came; the steward assembled the people.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now I know,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;how we shall find the thief!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      All were to remain in the first room: within a side-room, which was quite
+      dark, there stood in a corner on the right hand a copper kettle; to this
+      every person as they came in, one by one, were to go and lay their hand
+      down on the flat bottom of the kettle. The hand of every one who was
+      innocent would be brought out again white and pure, but the hand of the
+      criminal would be severely burned, and would become black as a coal.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He who now,&rdquo; said the steward, addressing them, &ldquo;has a good conscience,
+      may go with this and our Lord into the innermost room, lay his hand upon
+      the bottom of the kettle, and show it to me. Now I go to receive you all!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The daughters went, the friends, Eva, and all the household. The steward
+      questioned them as they came in: &ldquo;Answer me, upon thy conscience, did thy
+      hand touch the flat bottom of the kettle?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      All replied, &ldquo;Yes!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then show me your hand!&rdquo; said he; and they showed them, and all were
+      black: Sidsel&rsquo;s alone was white.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou art the thief!&rdquo; said the steward. &ldquo;Thy evil conscience has condemned
+      thee. Thou hast not touched the kettle; hast not laid thy hand upon it, or
+      it would have become as black as that of the others. The kettle was
+      blackened inside with turpentine smoke; they who came with a good
+      conscience, knowing that their hands would remain pure like their
+      consciences, touched the kettle fearlessly and their hands became black!
+      Thou hast condemned thyself! Confess, or it will go worse with thee!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Sidsel, uttered a horrible cry and fell down upon her knees.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O God, help me!&rdquo; said she, and confessed that she was the thief.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A chamber high up in the roof was prepared as a prison; here the
+      delinquent was secured until the affair, on the following day, should be
+      announced to the magistrate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou shalt be sent to Odense, and work upon the treadmill!&rdquo; said Wilhelm:
+      &ldquo;to that thou belongest!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The family assembled at the tea-table. Sophie joked about the day&rsquo;s
+      adventure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Poor Sidsel!&rdquo; said Eva.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In England she would be hanged,&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;that would be a fine
+      thing to see!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Horrible!&rdquo; replied Louise; &ldquo;they must die of terror in going to the
+      gallows.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, it is very merry,&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;Now you shall hear what glorious
+      music has been set to it by Rossini!&rdquo; And he played the march from &ldquo;Gazza
+      Ladra,&rdquo; where a young girl is led to the gallows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it not merry?&rdquo; asked he. &ldquo;Yes, he is a composer!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To me it seems precisely characteristic,&rdquo; answered Otto. &ldquo;They are not
+      the feelings of the girl which the composer wished to express; it is the
+      joy of the rude rabble in witnessing an execution&mdash;to them a charming
+      spectacle, which is expressed in these joyous tones: it is a tragic opera,
+      and therefore he chose exactly this character of expression!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is difficult to say anything against that,&rdquo; replied Wilhelm; &ldquo;yet what
+      you assert I have not heard from any other person.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When a soldier is executed they play some lively air,&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;the
+      contrast in this case brings forth the strongest effect!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The servant now entered, and said with a smile that Peter Cripple, the
+      &ldquo;new-married man,&rdquo; as he called him, was without and wished to speak to
+      the Baron Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is about a waltz,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;which the Baron had promised to him!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is late for him to come into the court!&rdquo; said Sophie &ldquo;the peasants
+      generally go to bed with the sun.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In the lobby stood the announced Peter in his stocking-feet, with his hat
+      in one hand and a great stick in the other. He knew, he said, that it was
+      still daytime with the gentlefolks; he was just coming past the hall and
+      thought that he could, perhaps, have that Copenhagen Waltz which the Baron
+      had promised him: he should want it to-morrow night to play at a wedding,
+      and, therefore, he wished to have it now that he might practice it first
+      of all.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie inquired after his young wife, and said something merry. Louise
+      gave him a cup of tea, which he drank in the lobby. Otto looked at him
+      through the open door; he made comical grimaces, and looked almost as if
+      he wished to speak with him. Otto approached him, and Peter thrust a piece
+      of paper into his hand, making at the same time a significant gesture
+      indicative of silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto stepped aside and examined the dirty piece of paper, which was folded
+      together like a powder and sealed with a lump of wax. On the outside
+      stood, in scarcely legible characters,
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+           &ldquo;TotH&rsquo; WeL-borne,
+               Mr. Odto Tustraab.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      He endeavored, in the first place, to read it in the moonlight; but that
+      was scarcely possible.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After considerable labor he made out the meaning of this letter, written,
+      as it was in a half-German, half-Danish gibberish, of the orthography of
+      which we have given a specimen in the direction. The letter was from the
+      German Heinrich. He besought Otto to meet him this evening in the wood
+      near Peter Cripple&rsquo;s house, and he would give to him an explanation which
+      should be worth the trouble of the walk. It would occasion, he said, much
+      trouble and much misery to Mr Thostrup if he did not go.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A strange anxiety penetrated Otto. How could he steal away without being
+      missed? and yet go he both must and should. An extraordinary anxiety drove
+      him forth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, the sooner the better!&rdquo; said he, hastening down the steps and
+      leaping in haste over the low garden-fence lest the gate should, perhaps,
+      make a noise. He was very soon in the wood: he heard the beating of his
+      own heart.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Eternal Father!&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;strengthen my soul! Release me from this
+      anxiety which overpowers me! Let all be for the best!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He had now reached Peter Cripple&rsquo;s house. A figure leaned against the
+      wall; Otto paused, measured it with his eye to ascertain who it was, and
+      recognized German Heinrich.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do you want with me?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Heinrich raised his hand in token of silence, beckoned him forward, and
+      opened a little gate which led to the back of the house. Otto mechanically
+      followed him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It goes on badly at the hall,&rdquo; said Heinrich. &ldquo;Sidsel is really put in
+      prison, and will be taken to-morrow to Odense, to the red house by the
+      river.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is what she has deserved!&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;I did not bring it about.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O no!&rdquo; answered Heinrich; &ldquo;in a certain way we bring nothing about; but
+      you can put in a good word for her. You must see that this punishment does
+      not befall her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But the punishment is merited!&rdquo; replied Otto; &ldquo;and how can I mix myself
+      up in the affair? What is it that you have to say to me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet, the good gentleman must not get angry!&rdquo; began Heinrich again; &ldquo;but I
+      am grieved about the girl. I can very well believe that he does not know
+      her, and therefore it gives him no trouble; but if I were now to whisper a
+      little word in his ear? She is your own sister, Mr. Thostrup!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      All grew dark before Otto&rsquo;s eyes; a chill as of death went through his
+      blood; his hands held firmly by the cold wall, or he must have sunk to the
+      earth; not a sound escaped his lips.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      German Heinrich laid his hand in a confidential manner upon his shoulder,
+      and continued in a jeering, agitated tone, &ldquo;Yes, it is hard for you to
+      hear! I also struggled a long time with myself before I could make up my
+      mind to tell you. But a little trouble is preferable to a great one. I had
+      some talk with her yesterday, but I did not mention you, although it
+      seemed queer to me at my heart that the brother should sit at the first
+      table with the young ladies, and the sister be farm swine-maiden. Now they
+      have put her in prison! I am very sorry for her and you too, Mr. Thostrup,
+      for it is disagreeable! If the magistrate come to-morrow morning, and she
+      fall into the claws of the red angel, it will not be so easy to set her at
+      liberty again! But yet you could, perhaps, help her; as, for instance,
+      to-night! I could make an opportunity&mdash;I would be in the great avenue
+      beyond the hall. If she could get thus far she would be safe; I would then
+      conduct her out of this part of the country. I may as well tell you that
+      we were yesterday half-betrothed! She goes with me; and you can persuade
+      the gracious lady at the hall to let the bird fly!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But how can I? how can I?&rdquo; exclaimed Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is, however, always your sister!&rdquo; said Heinrich, and they both
+      remained silent for a moment. &ldquo;Then I will,&rdquo; said Heinrich, &ldquo;if all be
+      still at the hall, wait in the avenue as the bell goes twelve.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I must!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto; &ldquo;I must! God help me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Jesu, Maria, help!&rdquo; said Heinrich, and Otto left him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is my sister! she, the most horrible of all!&rdquo; sighed he; his knees
+      trembled, and he leaned against a tree for support: his countenance was
+      like that of the dead; cold sweat-drops stood upon his brow. All around
+      him lay the dark night-like wood; only to the left glimmered, between the
+      bushes, the moonlight reflected from the lake.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Within its depths,&rdquo; sighed he, &ldquo;all would be forgotten&mdash;my grief
+      would be over! Yet, what is my sin? Had I an existence before I was born
+      upon this globe? Must I here be punished for sins which I then committed?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      His dark eye stared lifelessly out of his pale countenance. Thus sit the
+      dead upon their graves in the silent night; thus gazes the somnambulist
+      upon the living world around him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have felt this moment before&mdash;this moment which now is here; it
+      was the well-spring whence poison was poured over my youthful days! She is
+      my sister! She? unhappy one that I am!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Tears streamed from his eyes, it was a convulsive weeping; he cried aloud,
+      it was impossible to him to suppress his voice; he sank half down by the
+      tree and wept, for it was night in his soul: silent, bitter tears flowed,
+      as the blood flows when the heart is transpierced. Who could breathe to
+      him consolation? There lay no balsam in the gentle airs of the clear
+      summer night, in the fragrance of the wood, in the holy, silent spirit of
+      nature. Poor Otto!
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+             &ldquo;Weep, only weep! it gives repose,
+              A world is every tear that flows,&mdash;
+              A world of anguish and unrest,
+              That rolleth from the troubled breast.
+
+             &ldquo;And hast thou wept whilst tears can flow,
+              A tranquil peace thy heart will know;
+              For sorrow, trivial or severe,
+              Hath had its seat in every tear.
+
+             &ldquo;Think&rsquo;st thou that He, whose love beholds
+              The worm the smallest leaf enfolds,&mdash;
+              That He, whose power sustains the whole
+              Forgets a world&mdash;thy human soul?&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0037" id="link2HCH0037">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXXVII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Mourir! c&rsquo;est un instant de supplice: mais vivre?&rdquo;
+      &mdash;FRÉDÉRIC SOULIE.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The physician from Nyborg, who had been on a visit to a sick person in the
+      neighborhood, took this opportunity of calling on the family and inquiring
+      after Eva&rsquo;s health. They had prayed him to stay over the night there, and
+      rather to drive hone in the early morning than so late in the evening. He
+      allowed himself to be persuaded. Otto, on his return, found him and the
+      family in deep conversation. They were talking of the &ldquo;Letters of a
+      Wandering Ghost.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where have you been?&rdquo; asked Sophie, as Otto entered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You look so pale!&rdquo; said Louise; &ldquo;are you ill?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not feel well!&rdquo; replied Otto; &ldquo;I went therefore down into the garden
+      a little. Now I am perfectly recovered.&rdquo; And he took part in the
+      conversation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The overwhelming sorrow had dissolved itself in tears. His mind had raised
+      itself up again from its stupefaction, and sought for a point of light on
+      which to attach itself. They were talking of the immense caves of
+      Maastricht, how they stretch themselves out into deep passages and vast
+      squares, in which sound is lost, and where the light, which cannot reach
+      the nearest object, only glimmers like a point of fire. In order to
+      comprehend this vacuity and this darkness, the travellers let the guide
+      extinguish his torch, and all is night; they are penetrated, as it were,
+      with darkness; the hand feels after a wall, in order to have some
+      restraint, some thought on which to repose itself: the eye sees nothing;
+      the ear hears nothing. Horror seizes on the strongest mind: the same
+      darkness, the same desolate emotion, had Heinrich&rsquo;s words breathed into
+      Otto&rsquo;s soul; therefore he sank like the traveller to the earth: but as the
+      traveller&rsquo;s whole soul rivets itself by the eye upon the first spark which
+      glimmers, to kindle again the torch which is to lead him forth from this
+      grave, so did Otto attach himself to the first awakening thought of help.
+      &ldquo;Wilhelm? his soul is noble and good, him will I initiate into my painful
+      secret, which chance had once almost revealed to him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But this was again extinguished, as the first spark is extinguished which
+      the steel gives birth to. He could not confide himself to Wilhelm; the
+      understanding which this very confidence would give birth to between them,
+      must separate them from each other. It was humiliating, it was
+      annihilating. But for Sophie? No, how could he, after that, declare the
+      love of his heart? how far below her should he be placed, as the child of
+      poverty and shame! But the mother of the family? Yes, she was gentle and
+      kind; with a maternal sentiment she extended to him her hand, and looked
+      upon him as on a near relation. His thoughts raised themselves on high,
+      his hands folded themselves to prayer; &ldquo;The will of the Lord alone be
+      done!&rdquo; trembled involuntarily from his lips. Courage returned refreshingly
+      to his heart. The help of man was like the spark which was soon
+      extinguished; God was an eternal torch, which illumined the darkness and
+      could guide him through it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Almighty God! thou alone canst and willest!&rdquo; said he; &ldquo;to thou who
+      knowest the heart, do thou alone help and lead me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This determination was firmly taken; to no human being would he confide
+      himself; alone would he release the prisoner, and give her up to Heinrich.
+      He thought upon the future, and yet darker and heavier than hitherto it
+      stood before him. But he who confides in God can never despair the only
+      thing that was now to be done was to obtain the key of the chamber where
+      Sidsel was confined, and then when all in the house were asleep he would
+      dare that which must be done.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Courage and tranquillity return into every powerful soul when it once sees
+      the possibility of accomplishing its work. With a constrained vivacity
+      Otto mingled in the conversation, no one imagining what a struggle his
+      soul had passed through.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The disputation continued. Wilhelm was in one of his eloquent moods. The
+      doctor regarded the &ldquo;Letters of the Wandering Ghost&rdquo; as one of the most
+      perfect books in the Danish literature. Once Sophie had been of the same
+      opinion, now she preferred Cooper&rsquo;s novels to this and all other books.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;People so easily forget the good for the new,&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;if the new
+      is only somewhat astonishing, the many regard the author as the first of
+      writers. The nation is, aesthetically considered, now in its period of
+      development. Every really cultivated person, who stands among the best
+      spirits of his age, obtains, whilst he observes his own advance in the
+      intellectual kingdom, clearness with regard to the development of his
+      nation. This has, like himself, its distinct periods; in him some
+      important event in life, in it some agitating world convulsion, may
+      advance them suddenly a great leap forward. The public favor is unsteady;
+      to-day it strews palm-branches, to-morrow it cries, &lsquo;Crucify him!&rsquo; But I
+      regard that as a moment of development. You will permit me to make use of
+      an image to elucidate my idea. The botanist goes wandering through field
+      and wood, he collects flowers and plants; every one of these had, while he
+      gathered it, his entire interest, his whole thought&mdash;but the
+      impression which it made faded before that of its successor: nor is it
+      till after a longer time that he is able to enjoy the whole of his
+      treasures, and arrange them according to their worth and their rareness.
+      The public seizes alike upon flowers and herbs; we hear its assiduous
+      occupation with the object of the moment, but it is not yet come into
+      possession of the whole. At one time, that which was sentimental was the
+      foremost in favor, and that poet was called the greatest who best knew how
+      to touch this string; then it passed over to the peppered style of
+      writing, and nothing pleased but histories of knights and robbers. Now
+      people find pleasure in prosaic life, and Schröder and Iffland are the
+      acknowledged idols. For us the strength of the North opened heroes and
+      gods, a new and significant scene. Then tragedy stood uppermost with us.
+      Latterly we have begun to feel that this is not the flesh and blood of the
+      present times. Then the fluttering little bird, the vaudeville, came out
+      to us from the dark wood, and enticed us into our own chambers, where all
+      is warm and comfortable, where one has leave to laugh, and to laugh is now
+      a necessity for the Danes. One must not, like the crowd, inconsiderately
+      place that as foremost which swims upon the waters, but treasure the good
+      of every time, and arrange them side by side, as the botanist arranges his
+      plants. Every people must, under the poetical sunshine, have their
+      sentimental period, their berserker rage, their enjoyment of domestic
+      life, and their giddy flights beyond it; it must merge itself in
+      individuality before it can embrace the beauty of the whole. It is
+      unfortunate for the poet who believes himself to be the wheel of his age;
+      and yet he, with his whole crowd of admirers, is, as Menzel says, only a
+      single wheel in the great machine&mdash;a little link in the infinite
+      chain of beauty.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You speak like a Plato!&rdquo; said Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If we could accord as well in music as we do in poetry,&rdquo; said Otto, &ldquo;then
+      we should be entirely united in our estimation of the arts. I love that
+      music best which goes through the ear to the heart, and carries me away
+      with it; on the contrary, if it is to be admired by the understanding, it
+      is foreign to me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, that is your false estimation of the subject, dear friend!&rdquo; said
+      Wilhelm: &ldquo;in aesthetics you come at once to the pure and true; but in
+      music you are far away in the outer court, where the crowd is dancing,
+      with cymbals and trumpets, around the musical golden calf!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And now the aesthetic unity brought them into a musical disunity. On such
+      occasions, Otto was not one to be driven back from his position; he very
+      well knew how to bear down his assailant by striking and original
+      observations: but Otto, this evening, although he was animated enough&mdash;excited,
+      one might almost say&mdash;did not exhibit the calmness, the decision in
+      his thoughts and words, which otherwise would have given him the victory.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was a long hour, and one yet longer and more full of anxiety, which
+      commenced with supper. The conversation turned to the events of the day.
+      Otto mingled in it, and endeavored therefrom to derive advantage; it was a
+      martyrdom of the soul. Sophie praised highly his discovery.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If Mr. Thostrup had not been here,&rdquo; said she, &ldquo;then we should hardly have
+      discovered the thief. We must thank Mr. Thostrup for it, and really for a
+      merry, amusing spectacle.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They joked about it alai laughed, and Otto was obliged to laugh also.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And now she sits up there, like a captive, in the roof!&rdquo; said he; &ldquo;it
+      must be an uncomfortable night to her!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, she sleeps, perhaps, better than some of us others!&rdquo; said Wilhelm:
+      &ldquo;that will not annoy her!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is confined in the gable chamber, out in the court, is she not?&rdquo;
+       inquired Otto: &ldquo;there she has not any moonlight.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, surely she has!&rdquo; answered Sophie; &ldquo;it is in the gable to the right,
+      hooking toward the wood, that she is confined. We have placed her as near
+      to the moon as we could. The gable on the uppermost floor is our keep.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But is it securely locked?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There is a padlock and a great bar outside the door; those she cannot
+      force, and no one about the place will do such a piece of service for her.
+      They dislike her, every one of them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They rose up from the table; the bell was just on the stroke of eleven.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But the Baron must play us a little piece!&rdquo; said the physician.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then Mr. Thostrup will sing us the pretty Jutlandish song by
+      Steen-Blicher!&rdquo; exclaimed Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O yes!&rdquo; said the mother, and clapped Otto on the shoulder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm played.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do sing!&rdquo; said Wilhelm; all besought him to do so, and Otto sang the
+      Jutlandish song for them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See, you sang that with the proper humor,&rdquo; said Sophie, and clapped her
+      hands in applause. With that all arose, offered to him their hands, and
+      Wilhelm whispered to him, yet so that the sisters heard it, &ldquo;This evening
+      you have been right amiable!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto and Wilhelm went to their sleeping-room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But, my good friend,&rdquo; said Wilhelm, &ldquo;what did you really go into the
+      garden for? Be so good as to confess to me: you were not unwell! You did
+      not go only into the garden! you went into the wood, and you remained a
+      long time there! I saw it! You made a little visit to the handsome woman
+      while the fiddler was here, did you not? I do not trust you so entirely!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are joking!&rdquo; answered Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes,&rdquo; continued Wilhelm, &ldquo;she is a pretty little woman. Do you not
+      remember how, last year at the mowing-feast, I threw roses at her? Now she
+      is Peter Cripple&rsquo;s wife. When she comes with her husband then we have,
+      bodily, &lsquo;Beauty and the Beast.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      That which Otto desired was, that Wilhelm should now soon go to sleep,
+      and, therefore, he would not contradict him; he confessed even that the
+      young wife was handsome, but added that she, as Peter Cripple&rsquo;s wife, was
+      to him like a beautiful flower upon which a toad had set itself,&mdash;it
+      would be disgusting to him to press the flower to his lips.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The friends were soon in bed. They bade each other good night, and seemed
+      both of them to sleep; and with Wilhelm this was the case.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto lay awake; his pulse throbbed violently.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now the great hall clock struck twelve. All was still, quite still; but
+      Otto did not yet dare to raise himself. It struck a quarter past the hour.
+      He raised himself slowly, and glanced toward the bed where Wilhelm lay.
+      Otto arose and dressed himself, suppressing the while his very breathing.
+      A hunting-knife which hung upon the wall, and which belonged to Wilhelm,
+      he put in his pocket; and lifted up, to take with him, the fire-tongs,
+      with which he intended to break the iron staple that held the padlock. Yet
+      once more he looked toward Wilhelm, who slept soundly. He opened the door,
+      and went out without his shoes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He looked out from the passage-windows to see if lights were visible from
+      any part of the building. All was still; all was in repose. That which he
+      now feared most was, that one of the dogs might be lying in the lobby, and
+      should begin to bark. But there was not one. He mounted up the steps, and
+      went into the upper story.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Only once before had he been there; now all was in darkness. He felt with
+      his hands before him as he went.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length he found a narrow flight of stairs which led into a yet higher
+      story. The opening at the top was closed, and he was obliged to use his
+      whole strength to open it. At length it gave way with a loud noise. This
+      was not the proper entrance; that lay on the opposite side of the story,
+      and had he gone there he would have found it open, whereas this one had
+      not been opened for a long time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The violent efforts which he had made caused him great pain, both in his
+      neck and shoulders; but he was now at the very top of the building, close
+      before the door he sought, and the moonlight shone in through the opening
+      in the roof.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      By the help of the hunting-knife and the fire-tongs he succeeded in
+      forcing the door, and that without any very considerable noise. He looked
+      into a small, low room, upon the floor of which some dirty coverlets were
+      thrown.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sidsel slept deeply and soundly with open mouth. A thick mass of hair
+      escaped from beneath her cap, upon her brow; the moonlight fell, through
+      the window-pane in the roof, upon her face. Otto bowed himself over her
+      and examined the coarse, unpleasing features. The thick, black eyebrows
+      appeared only like one irregular streak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is my sister!&rdquo; was the thought which penetrated him. &ldquo;She lay upon
+      the same bosom that I did! The blood in these limbs has kinship with that
+      in mine! She was the repelled one, the rejected one!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He trembled with pain and anguish; but it was only for a short time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stand up!&rdquo; cried he, and touched the sleeper.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ih, jane dou! [Author&rsquo;s Note: An exclamation among the common people of
+      Funen, expressive of terror.] what is it?&rdquo; cried she, half terrified, and
+      fixed her unpleasant eyes wildly upon him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come with me!&rdquo; said Otto, and his voice trembled as he spoke. &ldquo;German
+      Heinrich waits in the avenue! I will help you out! Hence; to-morrow it
+      will be too late!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do you say?&rdquo; asked she, and still looked at him with a bewildered
+      mien.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto repeated his words.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you think that I can get away?&rdquo; asked she, and seized him by the arm,
+      as she hastily sprang up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Only silently and circumspectly!&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I should not have expected theft from you!&rdquo; said she. &ldquo;But tell me why
+      you do it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto trembled; it was impossible for him to tell her his reasons, or to
+      express the word,&mdash;&ldquo;Thou art my sister!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      His lips were silent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To many a fellow,&rdquo; said she, &ldquo;have I been kinder than I ought to have
+      been, but see whether any of them think about Sidsel! And you do it! You
+      who are so fine and so genteel!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto pressed together his eyelids; he heard her speak; an animal
+      coarseness mingled itself with a sort of confidential manner which was
+      annihilating to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is my sister!&rdquo; resounded in his soul.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come now! come now!&rdquo; and, descending the steps, she followed after him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know a better way!&rdquo; said she, as they came to the lowest story. She
+      seized his arm and they again descended a flight of steps.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suddenly a door opened itself, and Louise, still dressed, stepped forth
+      with a light. She uttered a faint cry, and her eye riveted itself upon the
+      two forms before her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But still more terribly and more powerfully did this encounter operate
+      upon Otto. His feet seemed to fail him, and, for a moment, every object
+      moved before his eyes in bright colors. It was the moment of his severest
+      suffering. He sprang forth toward Louise, seized her hand, and, pale as
+      death, with lifeless, staring eyes, half kneeling, besought of her, with
+      an agitated voice:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For God&rsquo;s sake, tell no one of that which you have seen! I am compelled
+      to serve her&mdash;she is my sister! If you betray my secret I am lost to
+      this world&mdash;I must die! It was not until this evening that I knew
+      this to be the case! I will tell you all, but do not betray me! And do you
+      prevent tomorrow any pursuit after her! O Louise! by the happiness of your
+      own soul feel for the misery of mine! I shall destroy myself if you betray
+      me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O God!&rdquo; stammered Louise. &ldquo;I will do all&mdash;all! I will be silent!
+      Conduct her hence, quick, that you may meet with no one!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She seized Otto&rsquo;s hand; he sank upon his knee before her, and looked like
+      a marble image which expressed manly beauty and sorrow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Louise bent herself with sisterly affection over him; tears flowed down
+      her cheeks; her voice trembled, but it was tranquillizing, like the
+      consolation of a good angel. With a glance full of confidence in her, Otto
+      tore himself away. Sidsel followed him and said not a word.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He led her to the lowest story and opened for her, silently, a window,
+      through which she could descend to the garden, and thence easily reach the
+      avenue where German Heinrich waited for her. To have accompanied her any
+      further was unnecessary; it would have been venturing too much without any
+      adequate cause. She stood now upon the window-sill&mdash;Otto put a little
+      money into her hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Lord is above us!&rdquo; said he, in a solemn voice. &ldquo;Never forget Him and
+      endeavor to amend your life! All may yet be well!&rdquo; He involuntarily
+      pressed her hand in his. &ldquo;Have God always in your thoughts!&rdquo; said he.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shall get safely away, however,&rdquo; said she, and descended into the
+      garden; she nodded, and vanished behind the hedge.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto stood for a while and listened whether any noise was heard, or
+      whether any dog barked. He feared for her safety. All was still.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Just as sometimes an old melody will suddenly awake in our remembrance and
+      sound in our ear, so awoke now a holy text to his thoughts. &ldquo;Lord, if I
+      should take the wings of the morning, and should fly to the uttermost
+      parts of the sea, thither thou wouldst lead me, and thy right hand would
+      hold me fast! Thou art near to us! Thou canst accomplish and thou willest
+      our well-being! Thou alone canst help us!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In silence he breathed his prayer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He returned to his chamber more composed in mind. Wilhelm seemed to sleep;
+      but as Otto approached his bed he suddenly raised himself, and looked,
+      inquiringly, around him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who is there?&rdquo; exclaimed he; &ldquo;you are dressed! where have you been?&rdquo; He
+      was urgent in his inquiry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto gave a joking reason.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let me have your hand!&rdquo; said he. Otto gave it to him, he felt his pulse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, quite correct!&rdquo; said he; &ldquo;the blood is yet in commotion. One sees
+      plain enough that there is no concealing things! Here was I sleeping in
+      all innocence, and you were running after adventures. You wicked bird!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The thoughts worked rapidly in Otto&rsquo;s soul. If Louise would only be
+      silent, no one would dream of the possibility of his having part in
+      Sidsel&rsquo;s flight. He must allow Wilhelm quietly to have his joke.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Was not I right?&rdquo; asked Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And if now you were so,&rdquo; replied Otto, &ldquo;will you tell it to any one?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you think that I could do such a thing?&rdquo; replied Wilhelm; &ldquo;we are all
+      of us only mortal creatures!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto gave him his hand. &ldquo;Be silent!&rdquo; he said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, certainly,&rdquo; said Wilhelm; and, according to his custom, strengthened
+      it with an oath. &ldquo;Now I have sworn it,&rdquo; said he; &ldquo;but when there is an
+      opportunity you must tell me more about it!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, certainly,&rdquo; said Otto, with a deep sigh. Before his friend he no
+      longer stood pure and guiltless.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They slept. Otto&rsquo;s sleep was only a hateful dream.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0038" id="link2HCH0038">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXXVIII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;...Wie entzückend
+     Und süss es ist, in einer schönen Seele,
+     Verherrlicht uns zu fühlen, es zu wissen,
+     Das uns&rsquo;re Fruede fremde Wangen röthet,
+     Und uns&rsquo;re Angst in fremdem Busen zittert,
+     Das uns&rsquo;re Leiden fremde Augen nässen.&rdquo;
+                                      SCHILLER.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How pale!&rdquo; said Wilhelm the next morning to Otto. &ldquo;Do you see, that is
+      what people get by night-wandering?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How so?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm made a jest of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You have been dreaming that!&rdquo; said Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How do you mean?&rdquo; replied Wilhelm; &ldquo;will you make me fancy that I have
+      imagined it? I was really quite awake! we really talked about it; I was
+      initiated in it. Actually I have a good mind to give you a moral lecture.
+      If it had been me, how you would have preached!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They were summoned to breakfast. Otto&rsquo;s heart was ready to burst. What
+      might he not have to hear? What must he say?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie was much excited.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did you, gentlemen, hear anything last night?&rdquo; she inquired. &ldquo;Have you
+      both slept?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, certainly,&rdquo; replied Wilhelm, and looked involuntarily at Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The bird is flown, however!&rdquo; said she; &ldquo;it has made its escape out of the
+      dove-cote.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What bird?&rdquo; asked Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sidsel!&rdquo; replied she; &ldquo;and, what is oddest in the whole affair is, that
+      Louise has loosed her wings. Louise is quite up to the romantic. Think
+      only! she went up in the night to the topmost story, unlocked the
+      prison-tower, gave a moral lecture to Sidsel, and after that let her go!
+      Then in the morning comes Louise to mamma, relates the whole affair, and
+      says a many affecting things!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I do not understand it,&rdquo; said the mother, addressing Louise. &ldquo;How
+      you could have had the courage to go up so late at night, and go up to <i>her</i>!
+      But it was very beautiful of you! Let her escape! it is, as you say, best
+      that she should. We should all of us have thought of that last evening!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was so sorry for her!&rdquo; said Louise; &ldquo;and by chance it happened that I
+      had a great many things to arrange after you were all in bed. Everything
+      was so still in the house, it seemed to me as if I could hear Sidsel sigh;
+      certainly it was only my own imagination, but I could do no other than
+      pity her! she was so unfortunate! Thus I let her escape!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are you gone mad?&rdquo; inquired Wilhelm; &ldquo;what a history is this? Did you go
+      in the night up to the top of the house? That is an unseasonable
+      compassion!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was beautiful!&rdquo; said Otto, bending himself involuntarily, and kissing
+      Louise&rsquo;s hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, that is water to his mill!&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm. &ldquo;I think nothing of
+      such things!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We will not talk about it to anyone,&rdquo; said the mother. &ldquo;The steward shall
+      not proceed any further in it. We have recovered the old silver tankard,
+      and the losing that was my greatest trouble. We will thank God that we are
+      well rid of her! Poor thing! she will come to an unfortunate end!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are you still unwell, Mr. Thostrup?&rdquo; said Sophie, and looked at him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am a little feverish,&rdquo; replied he. &ldquo;I will take a very long walk, and
+      then I shall be better.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You should take a few drops,&rdquo; said the lady.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, he will come to himself yet!&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;he must take exercise!
+      His is not a dangerous illness.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto went into the wood. It was to him a temple of God; his heart poured
+      forth a hymn of thanksgiving. Louise had been his good angel. He felt of a
+      truth that she would never betray his secret. His thoughts clung to her
+      with confidence. &ldquo;Are you still unwell?&rdquo; Sophie had said. The tones of her
+      voice alone had been like the fragrance of healing herbs; in her eye he
+      had felt sympathy and&mdash;love. &ldquo;O Sophie!&rdquo; sighed he. Both sisters were
+      so dear to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He entered the garden and went along the great avenue; here he met Louise.
+      One might almost have imagined that she had sought for him: there was no
+      one but her to be seen in the whole avenue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto pressed her hand to his lips. &ldquo;You have saved my life!&rdquo; said he.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Dear Thostrup!&rdquo; answered she, &ldquo;do not betray yourself. Yon have come
+      happily out of the affair! Thank God! my little part in it has concealed
+      the whole. For the rest I have a suspicion. Yes, I cannot avoid it. May
+      not the whole be an error? It is possible that she is that which you said!
+      Tell me all that you can let me know. From this seat we can see everybody
+      who comes into the avenue. No one can hear us!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, to you alone I can confide it!&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;to you will I tell it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He now related that which we know about the manufactory, which he called
+      the house, in which German Heinrich had first seen him, and had tattooed
+      his initials upon his shoulder; their later meeting in the park, and
+      afterwards by St. Ander&rsquo;s Cross.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Louise trembled; her glance rested sympathizingly upon Otto&rsquo;s pale and
+      handsome countenance. He showed her the letter which had been brought to
+      him the last evening, and related to her what Heinrich had told him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It may be so,&rdquo; said Louise; &ldquo;but yet I have not been able to lose the
+      idea all the morning that you have been deceived. Not one of her features
+      resembles yours. Can brother and sister be so different as you and she?
+      Yet, be the truth as it may, promise me not to think too much about it.
+      There is a good Ruler above who can turn all things for the best.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These horrible circumstances,&rdquo; said Otto, &ldquo;have robbed me of the
+      cheerfulness of my youth. They thrust themselves disturbingly into my
+      whole future. Not to Wilhelm&mdash;no, not to any one have I been able to
+      confide them. You know all! God knows that you were compelled to learn
+      them. I leave myself entirely in your hands!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He pressed her hand silently, and with the earnest glance of confidence
+      and truth they looked at each other.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shall speedily leave my native country,&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;It may be forever.
+      I should return with sorrow to a home where no happiness awaited me. I
+      stand so entirely alone in the world!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But you have friends,&rdquo; said Louise; &ldquo;sincere friends. You must think with
+      pleasure of returning home to Denmark. My mother loves you as if she were
+      your own mother. Wilhelm and Sophie&mdash;yes, we will consider you as a
+      brother.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And Sophie?&rdquo; exclaimed Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, can you doubt it?&rdquo; inquired Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She knows me not as you know me; and if she did?&rdquo;&mdash;He pressed his
+      hands before his eyes and burst into tears. &ldquo;You know all: you know more
+      than I could tell her,&rdquo; sighed he. &ldquo;I am more unfortunate than you can
+      believe. Never can I forget her&mdash;never!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For Heaven&rsquo;s sake compose yourself!&rdquo; said Louise rising. &ldquo;Some one might
+      come, and you would not be able to conceal your emotion. All may yet be
+      well! Confide only in God in heaven!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do not tell your sister that which I have told you. Do not tell any one.
+      I have revealed to you every secret which my soul contains.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will be to you a good sister,&rdquo; said Louise, and pressed his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They silently walked down the avenue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sisters slept in the same room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At night, after Sophie had been an hour in bed, Louise entered the
+      chamber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou art become a spirit of the night,&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;Where hast thou
+      been? Thou art not going up into the loft again to-night, thou strange
+      girl? Had it been Wilhelm, Thostrup, or myself who had undertaken such a
+      thing, it would have been quite natural; but thou&rdquo;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Am I, then, so very different to you all?&rdquo; inquired Louise. &ldquo;I should
+      resemble my sister less than even Mr. Thostrup resembles her. You two are
+      so very different!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In our views, in our impulses, we very much resemble each other!&rdquo; said
+      Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He is certainly not happy,&rdquo; exclaimed Louise. &ldquo;We can read it in his
+      eyes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, but it is precisely that which makes him interesting!&rdquo; said Sophie;
+      &ldquo;he is thus a handsome shadow-piece in everyday life.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou speakest about it so calmly,&rdquo; said Louise, and bent over her sister,
+      &ldquo;I would almost believe that it was love.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Love!&rdquo; exclaimed Sophie, raising herself up in bed, for now Louise&rsquo;s
+      words had become interesting to her; &ldquo;whom dost thou think that he loves?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thyself,&rdquo; replied Louise, and seized her sister&rsquo;s hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps?&rdquo; returned Sophie. &ldquo;I also made fun of him! It certainly went on
+      better when our cousin was here. Poor Thostrup!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And thou, Sophie,&rdquo; inquired Louise, &ldquo;dost thou return his love?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is a regular confession that thou desirest,&rdquo; replied she. &ldquo;He is in
+      love&mdash;that all young men are. Our cousin, I can tell thee, said many
+      pretty things to me. Even the Kammerjunker flatters as well as he can, the
+      good soul! I have now resolved with myself to be a reasonable girl.
+      Believe me, however, Thostrup is in an ill humor!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If the Kammerjunker were to pay his addresses to you, would you accept
+      him?&rdquo; asked Louise, and seated herself upon her sister&rsquo;s bed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What can make you think of such a thing?&rdquo; inquired she. &ldquo;Hast thou heard
+      anything?&mdash;Thou makest me anxious! O Louise! I joke, I talk a deal;
+      but for all that, believe me, I am not happy!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They talked about the Kammerjunker, about Otto, and about the French
+      cousin. It was late in the night. Large tears stood in Sophie&rsquo;s eyes, but
+      she laughed for all that, and ended with a quotation from Jean Paul.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Half an hour afterward she slept and dreamed; her round white arm lay upon
+      the coverlet, and her lips moved with these words:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+           &ldquo;With a smile as if an angel
+            Had just then kissed her mouth.&rdquo; [Note: Christian Winther.]
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Louise pressed her countenance on the soft pillow, and wept.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0039" id="link2HCH0039">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXXIX
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+      &ldquo;A swarm of colors, noise and screaming,
+         Music and sights, past any dreaming,
+       The rattle of wheels going late and early,&mdash;
+         All draw the looker-on into the hurly-burly.&rdquo;
+                                         TH. OVERSKOU.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      A few days passed on. Otto heard nothing of German Heinrich or of his
+      sister. Peter Cripple seemed not to be in their confidence. All that he
+      knew was, that the letter which he had conveyed to Otto was to be unknown
+      to any one beside. As regarded German Heinrich, he believed that he was
+      now in another part of tire country; but that at St. Knud&rsquo;s fair, in
+      Odense, he would certainly find him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In Otto&rsquo;s soul there was an extraordinary combating. Louise&rsquo;s words, that
+      he had been deceived, gave birth to hopes, which, insignificant as the
+      grain of mustard-seed, shot forth green leaves.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;May not,&rdquo; thought he, &ldquo;German Heinrich, to further his own plans, have
+      made use of my fear? I must speak with him; he shall swear to me the
+      truth.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He compared in thought the unpleasing, coarse features of Sidsel, with the
+      image which his memory faintly retained of his little sister. She seemed
+      to him as a delicate creature with large eyes. He had not forgotten that
+      the people about them had spoken of her as of &ldquo;a kitten that they could
+      hardly keep alive.&rdquo; How then could she now be this square-built,
+      singularly plain being, with the eyebrows growing together? &ldquo;I must speak
+      with Heinrich,&rdquo; resolved he; &ldquo;she cannot be my sister! so heavily as that
+      God will not try me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      By such thoughts as these his mind became much calmer. There were moments
+      when the star of love mirrored itself in his life&rsquo;s sea.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His love for Sophie was no longer a caged bird within his breast; its
+      wings were at liberty; Louise saw its release; it was about to fly to its
+      goal.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      St. Knud&rsquo;s fair was at hand, and on that account the family was about to
+      set out for Odense. Eva was the only one who was to remain at home. It was
+      her wish to do so.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Odense is not worth the trouble of thy going to see,&rdquo; said Sophie; &ldquo;but
+      in this way thou wilt never increase thy geographical knowledge. In the
+      mean time, however, I shall bring thee a fairing&mdash;a husband of honey
+      cake, ornamented with almonds.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm thought that she should enjoy the passing pleasure, and go with
+      them; but Eva prayed to stay, and she had her will.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There is a deal of pleasure in the world,&rdquo; said Wilhelm, &ldquo;if people will
+      only enjoy it. If one day in Paris is a brilliant flower, a day at Odense
+      fair is also a flower. It is a merry, charming world that we live in! I am
+      almost ready to say with King Valdemar, that if I might keep&mdash;yes, I
+      will say, the earth, then our Lord might willingly for me keep heaven:
+      there it is much better than we deserve; and God knows whether we may not,
+      in the other world, have longings after the old world down here!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;After Odense fair?&rdquo; asked Sophie ironically.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto stood wrapped in his own thoughts. This day, he felt, would be one of
+      the most remarkable in his life. German Heinrich must give him an
+      explanation. Sophie must do so likewise Could he indeed meet with success
+      from them both? Would not sorrow and pain be his fairings?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The carriage rolled away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      From the various cross-roads came driving up the carriages of the gentry
+      and the peasants; the one drove past the other; and as the French and
+      English Channel collects ships from the Atlantic Ocean, so did the King&rsquo;s
+      Road those who drove in carriages, those who rode on horseback, and those
+      who went on foot.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Behind most of the peasant-vehicles were tied a few horses, that went
+      trotting on with them. Mamsells from the farms sat with large gloves on
+      their red arms and hands. They held their umbrellas before their faces on
+      account of the dust and the sun.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Kammerjunker&rsquo;s people must have set off earlier than we,&rdquo; said
+      Sophie, &ldquo;otherwise they would have called for us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto looked inquiringly at her. She thought on the Kammerjunker!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We shall draw up by Faugde church,&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;Mr. Thostrup can see
+      Kingo&rsquo;s [Author&rsquo;s Note: The Bishop of Funen, who died in 1703.] grave&mdash;can
+      see where the sacred poet lies. Some true trumpeting angels, in whom one
+      can rightly see how heavy the marble is, fly with the Bishop&rsquo;s staff and
+      hat within the chapel.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto smiled, and she thought also about giving him pleasure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The church was seen, the grave visited, and they rapidly rolled along the
+      King&rsquo;s Road toward Odense, the lofty tower of whose cathedral had hailed
+      them at some miles&rsquo; distance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We do not require alone from the portrait-painter that he should represent
+      the person, but that he should represent him in his happiest moment. To
+      the plain as well as to the inexpressive countenance must the painter give
+      every beauty which it possesses. Every human being has moments in which
+      something intellectual or characteristic presents itself. Nature, too,
+      when we are presented only with the most barren landscape, has the same
+      moments; light and shadow produce these effects. The poet must be like the
+      painter; he must seize upon these moments in human life as the other in
+      nature.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If the reader were a child who lived in Odense, it would require nothing
+      more from him than that he should say the words, &ldquo;St. Knud&rsquo;s fair;&rdquo; and
+      this, illumined by the beams of the imagination of childhood, would stand
+      before him in the most brilliant colors. Our description will be only a
+      shadow; it will be that, perhaps, which the many will find it to be.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Already in the suburbs the crowd of people, and the outspread earthenware
+      of the potters, which entirely covered the trottoir, announced that the
+      fair was in full operation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The carriage drove down from the bridge across the Odense River.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See, how beautiful it is here!&rdquo; exclaimed Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Between the gardens of the city and a space occupied as a bleaching ground
+      lay the river. The magnificent church of St. Knud, with its lofty tower,
+      terminated the view.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What red house was that?&rdquo; inquired Otto, when they had lost sight of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is the nunnery!&rdquo; replied Louise, knowing what thought it was which
+      had arisen in his mind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There stood in the ancient times the old bishop&rsquo;s palace, where Beldenak
+      lived!&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;Just opposite to the river is the bell-well, where a
+      bell flew out of St. Albani&rsquo;s tower. The well is unfathomable. Whenever
+      rich people in Odense die, it rings down below the water!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is not a pleasant thought,&rdquo; said Otto, &ldquo;that it rings in the well when
+      they must die.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One must not take it in that way now!&rdquo; said Sophie, laughing, and turned
+      the subject. &ldquo;Odense has many lions,&rdquo; continued she, &ldquo;from a king&rsquo;s garden
+      with swans in it to a great theatre, which has this in common with La
+      Scala and many Italian ones, that it is built upon the ruins of a convent.
+      [Note: That of the Black Brothers.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In Odense, aristocracy and democracy held out the longest,&rdquo; said Wilhelm,
+      smiling; &ldquo;yet I remember, in my childhood, that when the nobles and the
+      citizens met on the king&rsquo;s birthday at the town-house ball, that we danced
+      by ourselves.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Were not, then, the citizens strong enough to throw the giddy nobles out
+      of the window?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You forget, Mr. Thostrup, that you yourself are noble!&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;I
+      was really the goddess of fate who gave to you your genealogical tree.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You still remember that evening?&rdquo; said Otto, with a gentle voice, and the
+      thoughts floated as gayly in his mind as the crowd of people floated up
+      and down in the streets through which they drove.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Somewhere about the middle of the city five streets met; and this point,
+      which widens itself out into a little square, is called the Cross Street:
+      here lay the hotel to which the family drove.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Two hours and a quarter too late!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, who came out to
+      meet them on the steps. &ldquo;Good weather for the fair, and good horses! I
+      have already been out at the West-gate, and have bought two magnificent
+      mares. One of them kicked out behind, and had nearly given me a blow on
+      the breast, so that I might have said I had had my fairing! Jakoba is
+      paying visits, drinking chocolate, and eating biscuits. Mamsell is out
+      taking a view of things. Now you know our story.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The ladies went to their chamber, the gentlemen remained in the saloon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, here you shall see a city and a fair, Mr. Thostrup!&rdquo; said the
+      Kammerjunker, and slapped Otto on the shoulder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Odense was at one time my principal chief-city,&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;and still
+      St. Knud&rsquo;s Church is the most magnificent I know. God knows whether St.
+      Peter&rsquo;s in Rome would make upon me, now that I am older, the impression
+      which this made upon me as a child!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In St. Knud&rsquo;s Church lies the Mamsell with the cats,&rdquo; said the
+      Kammerjunker.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The bishop&rsquo;s lady, you should say,&rdquo; returned Wilhelm. &ldquo;The legend
+      relates, that there was a lady of a Bishop Mus who loved her cats to that
+      degree that she left orders that they should be laid with her in the
+      grave. [Author&rsquo;s Note: The remains of the body, as well as the skeletons
+      of the cats, are still to be seen in a chapel on the western aisle of the
+      church.] We will afterward go and see them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, both the bishop&rsquo;s lady and the cats,&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, &ldquo;look
+      like dried fish! Then you must also see the nunnery and the military
+      library.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Hospital and the House of Correction!&rdquo; added Wilhelm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The beating of a drum in the street drew them to the window. The city
+      crier, in striped linsey-woolsey jacket and breeches, and with a yellow
+      band across his shoulders, stood there, beat upon his drum, and proclaimed
+      aloud from a written paper many wonderful things which were to be seen in
+      the city.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He beats a good drum,&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It would certainly delight Rossini and Spontini to hear the fellow!&rdquo; said
+      Wilhelm. &ldquo;In fact Odense would be, at New Year&rsquo;s time, a city for these
+      two composers. You must know that at that season drums and fifes are in
+      their glory. They drum the New Year in. Seven or eight little drummers and
+      fifers go from door to door, attended by children and old women; at that
+      time they beat both the tattoo and the reveille. For this they get a few
+      pence. When the New Year is drummed-in in the city they wander out into
+      the country, and drum there for bacon and groats. The New Year&rsquo;s drumming
+      in lasts until about Easter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And then we have new pastimes,&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then come the fishers from Stige, [Author&rsquo;s Note: A fishing village in
+      Odense Fjord.] with a complete band, and carrying a boat upon their
+      shoulders ornamented with a variety of flags. After that they lay a board
+      between two boats, and upon this two of the youngest and the strongest
+      have a wrestling-match, until one of them falls into the water. The last
+      years they both have allowed themselves to tumble in. And this has been
+      done in consequence of one young man who fell in being so stung by the
+      jeers which his fall had occasioned that he left, that same day, the
+      fishing village, after which no one saw him. But all the fun is gone now!
+      In my boyhood the merriment was quite another thing. It was a fine sight
+      when the corporation paraded with their ensign and harlequin on the top!
+      And at Easter, when the butchers led about a bullock ornamented with
+      ribbons and Easter-twigs, on the back of which was seated a little winged
+      boy in a shirt. They had Turkish music, and carried flagons with them!
+      See! all that have I outlived, and yet I am not so old. Baron Wilhelm must
+      have seen the ornamented ox. Now all that is past and gone; people are got
+      so refined! Neither is St. Knud&rsquo;s fair that which it used to be.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For all that, I rejoice that it is not so!&rdquo; said Wilhelm. &ldquo;But we will go
+      into the market and visit the Jutlanders, who are sitting there among the
+      heath with their earthenware. You will stand a chance there, Mr. Thostrup,
+      of meeting with an old acquaintance; only you must not have home-sickness
+      when you smell the heather and hear the ringing of the clattering pots!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The ladies now entered. Before paying any visits they determined upon
+      making the round of the market. The Kammerjunker offered his arm to the
+      mother. Otto saw this with secret gladness, and approached Sophie. She
+      accepted him willingly as an attendant; they must indeed get into the
+      throng.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As in the Middle Ages the various professions had their distinct streets
+      and quarters, so had they also here. The street which led to the market
+      place, and which in every-day life was called the &ldquo;Shoemaker Street,&rdquo;
+       answered perfectly to its name. The shoemakers had ranged their tables
+      side by side. These, and the rails which had been erected for the purpose,
+      were hung over with all kinds of articles for the feet; the tables
+      themselves were laden with heavy shoes and thick-soled boots. Behind these
+      stood the skillful workman in his long Sunday coat, and with his
+      well-brushed felt-hat upon his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Where the shoemakers&rsquo; quarter ended that of the hatters&rsquo; began, and with
+      this one was in the middle of the great market-place, where tents and
+      booths formed many parallel streets. The booth of galanterie wares, the
+      goldsmith&rsquo;s, and the confectioner&rsquo;s, most of them constructed of canvas,
+      some few of them of wood, were points of great attraction. Round about
+      fluttered ribbons and handkerchiefs; round about were noise and bustle.
+      Peasant-girls out of the same village went always in a row, seven or eight
+      inseparables, with their hands fast locked in each other; it was
+      impossible to break the chain; and if people tried to press through them,
+      the whole flock rolled together in a heap.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Behind the booths there lay a great space filled with wooden shoes, coarse
+      earthenware, turners&rsquo; and saddlers&rsquo; work. Upon tables were spread out
+      toys, generally rudely made and coarsely painted. All around the children
+      assayed their little trumpets, and turned about their playthings. The
+      peasant-girls twirled and twisted both the work-boxes and themselves many
+      a time before the bargain was completed. The air was heavy with all kinds
+      of odors, and was spiced with the fragrance of honey-cake.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Here acquaintances met each other-some peasant-maidens, perhaps, who had
+      been born in the same village, but since then had been separated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good day!&rdquo; exclaimed they, took each other by the hand, gave their arms a
+      swing, and laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Farewell!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      That was the whole conversation: such a one went on in many places.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is the heather!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto, as he approached the quarter where
+      the Jutland potters had their station; &ldquo;how refreshing is the odor!&rdquo; said
+      he, and stooping down seized a twig fresh and green, as if it had been
+      plucked only yesterday.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Aye, my Jesus though! is not that Mr. Otto!&rdquo; exclaimed a female voice
+      just beside him, and a young Jutland peasantwoman skipped across the
+      pottery toward him. Otto knew her. It was the little Maria, the eelman&rsquo;s
+      daughter, who, as we may remember at Otto&rsquo;s visit to the fisher&rsquo;s, had
+      removed to Ringkjoebing, and had hired herself for the hay and cornharvest&mdash;the
+      brisk Maria, &ldquo;the girl,&rdquo; as her father called her. She had been betrothed
+      in Ringkjoebing, and married to the rich earthenware dealer, and now had
+      come across the salt-water to Odense fair, where she should meet with Mr.
+      Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Her parents lived on my grandfather&rsquo;s estate,&rdquo; said Otto to Sophie, who
+      observed with a smile the young wife&rsquo;s delight in meeting with an
+      acquaintance of her childhood. The husband was busily employed in selling
+      his wares; he heard nothing of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, but how elegant and handsome you are become!&rdquo; said the young wife:
+      &ldquo;but see, I knew you again for all that! Grandmother, you may believe me,
+      thinks a deal about you! The old body, she is so brisk and lively; it does
+      not trouble her a bit that she cannot see! You are the second acquaintance
+      that I have met with in the fair. It&rsquo;s wonderful how people come here from
+      all parts of the world! The players are here too! You still remember the
+      German Heinrich? Over there in the gray house, at the corner of the
+      market, he is acting his comedy in the gateway.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am glad that I have seen you!&rdquo; said Otto, and nodded kindly. &ldquo;Greet
+      them at home, and the grandmother, for me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Greet them also from me!&rdquo; said Sophie smiling. &ldquo;You, Mr. Thostrup, must
+      for old acquaintance sake buy something. You ought also to give me a
+      fairing: I wish for that great jug there!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where are you staying!&rdquo; cried Wilhelm, and came back, whilst the rest
+      went forward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We would buy some earthenware,&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;Souvenir de Jutland. The
+      one there has a splendid picture on it!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You shall have it!&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;But if I requested a fairing from you, I
+      beseech of you, might I say&rdquo;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That it possibly might obtain its worth from my hand,&rdquo; said Sophie,
+      smiling. &ldquo;I understand you very well&mdash;a sprig of heather? I shall
+      steal!&rdquo; said she to the young wife, as she took a little sprig of heath
+      and stuck it into his buttonhole. &ldquo;Greet the grandmother for me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto and Sophie went.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That&rsquo;s a very laughing body!&rdquo; said the woman half aloud, as she looked
+      after them; her glance followed Otto, she folded her hands&mdash;she was
+      thinking, perhaps, on the days of her childhood.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At St. Knud&rsquo;s church-yard Otto and Sophie overtook the others. They were
+      going into the church. On the fair days this and all the tombs within it
+      were open to the public.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      From whichever side this church is contemplated from without, the
+      magnificent old building has, especially from its lofty tower and spire,
+      something imposing about it; the interior produces the same, nay, perhaps
+      a greater effect. But as the principal entrance is through the armory, and
+      the lesser one is from the side of the church, its full impression is not
+      felt on entering it; nor is it until you arrive at the end of the great
+      aisle that you are aware rightly of its grandeur. All there is great,
+      beautiful, and light. The whole interior is white with gilding. Aloft on
+      the high-vaulted roof there shine, and that from the old time, many golden
+      stars. On both sides, high up, higher than the side-aisles of the church,
+      are large Gothic windows, from which the light streams down. The
+      side-aisles are adorned with old paintings, which represent whole
+      families, women and children, all clad in canonicals, in long robes and
+      large ruffs. In an ordinary way, the figures are all ranged according to
+      age, the oldest first, and then down to the very least child, and stand
+      with folded hands, and look piously with downcast eyes and faces all in
+      one direction, until by length of time the colors have all faded away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Just opposite to the entrance of the church may be seen, built into the
+      wall, a stone, on which is a bas-relief, and before it a grave. This
+      attracted Otto&rsquo;s attention.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is the grave of King John and of Queen Christina, of Prince Francesco
+      and of Christian the Second,&rdquo; said Wilhelm; &ldquo;they lie together in a small
+      vault!&rdquo; [Author&rsquo;s Note: On the removal of the church of the Grey Brothers,
+      the remains of these royal parents and two of their children were
+      collected in a coffin and placed here in St. Knud&rsquo;s Church. The memorial
+      stone, of which we have spoken, was erected afterwards.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Christian the Second!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto. &ldquo;Denmark&rsquo;s wisest and dearest
+      king!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Christian the Bad!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, amazed at the tone of
+      enthusiasm in which Otto had spoken.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Christian the Bad!&rdquo; repeated Otto; &ldquo;yes, it is now the mode to speak of
+      him thus, but we should not do so. We ought to remember how the Swedish
+      and Danish nobles behaved themselves, what cruelties they perpetrated, and
+      that we have the history of Christian the Second from one of the offended
+      party. Writers flatter the reigning powers. A prince must have committed
+      crimes, or have lost his power, if his errors are to be rightly presented
+      to future generations. People forget that which was good in Christian, and
+      have painted the dark side of his character, to the formation of which the
+      age lent its part.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Kammerjunker could not forget the Swedish bloodbath, the execution of
+      Torben Oxe, and all that can be said against the unfortunate king.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto drove him completely out of the field, in part from his enthusiasm
+      for Christian the Second, but still more because it was the Kammerjunker
+      with whom he was contending. Sophie took Otto&rsquo;s side, her eye sparkled
+      applause, and the victory could not be other than his.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What is it that the poet said of the fate of a king?&rdquo; said Sophie.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+                              &ldquo;Woe&rsquo;s me for him
+   Who to the world shows more of ill than good!
+   The good each man ascribes unto himself,
+   Whilst on him only rest the crimes o&rsquo; th&rsquo; age.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Had Christian been so fortunate as to have subdued the rebellious
+      nobles,&rdquo; continued Otto, &ldquo;could he have carried out his bold plans, then
+      they would have called him Christian the Great: it is not the active mind,
+      but the failure in any design, which the world condemns.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Louise nevertheless took the side of the Kammerjunker, and therefore these
+      two went together up the aisle toward the tomb of the Glorup family.
+      Wilhelm and his mother were already gone out of the church.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I envy you your eloquence!&rdquo; said Sophie, and looked with an expression of
+      love into Otto&rsquo;s face; she bent herself over the railing around the tomb,
+      and looked thoughtfully upon the stone. Thoughts of love were animated in
+      Otto&rsquo;s soul.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Intellect and heart!&rdquo; exclaimed he, &ldquo;must admire that which is great: you
+      possess both these!&rdquo; He seized her hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A faint crimson passed over Sophie&rsquo;s cheeks. &ldquo;The others are gone out!&rdquo;
+       she said; &ldquo;come, let us go up to the chancel.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Up to the altar!&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;that is a bold course for one&rsquo;s whole
+      life!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie looked jestingly at him. &ldquo;Do you see the monument there within the
+      pillars?&rdquo; asked she after a short pause; &ldquo;the lady with the crossed arms
+      and the colored countenance? In one night she danced twelve knights to
+      death, the thirteenth, whom she had invited for her partner, cut her
+      girdle in two in the dance and she fell dead to the earth!&rdquo; [Author&rsquo;s
+      Note: In Thiele&rsquo;s Danish Popular Tradition it is related that she was one
+      Margrethe Skofgaard of Sanderumgaard, and that she died at a ball, where
+      she had danced to death twelve knights. The people relate it with a
+      variation as above; it is probable that it is mingled with a second
+      tradition, for example, that of the blood-spots at Koldinghuus, which
+      relates that an old king was so angry with his daughter that he resolved
+      to kill her, and ordered that his knights should dance with her one after
+      another until the breath was out of her. Nine had danced with her, and
+      then came up the king himself as the tenth, and when he became weary he
+      cut her girdle in two, on which the blood streamed from her mouth and she
+      died.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She was a northern Turandot!&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;the stony heart itself was
+      forced to break and bleed. There is really a jest in having the marble
+      painted. She stands before future ages as if she lived&mdash;a stone
+      image, white and red, only a mask of beauty. She is a warning to young
+      ladies!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, against dancing!&rdquo; said Sophie, smiling at Otto&rsquo;s extraordinary
+      gravity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And yet it must be a blessed thing,&rdquo; exclaimed he, &ldquo;a very blessed thing,
+      amid pealing music, arm-in-arm with one&rsquo;s beloved, to be able to dance
+      life away, and to sink bleeding before her feet!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And yet only to see that she would dance with a new one!&rdquo; said Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto, &ldquo;that you could not do! that you will not do! O
+      Sophie, if you knew!&rdquo;&mdash;He approached her still nearer, bent his head
+      toward her, and his eye had twofold fire and expression in it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You must come with us and see the cats!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, and
+      sprang in between them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, it is charming!&rdquo; said Sophie. &ldquo;You will have an opportunity, Mr.
+      Thostrup, of moralizing over the perishableness of female beauty!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In the evening, when we drive home together,&rdquo; thought Otto to himself
+      consolingly, &ldquo;in the mild summer-evening no Kammerjunker will disturb me.
+      It must, it shall be decided! Misfortune might subject the wildness of
+      childhood, but it gave me confidence, it never destroyed my independence;
+      Love has made me timid,&mdash;has made me weak. May I thereby win a
+      bride?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Gravely and with a dark glance he followed after Sophie and her guide.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0040" id="link2HCH0040">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XL
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;In vain his beet endeavors were;
+     Dull was the evening, and duller grew.&rdquo;&mdash;LUDOLF SCHLEF.
+
+     &ldquo;Seest thou how its little life
+       The bird hides in the wood?
+     Wilt thou be my little wife&mdash;
+       Then do it soon. Good!
+     &mdash;A bridegroom am I.&rdquo;&mdash;Arion.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Close beside St. Knud&rsquo;s Church, where once the convent stood, is now the
+      dwelling of a private man. [Author&rsquo;s Note: See Oehlenschläger&rsquo;s Jorney to
+      Funen.] The excellent hostess here, who once charmed the public on the
+      Danish stage as Ida Munster, awaited the family to dinner.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After dinner they wandered up and down the garden, which extended to the
+      Odense River.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the dusk of evening Otto went to visit the German Heinrich; he had
+      mentioned it to Louise, and she promised to divert attention from him
+      whilst he was away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The company took coffee in the garden-house; Otto walked in deep thought
+      in the avenue by the side of the river. The beautiful scene before him
+      riveted his eye. Close beside lay a water-mill, over the two great wheels
+      of which poured the river white as milk. Behind this was thrown a bridge,
+      over which people walked and drove. The journeyman-miller stood upon the
+      balcony, and whistled an air. It was such a picture as Christian Winther
+      and Uhland give in their picturesque poems. On the other side of the mill
+      arose tall poplars half-buried in the green meadow, in which stood the
+      nunnery; a nun had once drowned herself where now the red daisies grow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A strong sunlight lit up the whole scene. All was repose and summer
+      warmth. Suddenly Otto&rsquo;s ear caught the deep and powerful tones of an
+      organ; he turned himself round. The tones, which went to his heart, came
+      from St. Knud&rsquo;s Church, which lay close beside the garden. The sunshine of
+      the landscape, and the strength of the music, gave, as it were, to him
+      light and strength for the darkness toward which he was so soon to go.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sun set; and Otto went alone across the market-place toward the old
+      corner house, where German Heinrich practiced his arts. Upon this place
+      stood St. Albani&rsquo;s Church, where St. Knud, betrayed by his servant Blake,
+      [Author&rsquo;s Note: Whence has arisen the popular expression of &ldquo;being a false
+      Blake.&rdquo;] was killed by the tumultuous rebels. The common people believe
+      that from one of the deep cellars under this house proceeds a subterranean
+      passage to the so-called &ldquo;Nun&rsquo;s Hill.&rdquo; At midnight the neighboring
+      inhabitants still hear a roaring under the marketplace, as if of the
+      sudden falling of a cascade. The better informed explain it as being a
+      concealed natural water-course, which has a connection with the
+      neighboring river. In our time the old house is become a manufactory; the
+      broken windows, the gaps of which are repaired either with slips of wood
+      or with paper, the quantity of human bones which are found in the garden,
+      and which remain from the time when this was a church-yard, give to the
+      whole place a peculiar interest to the common people of Odense.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Entering the house at the front, it is on the same level as the
+      market-place; the back of the house, on the contrary, descends
+      precipitously into the garden, where there are thick old walls and
+      foundations. The situation is thus quite romantic; just beside it is the
+      old nunnery, with its dentated gables, and not far off the ruins, in whose
+      depths the common people believe that there resides an evil being, &ldquo;the
+      river-man,&rdquo; who annually demands his human sacrifice, which he announces
+      the night before. Behind this lie meadows, villas, and green woods.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the other side of the court, in a back gate-way, German Heinrich had
+      set up his theatre. The entrance cost eight skillings; people of condition
+      paid according to their own will.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto entered during the representation. A cloth constituted the whole
+      scenic arrangement. In the middle of the floor sat a horrible goblin, with
+      a coal-black Moorish countenance and crispy hair upon its head. An old
+      bed-cover concealed the figure, yet one saw that it was that of a woman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The audience consisted of peasants and street boys. Otto kept himself in
+      the background, and remained unobserved by Heinrich.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The representation was soon at an end, and the crowd dispersed. It was
+      then that Otto first came forward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We must speak a few words together!&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;Heinrich, you have not
+      acted honestly by me! The girl is not that which you represented her to
+      be; you have deceived me: I demand an explanation!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      German Heinrich stood silent, but every feature eloquently expressed first
+      amazement, and then slyness and cunning; his knavish, malicious eye,
+      measured Otto from top to toe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay; so then, Mr. Thostrup, you are convinced, are you, that I have been
+      cheating you?&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;If so, why do you come to me? In that case there
+      needs no explanation. Ask herself there!&rdquo; And so saying he pointed to the
+      black-painted figure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do not be too proud, Otto!&rdquo; said she, smiling; &ldquo;thou couldst yet
+      recognize thy sister, although she has a little black paint on her face!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto riveted a dark, indignant glance upon her, pressed his lips together,
+      and tried to collect himself. &ldquo;It is my firm determination to have the
+      whole affair searched into,&rdquo; said he, with constrained calmness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, but it will bring you some disagreeables!&rdquo; said Heinrich, and
+      laughed scornfully.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do not laugh in that manner when I speak to you!&rdquo; said Otto, with
+      flushing cheeks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Heinrich leaned himself calmly against the door which led into the garden.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am acquainted with the head of the police,&rdquo; said Otto, &ldquo;and I might
+      leave the whole business in his hands. But I have chosen a milder way; I
+      am come myself. I shall very soon leave Denmark; I shall go many hundred
+      miles hence shall, probably, never return; and thus you see the principal
+      ground for my coming to you is a whim: I will know wherefore you have
+      deceived me; I will know what is the connection between you and her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay; so, then, it is <i>that</i> that you want to know?&rdquo; said Heinrich,
+      with a malicious glance. &ldquo;Yes, see you, she is my best beloved; she shall
+      be my wife: but your sister she is for all that, and that remains so!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou couldst easily give me a little before thou settest off on thy
+      journey!&rdquo; said Sidsel, who seemed excited by Heinrich&rsquo;s words, and put
+      forth her painted face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto glanced at her with contracted eyebrows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said she, &ldquo;I say &lsquo;thou&rsquo; to thee: thou must accustom thyself to
+      that! A sister may have, however, that little bit of pleasure!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, you should give her your hand!&rdquo; said Heinrich, and laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wretch!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto, &ldquo;she is not that which you say! I will find out
+      my real sister! I will have proof in hand of the truth! I will show myself
+      as a brother; I will care for her future! Bring to me her baptismal
+      register; bring to me one only attestation of its reality&mdash;and that
+      before eight days are past! Here is my address, it is the envelope of a
+      letter; inclose in it the testimonial which I require, and send it to me
+      without delay. But prove it, or you are a greater villain than I took you
+      for.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let us say a few rational words!&rdquo; said Heinrich, with a constrained,
+      fawning voice. &ldquo;If you will give to me fifty rix-dollars, then you shall
+      never have any more annoyance with us! See, that would be a great deal
+      more convenient.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I abide by that which I have said!&rdquo; answered Otto; &ldquo;we will not have any
+      more conversation together!&rdquo; And so saying, he turned him round to go out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Heinrich seized him by the coat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do you want?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I mean,&rdquo; said Heinrich, &ldquo;whether you are not going to think about the
+      fifty rix-dollars?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Villain!&rdquo; cried Otto, and, with the veins swelling in his forehead, he
+      thrust Heinrich from him with such force, that he fell against the worm
+      eaten door which led into the garden; the panel of the door fell out, and
+      had not Heinrich seized fast hold on some firm object with both his hands,
+      he must have gone the same way. Otto stood for a moment silent, with
+      flashing eyes, and threw the envelope, on which his address was, at
+      Heinrich&rsquo;s feet, and went out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When Otto returned to the hotel, he found the horses ready to be put to
+      the carriage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have you had good intelligence?&rdquo; whispered Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have in reality obtained no more than I had before!&rdquo; replied he; &ldquo;only
+      my own feelings more strongly convince me than ever that I have been
+      deceived by him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He related to her the short conversation which had taken place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Kammerjunker&rsquo;s carriage was now also brought out; in this was more
+      than sufficient room for two, whereas in the other carriage they had been
+      crowded. The Kammerjunker, therefore, besought that they would avail
+      themselves of the more convenient seat which he could offer; and Otto saw
+      Sophie and her mother enter the Kammerjunker&rsquo;s carriage. This arrangement
+      would shortly before have confounded Otto, now it had much less effect
+      upon him. His mind was so much occupied by his visit to German Heinrich,
+      his soul was filled with a bitterness, which for the moment repelled the
+      impulse which he had felt to express his great love for Sophie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have been made Heinrich&rsquo;s plaything&mdash;his tool!&rdquo; thought he. &ldquo;Now
+      he ridicules me, and I am compelled to bear it! That horrible being is not
+      my sister!&mdash;she cannot be so!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The street was now quiet. They mounted into the carriage. In the corner
+      house just opposite there was a great company; light streamed through the
+      long curtains, a low tenor voice and a high ringing soprano mingled
+      together in Mozart&rsquo;s &ldquo;Audiam, audiam, mio bene.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The bird may not flutter from my heart!&rdquo; sighed Otto, and seated himself
+      by the side of Louise. The carriage rolled away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The full moon shone; the wild spiraea sent forth its odor from the road
+      side; steam ascended from the moor-lands; and the white mist floated over
+      the meadows like the daughters of the elfin king.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Louise sat silent and embarrassed; trouble weighed down her heart. Otto
+      was also silent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Kammerjunker drove in first, cracked his whip, and struck up a wild
+      halloo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm began to sing, &ldquo;Charming the summer night,&rdquo; and the Kammerjunker
+      joined in with him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sing with us man,&rdquo; cried Wilhelm to the silent Otto, and quickly the two
+      companies were one singing caravan.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was late when they reached the hall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0041" id="link2HCH0041">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XLI
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Destiny often pulls off leaves, as we treat the vine, that
+     its fruits may be earlier brought to maturity.&rdquo;&mdash;JEAN PAUL.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      It was not until toward morning that Otto fell into sleep. Wilhelm and he
+      were allowed to take their own time in rising, and thus it was late in the
+      day before these two gentlemen made their appearance at the
+      breakfast-table; the Kammerjunker was already come over to the hall, and
+      now was more adorned than common.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Thostrup shall be one of the initiated!&rdquo; said the mother. &ldquo;It will be
+      time enough this evening for strangers to know of it. The Kammerjunker and
+      my Sophie are betrothed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See, it was in the bright moonlight, Mr. Thostrup, that I became such a
+      happy man!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker, and kissed the tips of Sophie&rsquo;s
+      fingers. He offered his other hand to Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto&rsquo;s countenance remained unchanged, a smile played upon his lips. &ldquo;I
+      congratulate you!&rdquo; said he; &ldquo;it is indeed a joyful day! If I were a poet,
+      I would give you an ode!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Louise looked at him with an extraordinary expression of pain in her
+      countenance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm called the Kammerjunker brother-in-law, and smiling shook both his
+      hands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto was unusually gay, jested, and laughed. The ladies went to their
+      toilet, Otto into the garden.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He had been so convinced in his own mind that Sophie returned his passion.
+      With what pleasure had she listened to him! with what an expression had
+      her eye rested upon him! Her little jests had been to him such convincing
+      proofs that the hope which he nourished was no self-delusion. She was the
+      light around which his thoughts had circled. Love to her was to him a good
+      angel, which sung to him consolation and life&rsquo;s gladness in his dark
+      moments.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now, all was suddenly over. It was as if the angel had left him; the flame
+      of love which had so entirely filled his soul, was in a moment
+      extinguished to its last spark. Sophie was become a stranger to him; her
+      intellectual eye, which smiled in love on the Kammerjunker, seemed to him
+      the soulless eye of the automaton. A stupefying indifference went through
+      him, deadly as poison that is infused into the human blood.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The vain girl! she thought to make herself more important by repelling
+      from her a faithful heart! She should only see how changed her image is in
+      my soul. All the weaknesses which my love for her made me pass over, now
+      step forth with repulsive features! Not a word which she spoke fell to the
+      ground. The diamond has lost its lustre; I feel only its sharp corners!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie had given the preference to a man who, in respect of intellect,
+      stood far below Otto! Sophie, who seemed to be enthusiastic for art and
+      beauty, for everything glorious in the kingdom of mind, could thus have
+      deceived him!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We will now see the sisters in their chamber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Louise seemed pensive, she sat silently looking before her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie stood thoughtfully with a smile upon her lips.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Kammerjunker is very handsome, however!&rdquo; exclaimed she: &ldquo;he looks so
+      manly!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You ought to find him love-worthy!&rdquo; said Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; replied her sister, &ldquo;I have always admired these strong
+      countenances! He is an Axel&mdash;a northern blackbearded savage. Faces
+      such as Wilhelm&rsquo;s look like ladies&rsquo;! And he is so good! He has said, that
+      immediately after our marriage we shall make a tour to Hamburg. What dress
+      do you think I should wear?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When you make the journey to Hamburg?&rdquo; inquired Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O no, child! to-day I mean. Thostrup was indeed very polite! he
+      congratulated me! I felt, however, rather curious when it was told to him.
+      I had quite expected a scene! I was almost ready to beg of you to tell him
+      first of all. He ought to have been prepared. But he was, however, very
+      rational! I should not have expected it from him. I really wish him all
+      good, but he is an extraordinary character! so melancholy! Do you think
+      that he will take my betrothal to heart? I noticed that when I was kissed
+      he turned himself suddenly round to the window and played with the
+      flowers. I wish that he would soon go! The journey into foreign countries
+      will do him good&mdash;there he will soon forget his heart&rsquo;s troubles.
+      To-morrow I will write to Cousin Joachim; he will also be surprised!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Late in the afternoon came Jakoba, the Mamsell, the preacher, and yet a
+      few other guests.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the evening the table was arranged festively. The betrothed sat
+      together, and Otto had the place of honor&mdash;he sat on the other side
+      of Sophie. The preacher had written a song to the tune of &ldquo;Be thou our
+      social guardian-goddess;&rdquo; this was sung. Otto&rsquo;s voice sounded beautifully
+      and strong; he rang his glass with the betrothed pair, and the
+      Kammerjunker said that now Mr. Thostrup must speedily seek out a bride for
+      himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is found,&rdquo; answered Otto; &ldquo;but now that is yet a secret.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Health to the bride!&rdquo; said Sophie, and rung her glass; but soon again her
+      intellectual eye rested upon the Kammerjunker, who was talking about
+      asparagus and stall-feeding with clover, yet her glance brought him back
+      again to the happiness of his love.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was a very lively evening. Late in the night the party broke up. The
+      friends went to their chamber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My dear, faithful Otto!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, and laid his hand on his shoulder;
+      &ldquo;you were very lively and good-humored this evening. Continue always
+      thus!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I hope to do so,&rdquo; answered Otto: &ldquo;may we only always have as happy an
+      evening as this!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Extraordinary man!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, and shook his head. &ldquo;Now we will soon
+      set out on our journey, and catch for ourselves the happiness of the
+      glorious gold bird!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And not let it escape again!&rdquo; exclaimed Otto. &ldquo;Formerly I used to say,
+      To-morrow! to-morrow! now I say, To-day, and all day long! Away with
+      fancies and complainings. I now comprehend that which you once said to me,
+      that is. Man <i>can</i> be happy if he only <i>will</i> be so.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm took his hand, and looked into his face with a half-melancholy
+      expression.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are you sentimental?&rdquo; inquired Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I only affect that which I am not!&rdquo; answered Wilhelm; and with that,
+      suddenly throwing off the natural gravity of the moment, returned to his
+      customary gayety.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The following days were spent in visiting and in receiving visitors. On
+      every post-day Otto sought through the leathern bag of the postman, but he
+      found no letter from German Heinrich, and heard nothing from him. &ldquo;I have
+      been deceived,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;and I feel myself glad about it! She, the
+      horrible one, is not my sister!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There was a necessity for him to go away, far from home, and yet he felt
+      no longing after the mountains of Switzerland or the luxuriant beauty of
+      the south.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nature will only weaken me! I will not seek after it. Man it is that I
+      require: these egotistical, false beings&mdash;these lords of everything!
+      How we flatter our weaknesses and admire our virtues! Whatever serves to
+      advance our own wishes we find to be excellent. To those who love us, we
+      give our love in return. At the bottom, whom do I love except myself?
+      Wilhelm? My friendship for him is built upon the foundation,&mdash;I
+      cannot do without thee! Friendship is to me a necessity. Was I not once
+      convinced that I adored Sophie, and that I never could bear it if she were
+      lost to me? and yet there needed the conviction &lsquo;She loves thee not,&rsquo; and
+      my strong feeling was dead. Sophie even seems to me less beautiful; I see
+      faults where I formerly could only discover amiabilities! Now, she is to
+      me almost wholly a stranger. As I am, so are all. Who is there that feels
+      right lovingly, right faithfully for me, without his own interest leading
+      him to do so? Rosalie? My old, honest Rosalie? I grew up before her eyes
+      like a plant which she loved. I am dear to her as it! When her canary-bird
+      one morning lay dead in its cage, she wept bitterly and long; she should
+      never more hear it sing, she should never more look after its cage and its
+      food. It was the loss of it which made her weep. She missed that which had
+      been interesting to her. I also interested her. Interest is the name for
+      that which the world calls love. Louise?&rdquo; He almost spoke the name aloud,
+      and his thoughts dwelt, from a strong combination of circumstances, upon
+      it. &ldquo;She appears to me true, and capable of making sacrifices! but is not
+      she also very different from all the others? How often have I not heard
+      Sophie laugh at her for it&mdash;look down upon her!&rdquo; And Otto&rsquo;s better
+      feeling sought in vain for a shadow of self-love in Louise, a single
+      selfish motive for her noble conduct.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Away from Denmark! to new people! Happy he who can always be on the wing,
+      making new friendships, and speedily breaking them off! At the first
+      meeting people wear their intellectual Sunday apparel; every point of
+      light is brought forth; but soon and the festival-day is over, and the
+      bright points have vanished.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We will set off next week!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, &ldquo;and then it shall be&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+    &lsquo;Over the rushing blue waters away!
+     We will speed along shores that are verdant and gay!&rsquo; 
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Away over the moors, up the Rhine, through the land of champagne to the
+      city of cities, the life-animating Paris!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0042" id="link2HCH0042">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XLII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;A maiden stood musing, gentle and mild. I grasped the hand
+     of the friendly child, but the lovely fawn shyly
+     disappeared.... From the Rhine to the Danish Belt,
+     beautiful and lovely maidens are found in palaces and tents;
+     yet nobody pleases me.&rdquo;&mdash;SCHMIDT VON LÜBECK.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The last day at home was Sophie&rsquo;s birthday. In the afternoon the whole
+      family was invited to the Kammerjunker&rsquo;s, where Jakoba and the Mamsell
+      were to be quite brilliant in their cookery.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A table filled with presents, all from the Kammerjunker, awaited Miss
+      Sophie; it was the first time that he had ever presented to her a birthday
+      gift, and he had now, either out of his own head or somebody&rsquo;s else,
+      fallen on the very good idea of making her a present for every year which
+      she had lived. Every present was suited to the age for which it was
+      intended, and thus he began with a paper of sugar-plums and ended with
+      silk and magnificent fur; but between beginning and end there were things,
+      of which more than the half could be called solid: gold ear-rings, a boa,
+      French gloves, and a riding-horse. This last, of course, could not stand
+      upon the table. It was a joy and a happiness; people walked about, and
+      separated themselves by degrees into groups.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The only one who was not there was Eva. She always preferred remaining at
+      home; and yet, perhaps, to-day she might have allowed herself to have been
+      overpersuaded, had she not found herself so extremely weak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Silently and alone she now sat at home in the great empty parlor. It was
+      in the twilight; she had laid down her work, and her beautiful, thoughtful
+      eyes looked straight before her: thoughts which we may not unveil were
+      agitating her breast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suddenly the door opened, and Wilhelm stood before her. Whilst the others
+      were walking he had stolen away. He knew that Eva was alone at home;
+      nobody would know that he visited her, nobody would dream of their
+      conversation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You here!&rdquo; exclaimed Eva, when she saw him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was compelled to come,&rdquo; answered he. &ldquo;I have slipped away from the
+      others; no one knows that I am here. I must speak with you, Eva. To-morrow
+      I set off; but I cannot leave home calmly and happily without knowing&mdash;what
+      this moment must decide.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Eva rose, her checks crimsoned, she cast down her eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Baron Wilhelm!&rdquo; stammered she, &ldquo;it is not proper that I should remain
+      here!&rdquo; She was about to leave the room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Eva!&rdquo; said Wilhelm, and seized her hand, &ldquo;you know that I love you! My
+      feelings are honorable! Say Yes, and it shall be holy to me as an oath.
+      Then I shall begin my journey glad at heart, as one should do. Your assent
+      shall stand in my breast, shall sound in my ear, whenever sin and
+      temptation assail me! It will preserve me in an upright course, it will
+      bring me back good and unspoiled. My wife must you be! You have soul, and
+      with it nobility! Eva! in God&rsquo;s name, do not make a feeble, life-weary,
+      disheartened being of me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Heavens!&rdquo; exclaimed she, and burst into tears, &ldquo;I cannot, and&mdash;will
+      not! You forget that I am only a poor girl, who am indebted for everything
+      to your mother! My assent would displease her, and some time or other you
+      would repent of it! I cannot!&mdash;I do not love you!&rdquo; added she, in a
+      tremulous voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm stood speechless.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Eva suddenly rang the bell.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What are you doing?&rdquo; exclaimed he.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The servant entered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bring in lights!&rdquo; said she; &ldquo;but first of all you must assist me with
+      these flowers down into the garden. It will do them good to stand in the
+      dew.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The servant did as she bade; she herself carried down one of the pots, and
+      left the room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not love you!&rdquo; repeated Wilhelm to himself, and returned to the
+      company which he had left, and where he found all gayety and happiness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The supper-table was spread in the garden; lights burned in the open air
+      with a steady flame; it was a summer-evening beautiful as the October of
+      the South; the reseda sent forth its fragrance; and when Sophie&rsquo;s health
+      was drunk cannon were fired among the lofty fir-trees, the pines of the
+      North.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The next morning those countenances were dejected which the evening before
+      had been so gay. The carriage drew up to the door. The dear mother and
+      sisters wept; they kissed Wilhelm, and extended their hands to Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Farewell!&rdquo; said Louise; &ldquo;do not forget us!&rdquo; and her tearful glance rested
+      upon Otto. Eva stood silent and pale.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will not forget me!&rdquo; whispered Otto, as he seized Louise&rsquo;s hand. &ldquo;I
+      will forget your sister!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The carriage rolled away; Wilhelm threw himself back into a corner. Otto
+      looked back once more; they all stood at the door, and waved their white
+      handkerchiefs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0043" id="link2HCH0043">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XLIII
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;In one short speaking silence all conveys&mdash;
+     And looks a sigh, and weeps without a tear.&rdquo;
+                                   MRS. BROWNING.
+
+     &ldquo;Forgive us our debts as we
+       The debts of others forgive;
+     And lead us not in tempting ways;
+       Apart from evil let us live.&rdquo;
+                    A. VON CHAMISSO.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      We will not accompany the friends, but will remain behind in Funen, where
+      we will make a bolder journey than they, namely, we will go back
+      one-and-twenty years. We will allow the circumstances of Otto&rsquo;s birth
+      again to come before us. It is a leap backward that we take from 1830 to
+      1810. We are in Odense, that old city, which takes its name from Odin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The common people there have still a legend about the origin of the name
+      of the city. Upon Naesbyhoved&rsquo;s Hill [Author&rsquo;s Note: Not far from the
+      city, by the Odense Channel; it is described in Wedel Simonsen&rsquo;s City
+      Ruins.] there once stood a castle; here lived King Odin and his wife:
+      Odense city was not then in existence, but the first building of it was
+      then begun. [Author&rsquo;s Note: The place is given as being that of the now
+      so-called Cross Street.] The court was undecided as to the name which
+      should be given to the city. After long indecision it was at last agreed
+      that the first word which either King or Queen should speak the next
+      morning should be the name given to it. In the early morning the Queen
+      awoke and looked out from her window over the wood. The first house in the
+      city was erected to the roof, and the builders had hung up a great
+      garland, glittering with tinsel, upon the rooftree. &ldquo;Odin, see!&rdquo; exclaimed
+      the Queen; and thenceforward the city was called Odensee, which name,
+      since then, has been changed by daily speech to Odense.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When people ask the children in Copenhagen whence they have come, they
+      reply, out of the Peblingsöe. The little children of Odense, who know
+      nothing about the Peblingsöe, say that they are fetched out of Rosenbaek,
+      a little brook which has only been ennobled within the few last years,
+      just as in Copenhagen is the case with Krystal Street, which formerly had
+      an unpleasant name. This brook runs through Odense, and must, in former
+      times, when united with the Odense River, have formed an island where the
+      city at that time stood; hence some people derive the name of Odense from
+      Odins Ei, or Odins Ö, that is, Odin&rsquo;s Island. Be it then as it might, the
+      brook flows now, and in 1810, when the so-called Willow-dam, by the West
+      Gate, was not filled up, it stood, especially in spring, low and watery.
+      It often overflowed its banks, and in so doing overflowed the little
+      gardens which lay on either side. It thus ran concealed through the city
+      until near the North Gate, where it made its appearance for a moment and
+      then dived again in the same street, and, like a little river, flowed
+      through the cellars of the old justice-room, which was built by the
+      renowned Oluf Bagger. [Author&rsquo;s Note: He was so rich that once, when
+      Frederick the Second visited him, he had the room heated with cinnamon
+      chips. Much may be found about this remarkable man in the second
+      collection of Thiele&rsquo;s Popular Danish Legends. His descendants still live
+      in Odense, namely, the family of the printer Ch. Iversen, who has
+      preserved many curiosities which belonged to him.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was an afternoon in the summer of 1810; the water was high in the
+      brook, yet two washerwomen were busily employed in it; reed-matting was
+      fast bound round their bodies, and they beat with wooden staves the
+      clothes upon their washing-stools. They were in deep conversation, and yet
+      their labor went on uninterruptedly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said one of them, &ldquo;better a little with honor, than much with
+      dishonor. She is sentenced; to-morrow she is to go about in the pillory.
+      That is sure and certain! I know it from the trumpeter&rsquo;s Karen, and from
+      the beggar-king&rsquo;s [Author&rsquo;s Note: Overseer of the poor.] wife: neither of
+      them go about with lies.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ih, my Jesus!&rdquo; exclaimed the other, and let her wooden beater fall, &ldquo;is
+      Johanne Marie to go in the pillory, the handsome girl? she that looked so
+      clever and dressed herself so well?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, it is a misfortune!&rdquo; said the first; &ldquo;a great misfortune it must be!
+      No, let every one keep his own! say I every day to my children. After the
+      sweet claw comes the bitter smart. One had much better work till the blood
+      starts from the finger-ends.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ih, see though!&rdquo; said the other; &ldquo;there goes the old fellow, Johanne
+      Marie&rsquo;s father. He is an honest man; he was so pleased with his daughter,
+      and to-morrow he must himself bind her to the pillory! But can she really
+      have stolen?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She has herself confessed,&rdquo; returned she; &ldquo;and the Colonel is severe. I
+      fancy the Gevaldiger is going there.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Colonel should put the bridle on his own son. He is a bad fellow! Not
+      long ago, when I was washing yarn there, and was merry, as I always am, he
+      called me &lsquo;wench.&rsquo; If he had said &lsquo;woman,&rsquo; I should not have troubled
+      myself about it, for it has another meaning; but &lsquo;wench,&rsquo; that is rude!
+      Ei, there sails the whole affair!&rdquo; screamed she suddenly, as the sheet
+      which she had wound round the washing-stool got loose and floated down the
+      stream: she ran after it, and the conversation was broken off.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The old man whom they had seen and compassionated, went into a great house
+      close by, where the Colonel lived. His eyes were cast upon the ground; a
+      deep, silent suffering lay in his wrinkled face; he gently pulled at the
+      bell, and bowed himself deeply before the black-appareled lady who opened
+      to him the door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We know her&mdash;it was the old Rosalie, then twenty years younger than
+      when we saw her upon the western coast of Jutland.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good old man!&rdquo; said she, and laid her hand kindly on his shoulder.
+      &ldquo;Colonel Thostrup is severe, but he is not, however, inhuman; and that he
+      would be if he let you tomorrow do your office. The Colonel has said that
+      the Gevaldiger should stay at home.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No!&rdquo; said the old man, &ldquo;our Lord will give me strength. God be thanked
+      that Johanne Marie&rsquo;s mother has closed her eyes: she will not see the
+      misery! We are not guilty of it!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Honest man!&rdquo; said Rosalie. &ldquo;Johanne was always so good and clever; and
+      now&rdquo;&mdash;she shook her head&mdash;&ldquo;I would have sworn for her, but she
+      has confessed it herself!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The law must have its course!&rdquo; said the old man, and tears streamed down
+      his cheeks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At that moment the door opened, and Colonel Thostrup, a tall, thin man,
+      with a keen eye, stood before them. Rosalie left the room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gevaldiger,&rdquo; said the Colonel, &ldquo;to-morrow you will not be required to act
+      in your office.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Colonel,&rdquo; returned the old man, &ldquo;it is my duty to be there, and, if I may
+      say a few words, people would speak ill of me if I kept away.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      On the following forenoon, from the early morning, the square where lay
+      the council-house and head-watch, was filled with people; they were come
+      to see the handsome girl led forth in the pillory. The time began to
+      appear long to them, and yet no sign was seen of that which they expected.
+      The sentinel, who went with measured step backward and forward before the
+      sentry-box, could give no intelligence. The door of the council-house was
+      closed, and everything gave occasion to the report which suddenly was put
+      into circulation, that the handsome Johanne Marie had been for a whole
+      hour in the pillory within the council-house, and thus they should have
+      nothing at all to see. Although it is entirely opposed to sound reason
+      that punishment should be inflicted publicly, it met with much support,
+      and great dissatisfaction was excited.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is shabby!&rdquo; said a simple woman, in whom we may recognize one of the
+      washerwomen; &ldquo;it is shabby thus to treat the folks as if they were fools!
+      Yesterday I slaved like a horse, and here one has stood two whole hours by
+      the clock, till I am stiff in the legs, without seeing anything at all!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is what I expected,&rdquo; said another woman; &ldquo;a fair face has many
+      friends! She has known how to win the great people to her side!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do not you believe,&rdquo; inquired a third, &ldquo;that she has been good friends
+      with the Colonels son?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes; formerly I would have said No, because she always looked so steady,
+      and against her parents there is not a word to be said; but as she has
+      stolen, as we know she has, she may also have been unsteady. The Colonel&rsquo;s
+      son is a wild bird; riots and drinks does he in secret! We others know
+      more than his father does: he had held too tight a hand over him. Too
+      great severity causes bad blood!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;God help me, now it begins!&rdquo; interrupted another woman, as a detachment
+      of soldiers marched out of the guard-house, and at some little distance
+      one from the other inclosed an open space. The door of the council-house
+      now opened, and two officers of police, together with some of the guard,
+      conducted out the condemned, who was placed in the pillory. This was a
+      sort of wooden yoke laid across the shoulders of the delinquent; a piece
+      of wood came forward from this into which her hands were secured: above
+      all stood two iron bars, to the first of which was fastened a little bell;
+      to the other a long fox&rsquo;s tail, which hung down the lack of the condemned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl seemed hardly more than nineteen, and was of an unusually
+      beautiful figure; her countenance was nobly and delicately formed, but
+      pale as death: yet there was no expression either of suffering or shame,&mdash;she
+      seemed like the image of a penitent, who meekly accomplishes the imposed
+      penance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her aged father, the Gevaldiger, followed her slowly; his eye was
+      determined; no feature expressed that which went forward in his soul: he
+      silently took his place beside one of the pillars before the guard house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A loud murmur arose among the crowd when they saw the beautiful girl and
+      the poor old father, who must himself see his daughter&rsquo;s disgrace.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A spotted dog sprang into the open space; the girl&rsquo;s monotonous tread, as
+      she advanced into the middle of the square, the ringing of the little
+      bell, and the fox-tail which moved in the wind, excited the dog, which
+      began to bark, and wanted to bite the fox&rsquo;s tail. The guards drove the dog
+      away, but it soon came back again, although it did not venture again into
+      the circle, but thrust itself forward, and never ceased barking.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Many of those who already had been moved to compassion by the beauty of
+      the girl and the sight of the old father, were thrown again by this
+      incident into a merry humor; they laughed and found the whole thing very
+      amusing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The hour was past, and the girl was now to be released. The Gevaldiger
+      approached her, but whilst he raised his hand to the yoke the old man
+      tottered, and sank, in the same moment, back upon the hard stone pavement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A shriek arose from those who stood around; the young girl alone stood
+      silent and immovable; her thoughts seemed to be far away. Yet some people
+      fancied they saw how she closed her eyes, but that was only for a moment.
+      A policeman released her from the pillory, her old father was carried into
+      the guard-house, and two policemen led her into the council-house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See, now it is over!&rdquo; said an old glover, who was among the spectators;
+      &ldquo;the next time she&rsquo;ll get into the House of Correction.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O, it is not so bad there,&rdquo; answered another; &ldquo;they sing and are merry
+      there the whole day long, and have no need to trouble themselves about
+      victuals.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, but that is prison fare.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is not so bad&mdash;many a poor body would thank God for it; and
+      Johanne Marie would get the best of it. Her aunt is the head-cook, and the
+      cook and the inspector they hang together. It&rsquo;s my opinion, however, that
+      this affair will take the life out of the old man. He got a right good
+      bump as he fell on the stone-pavement; one could hear how it rung again.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The crowd separated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The last malicious voice had prophesied truth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Three weeks afterward six soldiers bore a woven, yellow straw coffin from
+      a poor house in East Street. The old Gevaldiger lay, with closed eyes and
+      folded hands, in the coffin. Within the chamber, upon the bedstead, sat
+      Johanne Marie, with a countenance pale as that of the dead which had been
+      carried away. A compassionate neighbor took her hand, and mentioned her
+      name several times before she heard her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Johanne, come in with me; eat a mouthful of pease and keep life in you;
+      if not for your own sake, at least for that of the child which lies under
+      your heart.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl heaved a wonderfully deep sigh. &ldquo;No, no!&rdquo; said she, and closed
+      her eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Full of pity, the good neighbor took her home with her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A few days passed on, and then one morning two policemen entered the poor
+      room in which the Gevaldiger had died. Johanne Marie was again summoned
+      before the judge.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A fresh robbery had taken place at the Colonel&rsquo;s. Rosalie said that it was
+      a long time since she had first missed that which was gone, but that she
+      thought it best to try to forget it. The Colonel&rsquo;s violent temper and his
+      exasperation against Johanne Marie, who, as he asserted, by her bad
+      conduct, had brought her old, excellent father to the grave, insisted on
+      summoning her before the tribunal, that the affair might be more narrowly
+      inquired into.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rosalie, who had been captivated by the beauty of the girl and by her
+      modest demeanor, and who was very fond of her, was this time quite calm,
+      feeling quite sure that she would deny everything, because, in fact, the
+      theft had only occurred within the last few days. The public became aware
+      of this before long, and the opinion was that Johanne Marie could not
+      possibly have been an actor in it; but, to the astonishment of the greater
+      number, she confessed that she was the guilty person, and that with such
+      calmness as amazed every one. Her noble, beautifully formed countenance
+      seemed bloodless; her dark-blue eyes beamed with a brilliancy which seemed
+      like that of delirium; her beauty, her calmness, and yet this obduracy in
+      crime, produced an extraordinary impression upon the spectators.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She was sentenced to the House of Correction in Odense. Despised and
+      repulsed by the better class of her fellow-beings, she went to her
+      punishment. No one had dreamed that under so fair a form so corrupt a soul
+      could have been found. She was set to the spinning-wheel; silent and
+      introverted, she accomplished the tasks that were assigned her. In the
+      coarse merriment of the other prisoners she took no part.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t let your heart sink within you, Johanne Marie,&rdquo; said German
+      Heinrich, who sat at the loom; &ldquo;sing with us till the iron bars rattle!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Johanne, you brought your old father to the grave,&rdquo; said her relation,
+      the head-cook; &ldquo;how could you have taken such bad courses?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Johanne Marie was silent; the large, dark eyes looked straight before her,
+      whilst she kept turning the wheel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Five months went on, and then she became ill&mdash;ill to death, and gave
+      birth to twins, a boy and a girl&mdash;two beautiful and well-formed
+      children, excepting that the girl was as small and delicate as if its life
+      hung on a thread.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The dying mother kissed the little ones and wept; it was the first time
+      that the people within the prison had seen her weep. Her relation the cook
+      sat alone with her upon the bed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Withdraw not your hand from the innocent children,&rdquo; said Johanne Marie;
+      &ldquo;if they live to grow up, tell them some time that their mother was
+      innocent. My eternal Saviour knows that I have never stolen! Innocent am
+      I, and innocent was I when I went out a spectacle of public derision, and
+      now when I sit here!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ih, Jesus though! What do you say?&rdquo; exclaimed the woman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The truth!&rdquo; answered the dying one. &ldquo;God be gracious to me!&mdash;my
+      children!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She sank back upon the couch, and was dead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0044" id="link2HCH0044">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XLIV
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Ah! wonderfully beautiful is God&rsquo;s earth, and worthy it is
+     to live contented.&rdquo;&mdash;HÖLTY.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      We now return to the hall in Funen, to the family which we left there; but
+      autumn and winter are gone whilst we have been lingering on the past. Otto
+      and Wilhelm have been two months away. It is the autumn of 1832.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The marriage of the Kammerjunker and Sophie was deferred, according to her
+      wish, until the second of April, because this day is immortal in the
+      annals of Denmark. In the house, where there now were only the mother,
+      Louise, and Eva, all was quiet. Through the whole winter Eva had become
+      weaker; yet she did not resemble the flowers which wither; there was no
+      expression of illness about her&mdash;it was much more as if the spiritual
+      nature overpowered the bodily; she resembled an astral lamp which, filled
+      with light, seems almost resembled be an ethereal existence. The dark-blue
+      eyes had an expression of soul and feeling which attracted even the simple
+      domestics at the hall. The physician assured them that her chest was
+      sound, and that her malady was to him a riddle. A beautiful summer, he
+      thought, would work beneficially upon her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm and Otto wrote alternately. It was a festival-day whenever a
+      letter came; then were maps and plans of the great cities fetched out, and
+      Louise and Eva made the journey with them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To-day they are here, to-morrow they will be there,&rdquo; cried they.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How I envy them both, to see all these glorious things!&rdquo; said Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The charming Switzerland!&rdquo; sighed Eva. &ldquo;How refreshing the air must be to
+      breathe! How well one must feel one&rsquo;s self there!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you could only go there, Eva,&rdquo; said Louise, &ldquo;then you would certainly
+      get better.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here all are so kind to me; here I am so happy!&rdquo; answered she. &ldquo;I am
+      right thankful to God for it. How could I have hoped for such a home as
+      this? God reward you and your good mother for your kindness to me. Once I
+      was so unhappy; but now I have had a double repayment for all my sorrow,
+      and all the neglect I have suffered. I am so happy, and therefore I would
+      so willingly live!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, and you shall live!&rdquo; said Louise. &ldquo;How came you now to think about
+      dying? In the summer you will perfectly recover, the physician says. Can
+      you hide from me any sorrow? Eva, I know that my brother loves you!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He will forget that abroad!&rdquo; said Eva. &ldquo;He must forget it! Could I be
+      ungrateful? But we are not suited for each other!&rdquo; She spoke of her
+      childhood, of long-passed, sorrowful days. Louise laid her arm upon her
+      shoulder: they talked till late in the evening, and tears stood in
+      Louise&rsquo;s eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Only to you could I tell it!&rdquo; said Eva. &ldquo;It is to me like a sin, and yet
+      I am innocent. My mother was so too&mdash;my poor mother! Her sin was
+      love. She sacrificed all; more than a woman should sacrifice. The old
+      Colonel was stern and violent. His wrath often became a sort of frenzy, in
+      which he knew not what he did. The son was young and dissipated; my mother
+      a poor girl, but very handsome, I have heard. He seduced her. She had
+      become an unfortunate being, and that she herself felt. The Colonel&rsquo;s son
+      robbed his father and an old woman who lived in the family: that which had
+      been taken was missed. The father would have murdered the son, had he
+      discovered the truth; the son, therefore, sought in his need help from my
+      poor mother. He persuaded her to save him by taking the guilt on herself.
+      The whole affair as regarded her was, he intended, only to come from the
+      domestics. She thought that with her honor all was lost. She, indeed, had
+      already given him the best of which she was possessed. In anguish of
+      heart, and overpowered by his prayers, she said, &lsquo;Yes; my father has been
+      angry and undone already.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Eva burst into tears.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou dear, good girl!&rdquo; said Louise, and kissed her forehead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My poor mother,&rdquo; continued Eva, &ldquo;was condemned to an undeserved
+      punishment. I cannot mention it. For that reason I have never had a desire
+      to go to Odense. The old lady in the Colonel&rsquo;s family concealed, out of
+      kindness, her loss; but by accident it was discovered. The Colonel was
+      greatly embittered. My mother was overwhelmed by shame and misfortune: the
+      first error had plunged her into all this. She was taken to the House of
+      Correction in Odense. The Colonel&rsquo;s son shortly afterward went away in a
+      vessel. My unhappy mother was dispirited: nobody knew that she had
+      endured, out of despair and love, a disgrace which she had not deserved.
+      It was not until she lay upon her death-bed, when I and my brother were
+      born, that she told a relation that she was innocent. Like a criminal, in
+      the early morning she was carried to the grave in a coffin of plaited
+      straw. A great and a noble heart was carried unacknowledged to the dead!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You had a brother?&rdquo; inquired Louise, and her heart beat violently. &ldquo;Did
+      he die? and where did you, poor children, remain?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The cook in the house kept us with her. I was small and weak; my brother,
+      on the contrary, was strong, and full of life. He lived mostly among the
+      prisoners. I sat in a little room with my doll. When we were in our
+      seventh year, we were sent for to the old Colonel. His son died abroad;
+      but before his death he had written to the old man, confessing to him his
+      crime, my mother&rsquo;s innocence, and that we were his children! I resembled
+      my father greatly. The old gentleman, as soon as he saw me, was very
+      angry, and said, &lsquo;I will not have her!&rsquo; I remained with my foster-mother.
+      I never saw my brother after that time. The Colonel left the city, and
+      took him with him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O God!&rdquo; cried Louise; &ldquo;you have still some papers on this subject? Do you
+      not know your brother? It is impossible that it should be otherwise! You
+      are Otto&rsquo;s sister!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Heavens!&rdquo; exclaimed Eva; her hands trembled, and she became as pale as
+      a corpse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are fainting!&rdquo; cried Louise, throwing her arm around her waist and
+      kissing her eyes and her cheeks. &ldquo;Eva! he is your brother! the dear, good
+      Otto! O, he will be so happy with you! Yes, your eyes are like his! Eva,
+      you beloved girl!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Louise related to her all that Otto had confided to her. She told her
+      about German Heinrich, and how Otto had assisted Sidsel away, and how they
+      had met.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Eva burst into tears. &ldquo;My brother! O Father in heaven, that I may but
+      live! live and see him! Life is so beautiful! I must not die!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Happiness will make you strong! There is no doubt but that he is your
+      brother! We must tell it to mamma. O Heavens! how delighted she will be!
+      and Otto will no longer suffer and be unhappy! He may be proud of you, and
+      happy in you! O, come, come!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She led Eva out with her to her mother, who was already in bed; but how
+      could Louise wait till next morning?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;May the Lord bless thee, my good child!&rdquo; said the lady, and pressed a
+      kiss upon her forehead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Eva related now how the Colonel had, given a considerable sum to her
+      foster-mother; but that was all she was to receive, he had said.
+      Afterward, when the foster-mother died, Eva had still two hundred
+      rix-dollars; and on consideration of this the sister of the deceased had
+      taken Eva to live with her. With her she came to Copenhagen and to
+      Nyboder, and at that time she was ten years old. There she had to nurse a
+      little child&mdash;her brother she called it&mdash;and that was the little
+      Jonas. As she grew older, people told her that she was handsome. It was
+      now four years since she was followed one evening by two young men, one of
+      whom we know&mdash;our moral Hans Peter. One morning her foster-mother
+      came to her with a proposal which drove her to despair. The merchant had
+      seen her, and wished to purchase the beautiful flower. Upon this Eva left
+      her home, and came to the excellent people at Roeskelde; and from that day
+      God had been very good to her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She sank down upon her knees before the elderly lady&rsquo;s bed. She was not
+      among strangers: a mother and a sister wept with the happy one.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O that I might live!&rdquo; besought Eva, in the depths of her heart. As a
+      glorified one she stood before them. Her joy beamed through tears.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The next morning she felt herself singularly unwell. Her feet trembled;
+      her cheeks were like marble. She seated herself in the warm sunshine which
+      came in through the window. Outside stood the trees with large,
+      half-bursting buds. A few mild nights would make the wood green. But
+      summer was already in Eva&rsquo;s heart; there was life&rsquo;s joy and gladness. Her
+      large, thoughtful eyes raised themselves thankfully to heaven.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let me not die yet, good God!&rdquo; prayed she; and her lips moved to a low
+      melody, soft as if breezes passed over the outstretched chords:&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+           &ldquo;The sunshine warm, the odorous flowers,
+            Of these do not bereave me!
+            I breathe with joy the morning hours,
+            Let not the grave receive me!
+            There can no pleasant sunbeams fall,
+            No human voice come near me;
+            There should I miss the flow&rsquo;rets small,
+            There have no friends to cheer me.
+
+            Now, how to value life I know&mdash;
+            I hold it as a treasure;
+            There is no love i&rsquo; th&rsquo; grave below,
+            No music, warmth, or pleasure.
+            On it the heavy earth is flung,
+            The coffin-lid shuts tightly!
+            My blood is warm, my soul is young!
+            Life smiles&mdash;life shines so brightly!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      She folded her hands: all became like flowers and gold before her eyes.
+      Afar off was the sound of music: she reeled and sank down upon the sofa
+      which was near her. Life flowed forth from her heart, but the sensation
+      was one of bliss; a repose, as when the weary bow down their heads for
+      sleep.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here is a letter!&rdquo; cried Louise, full of joy, and found her white and
+      cold. Terrified, she called for help, and bent over her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Eva was dead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0045" id="link2HCH0045">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XLV
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Knowest thou the mountain and its cloudy paths? where the
+     mule is seeking its misty way.&rdquo;&mdash;GOETHE.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The letter was from Wilhelm; every line breathed life&rsquo;s joy and gladness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;MIA CARA SORELLA!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Does it not sound beautifully? It is Italian! Now then, I am in that
+      so-often-sung-of Paradise, but of the so much-talked-about blue air, I
+      have as yet seen nothing of consequence. Here it is gray, gray as in
+      Denmark. To be sure Otto says that it is beautiful, that we have the
+      heaven of home above us, but I am not so poetical. The eating is good, and
+      the filth of the people strikes one horribly after being in Switzerland,
+      the enchanting Switzerland! Yes, there is nature! We have made a crusade
+      through it, you may think. But now you shall hear about the journey, and
+      the entrance into &lsquo;la bella Italia,&rsquo; which is yet below all my
+      expectations. I cannot at all bear these feeble people; I cannot endure
+      this monk-odor and untruthfulness. We are come direct from the scenery of
+      Switzerland, from clouds and glaciers, from greatness and power. We
+      travelled somewhat hastily through the valley of the Rhone; the weather
+      was gray, but the whole obtained therefrom a peculiar character. The woods
+      in the lofty ridges looked like heather; the valley itself seemed like a
+      garden filled with vegetables, vineyards, and green meadows. The clouds
+      over and under one another, but the snow-covered mountains peeped forth
+      gloriously from among them, It was a riven cloud-world which drove past,&mdash;the
+      wild chase with which the daylight had disguised itself. It kissed in its
+      flight Pissevache, a waterfall by no means to be despised. In Brieg we
+      rested some time, but at two o&rsquo;clock in the morning began again our
+      journey over the Simplon. This is the journey which I will describe to
+      you. Otto and I sat in the coupée. Fancy us in white blouses, shawl-caps,
+      and with green morocco slippers, for the devil may travel in slippers&mdash;they
+      are painful to the feet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We both of us have mustaches! I have seduced Otto. They become us
+      uncommonly well, and give us a very imposing air; and that is very good
+      now that we are come into the land of banditti, where we must endeavor to
+      awe the robbers. Thus travelled we. It was a dark night, and still as
+      death, as in the moment when the overture begins to an opera. Soon,
+      indeed, was the great Simplon curtain to be rolled up, and we to behold
+      the land of music. Immediately on leaving the city, the road began to
+      ascend; we could not see a hand before us; around us tumbled and roared
+      the water-courses,&mdash;it was as if we heard the pulse of Nature beat.
+      Close above the carriage passed the white clouds; they seemed like
+      transparent marble slabs which were slid over us. We had the gray dawn
+      with us, whilst deep in the valley lay yet the darkness of night; in an
+      hour&rsquo;s time it began to show itself there among the little wooden houses.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is a road hewn out of the rocks. The giant Napoleon carried it through
+      the backbone of the earth. The eagle, Napoleon&rsquo;s bird, flew like a living
+      armorial crest over the gigantic work of the master. There it was cold and
+      gray; the clouds above us, the clouds below us, and in the middle space
+      steep rocky walls.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At regular distances houses (relais) are erected for the travellers; in
+      one of these we drank our coffee. The passengers sat on benches and tables
+      around the great fire-place, where the pine logs crackled. More than a
+      thousand names were written on the walls. I amused myself by writing
+      mamma&rsquo;s, yours, Sophie&rsquo;s, and Eva&rsquo;s; now they stand there, and people will
+      fancy that you have been on the Simplon. In the lobby I scratched in that
+      of Mamsell, and added &lsquo;Without her workbox.&rsquo; Otto was thinking about you.
+      We talked in our, what the rest would call &lsquo;outlandish speech,&rsquo; when I all
+      at once exclaimed, &lsquo;It is really Eva&rsquo;s birthday!&rsquo; I remembered it first.
+      In Simplon town we determined to drink her health.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We set off again. Wherever the glaciers might fall and destroy the road
+      the rocks have been sprung, and formed into great galleries, through which
+      one drives without any danger. One waterfall succeeds another. There is no
+      balustrade along the road, only the dark, deep abyss where the pine-trees
+      raise themselves to an immense height, and yet only look like rafters on
+      the mighty wall of rock. Before we had advanced much further, we came to
+      where trees no longer grew. The great hospice lay in snow and cloud. We
+      came into a valley. What solitude! what desolation! only naked crags! They
+      seemed metallic, and all had a green hue. The utmost variety of mosses
+      grew there; before us towered up an immense glacier, which looked like
+      green bottle-glass ornamented with snow. It was bitterly cold here, and in
+      Simplon the stoves were lighted; the champagne foamed, Eva&rsquo;s health was
+      drunk, and, only think! at that very moment an avalanche was so gallant as
+      to fall. That was a cannonade; a pealing among the mountains! It must have
+      rung in Eva&rsquo;s ears. Ask her about it. I can see how she smiles.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We now advanced toward Italy, but cold was it, and cold it remained. The
+      landscape became savage; we drove between steep crags. Only fancy, on both
+      sides a block of granite several miles long, and almost as high, and the
+      road not wider than for two carriages to pass, and there you have a
+      picture of it. If one wanted to see the sky, one was obliged to put one&rsquo;s
+      head out of the carriage and look up, and then it was as if one looked up
+      from the bottom of the deepest well, dark and narrow. Every moment I kept
+      thinking, &lsquo;Nay, if these two walls should come together!&rsquo; We with carriage
+      and horses were only like ants on a pebble. We drove through the ribs of
+      the earth! The water roared; the clouds hung like fleeces on the gray,
+      craggy walls. In a valley we saw boys and girls dressed in sheep-skins,
+      who looked as wild as if they had been brought up among beasts.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Suddenly the air became wondrously mild. We saw the first fig-tree by the
+      road-side. Chestnuts hung over our heads; we were in Isella, the boundary
+      town of Italy. Otto sang, and was wild with delight; I studied the first
+      public-house sign, &lsquo;Tabacca e vino.&rsquo; 
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How luxuriant became the landscape! Fields of maize and vineyards! The
+      vine was not trained on frames as in Germany!&mdash;no, it hung in
+      luxuriant garlands, in great huts of leaves! Beautiful children bounded
+      along the road, but the heavens were gray, and that I had not expected in
+      Italy. From Domo d&rsquo;Ossola, I looked back to my beloved Switzerland! Yes,
+      she turns truly the most beautiful side toward Italy. But there was not
+      any time for me to gaze; on we must. In the carriage there sat an old
+      Signorina; she recited poetry, and made: with her eyes &lsquo;che bella cosa!&rsquo; 
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;About ten o&rsquo;clock at night we were in Baveno, drank tea, and slept,
+      whilst Lago Maggiore splashed under our window. The lake and the Borromaen
+      island we were to see by daylight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Lord God!&rsquo; thought I, &lsquo;is this all?&rsquo; A scene as quiet and riant as this
+      we&mdash;have at home! Funen after this should be called Isola bella, and
+      the East Sea is quite large enough to be called Lago Maggiore. We went by
+      the steamboat past the holy Borromeus [Author&rsquo;s Note: A colossal statue on
+      the shore of Lago Maggiore.] to Sesto de Calende; we had a priest on
+      board, who was very much astonished at our having come from so far. I
+      showed him a large travelling map which we had with us, where the Lago
+      Maggiore was the most southern, and Hamburg the most northern point. &lsquo;Yet
+      still further off,&rsquo; said I; &lsquo;more to the north!&rsquo; and he struck his hands
+      together when he perceived that we were from beyond the great map. He
+      inquired whether we were Calvinists.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We sped through glorious scenes. The Alps looked like glass mountains in
+      a fairy tale. They lay behind us. The air was warm as summer, but light as
+      on the high mountains. The women wafted kisses to us; but they were not
+      handsome, the good ladies!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell the Kammerjunker that the Italian pigs have no bristles, but have a
+      coal-black shining skin like a Moor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Toward night we arrived at Milan, where we located ourselves with
+      Reichmann, made a good supper, and had excellent beds; but I foresee that
+      this bliss will not last very long. On the other side of the Apennines we
+      shall be up to the ears in dirt, and must eat olives preserved in oil; but
+      let it pass. Otto adapts himself charmingly to all things; he begins to be
+      merry&mdash;that is, at times! I, too, have had a sort of vertigo&mdash;I
+      am taken with Italian music; but then there is a difference in hearing it
+      on the spot. It has more than melody; it has character. The luxuriance in
+      nature and in the female form; the light, fluttering movement of the
+      people, where even pain is melody, has won my heart and my understanding.
+      Travelling changes people!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Kiss mamma for me! Tell Eva about the health-drinking on the Simplon, and
+      about the falling avalanche: do not forget that; that is precisely the
+      point in my letter! Tell me too how Eva blushed, and smiled, and said, &lsquo;He
+      thought of me!&rsquo; Yes, in fact it is very noble of me. My sweet Sophie and
+      her Kammerjunker, Jakoba and Mamsell, must have a bouquet of greetings,
+      which you must arrange properly. If you could but see Otto and me with our
+      mustaches! We make an impression, and that is very pleasant. If the days
+      only did not go on so quickly&mdash;if life did not pass so rapidly!
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+           &ldquo;&lsquo;Questa vita mortale
+             Che par si bella, a quasi piuma al vento
+             Che la porta a la perde in un momento,&rsquo; [Note: Guarini]
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      as we Italians say. Cannot you understand that?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thy affectionate brother,
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;WILHELM.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto wrote in the margin of the letter, &ldquo;Italy is a paradise! Here the
+      heavens are three times as lofty as at home. I love the proud pine-trees
+      and the dark-blue mountains. Would hat everybody could see the glorious
+      objects!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm added to this, &ldquo;What he writes about the Italian heavens is stupid
+      stuff. Ours at home is just as good. He is an odd person, as you very well
+      know!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Addic! A rivederci!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0046" id="link2HCH0046">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XLVI
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Thou art master in thy world.
+     Hast thou thyself, then thou hast all!&rdquo;
+      &mdash;WAHLMANN.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      In the summer of 1834 the friends had been absent for two years. In the
+      last year, violet-colored gillyflowers had adorned a grave in the little
+      country church-yard.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;A heart which overflowed with love,
+     Was gone from earth to love and God,&rdquo;
+      were the words which might be read upon the grave-stone.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      A withered bouquet of stocks had been found by Louise, with the
+      certificate of Eva&rsquo;s birth and her hymn-book. These were the flowers which
+      Wilhelm had given her that evening at Roeskelde. Among the dry leaves
+      there lay a piece of paper, on which she had written,&mdash;&ldquo;Even like
+      these flowers let the feelings die away in my soul which these flowers
+      inspire it with!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And now above her grave the flowers which she had loved sent forth their
+      fragrance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was Sunday; the sun shone warm; the church-goers, old and young,
+      assembled under the great lime-tree near Eva&rsquo;s grave. They expected their
+      young preacher, who to-day was to preach for the third time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentlefolks would also certainly be there, they thought, because the
+      young Baron was come back out of foreign parts, and with him the other
+      gentleman, who certainly was to have Miss Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Our new preacher is worth hearing,&rdquo; said one of the peasant women; &ldquo;such
+      a young man, who actually preaches the old faith! as gentle and as meek in
+      conversation as if he were one of ourselves! And in the pulpit, God help
+      us! it went quite down into my legs the last time about the Day of
+      Judgment!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There is Father!&rdquo; [Note: The general term applied to the preacher by the
+      Danish peasants.] exclaimed the crowd, and the heads of old and young were
+      uncovered. The women courtesied deeply as a young man in priest-robes went
+      into the church-door. His eyes and lips moved to a pious smile, the hair
+      was smooth upon his pale forehead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good day, children!&rdquo; said he.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was Hans Peter. He had, indeed, had &ldquo;the best characters,&rdquo; and thus had
+      received a good living, and now preached effectively about the devil and
+      all his works.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The singing of the community sounded above the grave where the sun shone,
+      where the stocks sent forth their fragrance, and where Eva slept: she
+      whose last wish was to live.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;There is no love i&rsquo; th&rsquo; grave below,
+     No music, warmth, or pleasure.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      The earth lay firm and heavy upon her coffin-lid.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      During the singing of the second hymn a handsome carriage drove up before
+      the church-yard. The two friends, who were only just returned to their
+      home in Denmark, entered the church, together with the mother and Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Travelling and two years had made Wilhelm appear somewhat older; there was
+      a shadow of sadness in his otherwise open and life-rejoicing countenance.
+      Otto looked handsomer than formerly; the gloomy expression in his face was
+      softened, he looked around cheerfully, yet thoughtfully, and a smile was
+      on his lips when he spoke with Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There was in the sermon some allusion made to those who had returned home;
+      for the rest, it was a flowery discourse interlarded with many texts from
+      the Bible. The community shed tears; the good, wise people, they
+      understood it to mean that their young lord was returned home uninjured
+      from all the perils which abound in foreign lands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The preacher was invited to dinner at the hall. The Kammerjunker and
+      Sophie came also, but it lasted &ldquo;seven long and seven wide,&rdquo; as Miss
+      Jakoba expressed herself, before they could get through all the unwrapping
+      and were ready to enter the parlor, for they had with them the little son
+      Fergus, as he was called, after the handsome Scotchman in Sir Walter
+      Scott&rsquo;s &ldquo;Waverley.&rdquo; That was Sophie&rsquo;s wish. The Kammerjunker turned the
+      name of Fergus to Gusseman, and Jacoba asserted that it was a dog&rsquo;s name.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now you shall see my little bumpkin!&rdquo; said he, and brought in a
+      square-built child, who with fat, red cheeks, and round arms, stared
+      around him. &ldquo;That is a strong fellow! Here is something to take hold of!
+      Tralla-ralla-ralla!&rdquo; And he danced him round the room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sophie laughed and offered her hand to Otto.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm turned to Mamsell. &ldquo;I have brought something for you,&rdquo; said he,
+      &ldquo;something which I hope may find a place in the work-box&mdash;a man made
+      of very small mussel-shells; it is from Venice.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Heavens! from all that way off!&rdquo; said she and courtesied.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After dinner they walked in the garden.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Wilhelm spoke already of going the following year again to Paris.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Satan!&rdquo; said the Kammerjunker. &ldquo;Nay, I can do better with Mr. Thostrup.
+      He is patriotic. He lays out his money in an estate. It is a good bargain
+      which you have made, and in a while will be beautiful; there is hill and
+      dale.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There my old Rosalie shall live with me,&rdquo; said Otto; &ldquo;there she will find
+      her Switzerland. The cows shall have bells on their necks.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lord God! shall they also be made fools of?&rdquo; exclaimed Jakoba: &ldquo;that is
+      just exactly as if it were Sophie.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They went through the avenue where Otto two years before had wept, and had
+      related all his troubles to Louise. He recollected it, and a gentle sigh
+      passed his lips whilst his eyes rested on Louise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, do you feel yourself happy at home?&rdquo; asked she; &ldquo;a lovelier summer&rsquo;s
+      day than this you certainly have not abroad.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Every country has its own beauties,&rdquo; replied Otto. &ldquo;Our Denmark is not a
+      step child of Nature. The people here are dearest to me, for I am best
+      acquainted with them. They, and not Nature, it is that makes a land
+      charming. Denmark is a good land; and here also will I look for my
+      happiness.&rdquo; He seized Louise&rsquo;s hand; she blushed, and was silent. Happy
+      hours succeeded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This circle assembled every Sunday; on the third, their delight was
+      greater, was more festal than on any former occasion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nature herself had the same expression. The evening was most beautiful;
+      the full moon shone, magnificent dark-blue clouds raised themselves like
+      mountains on the other side the Belt. Afar off sailed the ships, with
+      every sail set to catch the breeze.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Below the moon floated a coal-black cloud, which foretold a squall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A little yacht went calmly over the water. At the helm sat a boy&mdash;half
+      a child he seemed: it was Jonas, the little singing-bird, as Wilhelm had
+      once called him. Last Whitsuntide he had been confirmed, and with his
+      Confirmation all his singer-dreams were at an end: but that did not
+      trouble him; on the contrary, it had lain very heavy upon his heart that
+      he was not to be a fifer. His highest wish had been to see himself as a
+      regimental fifer, and then he should have gone to his Confirmation in his
+      red uniform, with a sabre at his side, and a feather in his hat half as
+      tall as himself. Thus adorned, he might have gone with the girls into the
+      King&rsquo;s Garden and upon the Round Tower, the usual walk for poor children
+      in Copenhagen. On Confirmation-day they ascend the high tower, just as if
+      it were to gain from it a free view over the world. Little Jonas, however,
+      was confirmed as a sailor, and he now sat at the helm on this quiet night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Upon the deck lay two persons and slept; a third went tranquilly up and
+      down. Suddenly he shook one of the sleepers, and caught hold on the sail.
+      A squall had arisen with such rapidity and strength, that the vessel in a
+      moment was thrown on her side. Mast and sail were below the water. Little
+      Jonas uttered a shriek. Not a vessel was within sight. The two sleepers
+      had woke in time to cling to the mast. With great force they seized the
+      ropes, but in vain; the sail hung like lead in the water. The ship did not
+      right herself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Joseph, Maria!&rdquo; exclaimed one of them, a man with gray hairs and
+      unpleasing features. &ldquo;We sink! the water is in the hold!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      All three clambered now toward the hinder part of the vessel, where a
+      little boat floated after. One of them sprang into it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My daughter!&rdquo; cried the elder, and bent himself toward the narrow
+      entrance into the cabin. &ldquo;Sidsel, save thy life!&rdquo; and so saying, he sprang
+      into the boat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We must have my daughter out,&rdquo; cried he. One of the ship&rsquo;s cabin windows
+      was under water; he burst in the other window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We are sinking!&rdquo; cried he, and a horrible scream was heard within.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The old man was German Heinrich, who was about to come with this vessel
+      from Copenhagen to Jutland: Sidsel was his daughter, and therefore he
+      wished now to save her life a second time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The water rushed more and more into the ship. Heinrich thrust his arm
+      through the cabin-window, he grasped about in the water within; suddenly
+      he caught hold on a garment, he drew it toward him; but it was only the
+      captain&rsquo;s coat, and not his daughter, as he had hoped.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The ship sinks!&rdquo; shrieked the other, and grasped wildly on the rope which
+      held the boat fast: in vain he attempted to divide it with his
+      pocket-knife. The ship whirled round with the boat and all. Air and water
+      boiled within it, and, as if in a whirlpool, the whole sunk into the deep.
+      The sea agitated itself into strong surges over the place, and then was
+      again still. The moon shone tranquilly over the surface of the water as
+      before. No wreck remained to tell any one of the struggle which there had
+      been with death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The bell tolled a quarter past twelve; and at that moment the last light
+      at the hall was extinguished.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will go to Paris,&rdquo; said Wilhelm, &ldquo;to my glorious Switzerland; here at
+      home one is heavy-hearted; the gillyflowers on the grave have an odor full
+      of melancholy recollections. I must breathe the mountain air; I must
+      mingle in the tumult of men, and it is quite the best in the world.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Otto closed his eyes; he folded his hands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Louise loves me,&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;I am so happy that I fear some great
+      misfortune may soon meet me; thus it used always to be. Whilst German
+      Heinrich lives I cannot assure myself of good! If he were away, I should
+      be perfectly tranquil, perfectly happy!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+
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+</pre>
+  </body>
+</html>
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+Project Gutenberg's O. T., A Danish Romance, by Hans Christian Andersen
+#3 in our series by Hans Christian Andersen
+
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+Title: O. T., A Danish Romance
+
+Author: Hans Christian Andersen
+
+Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7513]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on May 13, 2003]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK O. T., A DANISH ROMANCE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nicole Apostola
+
+
+
+
+O. T.
+A Danish Romance
+
+by Hans Christian Andersen
+Author of the "Improvisatore" and the "Two Baronesses"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+"Quod felix faustumque sit!"
+
+There is a happiness which no poet has yet properly sung, which no
+lady-reader, let her be ever so amiable, has experienced or ever
+will experience in this world. This is a condition of happiness
+which alone belongs to the male sex, and even then alone to the
+elect. It is a moment of life which seizes upon our feelings,
+our minds, our whole being. Tears have been shed by the innocent,
+sleepless nights been passed, during which the pious mother, the
+loving sister, have put up prayers to God for this critical moment
+in the life of the son or the brother.
+
+Happy moment, which no woman, let her be ever so good, so
+beautiful, or intellectual, can experience--that of becoming a
+student, or, to describe it by a more usual term, the passing of
+the first examination!
+
+The cadet who becomes an officer, the scholar who becomes an
+academical burgher, the apprentice who becomes a journeyman, all
+know, in a greater or less degree, this loosening of the wings,
+this bounding over the limits of maturity into the lists of
+philosophy. We all strive after a wider field, and rush thither
+like the stream which at length loses itself in the ocean.
+
+Then for the first time does the youthful soul rightly feel her
+freedom, and, therefore, feels it doubly; the soul struggles for
+activity, she comprehends her individuality; it has been proved and
+not found too light; she is still in possession of the dreams of
+childhood, which have not yet proved delusive. Not even the joy of
+love, not the enthusiasm for art and science, so thrills through
+all the nerves as the words, "Now am I a student!"
+
+This spring-day of life, on which the ice-covering of the school is
+broken, when the tree of Hope puts forth its buds and the sun of
+Freedom shines, falls with us, as is well known, in the month of
+October, just when Nature loses her foliage, when the evenings
+begin to grow darker, and when heavy winter-clouds draw together,
+as though they would say to youth,--"Your spring, the birth of the
+examination, is only a dream! even now does your life become
+earnest!" But our happy youths think not of these things, neither
+will we be joyous with the gay, and pay a visit to their circle. In
+such a one our story takes its commencement.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+"At last we separate:
+To Jutland one, to Funen others go;
+And still the quick thought comes,
+--A day so bright, so full of fun,
+Never again on us shall rise."--CARL BAGGER.
+
+It was in October of the year 1829. Examen artium had been passed
+through. Several young students were assembled in the evening at
+the abode of one of their comrades, a young Copenhagener of
+eighteen, whose parents were giving him and his new friends a
+banquet in honor of the examination. The mother and sister had
+arranged everything in the nicest manner, the father had given
+excellent wine out of the cellar, and the student himself, here the
+rex convivii, had provided tobacco, genuine Oronoko-canaster. With
+regard to Latin, the invitation--which was, of course, composed in
+Latin--informed the guests that each should bring his own.
+
+The company, consisting of one and twenty persons--and these were
+only the most intimate friends--was already assembled. About one
+third of the friends were from the provinces, the remainder out of
+Copenhagen.
+
+"Old Father Homer shall stand in the middle of the table!" said one
+of the liveliest guests, whilst he took down from the stove a
+plaster bust and placed it upon the covered table.
+
+"Yes, certainly, he will have drunk as much as the other poets!"
+said an older one. "Give me one of thy exercise-books, Ludwig! I
+will cut him out a wreath of vine-leaves, since we have no roses
+and since I cannot cut out any."
+
+"I have no libation!" cried a third,--"Favete linguis." And he
+sprinkled a small quantity of salt, from the point of a knife, upon
+the bust, at the same time raising his glass to moisten it with a
+few drops of wine.
+
+"Do not use my Homer as you would an ox!" cried the host. "Homer
+shall have the place of honor, between the bowl and the garland-cake!
+He is especially my poet! It was he who in Greek assisted me to
+laudabilis et quidem egregie. Now we will mutually drink healths!
+Jorgen shall be magister bibendi, and then we will sing 'Gaudeamus
+igitur,' and 'Integer vitae.'"
+
+"The Sexton with the cardinal's hat shall be the precentor!" cried
+one of the youths from the provinces, pointing toward a rosy-cheeked
+companion.
+
+"O, now I am no longer sexton!" returned the other laughing. "If
+thou bringest old histories up again, thou wilt receive thy old
+school-name, 'the Smoke-squirter.'"
+
+"But that is a very nice little history!" said the other. "We
+called him 'Sexton," from the office his father held; but that,
+after all, is not particularly witty. It was better with the hat,
+for it did, indeed, resemble a cardinal's hat. I, in the mean time,
+got my name in a more amusing manner."
+
+"He lived near the school," pursued the other; "he could always slip
+home when we had out free quarters of an hour: and then one day he
+had filled his mouth with tobacco smoke, intending to blow it into
+our faces; but when he entered the passage with his filled cheeks
+the quarter of an hour was over, and we were again in class: the
+rector was still standing in the doorway; he could not, therefore,
+blow the smoke out of his mouth, and so wished to slip in as he
+was. 'What have you there in your mouth?' asked the rector; but
+Philip could answer nothing, without at the same time losing the
+smoke. 'Now, cannot you speak?' cried the rector, and gave him a
+box on the ear, so that the smoke burst through nose and mouth.
+This looked quite exquisite; the affair caused the rector such
+pleasure, that he presented the poor sinner with the nota bene."
+
+"Integer vitae!" broke in the Precentor, and harmoniously followed
+the other voices. After this, a young Copenhagener exhibited his
+dramatic talent by mimicking most illusively the professors of the
+Academy, and giving their peculiarities, yet in such a good-natured
+manner that it must have amused even the offended parties
+themselves. Now followed the healths--"Vivant omnes hi et hae!"
+
+"A health to the prettiest girl!" boldly cried one of the merriest
+brothers. "The prettiest girl!" repeated a pair of the younger
+ones, and pushed their glasses toward each other, whilst the blood
+rushed to their cheeks at this their boldness, for they had never
+thought of a beloved being, which, nevertheless, belonged to their
+new life. The roundelay now commenced, in which each one must give
+the Christian name of his lady-love, and assuredly every second
+youth caught a name out of the air; some, however, repeated a name
+with a certain palpitation of the heart. The discourse became more
+animated; the approaching military exercises, the handsome uniform,
+the reception in the students' club, and its pleasures, were all
+matters of the highest interest. But there was the future
+philologicum and philosophicum--yes, that also was discussed;
+there they must exhibit their knowledge of Latin.
+
+"What do you think," said one of the party, "if once a week we
+alternately met at each other's rooms, and held disputations? No
+Danish word must be spoken. This might be an excellent scheme."
+
+"I agree to that!" cried several.
+
+"Regular laws must be drawn up."
+
+"Yes, and we must have our best Latin scholar, the Jutlander, Otto
+Thostrup, with us! He wrote his themes in hexameters."
+
+"He is not invited here this evening," remarked the neighbor, the
+young Baron Wilhelm of Funen, the only nobleman in the company.
+
+"Otto Thostrup!" answered the host. "Yes, truly he's a clever
+fellow, but he seems to me so haughty. There is something about him
+that does not please me at all. We are still no dunces, although
+he did receive nine prae caeteris!"
+
+"Yet it was very provoking," cried another, "that he received the
+only Non in mathematics. Otherwise he would have been called in.
+Now he will only have to vex himself about his many brilliant
+characters."
+
+"Yes, and he is well versed in mathematics!" added Wilhelm "There
+was something incorrect in the writing; the inspector was to blame
+for that, but how I know not. Thostrup is terribly vehement, and
+can set all respect at defiance; he became angry, and went out.
+There was only a piece of unwritten paper presented from him,
+and this brought him a cipher, which the verbal examination could
+not bring higher than non. Thostrup is certainly a glorious fellow.
+We have made a tour together in the steamboat from Helsingoer to
+Copenhagen, and in the written examination we sat beside each other
+until the day when we had mathematics, and then I sat below him. I
+like him very much, his pride excepted; and of that we must break
+him."
+
+"Herr Baron," said his neighbor, "I am of your opinion.
+Shall not we drink the Thou-brotherhood?"
+
+"To-night we will all of us drink the Thou!" said the host; "it is
+nothing if comrades and good friends call each other _you_."
+
+"Evoe Bacchus!" they joyously shouted. The glasses were filled, one
+arm was thrown round that of the neighbor, and the glasses were
+emptied, whilst several commenced singing "dulce cum sodalibus!"
+
+"Tell me what thou art called?" demanded one of the younger guests
+of his new Thou-brother.
+
+"What am I called?" replied he. "With the exception of one letter,
+the same as the Baron."
+
+"The Baron!" cried a third; "yes, where is he?"
+
+"There he stands talking at the door; take your glasses! now have
+all of us drank the Thou-brotherhood?"
+
+The glasses were again raised; the young Baron laughed, clinked his
+glass, and shouted in the circle, "Thou, Thou!" But in his whole
+bearing there lay something constrained, which, however, none of
+the young men remarked, far less allowed themselves to imagine that
+his sudden retreat, during the first drinking, perhaps occurred
+from the sole object of avoiding it. But soon was he again one of
+the most extravagant; promised each youth who would study theology
+a living on his estate when he should once get it into his own
+hands; and proposed that the Latin disputations should commence
+with him, and on the following Friday. Otto Thostrup, however,
+should he of the party--if he chose, of course being understood;
+for he was a capital student, and his friend they had made a
+journey together and had been neighbors at the green table.
+
+Among those who were the earliest to make their valete amici was
+the Baron. Several were not yet inclined to quit this joyous
+circle. The deepest silence reigned in the streets; it was the most
+beautiful moonlight. In most houses all had retired to rest--only
+here and there was a light still seen, most persons slept, even
+those whose sense of duty should leave banished the god of sleep:
+thus sat a poor hackney-coachman, aloft upon his coach-box, before
+the house where he awaited his party, and enjoyed, the reins wound
+about his hand, the much-desired rest. Wilhelm (henceforth we will
+only call the young Baron by his Christian name) walked alone
+through the street. The wine had heated his northern blood--besides
+which it never flowed slowly; his youthful spirits, his jovial
+mood, and the gayety occasioned by the merry company he had just
+quitted did not permit him quietly to pass by this sleeping
+Endymion. Suddenly it occurred to him to open the coach-door and
+leap in; which having done, he let the glass fall and called out
+with a loud voice, "Drive on!" The coachman started up out of his
+blessed sleep and asked, quite confused, "Where to?" Without
+reflecting about the matter, Wilhelm cried, "To the Ship in West
+Street." The coachman drove on; about half-way, Wilhelm again
+opened the coach-door, a bold spring helped him out, and the coach
+rolled on. It stopped at the public-house of the Ship. The coachman
+got down and opened the door; there was no one within; he thrust
+his head in thoroughly to convince himself; but no, the carriage
+was empty! "Extraordinary!" said the fellow; "can I have dreamed
+it? But still I heard, quite distinctly, how I was told to drive to
+the Ship! Lord preserve us! now they are waiting for me!" He leaped
+upon the box and drove rapidly back again.
+
+In the mean time Wilhelm had reached his abode in Vineyard Street;
+he opened a window to enjoy the beautiful night, and gazed out upon
+the desolate church-yard which is shut in by shops. He had no
+inclination for sleep, although everything in the street, even the
+watchmen not excepted, appeared to rejoice the gift of God. Wilhelm
+thought upon the merry evening party, upon his adventure with the
+poor hackney-coachman, then took down his violin from the wall and
+began to play certain variations.
+
+The last remaining guests from the honorable carousal, merrier than
+when Wilhelm left them, now came wandering up the street. One of
+them jodeled sweetly, and no watchman showed himself as a
+disturbing principle. They heard Wilhelm violin and recognized the
+musician.
+
+"Play us a Francaise, thou up there!" cried they.
+
+"But the watchman?" whispered one of the less courageous.
+
+"Zounds, there he sits!" cried a third, and pointed toward a
+sleeping object which leaned its head upon a large wooden chest
+before a closed booth.
+
+"He is happy!" said the first speaker. "If we had only the strong
+Icelander here, he would soon hang him up by his bandelier upon one
+of the iron hooks. He has done that before now; he has the strength
+of a bear. He seized such a lazy fellow as this right daintily by
+his girdle on one of the hooks at the weighing-booth. There hung
+the watchman and whistled to the others; the first who hastened to
+the spot was immediately hung up beside him, and away ran the
+Icelander whilst the two blew a duet."
+
+"Here, take hold!" cried one of the merry brothers, quickly opening
+the chest, the lid of which was fastened by a peg. "Let us put the
+watchman into the chest; he sleeps indeed like a horse!" In a
+moment, the four had seized the sleeper, who certainly awoke during
+the operation, but he already lay in the chest. The lid flew down,
+and two or three of the friends sprang upon it whilst the peg was
+stuck in again. The watchman immediately seized his whistle and
+drew the most heart-rending tones from it. Quickly the tormenting
+spirits withdrew themselves; yet not so far but that they could
+still hear the whistle and observe what would take place.
+
+The watchmen now came up.
+
+"The deuce! where art thou?" cried they, and then discovered the
+place.
+
+"Ah, God help me!" cried the prisoner. "Let me out, let me out! I
+must call!"
+
+"Thou hast drunk more than thy thirst required, comrade!" said the
+others. "If thou hast fallen into the chest, remain lying there,
+thou swine!" And laughing they left him.
+
+"O, the rascals!" sighed he, and worked in vain at opening the lid.
+Through all his powerful exertions the box fell over. The young men
+now stepped forth, and, as though they were highly astonished at
+the whole history which he related to them, they let themselves be
+prevailed upon to open the box, but only upon condition that he
+should keep street free from the interference of the other
+watchmen whilst they danced a Francaise to Wilhelm's violin.
+
+The poor man was delivered from his captivity, and must obligingly
+play the sentinel whilst they arranged them for the dance. Wilhelm
+was called upon to play, and the dance commenced; a partner,
+however, was wanting. Just then a quiet citizen passed by. The
+gentleman who had no partner approached the citizen with comic
+respect, and besought him to take part in the amusement.
+
+"I never dance!" said the man, laughing, and wished to pursue his
+way.
+
+"Yes," replied the cavalier, "yet you must still do me this
+pleasure, or else I shall have no dance." Saying this he took hold
+of him by the waist and the dance commenced, whether the good man
+would or no.
+
+"The watchman should receive a present from every one!" said they,
+when the Francaise was at an end. "He is an excellent man who thus
+keeps order in the street, so that one can enjoy a little dance."
+
+"These are honest people's children!" said the watchman to himself,
+whilst he with much pleasure thrust the money into his leathern
+purse.
+
+All was again quiet in the street; the violin was also silent.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+"Who looks into the shadowy realm of my heart?"
+                               A. V. CHAMISSO.
+
+In the former chapter we heard mention made of a young student,
+Otto Thostrup, a clever fellow, with nine prae caeteris, as his
+comrades said, but also of a proud spirit, of which he must be
+broken. Not at the disputations, which have been already mentioned,
+will we make his acquaintance, although there we must be filled
+with respect for the good Latin scholar; not in large companies,
+where his handsome exterior and his speaking, melancholy glance
+must make him interesting; as little in the pit of the Opera
+although his few yet striking observations there would show him to
+be a very intellectual young man; but we will seek him out for the
+first time at the house of his friend, the young Baron Wilhelm. It
+is the beginning of November: we find them both with their pipes in
+their mouths; upon the table lie Tibullus and Anacreon, which they
+are reading together for the approaching philologicum.
+
+In the room stands a piano-forte, with a number of music-books;
+upon the walls hang the portraits of Weyse and Beethoven, for our
+young Baron is musical, nay a composer himself.
+
+"See, here we have again this lovely, clinging mist!" said Wilhelm.
+"Out of doors one can fairly taste it; at home it would be a real
+plague to me, here it only Londonizes the city."
+
+"I like it!" said Otto. "To me it is like an old acquaintance from
+Vestervovov. It is as though the mist brought me greetings from the
+sea and sand-hills."
+
+"I should like to see the North Sea, but the devil might live
+there! What town lies nearest to your grandfather's estate?"
+
+"Lernvig," answered Otto. "If any one wish to see the North Sea
+properly, they ought to go up as far as Thisted and Hjorring. I
+have travelled there, have visited the family in Borglum-Kloster;
+and, besides this, have made other small journeys. Never shall I
+forget one evening; yes, it was a storm of which people in the
+interior of the country can form no conception. I rode--I was then
+a mere boy, and a very wild lad--with one of our men. When the
+storm commenced we found ourselves among the sand-hills. Ah!
+that you should have seen! The sand forms along the strand high
+banks, which serve as dikes against the sea; these are overgrown
+with sea-grass, but, if the storm bursts a single hole, the whole
+is carried away. This spectacle we chanced to witness. It is a true
+Arabian sand-storm, and the North Sea bellowed so that it might be
+heard at the distance of many miles. The salt foam flew together
+with the sand into our faces."
+
+"That must have been splendid!" exclaimed Wilhelm, and his eyes
+sparkled. "Jutland is certainly the most romantic part of Denmark.
+Since I read Steen-Blicher's novels I have felt a real interest for
+that country. It seems to me that it must greatly resemble the
+Lowlands of Scotland. And gypsies are also found there, are they
+not?"
+
+"Vagabonds, we call them," said Otto, with an involuntary motion of
+the mouth. "They correspond to the name!"
+
+"The fishermen, also, on the coast are not much better! Do they
+still from the pulpit pray for wrecks? Do they still slay
+shipwrecked mariners?"
+
+"I have heard our preacher, who is an old man, relate how, in the
+first years after he had obtained his office and dignity, he was
+obliged to pray in the church that, if ships stranded, they might
+strand in his district; but this I have never heard myself. But
+with regard to what is related of murdering, why, the fishermen--
+sea-geese, as they are called--are by no means a tender-hearted
+people; but it is not as bad as that in our days. A peasant died in
+the neighborhood, of whom it was certainly related that in bad
+weather he had bound a lantern under his horse's belly and let it
+wander up and down the beach, so that the strange mariner who was
+sailing in those seas might imagine it some cruising ship, and thus
+fancy himself still a considerable way from land. By this means
+many a ship is said to have been destroyed. But observe, these are
+stories out of the district of Thisted, and of an elder age, before
+my power of observation had developed itself; this was that golden
+age when in tumble-down fishers' huts, after one of these good
+shipwrecks, valuable shawls, but little damaged by the sea, might
+be found employed as bed-hangings. Boots and shoes were smeared
+with the finest pomatum. If such things now reach their hands, they
+know better how to turn them into money. The Strand-commissioners
+are now on the watch; now it is said to be a real age of copper."
+
+"Have you seen a vessel stranded?" inquired Wilhelm, with
+increasing interest.
+
+"Our estate lies only half a mile from the sea. Every year about
+this time, when the mist spreads itself out as it does to-day and
+the storms begin to rage, then was it most animated. In my wild
+spirits, when I was a boy, and especially in the midst of our
+monotonous life, I truly yearned after it. Once, upon a journey to
+Borglum-Kloster, I experienced a storm. In the early morning; it
+was quite calm, but gray, and we witnessed a kind of Fata Morgana.
+A ship, which had not yet risen above the horizon, showed itself in
+the distance, but the rigging was turned upside down; the masts
+were below, the hull above. This is called the ship of death, and
+when it is seen people are sure of bad weather and shipwreck.
+Later, about midday, it began to blow, and in an hour's time we had
+a regular tempest. The sea growled quite charmingly; we travelled
+on between sand-hills--they resemble hills and dales in winter
+time, but here it is not snow which melts away; here never grows
+a single green blade; a black stake stands up here and there, and
+these are rudders from wrecks, the histories of which are unknown.
+In the afternoon arose a storm such as I had experienced when
+riding with the man between the sand-hills. We could not proceed
+farther, and were obliged on this account to seek shelter in one of
+the huts which the fishermen hail erected among the white sand-hills.
+There we remained, and I saw the stranding of a vessel: I shall never
+forget it! An American ship lay not a musket-shot from land. They cut
+the mast; six or seven men clung fast to it in the waters. O, how
+they rocked backward and forward in the dashing spray! The mast took
+a direction toward the shore; at length only three men were left
+clinging to the mast; it was dashed upon land, but the returning
+waves again bore it away; it had crushed the arms and legs of the
+clinging wretches--ground them like worms! I dreamed of this for
+many nights. The waves flung the hull of the vessel up high on the
+shore, and drove it into the sand, where it was afterward found.
+Later, as we retraced our steps, were the stem and sternpost gone:
+you saw two strong wooden walls, between which the road took its
+course. You even still travel through the wreck!"
+
+"Up in your country every poetical mind must become a Byron," said
+Wilhelm. "On my parents' estate we have only idyls; the whole of
+Funen is a garden. We mutually visit each other upon our different
+estates, where we lead most merry lives, dance with the peasant-girls
+at the brewing-feast, hunt in the woods, and fish in the lakes. The
+only melancholy object which presents itself with us is a funeral,
+and the only romantic characters we possess are a little hump-backed
+musician, a wise woman, and an honest schoolmaster, who still firmly
+believes, as Jeronimus did, that the earth is flat, and that, were it
+to turn round, we should fall, the devil knows where!"
+
+"I love nature in Jutland!" exclaimed Otto. "The open sea, the
+brown heath, and the bushy moorland. You should see the wild moor
+in Vendsyssel--that is an extent! Almost always wet mists float
+over its unapproachable interior, which is known to no one. It is
+not yet fifty years since it served as an abode for wolves. Often
+it bursts into flames, for it is impregnated with sulphuric gas,--
+one can see the fire for miles."
+
+"My sister Sophie ought to hear all this!" said Wilhelm. "You would
+make your fortune with her! The dear girl! she has the best head at
+home, but she loves effect. Hoffman and Victor Hugo are her
+favorites. Byron rests every night under her pillow. If you related
+such things of the west coast of Jutland, and of heaths and moors,
+you might persuade her to make a journey thither. One really would
+not believe that we possessed in our own country such romantic
+situations!"
+
+"Is she your only sister?" inquired Otto.
+
+"No," returned Wilhelm, "I have two--the other is named Louise; she
+is of quite an opposite character: I do not know of which one ought
+to think most. Have you no brothers or sisters?" he asked of Otto.
+
+"No!" returned the latter, with his former involuntary, half-melancholy
+expression. "I am an only child. In my house it is solitary and silent.
+My grandfather alone is left alive. He is an active, strong man, but
+very grave. He instructed me in mathematics, which he thoroughly
+understands. The preacher taught me Latin, Greek, and history: two
+persons, however, occupied themselves with my religious education--
+the preacher and my old Rosalie. She is a good soul. How often have
+I teased her, been petulant, and almost angry with her! She thought
+so much of me, she was both mother and sister to me, and instructed
+me in religion as well as the preacher, although she is a Catholic.
+Since my father's childhood she has been a sort of governante in the
+house. You should have seen her melancholy smile when she heard my
+geography lesson, and we read of her dear Switzerland, where she was
+born, and of the south of France, where she had travelled as a child.
+The west coast of Jutland may also appear very barren in comparison
+with these countries!"
+
+"She might have made you a Catholic! But surely nothing of this
+still clings to you?"
+
+"Rosalie was a prudent old creature; Luther himself need not have
+been ashamed of her doctrine. Whatever is holy to the heart of man,
+remains also holy in every religion!"
+
+"But then, to erect altars to the Madonna!" exclaimed Wilhelm; "to
+pray to a being; whom the Bible does not make a saint!--that is
+rather too much. And their tricks with burning of incense and
+ringing of bells! Yes, indeed, it would give me no little pleasure
+to cut off the heads of the Pope and of the whole clerical body! To
+purchase indulgence!--Those must, indeed, be curious people who can
+place thorough faith in such things! I will never once take off my
+hat before the Madonna!"
+
+"But that will I do, and in my heart bow myself before her!"
+answered Otto, gravely.
+
+"Did I not think so? she has made you a Catholic!"
+
+"No such thing! I am as good a Protestant as you yourself: but
+wherefore should we not respect the mother of Christ? With regard
+to the ceremonials of Catholicism, indulgence, and all these
+additions of the priesthood, I agree with you in wishing to strike
+off the heads of all who, in such a manner, degrade God and the
+human understanding. But in many respects we are unjust: we so
+easily forget the first and greatest commandment, 'Love thy
+neighbor as thyself!' We are not tolerant. Among our festivals we
+have still one for the Three Kings--it is yet celebrated by the
+common people; but what have these three kings done? They knelt
+before the manger in which Christ lay, and on this account we honor
+them. On the contrary, the mother of God has no festival-day; nay,
+the multitude even smile at her name! If you will only quietly
+listen to my simple argument, we shall soon agree. You will take
+off your hat and bow before the Madonna. Only two things are to be
+considered--either Christ was entirely human, or He was, as the
+Bible teaches us, a divine being. I will now admit the latter. He
+is God Himself, who in some inexplicable manner, is born to us of
+the Virgin Mary. She must therefore be the purest, the most perfect
+feminine being, since God found her worthy to bring into the world
+the Son, the only one; through this she becomes as holy as any
+human being can, and low we must bow ourselves before the pure, the
+exalted one. Take it for granted that Christ was human, like
+ourselves, otherwise He cannot, according to my belief, call upon
+us to imitate Him; neither would it be great, as God, to meet a
+corporeal death, from which He could remove each pain. Were He only
+a man, born of Mary, we must doubly admire Him; we must bow in the
+dust before His mighty spirit, His enlightening and consoling
+doctrine. But can we then forget how much the mother has must have
+influenced the child, how sublime and profound the soul must have
+been which spoke to His heart? We must reverence and honor her!
+Everywhere in the Scriptures where she appears we see an example of
+care and love; with her whole soul she adheres to her Son. Think
+how uneasy she became, and sought for Him in the temple--think of
+her gentle reproaches! The words of the Son always sounded harsh in
+my ears. 'Those are the powerful expressions of the East!' said my
+old preacher. The Saviour was severe, severe as He must be! Already
+there seemed to me severity in His words! She was completely the
+mother; she was it then, even as when she wept at Golgotha.
+Honor and reverence she deserves from us!"
+
+"These she also receives!" returned Wilhelm; and striking him upon
+the shoulder he added, with a smile, "you are, according to the
+Roman Catholic manner, near exalting the mother above the Son! Old
+Rosalie has made a proselyte; after all, you are half a Catholic!"
+
+"That am I not!" answered Otto, "and that will I not be!"
+
+          "See! the thunder-cloud advances!"
+resounded below in the court: the sweet Neapolitan song reached the
+ears of the friends. They stepped into the adjoining room and
+opened the window. Three poor boys stood below in the wind and
+rain, and commenced the song. The tallest was, perhaps, fourteen or
+fifteen years old, his deep, rough voice seemed to have attained
+its strength and depth more through rain and bad weather than
+through age. The dirty wet clothes hung in rags about his body; the
+shoes upon the wet feet, and the hat held together with white
+threads, were articles of luxury. The other two boys had neither
+hat nor shoes, but their clothes were whole and clean. The youngest
+appeared six or seven years old; his silvery white hair formed a
+contrast with his brown face, his dark eyes and long brown
+eyelashes. His voice sounded like the voice of a little girl, as
+fine and soft, beside the voices of the others, as the breeze of an
+autumnal evening beside that of rude November weather.
+
+"That is a handsome boy!" exclaimed the two friends at the same
+time.
+
+"And a lovely melody!" added Otto.
+
+"Yes, but they sing falsely!" answered Wilhelm: "one sings half a
+tone too low, the other half a tone too high!"
+
+"Now, thank God that I cannot hear that!" said Otto. "It sounds
+sweetly, and the little one might become a singer. Poor child!"
+added he gravely: "bare feet, wet to the very skin; and then the
+elder one will certainly lead him to brandy drinking! Within a
+month, perhaps, the voice will be gone! Then is the nightingale
+dead!" He quickly threw down some skillings, wrapped in paper.
+
+"Come up!" cried Wilhelm, and beckoned. The eldest of the boys flew
+up like an arrow; Wilhelm, however, said it was the youngest who
+was meant. The others remained standing before the door; the
+youngest stepped in.
+
+"Whose son art thou?" asked Wilhelm. The boy was silent, and cast
+down his eyes in an embarrassed manner. "Now, don't be bashful!
+Thou art of a good family--that one can see from thy appearance!
+Art not thou thy mother's son? I will give thee stockings and--the
+deuce! here is a pair of boots which are too small for me; if thou
+dost not get drowned in them they shall be thy property: but now
+thou must sing." And he seated himself at the piano-forte and
+struck the keys. "Now, where art thou?" he cried, rather
+displeased. The little one gazed upon the ground.
+
+"How! dost thou weep; or is it the rain which hangs in thy black
+eyelashes?" said Otto, and raised his head: "we only wish to do
+thee a kindness. There--thou hast another skilling from me."
+
+The little one still remained somewhat laconic. All that they
+learned was that he was named Jonas, and that his grandmother
+thought so much of him.
+
+"Here thou hast the stockings!" said Wilhelm; "and see here! a coat
+with a velvet collar, a much-to-be-prized keepsake! The boots! Thou
+canst certainly stick both legs into one boot! See! that is as good
+as having two pairs to change about with! Let us see!"
+
+The boy's eyes sparkled with joy; the boots he drew on, the
+stockings went into his pocket, and the bundle he took under his
+arm.
+
+"But thou must sing us a little song!" said Wilhelm, and the little
+one commenced the old song out of the "Woman-hater," "Cupid never
+can be trusted!"
+
+The lively expression in the dark eyes, the boy himself in his wet,
+wretched clothes and big boots, with the bundle under his arm; nay,
+the whole had something so characteristic in it, that had it been
+painted, and had the painter called the picture "Cupid on his
+Wanderings," every one would have found the little god strikingly
+excellent, although he were not blind.
+
+"Something might be made of the boy and of his voice!" said
+Wilhelm, when little Jonas, in a joyous mood, had left the house
+with the other lads.
+
+"The poor child!" sighed Otto. "I have fairly lost my good spirits
+through all this. It seizes upon me so strangely when I see misery
+and genius mated. Once there came to our estate in Jutland a man
+who played the Pandean-pipes, and at the same time beat the drum
+and cymbals: near him stood a little girl, and struck the triangle.
+I was forced to weep over this spectacle; without understanding how
+it was, I felt the misery of the poor child. I was myself yet a
+mere boy."
+
+"He looked so comic in the big boots that I became quite merry, and
+not grave," said Wilhelm. "Nevertheless what a pity it is that such
+gentle blood, which at the first glance one perceives he is, that
+such a pretty child should become a rude fellow, and his beautiful
+voice change into a howl, like that with which the other tall Laban
+saluted us. Who knows whether little Jonas might not become the
+first singer on the Danish stage? Yes, if he received education of
+mind and voice, who knows? I could really have, pleasure in
+attempting it, and help every one on in the world, before I myself
+am rightly in the way!"
+
+"If he is born to a beggar's estate," said Otto, "let him as beggar
+live and die, and learn nothing higher. That is better, that is
+more to be desired!"
+
+Wilhelm seated himself at the piano-forte, and played some of his
+own compositions. "That is difficult," said he; "every one cannot
+play that."
+
+"The simpler the sweeter!" replied Otto.
+
+"You must not speak about music!" returned the friend "upon that
+you know not how to pass judgment. Light Italian operas are not
+difficult to write."
+
+In the evening the friends separated. Whilst Otto took his hat,
+there was a low knock at the door. Wilhelm opened it. Without stood
+a poor old woman, with pale sharp features; by the hand she led a
+little boy--it was Jonas: thus then it was a visit from him and his
+grandmother.
+
+The other boys had sold the boots and shoes which had been given
+him. They ought to have a share, they maintained. This atrocious
+injustice had induced the old grandmother to go immediately with
+little Jonas to the two good gentlemen, and relate how little the
+poor lad had received of flint which they had assigned to him
+alone.
+
+Wilhelm spoke of the boy's sweet voice, and thought that by might
+make his fortune at the theatre; but then he ought not now to be
+left running about with bare feet in the wind and rain.
+
+"But by this means he brings a skilling home," said the old woman.
+"That's what his father and mother look to, and the skilling they
+can always employ. Nevertheless she had herself already thought of
+bringing him out at the theatre,--but that was to have been in
+dancing, for they got shoes and stockings to dance in, and with
+these they might also run home; and that would be an advantage."
+
+"I will teach the boy music!" said Wilhelm; "he can come to me
+sometimes."
+
+"And then he will, perhaps, get a little cast-off clothing, good
+sir," said the grandmother; "a shirt, or a waistcoat, just as it
+happens?"
+
+"Become a tailor, or shoemaker," said Otto, gravely, and laid his
+hand upon the boy's head.
+
+"He shall be a genius!" said Wilhelm.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+                    "Christmas-tide,
+When in the wood the snow shines bright."
+                        OEHLENSCHLAGER'S Helge
+
+We again let several weeks pass by; it was Christmas Eve, which
+brings us the beautiful Christmas festival. We find the two friends
+taking a walk.
+
+Describe to an inhabitant of the south a country where the earth
+appears covered with the purest Carrara marble, where the tree
+twigs resemble white branches of coral sprinkled with diamonds, and
+above a sky as blue as that belonging to the south, and he will say
+that is a fairy land. Couldst thou suddenly remove him from his
+dark cypresses and olive-trees to the north, where the fresh snow
+lies upon the earth, where the white hoar-frost has powdered the
+trees over, and the sun shines down from the blue heaven, then
+would he recognize the description and call the north a fairy land.
+
+This was the splendor which the friends admired. The large trees
+upon the fortification-walls appeared crystallized when seen
+against the blue sky. The Sound was not yet frozen over; vessels,
+illuminated by the red evening sun, glided past with spread sails.
+The Swedish coast seemed to have approached nearer; one might see
+individual houses in Landskrona. It was lovely, and on this account
+there were many promenaders upon the walls and the Langelinie.
+
+"Sweden seems so near that one might swim over to it!" said
+Wilhelm.
+
+"The distance would be too far," answered Otto; "but I should love
+to plunge among the deep blue waters yonder."
+
+"How refreshing it is," said Wilhelm, "when the water plays about
+one's cheeks! Whilst I was at home, I always swam in the Great
+Belt. Yes, you are certainly half a fish when you come into the
+water."
+
+"I!" repeated Otto, and was silent; but immediately added, with a
+kind of embarrassment which was at other times quite foreign to
+him, and from which one might infer how unpleasant confessing any
+imperfection was to him, "I do not swim."
+
+"That must be learned in summer!" said Wilhelm.
+
+"There is so much to learn," answered Otto; "swimming will
+certainly be the last thing." He now suddenly turned toward the
+fortress, and stood still. "Only see how melancholy and quiet!"
+said he, and led the conversation again to the surrounding scenery.
+"The sentinel before the prison paces so quietly up and down, the
+sun shines upon his bayonet! How this reminds me of a sweet little
+poem of Heine's; it is just as though he described this fortress
+and this soldier, but in the warmth of summer: one sees the picture
+livingly before one, as here; the weapon glances in the sun, and
+the part ends so touchingly,--'Ich wollt', er schosse mich todt!'
+It is here so romantically beautiful! on the right the animated
+promenade, and the view over the Sund; on the left, the desolate
+square, where the military criminals are shot, and close upon it
+the prison with its beam-fence. The sun scarcely shines through
+those windows. Yet, without doubt, the prisoner can see us walking
+here upon the wall."
+
+"And envy our golden freedom!" said Wilhelm.
+
+"Perhaps he derides it," answered Otto. "He is confined to his
+chamber and the small courts behind the beam-lattice; we are
+confined to the coast; we cannot fly forth with the ships into the
+mighty, glorious world. We are also fastened with a chain, only
+ours is somewhat longer than that of the prisoner. But we will not
+think of this; let us go down to where the beautiful ladies are
+walking."
+
+"To see and to be seen," cried Wilhelm. "'Spectatum veniunt;
+veniunt spectentur ut ipsae,' as Ovid says."
+
+The friends quitted the wall.
+
+"There comes my scholar, little Jonas!" cried Wilhelm. "The boy was
+better dressed than at his last appearance; quickly he pulled his
+little cap off and stood still: a young girl in a wretched garb
+held him by the hand.
+
+"Good day, my clever lad!" said Wilhelm, and his glance rested on
+the girl: she was of a singularly elegant form; had she only
+carried herself better she would have been a perfect beauty. It was
+Psyche herself who stood beside Cupid. She smiled in a friendly
+manner; the little lad had certainly told her who the gentlemen
+were; but she became crimson, and cast down her eyes when Wilhelm
+looked back after her: he beckoned to Jonas, who immediately came
+to him. The girl was his sister, he said, and was called Eva.
+Wilhelm nodded to her, and the friends went on.
+
+"That was a beautiful girl!" said Wilhelm, and looked back once
+more. "A rosebud that one could kiss until it became a full blown
+rose!"
+
+"During the experiment the rosebud might easily be broken!"
+answered Otto; "at least such is the case with the real flower. But
+do not look back again, that is a sin!"
+
+"Sin?" repeated Wilhelm; "no, then it is a very innocent sin!
+Believe me, it flatters the little creature that we should admire
+her beauty. I can well imagine how enchanting a loving look from a
+rich young gentleman may be for a weak, feminine mind. The sweet
+words which one can say are as poison which enters the blood. I
+have still a clear conscience. Not ONE innocent soul have I
+poisoned!"
+
+"And yet you are rich and young enough to do so," returned Otto,
+not without bitterness. "Our friends precede us with a good
+example: here come some of our own age; they are acquainted with
+the roses!"
+
+"Good evening, thou good fellow!" was the greeting Wilhelm received
+from three or four of the young men.
+
+"Are you on Thou-terms with all these?" inquired Otto.
+
+"Yes," answered Wilhelm; "we became so at a carouse. There all
+drank the Thou-brotherhood. I could not draw myself back. At other
+times I do not willingly give my 'thou' to any but my nearest
+friends. _Thou_ has something to my mind affectionate and holy.
+Many people fling it to the first person with whom they drink a
+glass. At the carouse I could not say no."
+
+"And wherefore not?" returned Otto; "that would never have troubled
+me."
+
+The friends now wandered on, arm-in-arm. Later in the evening we
+again meet with them together, and that at the house of a noble
+family, whose name and rank are to be found in the "Danish Court
+Calendar;" on which account it would be wanting in delicacy to
+mention the same, even in a story the events of which lie so near
+our hearts.
+
+Large companies are most wearisome. In these there are two kinds of
+rank. Either you are riveted to a card-table, or placed against the
+wall where you must stand with your hat in your hand, or, later in
+the evening, with it at your feet, nay, even must stand during
+supper. But this house was one of the most intellectual. Thou who
+dost recognize the house wilt also recognize that it is not to be
+reckoned with those,--
+               "Where each day's gossiping stale fish
+                Is served up daily for thy dish."
+
+This evening we do not become acquainted with the family, but only
+with their beautiful Christmas festival.
+
+The company was assembled in a large apartment; the shaded lamp
+burned dimly, but this was with the intention of increasing the
+effect when the drawing-room doors should open and the children
+joyfully press in together.
+
+Wilhelm now stepped to the piano-forte; a few chords produced
+stillness and attention. To the sounds of low music there stepped
+forth from the side-doors three maidens arrayed in white; each wore
+a long veil depending from the back of her head,--one blue, the
+other red, and the third white. Each carried in her arms an urn,
+and thus they represented fortune-tellers from the East. They
+brought good or ill luck, which each related in a little verse.
+People were to draw a number, and according to this would he
+receive his gift from the Christmas-tree. One of the maidens
+brought blanks--but which of them? now it was proved whether you
+were a child of fortune. All, even the children, drew their
+uncertain numbers: exception was only made with the family
+physician and a few elderly ladies of the family; these had a
+particular number stuck into their hands--their presents had been
+settled beforehand.
+
+"Who brings me good luck?" inquired Otto, as the three pretty young
+girls approached him. The one with a white veil was Wilhelm's
+eldest sister, Miss Sophie, who was this winter paying a visit to
+the family. She resembled her brother. The white drapery about her
+head increased the expression of her countenance. She rested her
+gaze firmly upon Otto, and, perhaps, because he was the friend of
+her brother, she raised her finger. Did she wish to warn or to
+challenge him? Otto regarded it as a challenge, thrust his hand
+into the urn, and drew out number 33. All were now provided. The
+girls disappeared, and the folding-doors of the drawing-room were
+opened.
+
+A dazzling light streamed toward the guests. A splendid fir-tree,
+covered with burning tapers, and hung over with tinsel-gold, gilt
+eggs and apples, almonds and grapes, dazzled the eye. On either
+side of the tree were grottoes of fir-trees and moss, hung with red
+and blue paper lamps. In each grotto was an altar; upon one stood
+John of Bologna's floating Mercury; upon the other, a reduced cast
+in plaster of Thorwaldsen's Shepherd-boy. The steps were covered
+with presents, to which were attached the different numbers.
+
+"Superbe! lovely!" resounded from all sides; and the happy children
+shouted for joy. People arranged themselves in a half-circle, one
+row behind the other. One of the cousins of the family now stepped
+forth, a young poet, who, if we mistake not, has since then
+appeared among the Anonymouses in "The New Year's Gift of Danish
+Poets." He was appareled this evening as one of the Magi, and
+recited a little poem which declared that, as each one had himself
+drawn out of the urn of Fate, no one could be angry, let him have
+procured for himself honor or derision--Fate, and not Merit, being
+here the ruler. Two little boys, with huge butterfly wings and in
+flowing garments, bore the presents to the guests. A number, which
+had been purposely given to one of the elder ladies, was now called
+out, and the boys brought forward a large, heavy, brown earthen
+jug. To the same hung a direction the length of two sheets of
+paper, upon which was written, "A remedy against frost." The jug
+was opened, and a very nice boa taken out and presented to the
+lady.
+
+"What number have you?" inquired Otto of Wilhelm's sister, who,
+freed from her long veil, now entered the room and took her place
+near him.
+
+"Number 34," she answered. "I was to keep the number which remained
+over when the others had drawn."
+
+"We are, then, neighbors in the chain of Fate," returned Otto; "I
+have number 33."
+
+"Then one of us will receive something very bad!" said Sophie.
+"For, as much as I know, only every other number is good." At this
+moment their numbers were called out. The accompanying poem
+declared that only a poetical, noble mind deserved this gift. It
+consisted of an illuminated French print, the subject a simple but
+touching idea. You saw a frozen lake, nothing but one expanse of
+ice as far as the horizon. The ice was broken, and near to the
+opening lay a hat with a red lining, and beside it sat a dog with
+grave eyes, still and expectant. Around the broken opening in the
+ice were seen traces of the dog having scratched into the hard
+crust of ice. "Il attend toujours" was the simple motto.
+
+"That is glorious!" exclaimed Otto. "An affecting thought! His
+master has sunk in the depth, and the faithful log yet awaits him.
+Had that picture only fallen to my lot!"
+
+"It is lovely!" said Sophie, and a melancholy glance made the young
+girl still more beautiful.
+
+Soon after Wilhelm's turn came.
+
+           "Open the packet, thou shalt see
+            The very fairest gaze on thee!"
+ran the verse. He opened the packet, and found within a small
+mirror. "Yes, that was intended for a lady," said he; "in that case
+it would have spoken the truth! in my hands it makes a fool of me.
+
+"For me nothing certainly remains but my number!" said Otto to his
+neighbor, as all the gifts appeared to be distributed.
+
+"The last is number 33," said the cousin, and drew forth a roll of
+paper, which had been hidden among the moss. It was unrolled. It
+was an old pedigree of an extinct race. Quite at the bottom lay the
+knight with shield and armor, and out of his breast grew the many-branched
+tree with its shields and names. Probably it had been bought, with other
+rubbish, at some auction, and now at Christmas, when every hole and
+corner was rummaged for whatever could be converted into fun or
+earnest, it had been brought out for the Christmas tree. The cousin
+read the following verse:--
+         "Art thou not noble?--then it in far better;
+          This tree unto thy father is not debtor;
+          Thyself alone is thy ancestral crown.
+          From thee shall spring forth branches of renown,
+          And if thou come where blood gives honor's place,
+          This tree shall prove thee first of all thy race!
+          From this hour forth thy soul high rank hath won her,
+          Not will forget thy knighthood and thy honor."
+
+"I congratulate you," said Wilhelm, laughing. "Now you will have to
+pay the nobility-tax!"
+
+Several of the ladies who stood near him, smiling, also offered a
+kind of congratulation. Sophie alone remained silent, and examined
+the present of another lady--a pretty pincushion in the form of a
+gay butterfly.
+
+The first row now rose to examine more nearly how beautifully the
+Christmas tree was adorned. Sophie drew one of the ladies away with
+her.
+
+"Let us look at the beautiful statues," said she; "the Shepherd-boy
+and the Mercury."
+
+"That is not proper," whispered the lady; "but look there at the
+splendid large raisins on the tree!"
+
+Sophie stepped before Thorwaldsen's Shepherd-boy. The lady
+whispered to a friend, "It looks so odd that she should examine the
+figures!"
+
+"Ah!" replied the other, "she is a lover of the fine arts, as you
+well know. Only think! at the last exhibition she went with her
+brother into the great hall where all the plaster-casts stand, and
+looked at them!--the Hercules, as well as the other indecent
+figures! they were excellent, she said. That is being so natural;
+otherwise she is a nice girl."
+
+"It is a pity she is a little awry."
+
+Sophie approached them; both ladies made room for her, and invited
+her most lovingly to sit clown beside them. "Thou sweet girl!" they
+flatteringly exclaimed.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+"Hark to trumpets and beaten gongs,
+Squeaking fiddles, shouts and songs.
+     Hurra! hurra!
+     The Doctor is here;
+And here the hills where fun belongs."
+                        J. L. HEIBERG.
+
+We will not follow the principal characters of our story step for
+step, but merely present the prominent moments of their lives to
+our readers, be these great or small; we seize on them, if they in
+any way contribute to make the whole picture more worthy of
+contemplation.
+
+The winter was over, the birds of passage had long since returned;
+the woods and fields shone in the freshest green, and, what to the
+friends was equally interesting, they had happily passed through
+their examen philologicum. Wilhelm, who, immediately after its
+termination, had accompanied his sister home, was again returned,
+sang with little Jonas, reflected upon the philosophicum, and also
+how he would thoroughly enjoy the summer,--the summer which in the
+north is so beautiful, but so short. It was St. John's Day.
+Families had removed from Copenhagen to their pretty country-seats
+on the coast, where people on horseback and in carriages rushed
+past, and where the highway was crowded with foot-passengers. The
+whole road presented a picture of life upon the Paris Boulevard.
+The sun was burning, the dust flew up high into the air; on which
+account many persons preferred the pleasanter excursion with the
+steamboat along the coast, from whence could be seen the traffic on
+the high-road without enduring the annoyance of dust and heat.
+Boats skimmed past; brisk sailors, by the help of vigorous strokes
+of the oar, strove to compete with the steam-packet, the dark smoke
+from which, like some demon, partly rested upon the vessel, partly
+floated away in the air.
+
+Various young students, among whom were also Wilhelm and Otto,
+landed at Charlottenlund, the most frequented place of resort near
+Copenhagen. Otto was here for the first time; for the first time he
+should see the park.
+
+A summer's afternoon in Linken's Bad, near Dresden, bears a certain
+resemblance to Charlottenlund, only that the Danish wood is larger;
+that instead of the Elbe we have the Sound, which is here three
+miles broad, and where often more than a hundred vessels, bearing
+flags of all the European nations, glide past. A band of musicians
+played airs out of "Preciosa;" the white tents glanced like snow or
+swans through the green beech-trees. Here and there was a fire-place
+raised of turf, over which people boiled and cooked, so that the
+smoke rose up among the trees. Outside the wood, waiting in long
+rows, were the peasants' vehicles, called "coffee-mills," completely
+answering ho the couricolo of the Neapolitan and the coucou of the
+Parisian, equally cheap, and overladen in the same manner with
+passengers, therefore forming highly picturesque groups. This scene
+has been humorously treated in a picture by Marstrand. Between fields
+and meadows, the road leads pleasantly toward the park; the friends
+pursued the foot-path.
+
+"Shall I brush the gentlemen?" cried five or six boys, at the same
+time pressing upon the friends as they approached the entrance to
+the park. Without waiting for an answer, the boys commenced at once
+brushing the dust from their clothes and boots.
+
+"These are Kirsten Piil's pages," said Wilhelm, laughing; "they
+take care that people show themselves tolerably smart. But now we
+are brushed enough!" A six-skilling-piece rejoiced these little
+Savoyards.
+
+The Champs Elysees of the Parisians on a great festival day, when
+the theatres are opened, the swings are flying, trumpets and drums
+overpowering the softer music, and when the whole mass of people,
+like one body, moves itself between the booths and tents, present a
+companion piece to the spectacle which the so-called Park-hill
+affords. It is Naples' "Largo dei Castello," with its dancing apes,
+shrieking Bajazzoes, the whole deafening jubilee which has been
+transported to a northern wood. Here also, in the wooden booths,
+large, tawdry pictures show what delicious plays you may enjoy
+within. The beautiful female horse-rider stands upon the wooden
+balcony and cracks with her whip, whilst Harlequin blows the
+trumpet. Fastened to a perch, large, gay parrots nod over the heads
+of the multitude. Here stands a miner in his black costume, and
+exhibits the interior of a mine. He turns his box, and during the
+music dolls ascend and descend. Another shows the splendid fortress
+of Frederiksteen: "The whole cavalry and infantry who have endured
+an unspeakable deal; here a man without a weapon, there a weapon
+without a man; here a fellow without a bayonet, here a bayonet
+without a fellow; and yet they are merry and contented, for they
+have conquered the victory."  [Note: Literal translation of the
+real words of a showman.] Dutch wafer-cake booths, where the
+handsome Dutch women, in their national costume, wait on the
+customers, entice old and young. Here a telescope, there a rare
+Danish ox, and so forth. High up, between the fresh tree boughs,
+the swings fly. Are those two lovers floating up there? A current
+of air seizes the girl's dress and shawl, the young man flings his
+arm round her waist; it is for safety: there is then less danger.
+At the foot of the hill there is cooking and roasting going on; it
+seems a complete gypsy-camp. Under the tree sits the old Jew--this
+is precisely his fiftieth jubilee; through a whole half-century has
+he sung here his comical Doctor's song. Now that we are reading
+this he is dead; that characteristic countenance is dust, those
+speaking eyes are closed, his song forgotten tones. Oehlenschlager,
+in his "St. John's Eve," has preserved his portrait for us, and it
+will continue to live, as Master Jakel (Punch), our Danish Thespis,
+will continue to live. The play and the puppets were transferred from
+father to son, and every quarter of an hour in the day the piece is
+repeated. Free nature is the place for the spectators, and after every
+representation the director himself goes round with the plate.
+
+This was the first spectacle which exhibited itself to the friends.
+Not far off stood a juggler in peasant's clothes, somewhat advanced
+in years, with a common ugly countenance. His short sleeves were
+rolled up, and exhibited a pair of hairy, muscular arms. The crowd,
+withdrawing from Master Jakel when the plate commenced its
+wanderings, pushed Otto and Wilhelm forward toward the low fence
+before the juggler's table.
+
+"Step nearer, my gracious gentlemen, my noble masters!" said the
+juggler, with an accentuation which betrayed his German birth. He
+opened the fence; both friends were fairly pushed in and took their
+places upon the bench, where they, at all events, found themselves
+out of the crowd.
+
+"Will the noble gentleman hold this goblet?" said the juggler, and
+handed Otto one from his apparatus. Otto glanced at the man: he was
+occupied with his art; but Otto's cheek and forehead were colored
+with a sudden crimson, which was immediately afterward supplanted
+by a deathly paleness: his hand trembled, but this lasted only a
+moment; he gathered all his strength of mind together and appeared
+the same as before.
+
+"That was a very good trick!" said Wilhelm.
+
+"Yes, certainly!" answered Otto; but he had seen nothing
+whatsoever. His soul was strangely affected. The man exhibited
+several other tricks, and then approached with the plate. Otto laid
+down a mark, and then rose to depart. The juggler remarked the
+piece of money: a smile played about his mouth; he glanced at Otto,
+and a strange malicious expression lay in the spiteful look which
+accompanied his loudly spoken thanks: "Mr. Otto Thostrup is always
+so gracious and good!"
+
+"Does he know you?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"He has the honor!" grinned the juggler, and proceeded.
+
+"He has exhibited his tricks in the Jutland villages, and upon my
+father's estate," whispered Otto.
+
+"Therefore an acquaintance of your childhood?" said Wilhelm.
+
+"Of my childhood," repeated Otto, and they made themselves a way
+through the tumult.
+
+They met with several young noblemen, relatives of Wilhelm, with
+the cousin who had written the verses for the Christmas tree; also
+several friends from the carouse, and the company increased. They
+intended, like many others, to pass the night in the wood, and at
+midnight drink out of Kirsten Piil's well. "Only with the
+increasing darkness will it become thoroughly merry here," thought
+they: but Otto had appointed to be in the city again toward
+evening. "Nothing will come out of that!" said the poet; "if you
+wish to escape, we shall bind you fast to one of us."
+
+"Then I carry him away with me on my back," replied Otto; "and
+still run toward the city. What shall I do here at night in the
+wood?"
+
+"Be merry!" answered Wilhelm. "Come, give us no follies, or I shall
+grow restive."
+
+Hand-organs, drums, and trumpets, roared against each other;
+Bajazzo growled; a couple of hoarse girls sang and twanged upon the
+guitar: it was comic or affecting, just as one was disposed. The
+evening approached, and now the crowd became greater, the joy more
+noisy.
+
+"But where is Otto?" inquired Wilhelm. Otto had vanished in the
+crowd. Search after him would help nothing, chance must bring them
+together again. Had he designedly withdrawn himself? no one knew
+wherefore, no one could dream what had passed within his soul. It
+became evening. The highway and the foot-path before the park
+resembled two moving gay ribbons.
+
+In the park itself the crowd perceptibly diminished. It was now the
+high-road which was become the Park-hill. The carriages dashed by
+each other as at a race; the people shouted and sung, if not as
+melodiously as the barcarole of the fisher men below Lido, still
+with the thorough carnival joy of the south. The steamboat moved
+along the coasts. From the gardens surrounding the pretty country-houses
+arose rockets into the blue sky, the Moccoli of the north above the
+Carnival of the Park.
+
+Wilhelm remained with his young friends in the wood, and there they
+intended, with the stroke of twelve, to drink out of Kirsten's
+well. Men and women, girls and boys of the lower class, and jovial
+young men, meet, after this manner, to enjoy St. John's Eve. Still
+sounded the music, the swings were in motion, lamps hung out,
+whilst the new moon shone through the thick tree boughs. Toward
+midnight the noise died away; only a blind peasant still scratched
+upon the three strings which were left on his violin; some servant-girls
+wandered, arm-in-arm, with their sweethearts, and sang. At twelve
+o'clock all assembled about the well, and drank the clear, ice-cold
+water. From no great distance resounded, through the still night,
+a chorus of four manly voices. It was as if the wood gods sang in
+praise of the nymph of the well.
+
+Upon the hill all was now deserted and quiet. Bajazzo and il
+Padrone slept behind the thin linen partition, under a coverlid.
+The moon set, but the night was clear; no clear, frosty winter
+night has a snore beautiful starry heaven to exhibit. Wilhelm's
+party was merry, quickly flew the hours away; singing in chorus,
+the party wandered through the wood, and down toward the strand.
+The day already dawned; a red streak along the horizon announced
+its approach.
+
+Nature sang to them the mythos of the creation of the world, even
+as she had sung it to Moses, who wrote down this voice from God,
+interpreted by Nature. Light banished the darkness, heaven and
+earth were parted; at first birds showed themselves in the clear
+air; later rose the beasts of the field; and, last of all, appeared
+man.
+
+"The morning is fairly sultry," said Wilhelm; "the sea resembles a
+mirror: shall we not bathe?"
+
+The proposal was accepted.
+
+"There we have the Naiades already!" said one of the party, as a
+swarm of fishermen's wives and daughters, with naked feet, their
+green petticoats tucked up, and baskets upon their backs, in which
+they carried fish to Copenhagen, came along the road. The gay young
+fellows cast toward the prettiest glances as warm and glowing as
+that cast by the sun himself, who, at this moment, came forth and
+shone over the Sound, where a splendid three-masted vessel had
+spread all her sails to catch each breeze. The company reached the
+strand.
+
+"There is some one already swimming out yonder," said Wilhelm. "He
+stands it bravely. That is an excellent swimmer!"
+
+"Here lie his clothes," remarked another.
+
+"How!" exclaimed Wilhelm: "this is Otto Thostrup's coat! But Otto
+cannot swim; I have never been able to persuade him to bathe. Now,
+we will out and make a nearer acquaintance."
+
+"Yes, certainly it is he," said another; "he is now showing his
+skill."
+
+"Then he must have been all night in the wood," exclaimed Wilhelm.
+"Yes, indeed, he's a fine bird. Does he fly us? He shall pay for
+ this. Good morning, Otto Thostrup," criedhe; "have you lain all
+night in the water, or in any other improper place? To quit friends
+without saying a word does not appertain to the customs of
+civilized people. Since you, therefore, show yourself such a man of
+nature, we will carry away your garments; it cannot annoy you in
+puris naturalibus to seek us out in the wood."
+
+Otto raised his head, but was silent.
+
+"Now, will you not come forth?" cried Wilhelm. "Only kneeling
+before each of us can you receive the separate articles of your
+dress, so that you may again appear as a civilized European." And
+saying this he divided the clothes among the others; each one held
+an article in his hand.
+
+"Leave such jokes!" cried Otto with singular earnestness. "Lay down
+the clothes, and retire!"
+
+"Aye, that we will, presently," returned Wilhelm. "You are a fine
+fellow! You cannot swim, you say. Now, if you should not kneel"--
+
+"Retire!" cried Otto, "or I will swim out into the stream, and not
+return again!"
+
+"That might be original enough," answered Wilhelm. "Swim forth, or
+come and kneel here!"
+
+"Wilhelm!" cried Otto, with an affecting sigh, and in a moment swam
+forth with quick strokes.
+
+"There he shoots away," said one of the party. "How he cuts the
+waves! He is a splendid swimmer!"
+
+Smiling they gazed over the expanse; Otto swam even farther out.
+
+"But where will he swim to?" exclaimed, somewhat gravely, one of
+the spectators. "He will certainly lose his strength before he
+returns the same distance."
+
+They unmoored the boat. Otto swam far out at sea; with quick
+strokes of the oars they rowed after him.
+
+"Where is he now?" cried Wilhelm shortly afterwards; "I see him no
+longer."
+
+"Yes, there he comes up again," said another; "but his strength is
+leaving him."
+
+"On! on!" cried Wilhelm; "he will be drowned if we do not come to
+his help. Only see--he sinks!"
+
+Otto had lost all power; his head disappeared beneath the water.
+The friends had nearly reached him; Wilhelm and several of the best
+swimmers flung from themselves boots and coats, sprang into the
+sea, and dived under the water. A short and noiseless moment
+passed. One of the swimmers appeared above water. "He is dead!"
+were the first words heard. Wilhelm and the three others now
+appeared with Otto; the boat was near oversetting as they brought
+him into it. Deathly pale lay he there, a beautifully formed marble
+statue, the picture of a young gladiator fallen in the arena.
+
+The friends busied themselves about him, rubbing his breast and
+hands, whilst two others rowel toward the land.
+
+"He breathes!" said Wilhelm.
+
+Otto opened his eyes; his lips moved; his gaze became firmer; a
+deep crimson spread itself over his breast and countenance; he
+raised himself and Wilhelm supported him. Suddenly a deep sigh
+burst from his breast; he thrust Wilhelm from him, and, like a
+madman, seized an article of dress to cover himself with; then,
+with a convulsive trembling of the lips, he said to Wilhelm, who
+held his hand, "I HATE YOU!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+--"Art thou Prometheus, pierced with wounds?
+The Vulture thou that tugs at his heart?"
+              J. CHR. V. ZEDLITZ'S Todtenkranze.
+
+Not half an hour after this adventure a carriage rolled toward the
+city--a large carriage, containing three seats, but, beside the
+coachman, there was only one person within. This was Otto; his lips
+were pale; death, it is true, had touched them. Alone he dashed
+forward; his last words to Wilhelm had been his only ones.
+
+"He has lost his wits," said one of the friends.
+
+"It is a fit of madness," answered another, "such as he was seized
+with at the examination, when he only sent in a scrap of white
+paper for the mathematical examination, because he felt himself
+offended by the inspector."
+
+"I could quite vex myself about my stupid joke," said Wilhelm. "I
+ought to have known him better; he is of a strange, unhappy
+character. Give me your hands! We will mention to no one what has
+occurred; it would only give occasion to a deal of gossip, and
+wound him deeply, and he is an excellent, glorious fellow."
+
+They gave their hands upon it, and drove toward the city.
+
+The same day, toward evening, we again seek Otto. We find him in
+his chamber. Silent, with crossed arms, he stands before a print, a
+copy of Horace Vernet's representation of Mazeppa, who, naked and
+bound upon a wild horse, rushes through the forest. Wolves thrust
+forth their heads and exhibit their sharp teeth.
+
+"My own life!" sighed Otto. "I also am bound to this careering wild
+horse. And no friend, not a single one! Wilhelm, I could kill thee!
+I could see you all lying in your blood! O, Almighty God!" He
+pressed his hands before his face and threw himself into a seat;
+his eyes, however, again directed themselves toward the picture; it
+exhibited a moment similar to the condition of his own mind.
+
+The door now opened, and Wilhelm stood before him.
+
+"How do you find yourself, Thostrup?" he inquired. "We are still
+friends as before?" and he wished to give his hand. Otto drew back
+his. "I have done nothing which could so much offend you," said
+Wilhelm; "the whole was merely a joke! Give me your hand, and we
+will speak no more of the affair!"
+
+"To the man whom I hate, I never reach my hand," replied Otto and
+his lips were white like his cheeks.
+
+"A second time to-day you speak these words to me," said Wilhelm,
+and the blood rushed to his face. "We were friends, wherefore
+cannot we be so still? Have people slandered me to you? Have they
+told lies about me? Only tell me faithfully, and I shall be able to
+defend myself."
+
+"You must fight with me!" said Otto; and his glance became more
+gloomy. Wilhelm was silent; there reigned a momentary stillness.
+Otto suppressed a deep sigh. At length Wilhelm broke silence, and
+said, with a grave and agitated voice,--"I am so thoughtless, I
+joke so often, and regard everything from the ridiculous side. But
+for all that I have both heart and feeling. You must have known how
+much dearer you were to me than most other people. You are so
+still, although you offend me. At this moment your blood is in a
+fever; not now, but after a few days, you yourself will best see
+which of us is the offended party. You demand that I fight with
+you; I will if your honor requires this satisfaction: but you must
+lay before me an acceptable reason. I will know wherefore we risk
+our lives. Let some days pass by; weigh all with your understanding
+and your heart! It will still depend upon yourself whether we
+remain friends as before. Farewell!" And Wilhelm went.
+
+Each of his words had penetrated to Otto's heart. A moment he stood
+silent and undecided, then his limbs trembled involuntarily, tears
+streamed from his eyes--it was a convulsive fit of weeping; he
+pressed his head back. "God, how unfortunate I am!" were his only
+words.
+
+So passed some minutes; he had ceased to weep, and was calm;
+suddenly he sprang up, shot the bolt in the door, drew down the
+blinds, lighted his candle, and once more looked searchingly
+around: the key-hole was also stopped up. He then flung his coat
+away from him and uncovered the upper part of his body.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+"The towers pass by, even before we perceive them."
+               OEHLENSCHLAER'S Journey to Funen.
+
+Early the following morning, whilst Wilhelm still slept and dreamed
+of his beloved sisters, well-known footsteps sounded on the stairs,
+the door opened, and Otto stepped into the sleeping-room. Wilhelm
+opened his eyes. Otto was pale; a sleepless night and sorrow of
+heart had breathed upon his brow and eyes.
+
+"Thostrup!" cried Wilhelm, with joyous surprise, and stretched
+forth his hand toward him, but it again sank; Otto seized it, and
+pressed it firmly in his own, adding at the same time, with
+gravity,--"You have humbled me! Is that sufficient satisfaction for
+you?"
+
+"We are then friends!" said Wilhelm. "Friends must be very
+indulgent toward each other. Yesterday you were a little strange,
+to-morrow I may be so; that is the way in which one retaliates."
+
+Otto pressed his hand. "We will never speak again of the occurrence
+of yesterday!"
+
+"Never!" repeated Wilhelm, affected by the strange gravity of his
+friend.
+
+"You are a noble, a good creature!" said Otto, and bent over him;
+his lips touched Wilhelm's forehead.
+
+Wilhelm seized his hand, and gazed frankly into his eye. "You are
+not happy!" exclaimed he. "If I cannot assist you, I can, at least,
+dear Otto, honestly share the grief of a friend!"
+
+"Even on that very point we may never speak!" replied Otto.
+"Farewell! I have determined on travelling home; we have only
+vacation for a few weeks, and I have not been in Jutland since I
+became a student. Even a month's sojourn there cannot throw me
+back; I am well prepared for the philosophicum."
+
+"And when will you set out?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"To-morrow, with the steamboat. It is hot and sultry here in the
+city: my blood becomes heated: it will, also, soon be a year since
+I saw my family."
+
+"Thostrup!" exclaimed Wilhelm, through whom a thought suddenly
+flashed, "I should also like to see my family; they have written to
+me to come. Listen: make your journey through Funen, and only
+remain three or four days with us. My mother's carriage shall
+convey you then to Middelfart. Say 'Yes,' and we will set out this
+evening."
+
+"That cannot be done!" replied Otto; but half an hour later, as
+both sat together over the tea-table, and Wilhelm repeated his
+wish, Otto consented, but certainly more through a feeling of
+obligation than through any pleasure of his own. Toward evening,
+therefore, they set out in the beautiful summer night to travel
+through Zealand.
+
+Smartly dressed families wandered pleasantly through the city gate
+toward the summer theatre and Fredericksberg. The evening sun shone
+upon the column of Liberty; the beautiful obelisk, around which
+stand Wiedewelt's statues, one of which still weeps,
+             "In white marble clothing,
+                Hand upon the breast,
+                Ever grief-oppressed,
+              Looking down upon the gloomy sea,"
+where were closed the eyes of the artist. Was it the remembrance
+which here clouded Otto's glance, as his eye rested upon the
+statues as they drove past, or did his own soul, perhaps, mirror
+itself in his eyes?
+
+"Here it is gay and animated!" said Wilhelm, wishing to commence a
+conversation. "Vesterbro is certainly your most brilliant suburb.
+It forms a city by itself,--a little state! There upon the hill
+lies the King's Castle, and there on the left, between the willows,
+the poet's dwelling, where old Rahbek lived with his Kamma!"
+
+"Castle and poet's dwelling!" repeated Otto; "the time will be when
+they will inspire equal interest!"
+
+"That old place will soon be pulled down!" said Wilhelm; "in such
+a beautiful situation, so near the city, a splendid villa will be
+raised, and nothing more remind one of Philemon and Baucis!"
+
+"The old trees in the park will be spared!" said Otto; "in the
+garden the flowers will scent the air, and remind one of Kamma's
+flowers. Rahbek was no great poet, but he possessed a true poet's
+soul, labored faithfully in the great vineyard, and loved flowers
+as Kamma loved them."
+
+The friends hail left Fredericksberg behind them. The white walls
+of the castle glanced through the green boughs; behind Sondermark,
+the large, wealthy village stretched itself out. The sun had set
+before they reached the Dam-house, where the wild swans, coming
+from the ocean, build in the fresh water fake. This is the last
+point of beauty; nothing but lonely fields, with here and there a
+cairn, extend to the horizon.
+
+The clear summer's night attracted their gaze upward; the postilion
+blew his horn, and the carriage rolled toward the town of
+Roeskilde, the St. Denis of Denmark, where kings turn to dust;
+where Hroar's spring still flows, and its waters mingle with those
+of Issefjords.
+
+They drove to a public-house to change horses. A young girl
+conducted the friends into the public room; she lighted the way for
+them. Her slender figure and her floating gait drew Wilhelm's
+attention toward her; his hand touched her shoulder, she sprang
+aside and fixed her beautiful grave eyes upon him; but their
+expression became milder, she smiled and colored at the same time.
+
+"You are the sister of little Jonas!" cried Wilhelm, recognizing
+the young girl he had seen with him at Christmas.
+
+"I must also thank you," said she, "for your kindness toward the
+poor boy!" She quickly placed the lights on the table, and left the
+room with a gentle glance.
+
+"She is beautiful, very beautiful!" exclaimed Wilhelm. "That was
+really quite a pleasant meeting."
+
+"Is it then you, Herr Baron, who honor me thus?" cried the host,
+stepping in--an elderly man with a jovial countenance. "Yes, the
+Baron will doubtless visit his dear relations in hunch? It is now
+some little time since you were there."
+
+"This is our host!" said Wilhelm to Otto. "He and his wife were
+born upon my parent's estate."
+
+"Yes," said the host, "in my youth I have shot many a snipe and
+wild duck with the Herr Baron's father. But Eva should spread the
+table; the gentlemen will certainly take supper, and a glass of
+good punch the Herr Baron will certainly not despise, if he is like
+his blessed father."
+
+The young girl spread the cloth in an adjoining room.
+
+"She is pretty!" Wilhelm whispered to the old man.
+
+"And just as pious and innocent as she is pretty!" returned he;
+"and that is saying much, as she is a poor girl, and from
+Copenhagen. She is of good service to us, and my wife says Eva
+shall not leave us until she is well married."
+
+Wilhelm invited the host to join them at a glass. The old man
+became more animated, and now confided to him, half mysteriously,
+what made Eva so honorable in the eyes of his wife, and what was,
+indeed, really very nice of her. "My old woman," said he, "was in
+Copenhagen, in search of a waiting-girl. Yes, there are enough to
+be had, and they are fine girls; but mother has her own thoughts
+and opinions: she has good eyes--that she has! Now, there came
+many, and among others Eva; but, good Lord! she was very poorly
+clad, and she looked feeble and weak, and what service could one
+get out of her! But she had a good countenance, and the poor girl
+wept and besought mother to take her, for she was not comfortable
+at home, and would not remain at Copenhagen. Now, mother knows how
+to make use of her words: it is unfortunate that she is not at home
+to-night; how pleased she would have been to see the Herr Baron!
+Yes, what I would say is, she so twisted her words about, that Eva
+confessed to her why she wished to leave home. You see the girl is
+petty; and the young gallant gentlemen of Copenhagen had remarked
+her smooth face,--and not alone the young, but the old ones also!
+So an old gentleman--I could easily name him, but that has nothing
+to do with the affair--a very distinguished man in the city, who
+has, besides, a wife and children, had said all sorts of things to
+her parents; and, as eight hundred dollars is a deal of money to
+poor people, one can excuse them: but Eva wept, and said she would
+rather spring into the castle-ditch. They represented all sorts of
+things to the poor girl; she heard of the service out here with us.
+She wept, kissed my old woman's hand, and thus came to us; and
+since then we have had a deal of service from Eva, and joy also!"
+
+Some minutes after Eva stepped in, Otto's eye rested with a
+melancholy expression upon the beautiful form: never had he before
+so gazed upon a woman. Her countenance was extraordinarily fine,
+her nose and forehead nobly formed, the eyebrows dark, and in the
+dark-blue eyes lay something pensive, yet happy: one might employ
+the Homeric expression, "smiling through tears," to describe this
+look. She announced that the carriage was ready.
+
+A keen observer would soon have remarked what a change the host's
+relation had worked in the two friends. Wilhelm was no longer so
+free toward poor Eva. Otto, on the contrary, approached her more,--
+and at their leave-taking they offered her a greater present than
+they would otherwise have given.
+
+She stood with Otto at the door, and assisted him on with his
+travelling cloak.
+
+"Preserve your heart pure!" said he, gravely; "that is more than
+beauty!"
+
+The young girl blushed, and gazed at him with astonishment; in such
+a manner had no one of his age ever before spoken to her.
+
+"The poor girl!" said Otto; "but I think she is come to good
+people."
+
+"She has a strange glance!" said Wilhelm. "Do you know that there
+is really a certain affinity between you and her? It was to me
+quite striking."
+
+"That is a compliment which I cannot accept," returned Otto,
+smiling. "Yet, perhaps, I might resemble her."
+
+It was not yet three o'clock when the friends reached Ringsted.
+
+"I have never before been so far in Zealand," said Otto.
+
+"Shall I be your guide?" returned Wilhelm. "Ringsted has a street
+and an inn, and one is very badly served there, as you will soon
+both see and experience yourself. Meanwhile, one can think of
+Hagbarth and Signe; not far from here, at Sigersted, he hung his
+mantle on the oak, and Signelil's abode stood in flames. Now only
+remain fields and meadows, a cairn, and the old popular song. Then
+we rush past the friendly Soroe, that mirrors itself with the wood
+in the lake, which forms itself into so many bays; but we do not
+see much of it. We have here another romantic spot, an old castle
+converted into a church, high up on the hill near the lake, and
+close to it the dismal place of execution. We then reach Slagelse,
+an animated little town; with the Antvorskov convent, the poet
+Frankenau's grave, and a Latin school, celebrated on account of its
+poets. It was there Baggesen and Ingemann learned their Latin. When
+I once questioned the hostess regarding the lions of the town, she
+would only acknowledge two,--Bastholm's library, and the English
+fire-engine. The curtain in the theatre represents an alley with a
+fountain, the jets of which are painted as if spouting out of the
+prompter's box; or is this, perhaps, the English fire-engine? I
+know not. The scene-decoration for towns represents the market-place
+of Slagelse itself, so that the pieces thus acquire a home-feeling.
+This is the modern history of the little town; and, with regard to
+its older and romantic history, learn that the holy Anders was
+preacher here! Yes, indeed, that was a man! He has been also
+sung of by our first poets. We end with Korsoer, where Baggesen
+was born and Birckner lies buried. In the more modern history
+of this town, King Solomon and Jorgen the hatter play a considerable
+role. Besides this, I know that the town is said once to have
+possessed a private theatre; but this soon was done for, and the
+decorations were sold; a miller bought them, and patched his
+windmill sails with them. Upon one sail was a piece of a wood,
+upon another a shred of a room, or a street; and so they rushed
+round one after the other. Perhaps this is mere slander, for I have
+my information from Slagelse; and neighboring towns never speak
+well of each other."
+
+In this manner Wilhelm gossiped on, and the friends travelled over
+the way he had described. Slagelse, and the peasant village of
+Landsgrav, they had already behind them, when Wilhelm ordered the
+coachman to diverge from the high-road toward the right.
+
+"Where will you take us to?" asked Otto.
+
+"I will give you a pleasure!" returned Wilhelm. "We shall reach the
+weariful Korsoer early enough: the steamboat leaves at ten, and it
+is not yet seven. You shall be surprised--I know well that you are
+half a Catholic; I will conduct you where you may believe yourself
+carried back several centuries, and may imagine yourself in a
+Catholic country. That is right pleasant, is it not?"
+
+Otto smiled. The friends alighted from the coach and walked over a
+corn-field. They found themselves upon a hill, the whole landscape
+spread itself out before them--they saw the Belt, with Sprogoe and
+Funen. The surrounding country was certainly flat, but the variety
+of greens, the near meadow, the dark stretch of wood in the
+neighborhood of Korsoer, the bay itself, and all this seen in a
+warm morning light, produced effect. The friends diverged to the
+right; and before them, upon a hill, stood a large wooden cross,
+with the figure of the Crucified One. Above the cross was built a
+small roof to carry off the rain,--such as one may yet find in
+Bavaria. The figure of the Redeemer was of wood, painted with
+strong, tawdry colors; a withered garland of corn-flowers still
+hung around his bowed head.
+
+"It is extraordinary," said Otto, "to find in our time, in the year
+1830, such a Catholic symbol in Lutheran Denmark! And yet--yes, you
+will laugh at me, but I find it lovely: it affects me, moves me to
+worship."
+
+"That tawdry, tasteless figure!" cried Wilhelm. "Only see how
+coarse! the hair is covered with tar to keep off the rain! The
+peasants here have their peculiar superstition. If they allow the
+cross to fall they have no luck with their lands. It was upon this
+hill that the holy Anders, the celebrated preacher of Slagelse,
+awoke. He visited the sepulchre of Christ, but through praying
+there too long the ship sailed without him, and he was forced to
+stay behind. Then came a man and took him upon his horse, and they
+would ride to Joppa: the holy Anders fell asleep; but when he awoke
+he lay here, and heard the bells ringing in Slagelse. Upon a foal,
+only one night old, he rode round the extensive city lands, whilst
+King Waldemar lay in his bath. He could hang his glove upon the
+beams of the sun. This hill, where he awoke, was called Rest-hill;
+and the cross, with the figure of the Redeemer erected upon it,
+which still stands here, reminds us of the legend of the holy
+Anders."
+
+A little peasant girl at this moment mounted the hill, but paused
+when she perceived the strangers.
+
+"Don't be afraid, my child!" said Wilhelm. "What hast thou there? a
+garland! shall it hang here upon the cross? Only come, we will help
+thee."
+
+"It should hang over our Lord," said the little one, holding, in an
+embarrassed manner, the garland of pretty blue cornflowers in her
+hand. Otto took the garland, and hung it up in place of the faded
+one.
+
+"That was our morning adventure!" said Wilhelm, and soon they were
+rolling in the deep sand toward Korsoer, toward the hill where the
+poet watched the sun and moon sink into the sea, and wished that he
+had wings that he might catch them.
+
+Melancholy and silent lies the town on the flat coast, the old
+castle turned into a farm-house--high grass grows upon the walls.
+In a storm, when the wind blows against the city, the surf beats
+against the outermost houses. High upon the church stands a
+telegraph; the black wooden plates resemble mourning-flags hung
+above the sinking town. Here is nothing for the stranger to see,
+nothing except a grave--that of the thinker Birckner. The friends
+drove to the public-house on the strand. No human being met them in
+the street except a boy, who rung a hand-bell.
+
+"That calls to church," said Wilhelm. "Because there are no bells
+in the tower, they have here such a wandering bell-ringer as this.
+Holla! there lies the inn!"
+
+"Baron Wilhelm!" cried a strong voice, and a man in a green jacket
+with pockets in the breast, the mighty riding-boots splashed above
+the tops, and with whip in hand, approached them, pulled his horse-hair
+cap, and extended his hand to Wilhelm.
+
+"The Kammerjunker from Funen!" said Wilhelm; "my mother's neighbor,
+one of the most industrious and rich noblemen in all Funen."
+
+"You will come one of the first days to me!" said the Kammerjunker;
+"you shall try my Russian steam-bath: I have erected one upon my
+estate. All who visit me, ladies and gentlemen without any
+exception, must try it!"
+
+"And do the cherry-trees bear well this year?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"No, no," answered the Kammerjunker, "they are good for nothing;
+but the apples are good! All the old trees in the hill-garden stand
+in full splendor: I've brought them into condition! Two years ago
+there was not, on all the trees together, a bushel of fruit. But I
+had all the horses which had to be bled led under the trees, and
+had the warm blood sprinkled upon the roots; this happened several
+times, and it has been a real inoculation for life."
+
+"The wind is certainly favorable," said Otto, whom this
+conversation began to weary.
+
+"No, just the contrary!" said the Kammerjunker. "The vane upon the
+little house yonder lies; it points always to Nyborg, always shows
+a good wind for us when we want to leave. In Nyborg is also a vane,
+which stands even as firmly as this, and prates to the folk there
+of good wind. I regard both vanes as a kind of guide-post, which
+merely says, There goes the way! No, if we had had a wind I should
+have gone with the boat, and not with the little splashing thing,
+as the seamen call the steamboat. The carriage is doubtless
+awaiting the young gentleman in Nyborg?" pursued he. "I will join
+company with you--my brown horse waits for me at Schalburg. You
+should see him! He has sinews like steel springs, and legs like a
+dancing-master! He is my own brown."
+
+"No one knows that we are coming," answered Wilhelm. "We shall,
+therefore, take a carriage from Nyborg."
+
+"We will join company," said the Kammerjunker, "and then you will
+pay me a visit with the young gentleman. You shall sleep in the
+black chamber! Yes, you will give me the pleasure?" said he to
+Otto. "If you are a lover of the antique, my estate will afford you
+pleasure; you find there moats, towers, guard-rooms, ghosts, and
+hobgoblins, such as belong to an old estate. The black chamber!
+after all, it is not quite secure there; is it, Herr Baron?"
+
+"No, the deuce remain a night with you!" said Wilhelm; "one gets to
+bed late, and even then it is not permitted one to close one's
+eyes. You, your sister, and the Mamsell,--yes, you are a pretty
+clover-leaf! Yes, Thostrup, you cannot believe what pranks are
+hatched upon the Kammerjunker's estate! One must be prepared for
+it! It is said to be haunted, but if the dead will not take that
+trouble the living do. The Kammerjunker is in the plot with his
+women-folk. They sewed me lately live cockchafers into my pillow,
+and they crawled and scrambled about till I did not know what the
+deuce it could be! A live cock they had also placed under my bed,
+and just in the morning, when I would go to sleep, the creature
+began to crow!"
+
+"The women-folk had done that," said the Kammerjunker. "Did they
+not the very same night fasten a door-bell to the head of my bed? I
+never thought of it; fat Laender slept in the same room, and had
+fastened along the wall a string to the bell. I awoke with the
+ringing. 'What the devil is that bell?' said I, and glanced about
+the room, for I could not conceive what it was. 'Bell?' asked
+Laender--'there is no bell here!' The ringing also ceased. I
+thought I must have dreamed, or that our merry evening must have
+left some buzzing in my ears. Again it began to ring. Laender
+looked so innocent all the time, I could not comprehend myself;
+I thought it must be my imagination. I became quite fainthearted, I
+denied my own hearing, and said, 'No, I have only dreamed!' and
+commenced reckoning and counting to employ my mind; but that did
+no good, and it nearly drove me mad! I sprang out of bed, and then
+I found out the trick: but how Laender grinned! he was swollen and
+red in the face with his mirth."
+
+"Do you play such jokes on your estate?" inquired Otto, addressing
+himself to Wilhelm.
+
+"No, not such refined ones!" returned the Kammerjunker; "perhaps a
+piece of wood, or a silly mask, is laid in your bed. Miss Sophie
+gives us other clever things for amusement--tableaux and the magic-lantern.
+I was once of the party. Yes, what was it I represented? Ah, I played,
+Heaven help me! King Cyrus: had a paper crown on my head, and Miss
+Sophie's cloak about me, the wrong side turned outward, for it is
+lined with sable. I looked like Satan!"
+
+The steamboat passengers were summoned on board, the company went
+down to the vessel, and soon it was cutting through the waves of
+the Belt.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+"See now, Funen signifieth _fine_,
+  And much in that word lies;
+For Funen is the garden fine,
+  Where Denmark glads its eyes."
+
+The nakedness which the last aspect of Zealand presents occasions
+one to be doubly struck by the affluent abundance and luxuriance
+with which Funen steps forth. Green woods, rich corn-fields, and,
+wherever the eye rests, noblemen's seats and churches. Nyborg
+itself appears a lively capital in comparison with the still
+melancholy Korsoer. One now perceives people upon the great bridge
+of boats, on the ramparts, and in the broad streets with their high
+houses; one sees soldiers, hears music, and, what is especially
+animating upon a journey, one comes to an excellent inn. The drive
+out through the arched gateway is an astonishment; it is the same
+length and breadth as one of the gates of Copenhagen. Villages and
+peasants' houses here assume a more well-to-do aspect than in
+Zealand, where one often on the way-side imagines one sees a
+manure-heap heaped upon four poles, which upon nearer examination
+one finds is the abode of a family. On the highroads in Funen one
+perceives only clean houses; the window-frames are painted; before
+the doors are little flower-gardens, and wherever flowers are
+grown, as Bulwer strikingly remarks, the peasant is in a higher
+state of civilization; he thinks of the beautiful. In the ditches
+along the highway one sees lilac with their white and lilac
+flowers. Nature herself has here adorned the country with a
+multitude of wild poppies, which for splendor of color might vie
+with the most admired and beautiful in a botanic garden. Especially
+in the neighborhood of Nyborg do they grow in exceeding abundance.
+
+"What a dazzling color!" exclaimed Otto, as the friends rolled past
+these beautiful red flowers.
+
+"That is a proud color!" said the Kammerjunker, who rode near them
+upon his brown steed, "a proud color! but they are manured with the
+blood of Andalusian horses. It was just here where the battle
+between these beasts took place. You know that sit the year 1808
+the Spaniards lay in Funen; the English ships were cruising about
+in the Belt, and Romana fled with his whole army on board, but they
+could net take their horses with them. These were the most splendid
+Andalusian creatures that eyes ever saw. The Spaniards took off
+their bridles, and left them here to scamper about the fields like
+wild horses. The horses of Nyborg chanced also to graze here, and
+as soon as the Andalusian steeds became aware of ours they arranged
+themselves in a row, and fell upon the Danish horses: that was a
+combat! At length they fell upon each other, and fought until they
+fell bleeding to earth. Whilst still a boy I saw little skull of
+one of these beasts. This is the last adventure left us from the
+visit of the Spaniards to Denmark. In the village through which we
+shall now pass are some outer remembrances. Remark the young lads
+and lasses,--they are of a darker complexion than the inhabitants
+of other Funen valleys; that is Spanish blood, it is said. It was
+in this village that the story took its rise of the preacher's
+servant-girl, who wept and was so inconsolable at the departure of
+the Spaniards. But not on account of her bridegroom did she weep,--
+not over her own condition. The preacher consoled her, and then she
+said she only wept to think that if the innocent child resembled
+its father it certainly would speak Spanish, and then not a soul
+would understand it! Yes, such histories as this have we in Funen!"
+said he laughingly to Otto.
+
+With similar relations, and some agricultural observations,
+according as they were called forth by surrounding objects, did our
+excellent landed proprietor amuse our young gentlemen. They were
+already distant several miles from Nyborg, when he suddenly broke
+off in the midst of a very interesting discourse upon a
+characteristic of a true inhabitant of Funen, which is, that
+whenever he passes a field of buckwheat he moves his mouth as if
+chewing, and made Wilhelm observe a Viennese carriage, which
+approached them by a neighboring road. To judge from the coachman
+and the horses, it must be the family from the hall.
+
+This was the case--they returned from paying a visit. Where the
+roads crossed they met each other. Otto immediately recognized Miss
+Sophie, and near to her sat an elderly lady, with a gentle, good-humored
+countenance; this was the mother. Now there was surprise and joy.
+Sophie blushed--this blush could not have reference to the brother;
+was it then the Kammerjunker? No: that appeared impossible! therefore,
+it must concern Otto. The mother extended her hand to him with a
+welcome, whilst at the same time she invited the Kammerjunker to
+spend the afternoon with them. There lay, in the manner with which
+she proposed this, so much attention and consideration, that Otto
+felt the man was here held in greater esteem, and was otherwise
+regarded than he, during their short acquaintance, had imagined possible.
+
+Sophie added, smiling, "You must stay!" To which the Kammerjunker
+replied with an apology for his travelling-dress.
+
+"We are not strangers!" said the mother; "it is only a family meal!
+You see the usual circle. You, Mr. Thostrup," added she, with a
+most obliging manner, "I know so well from Wilhelm's letters, that
+we are no strangers. The gentlemen are acquainted with each other!"
+
+"I accept the invitation," said the Kammerjunker, "and I will now
+show you into what a gallop I can put my steed! It is Carl Rise,
+[Translator's Note: Name of one of the heroes in Waldemar the
+Conqueror, a romance by Ingemann.] as you see, young lady--you
+called him so yourself!"
+
+"Yes, ride forward," said Sophie, smiling. "By that means you will
+oblige my sister. She might otherwise be quite frightened, did she
+see such a mighty caravan approach the house, did she had not
+properly prepared the dinner-table."
+
+"As my gracious young lady commands!" said the rider, and sprang
+forward.
+
+The country became more woody; the road passed various small lakes,
+almost overgrown with water-lilies and shaded by old trees; the
+old-fashioned, indented gable-ends of the hall now peeped forth.
+They drove through an avenue of wild chestnut-trees; the stone
+pavement here threatened to smash the carriage axles. On the right
+lay the forge, through the open door of which flew the sparks. A
+little girl, with bare feet, opened a gate, and they now found
+themselves in a large open space before the red-painted out-buildings.
+The ground was covered with straw, and all the cows of the farm were
+collected here for milking. Here they were obliged to drive, step
+by step, until by the gateway they reached the larger courtyard,
+which was inclosed by the barns and the principal building itself.
+This was surrounded by broad ditches, almost grown over with reeds.
+Over a solid bridge, resting upon pillars of masonry, and through
+a principal wing which bore the armorial bearings and initials of
+the old possessor, they arrived in the innermost court, which was
+shut in by three wings, the antique one already mentioned, and two
+others: the fourth side was inclosed by a low trellis-work which
+adjoined the garden, where the canals lost themselves in a small lake.
+
+"That is an interesting old court!" exclaimed Otto.
+
+"O, that is not to be compared with the Kammerjunker's!" returned
+Wilhelm: "you should first see his!"
+
+"Yes, you must come over some of these days," said the
+Kammerjunker. "Silence, Fingal! Silence, Valdine!" cried he to the
+barking dogs. A couple of turkey-cocks spread their feathers out,
+and gobbled with all their might. Men and women servants stood at
+the door: that was their reception!
+
+"Thostrup will have the red room, will he not?" said Wilhelm, and
+the friends ascended the stairs together.
+
+A pale young girl, not free from freckles, but with eyes full of
+soul, hastened toward them; this was Wilhelm's youngest sister. She
+pressed her brother to her breast, and took Otto's hand with
+kindness. She is not beautiful! was the first impression she made
+upon him. His chamber was vaulted, and the walls painted in the
+style of Gobelin tapestry; they represented the whole of Olympus.
+On the left was an old fire-place, with decorations and a gilt
+inscription; on the right stood an antiquated canopy-bed, with red
+damask hangings. The view was confined to the moat and the interior
+court. But a few minutes and Otto and Wilhelm were summoned to
+table. A long gallery through two wings of the hall, on one side
+windows, on the other entrances to the rooms, led to the dining-room.
+The whole long passage was a picture-gallery. Portraits the size
+of life, representing noble knights and ladies shining forth in
+red powdered periwigs, children adorned like their elders, with
+tulips in their hands, and great hounds by their sides, together
+with some historical pieces, decorated the walls.
+
+"Have we no garland on the table?" asked Sophie, as she entered the
+dining-room with the others.
+
+"Only a weak attempt to imitate my sister!" said Louise, smiling.
+
+"But there is not a single flower in the garland! What economy! And
+yet it is sweet!"
+
+"How tasteful!" exclaimed Otto, examining the garland which Louise
+had laid.
+
+All kinds of green leaves, with their innumerable shades, a few
+yellow linden-leaves, and some from the copper-beech, formed,
+through their varied forms and colors, a tasteful garland upon the
+white table-cloth.
+
+"You receive a thistle and a withered leaf!" whispered Wilhelm, as
+Otto seated himself.
+
+"But yet the most beautiful!" answered he. "The copper beech
+contrasts so sweetly with the whitish-green thistle and the yellow
+leaf."
+
+"My sister Sophie," said Louise, "lays us each day a different
+garland;--it is such a pretty decoration! If she is not here we get
+none; that would have been the case to-day, but when I learned that
+Wilhelm was coming, and that we," she added, with a friendly
+glance, "should have two other guests, I in great haste, made an
+attempt, and"--
+
+"And wished to show how nicely it could be made without robbing
+your flowers!" interrupted Sophie, laughing. "In reality, I am very
+cruel! I cut all the heads of her favorites off. To-morrow, as a
+parody upon her garland of to-day, will I make one of green cabbage
+and pea-shells!"
+
+"Madeira or port wine?" asked the Kammerjunker, and led the
+conversation from flowers to articles of food and drink.
+
+"One feels one's self comfortable here at the hall! Miss Louise
+cares for the body, and Miss Sophie for the soul!"
+
+"And mamma bestows a good cup of coffee," said the mother; "you
+must also praise me a little!"
+
+"I give music after dinner!" cried Wilhelm; "and thus the whole
+family will have shown their activity!"
+
+"But no voluntaries!" said the Kammerjunker; "no voluntaries, dear
+friend! No, a brisk song, so that one can hear what it is! but none
+of your artificial things!" A right proper blow on the shoulders
+was intended to soften his expression.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+"She sees if the cloth is clean and white
+--If the bed has pillows and sheets;
+If the candle fits in the candlestick. ...
+
+"Modest she is, although you know
+  She makes the whole of the place;
+And in she slips in the evening glow,
+  To light the room with her merry face "--OEHLENSCHLAGER
+
+A quiet, busy house-fairy was Louise; the beautiful, fragrant
+flowers were her favorites. Good-humoredly she smiled at the
+raillery of her sister, quietly listened to each thoughtless jest;
+but if any one, in joke, touched upon what was holy to her soul,
+she was aroused from her calmness and attained a certain eloquence.
+
+We will now become more nearly acquainted with the sisters, and on
+this account pass over to one of the following days.
+
+An abode together of a week, at a country-seat, will often bring
+about a greater intimacy than if, throughout a whole winter, people
+had met in large companies in cities. Otto soon felt himself at
+home; he was treated as a near relative. Wilhelm related all he
+knew of the beautiful Eva, and Sophie discovered that she was a
+romantic character. Mamma pitied the poor child, and Louise wished
+she had her on the estate: an inn was, after all, no proper place
+for a respectable girl. They then spoke of the winter enjoyments in
+Copenhagen, of art, and the theatre. Louise could not speak much
+with them upon these subjects, although she had seen one play,
+"Dyveke:" the amiable nature of the actress had spoken deeply to
+her heart.
+
+Several days had passed; the sky was gray; the young people
+assembled round the table; they were at no loss for a subject of
+conversation. All those who have brothers or sons who study well,
+have remarked how much they are especially fascinated by the
+lectures on natural philosophy and astronomy; the world, as it
+were, expands itself before the intellectual eye. We know that the
+friends, during the past summer, had participated in these
+lectures, and, like the greater number, were full of these
+subjects, from the contemplation of a drop of water, with its
+innumerable animalculae, to the distance and magnitude of stars and
+planets.
+
+To most of us these are well-known doctrines; to the ladies, also,
+this was nothing entirely new: nevertheless, it interested them;
+perhaps partly owing to Otto's beautiful eloquence. The gray, rainy
+weather led the conversation to the physical explanation of the
+origin of our globe, as the friends, from Orsted's lectures,
+conceived it to have been.
+
+"The Northern and Grecian myths agree also with it!" sail Otto. "We
+must imagine, that in infinite space there floated an eternal,
+unending mist, in which lay a power of attraction. The mist
+condensed itself now to one drop--our globe was one enormous egg-shaped
+drop; light and warmth operated upon this huge world egg, and hatched,
+not alone ONE creature, but millions. These must die and give way
+to new ones, but their corpses fell as dust to the centre: this
+grew; the water itself condensed, and soon arose a point above
+the expanse of ocean. The warmth of the sun developed moss and
+plants; fresh islands presented themselves; for centuries did a
+more powerful development and improvement show themselves, until
+the perfection was attained which we now perceive!"
+
+"But the Bible does not teach us thus!" said Louise.
+
+"Moses invented his account of the creation," answered Otto; "we
+keep to Nature, who has greater revelations than man."
+
+"But the Bible is to you a holy book?" asked Louise, and colored.
+
+"A venerable book!" returned Otto. "It contains the profoundest
+doctrines, the most interesting histories, but also much which
+belongs not at all to a holy book."
+
+"How can you say such things?" exclaimed Louise.
+
+"Do not touch upon religion in her presence," said Sophie; "she
+is a pious soul, and believes, without desiring to know wherefore."
+
+"Yes," said Wilhelm, "this winter she became quite angry, and, as I
+believe, for the first time angry with me, because I maintained
+that Christ was a man."
+
+"Wilhelm!" interrupted the young girl, "do not speak of that; I
+feel myself unhappy at this thought; I can and will not see the
+Holy brought down to my level, and to that of every-day life. It
+lies in my nature that I commit a sin if I think otherwise than I
+have learned and than my heart allows me. It is profane, and if you
+speak longer of religion in this strain I shall leave the room."
+
+At this moment the mother entered. "The festival has commenced,"
+said she; "I have been forced to give my brightest silver skilling.
+Does Mr. Thostrup know the old custom which is observed here in the
+country, when beer is brewed for the mowing-feast?"
+
+A piercing cry, as from a horde of savages, at this moment reached
+the ears of the party.
+
+The friends descended.
+
+In the middle of the brew-house stood a tub, around which danced
+all the female servants of the estate, from the dairymaids down to
+the girl who tended the swine; their iron-bound wooden shoes dashed
+against the uneven flag-stones. The greater number of the dancers
+were without their jackets, but with their long chemise-sleeves and
+narrow bodices. Some screamed, others laughed, the whole was
+blended together in a howl, whilst they danced hand in hand around
+the tub in which the beer should be brewed. The brewing-maid now
+flung into it the silver skilling, upon which the girls, like wild
+Maenades, tore off each other's caps, and with bacchanalian
+wildness whirled round the tub. By this means should the beer
+become stronger, and work more intoxicatingly at the approaching
+mowing-feast.
+
+Among the girls, one especially distinguished herself by her Strong
+frame of body, and her long black hair, which, now that her cap was
+torn off, hung in disorder over her red face. The dark eyebrows
+were grown together. All seemed to rage most violently within her,
+and in truth she assumed something wild, nay almost brutal. Both
+arms she raised high in the air, and with outstretched fingers she
+whirled around.
+
+"That is disgusting!" whispered Otto: "they all look like crazy
+people."
+
+Wilhelm laughed at it. The wild merriment was lost in a joyous
+burst of laughter. The girl with the grown-together eyebrows let
+fall her arms; but still there lay in her glance that wild
+expression, which the loose hair and uncovered shoulders made still
+more striking. Either one of the others had had the misfortune to
+scratch her lip, or else she herself had bitten it in bacchanalian
+wildness until it bled: she accidentally glanced toward the open
+door where stood the friends. Otto's countenance became clouded, as
+was ever the case when anything unpleasant affected him. She seemed
+to guess his thoughts, and laughed aloud. Otto stepped aside; it
+was as though he in anticipation felt the shadow which this form
+would one day cast across his life.
+
+When he and Wilhelm immediately afterward returned to Sophie and
+Louise, he related the unpleasant impression which the girl had
+made upon him.
+
+"O, that is my Meg Merrilies!" exclaimed Sophie. "Yes, spite of her
+youth, do you not find that she has something of Sir Walter Scott's
+witch about her? When she grows older, she will be excellent. She
+has the appearance of being thirty, whereas she is said not to be
+more than twenty years old: she is a true giantess."
+
+"The poor thing!" said Louise; "every one judges from the exterior.
+All who are around her hate her, I believe, because her eyebrows
+are grown together, and that is said to be a sign that she is a
+nightmare: [Note: This superstition of the people is mentioned in
+Thieles's Danish traditions: "When a girl at midnight stretches
+between four sticks the membrane in which the foal lies when it is
+born, and then creeps naked through it, she will bear her child
+without pains; but all the boys she conceives will become were-wolves,
+and all the girls nightmares. You will know them in the daytime by
+their eyebrows grown together over the nose. In the night she creeps
+in through the key-hole, and places herself upon the sleeper's bosom.
+The same superstition is also found in German Grimm speaks thus
+about it: If you say to the nightmare,--
+         Old hag, come to-morrow,
+         And I from you will borrow,
+it retreats directly, and comes the next morning in the shape of a
+man to borrow something."] they are angry with her, and how could
+one expect, from the class to which she belongs, that she should
+return scorn with kindness? She is become savage, that she may not
+feel their neglect. In a few days, when we have the mowing-feast,
+you yourself will see how every girl gets a partner; but poor
+Sidsel may adorn herself as much as she likes, she still stands
+alone. It is truly hard to be born such a being!"
+
+"The unfortunate girl!" sighed Otto.
+
+"O, she does not feel it!" said Wilhelm: "she cannot feel it; for
+that she is too rude, too much of an animal."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+"Were the pease not tender, and the vegetables fresh and sweet as sugar
+What was the matter with the hams, the smoked goose-breasts, and the
+herrings? What with the roasted lamb, and the refreshing red-sprinkled
+head-lettuce? Was not the vinegar sharp, and the nut-oil balmy? Was not
+the butter as sweet as a nut, the red radishes tender? What?" --VOSS'S
+Louise.
+
+"Mr. Thostrup shall see the Kammerjunker's old country-seat;
+to-morrow we must go over."
+
+Louise could not go with them, a hundred small duties chained her
+to the house. The most important of them all was ironing.
+
+"But that the house-maid can do," said Sophie. "Do come with us."
+
+"When thou seest thy linen nice and neat in thy drawers," returned
+Louise, "thou wilt certainly pardon me for remaining at home."
+
+"Yes, thou art a glorious girl!" said Sophie; "thou dost deserve to
+have been known by Jean Paul, and made immortal in one of his
+books. Thou dost deserve the good fortune of being sung of by such
+a poet."
+
+"Dost thou call it good fortune," answered the sister, "when the
+whole world directs its attention to one person?--that must be
+painful! unhappy! No, it is much better not to be remarked at all.
+Take my greetings with you, and ask for my Claudius back; they have
+had it now a whole half year."
+
+"There, they have kept half my sister's library," said Sophie,
+smiling to Otto. "You must know she has only two books: Mynster's
+Sermons, and the 'Wandsbecker Boten.'"
+
+The carriage rolled away through the chestnut avenue. "There upon
+the hill, close by the wood, did I act the elf-maiden," said
+Sophie. "I was not yet confirmed; there were strangers staying with
+us at the hall, and we wandered in the beautiful moonlight through
+the wood. Two of my friends and I hastened toward the hill, took
+hold of each other's hands and danced in a ring. The day after, two
+persons of the congregation told the preacher about three elfin-maidens,
+clad in white, who had danced upon the hill in the moonlight. The
+elfin-maidens were we; but that our backs were hollow as baking-troughs,
+and that the hill glanced like silver, was their own invention."
+
+"And in this oak," exclaimed Wilhelm, "when a boy, I killed the
+first bird which fell from my shot. It was a crow, and was very
+honorably interred."
+
+"Yes, beneath my sister's weeping-willow," said Sophie. "We buried
+it in an old chapeaubras, adorned with white bows; the grave was
+decorated with peony-leaves and yellow lilies. Wilhelm, who was
+then a big boy, made an oration, and Louise strewed flowers."
+
+"You were little fools!" said the mother. "But see, who comes
+here?"
+
+"O, my little Dickie, my dwarf of Kenilworth!" exclaimed Sophie, as
+a little hump-backed man, with thin legs and an old face,
+approached. He was dressed as a peasant, and bore upon his back a
+little knapsack of red calfskin, the hairy side turned outward: in
+this he carried his violin.
+
+"Is he called Dickie?" asked Otto.
+
+"No, that is only a joke of Sophie's," pursued Wilhelm; "she must
+always make suitable people romantic. He is called commonly
+'Musikanti.' The inhabitant of Funen Italianizes most names;
+otherwise he is called Peter Cripple."
+
+"You will hear his tones," said Sophie. "The day after to-morrow,
+when we have the mowing-feast, he will he number one. He
+understands music with which you are scarcely acquainted; he will
+play you the 'Shoemaker's Dance' as well as 'Cherry-soup:' such
+dances as these have people here in the country."
+
+"We are now beyond my lands, and upon our neighbor's," said the old
+lady. "You will see a thorough old mansion."
+
+"Now, I should like to know how the inhabitants will please Mr.
+Thostrup," said Sophie. "The Kammerjunker you know; he is an
+excellent country gentleman. His sister, on the contrary, is a
+little peculiar: she belongs to that class of people who always,
+even wily the best intentions, say unpleasant things. She has for
+this quite a rare talent--you will soon experience this; but she
+does not intend anything so bad. She can also joke! Thank God that
+you will not remain there over night, otherwise you would
+experience what she and the Mamsell can invent!"
+
+"Yes, the Mamsell is my friend!" said Wilhelm. "You will see her
+work-box with all the curiosities. That little box plays a great
+part: it is always taken out with her when she pays a visit--for
+the sake of conversation it is brought out; all is then looked
+through, and every article goes the round of the company. Yes,
+there are beautiful things to be seen: a little wheelbarrow with a
+pincushion, a silver fish, and the little yard-measure of silk
+ribbon."
+
+"Yes, and the amber heart!" said Sophie; "the little Napoleon of
+cast iron, and the officer who is pasted fast to the bottom of the
+box: that is a good friend in Odense, she lately told to me in
+confidence."
+
+"See what beautiful stone fences the Kammerjunker has made!" said
+the mother. "And how beautifully the cherry-trees grow! He is an
+industrious man!"
+
+They approached the garden. It was laid out in the old French
+style, with straight walks, pyramids of box, and white painted
+stone figures: satyrs and goddesses peeped through the green
+foliage. You now caught sight of a high tower with a spire; and
+soon the whole of the old mansion presented itself to view. The
+water was conveyed away from the broad moats, where the weeping
+willows with bowed heads and uncovered roots stood in the warm
+sunshine. A number of work-people were busily employed in clearing
+the moats of mud, which was wheeled in barrows on both sides.
+
+They soon reached the principal court-yard. The barns and the
+out-buildings lay on the opposite side. A crowd of dogs rushed forth
+barking toward the carriage--all possible races, from the large
+Danish hound, which is known to the Parisian, down to the steward's
+little pug-dog, which had mixed with this company. Here stood the
+greyhound, with his long legs, beside the turnspit. You saw all
+varieties, and each had its peculiar and melodious bark. A couple
+of peacocks, with bright outspread tails, raised at the same time a
+cry, which must have made an impression. The whole court-yard had a
+striking air of cleanliness. The grass was weeded from between the
+stones; all was swept and arranged in its appointed order. Before
+the principal flight of steps grew four large lime-trees; their
+tops, from youth bent together and then clipped short, formed in
+spring and summer two large green triumphal arches. On the right
+stood upon an upright beam, which was carved and formed into a
+pillar, a prettily painted dove-cot; and its gay inhabitants
+fluttered and cooed around. The peacock-pigeon emulated the peacock
+in spreading its tail; and the cropper-pigeon elevated itself upon
+its long legs, and drew itself up, as though it would welcome the
+strangers with the air of a grand gentleman. The reddish-brown
+tiles and the bright window-panes were the only things which had a
+modern air. The building itself, from the stone window-seats to the
+old-fashioned tower through which you entered, proclaimed its
+antiquity. In the vaulted entrance-hall stood two immense presses:
+the quantity of wood which formed them, and the artistical carving,
+testified to their great age. Above the door were fastened a couple
+of antlers.
+
+The Kammerjunker's sister, Miss Jakoba, a young lady of about
+thirty, neither stout nor thin, but with a strange mixture of
+joviality and indolence, approached them. She appeared to rejoice
+very much in the visit.
+
+"Well, you are come over, then!" said she to Wilhelm. "I thought
+you had enough to do with your examination."
+
+Wilhelm smiled, and assured her that after so much study people
+required relaxation.
+
+"Yes, you doubtless study in handsome boots!" said the young lady,
+and in a friendly manner turned toward Sophie. "Good heavens,
+miss!" she exclaimed, "how the sun has burnt your nose! That looks
+horrible! Don't you ever wear a veil? you, who otherwise look so
+well!"
+
+Otto was a stranger to her. He escaped such unpleasant remarks.
+"They should spend the whole day there," insisted Miss Jakoba; but
+mamma spoke of being at home by noon.
+
+"Nothing will come of that!" said Jakoba. "I have expected you; and
+we have cooked a dinner, and made preparations, and I will not have
+had all this trouble in vain. There are some especial dishes for
+you, and of these you shall eat." This was all said in such a
+good-humored tone that even a stranger could not have felt himself
+offended. The Kammerjunker was in the fields looking after his
+flax; he would soon be back. Squire Wilhelm could in the mean time
+conduct Mr. Thostrup about the premises: "he would otherwise have
+nothing to do," said she.
+
+No one must remain in the sitting-room; it was so gloomy there!
+The walls were still, as in by-gone days, covered with black
+leather, upon which were impressed gold flowers. No, they should go
+to the hall--that had been modernized since the Baroness was last
+there. The old chimney-piece with carved ornaments was removed, and
+a pretty porcelain stove had taken its place. The walls were
+covered with new paper from Paris. You could there contemplate all
+the public buildings of that city,--Notre Dame, Saint Sulpice, and
+the Tuileries. Long red curtains, thrown over gilt rods, hung above
+the high windows. All this splendor was admired.
+
+"I prefer the antique sitting-room, after all," said Sophie; "the
+old chimney-piece and the leather hangings. One fairly lives again
+in the days of chivalry!"
+
+"Yes, you have always been a little foolish!" said Jakoba, but
+softened her words by a smile and a pressure of the hand. "No, the
+hall is more lively. Ah!" she suddenly exclaimed; "Tine has placed
+her work-box in the window! That is disorder!"
+
+"O, is that the celebrated work-box, with its many fool's tricks?"
+inquired Wilhelm, as he laughingly took it up.
+
+"There are neither fools nor tricks in the box," said Jakoba. "But
+only look in the mirror in the lid, and then you will perhaps see
+one of the two."
+
+"No rude speeches, my young lady!" said Wilhelm; "I am an
+academical burgher!"
+
+The Kammerjunker now entered, attired in the same riding dress in
+which we made his acquaintance. He had visited his hay and oats,
+had seen after the people who were working at the fences, and had
+been also in the plantation. It had been a warm forenoon.
+
+"Now, Miss Sophie," said he, "do you see how I am clearing out the
+court? It costs me above five hundred dollars; and still they are
+the peasants of the estate who clear away the mud. But I shall get
+a delicate manure-heap, so fit and rich that it's quite a pleasure.
+But, Jakoba, where is the coffee?"
+
+"Only let it come in through the door," said Jakoba, somewhat
+angrily. "You certainly ate something before you went from home.
+Let me attend to the affairs of the ladies, and do thou attend to
+the gentlemen, so that they may not stand and get weary."
+
+The Kammerjunker conducted the friends up the winding stone stairs
+into the old tower.
+
+"All solid and good!" said he. "We no longer build in this manner.
+The loop-holes here, close under the roof, were walled up already
+in my father's time. But only notice this timber!"
+
+The whole loft appeared a gigantic skeleton composed of beams, one
+crossing the other. On either side of the loft was a small vaulted
+chamber, with a brick fire-place. Probably these chambers had been
+used as guard-rooms; a kind of warder's walk led from these,
+between the beam-palisade and the broad wall.
+
+"Yes, here," said the Kammerjunker, "they could have had a good
+lookout toward the enemy. Look through my telescope. You have here
+the whole country from Vissenberg to Munkebobanke, the Belt, and
+the heights of Svendborg. Only see! The air is clear. We see both
+Langeland and Zealand. Here one could, in 1807, have well observed
+the English fleet."
+
+The three climbed up the narrow ladder and came past the great
+clock, the leaden weights of which, had they fallen, would have
+dashed through the stone steps, and soon the gentlemen sat on the
+highest point. The Kammerjunker requested the telescope, placed it
+and exclaimed:--
+
+"Did I not think so? If one has not them always under one's eyes
+they begin playing pranks! Yes, I see it very well! There, now, the
+fellows who are working at the fences have begun to romp with the
+girls! they do nothing! Yes, they don't believe that I am sitting
+here in the tower and looking at them!"
+
+"Then a telescope is, after all, a dangerous weapon!" exclaimed
+Wilhelm. "You can look at people when they least expect it.
+Fortunately, our seat lies hidden behind the wood: we are, at all
+events, safe."
+
+"Yes, that it is, my friend," returned the other; "the outer sides
+of the garden are still bare. Did I not, last autumn, see Miss
+Sophie quite distinctly, when she was gathering service-berries in
+her little basket? And then, what tricks did she not play? She
+certainly did not think that I sat here and watched tier pretty
+gambols!"
+
+They quitted the tower, and passed through the so-called Knight's
+Hall, where immense beams, laid one on the other, supported the
+roof. At either end of the hall was a huge fireplace, with armorial
+bearings painted above: the hall was now used as a granary; they
+were obliged to step over a heap of corn before reaching the family
+pew in the little chapel, which was no longer used for divine
+service.
+
+"This might become a pretty little room," said the Kammerjunker,
+"but we have enough, and therefore we let this, for curiosity's
+sake, remain in its old state. The moon is worth its money!" and he
+pointed toward the vaulted ceiling, where the moon was represented
+as a white disk, in which the painter, with much naivete, had
+introduced a man bearing a load of coals upon his back; in faithful
+representation of the popular belief regarding the black spot in
+the moon, which supposes this to be a man whom the Lord has sent up
+there because he stole his neighbor's coal. "That great picture on
+the right, there," pursued he, "is Mrs. Ellen Marsviin; I purchased
+it at an auction. One of the peasants put up for it; I asked him
+what he would do with this big piece of furniture--he could never
+get it in through his door. But do you know what a speculation he
+had? It was not such a bad one, after all. See! the rain runs so
+beautifully off the painted canvas, he would have a pair of
+breeches made out of it, to wear in rainy weather behind the
+plough; they would keep the rain off! I thought, however, I ought
+to prevent the portrait of the highly honorable Mrs. Ellen Marsviin
+being so profaned. I bought it: now she hangs there, and looks
+tolerably well pleased. The peasant got a knight instead--perhaps
+one of my own ancestors, who was now cut up into breeches. See,
+that is what one gets by being painted!"
+
+"But the cupboard in the pillar there?" inquired Otto.
+
+"There, certainly, were Bibles and Prayer-books kept. Now I have in
+it what I call sweetmeats for the Chancery-counselor Thomsen: old
+knives of sacrifice, coins and rings, which I have found in the
+horse-pond and up yonder in the cairns: not a quarter of a yard
+below the turf we found one pot upon another; round each a little
+inclosure of stones--a flat stone as covering, and underneath stood
+the pot, with burnt giants' bones, and a little button or the blade
+of a knife. The best things are already gone away to Copenhagen,
+and should the Counselor come, he will, God help me! carry away the
+rest. That may be, then, willingly, for I cannot use the stuff,
+after all."
+
+After coffee, the guests wandered through the old garden: the
+clearing away of the mud was more closely observed, the dairy and
+pig-sty visited, the new threshing-machine inspected. But now the
+Russian bath should be also essayed; "it was heated!" But the end
+of the affair was, that only the Kammerjunker himself made use of
+it. The dinner-table was prepared, and then he returned. "But here
+something is wanting!" exclaimed he; left the room, and returned
+immediately with two large bouquets, which he stuck into an ale-glass
+which he placed upon the table. "Where Miss Sophie dines, the table
+must be ornamented with flowers: certainly we cannot lay garlands,
+as you do!" He seated himself at the end of the table, and wished,
+as he himself said, to represent the President Lars: they had had
+the "Wandsbecker Boten" half a year in the house, and it would
+certainly please Miss Sophie if they betrayed some acquaintance
+ with books. This Lars and the flowers, here, meant quite as much
+as in the south a serenade under the windows of the fair one.
+
+When, toward evening, the carriage for their return drew up before
+the door, Otto still stood contemplating some old inscriptions
+which were built into the tower-wall.
+
+"That you can look at another time," said Jakoba; "now you must be
+of use a little!" And she reached him the ladies' cloaks.
+
+Amidst promises of a return visit and the parting yelping of the
+dogs the carriage rolled away.
+
+"I have fairly fallen in love with the old place!" said Sophie.
+
+"The Kaminerjunker gains much upon nearer acquaintance," said Otto.
+
+They bad now reached the furthest extremity of the garden. A flower-rain
+showered itself over them and the carriage. The Kammerjunker, Jakoba,
+and the Mamsell, had taken a shorter way, and now waved an adieu to
+the travellers, whilst at the same time they scattered hyacinths
+and stocks over them. With a practiced hand Jakoba threw, as a
+mark of friendship, a great pink straight into Otto's face. "Farewell,
+farewell!" sounded from both sides, and, accompanied by the sound
+of the evening-bell from the near village, for it was sunset, the
+carriage rolled away.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+"Dance and stamp
+Till the shoe-soles drop!"
+                 --Danish Popular Song.
+
+On the following day should the much-talked-of mowing-festival take
+place. It was the hay-harvest which occasioned all this merriment.
+[Author's Note: It is true that serfdom is abolished, but the
+peasant is still not quite free; neither can he be so. For his
+house and land he must pay a tribute, and this consists in labor.
+His own work must give way to that of his lord. His wagon, which he
+has had prepared to bring home his own harvest, must, if such be
+commanded, go to the nobleman's land, and there render service.
+This is, therefore, a kind of tax which he pays, and for the
+faithful payment of which he is rewarded by a harvest and mowing-feast;
+at the latter he receives a certain quantity of brandy, and as much
+ale as he can drink. The dance generally takes place in the middle
+of the court-yard, and the dancers themselves must pay their musicians.]
+
+During three afternoons in succession, in the inner court and under
+free heaven, should a ball be held. Along the walls, rough planks,
+laid upon logs of wood, formed a row of benches. At both ends of
+the court lay two barrels of the newly brewed ale, which had
+received more malt than usual, and which, besides, through the
+silver skilling, and the magic dance of the maidens round the tub,
+had acquired extraordinary strength. A large wooden tankard,
+containing several measures of brandy, stood upon a table; the man
+who watched the bleaching-ground was placed as a kind of butler to
+preside at this sideboard. A bread-woman, with new white bread from
+Nyborg upon her barrow, wheeled into the court, and there
+established her stall for every one; for it was only liquors the
+guests received gratis.
+
+The guests now entered the court by pairs; the men, part in
+jackets, part in long coats which hung down to their ankles. Out of
+the waistcoat-pocket protruded a little nosegay of sweet-williams
+and musk. The girls carried their "posies," as they called them, in
+their neatly folded pocket-handkerchiefs. Two musicians--one quite
+a young blade, in a laced coat with a stiff cravat, mid the other
+the well-known Peter Cripple, "Musikanti" as he was called--led the
+procession. They both played one and the same piece, but each
+according to his own manner. It was both good and old.
+
+They now began to draw lots, who should dance before the door of
+the family and who before that of the steward; after which the two
+parties drew lots for the musicians. The girls seated themselves in
+a row upon the bench, from whence they were chosen. The gallantry
+accorded with the ball-room,--the hard stone pavement. Not even had
+the grass been pulled up, but that would be all right after dancing
+there the first day. "Nay, why art thou sitting there?" spoken with
+a kind of morose friendliness, was the invitation to dance; and
+this served for seven dances. "Only don't be melancholy!" resounded
+from the company, and now the greater portion moved phlegmatically
+along, as if in sleep or in a forced dance: the girl with her eyes
+staring at her own feet, her partner with his head bent toward one
+side, and his eyes in a direct line with the girl's head-dress. A
+few of the most active exhibited, it is true, a kind of animation,
+by stamping so lustily upon the stone pavement that the dust
+whirled up around them. That was a joy! a joy which had occupied
+them many weeks, but as yet the joy had not reached its height;
+"but that will soon come!" said Wilhelm, who, with his sister
+and Otto, had taken his place at an open window.
+
+The old people meanwhile kept to the ale-barrels, and the brandy.
+The latter was offered to the girls, and they were obliged, at
+least, to sip. Wilhelm soon discovered the prettiest, and threw
+them roses. The girls immediately sprang to the spot to collect the
+flowers: but the cavaliers also wished to have them, and they were
+the stronger; they, therefore, boldly pushed the ladies aside, so
+that some seated themselves on the stone pavement and got no roses:
+that was a merry bit of fun! "Thou art a foolish thing! It fell
+upon thy shoulder and thou couldst not catch it!" said the first
+lover to his lady, and stuck the rose into his waistcoat-pocket.
+
+All got partners--all the girls; even the children, they leaped
+about to their own singing out upon the bridge. Only ONE stood
+forlorn,--Sidsel, with the grown-together eyebrows; she smiled,
+laughed aloud; no one would become her partner. Peter Cripple
+handed his violin to one of the young men and asked him to play,
+for he himself wished to stretch his legs a little. The girls drew
+back and talked with each other; but Peter Cripple stepped quietly
+forward toward Sidsel, flung his arms around her, and they danced a
+whirling dance. Sophie laughed aloud at it, but Sidsel directed her
+extraordinary glance maliciously and piercingly toward her. Otto
+saw it, and the girl was doubly revolting and frightful in his
+eyes. With the increasing darkness the assembly became more
+animated; the two parties of dancers were resolved into one. At
+length, when it was grown quite dark, the ale barrels become empty,
+the tankard again filled and once more emptied, the company
+withdrew in pairs, singing. Now commenced the first joy, the
+powerful operation of the ale. They now wandered through the wood,
+accompanying each other home, as they termed it; but this was a
+wandering until the bright morning.
+
+Otto and Wilhelm were gone out into the avenue, and the peasants
+shouted to them a grateful "Good night!" for the merry afternoon.
+
+"Now works the witchcraft!" said Wilhelm; "the magical power of
+the ale! Now begins the bacchand! Give your hand to the prettiest
+girl, and she will immediately give you her heart!"
+
+"Pity," answered Otto, "that the Maenades of the north possess only
+that which is brutal in common with those of the south!"
+
+"See, there goes the smith's pretty daughter, to whom I threw the
+best rose!" cried Wilhelm. "She has got two lovers, one under
+either arm!"
+
+"Yes, there she goes!" simpered a female voice close to them. It
+was Sidsel, who sat upon the steps of a stile almost concealed in
+the darkness, which the trees and the hedge increased still more.
+
+"Has Sidsel no lover?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"Hi, hi, hi," simpered she; "the Herr Baron and the other gentleman
+seek, doubtless, for a little bride. Am I beautiful enough? At
+night all cats are gray!"
+
+"Come!" whispered Otto, and drew Wilhelm away from her. "She sits
+like some bird of ill omen there in the hedge."
+
+"What a difference!" exclaimed Wilhelm, as he followed; "yes, what
+a difference between this monster, nay, between the other girls and
+Eva! She was, doubtless, born in the same poverty, in similar
+circumstances, and yet they are like day and night. What a soul has
+been given to Eva! what inborn nobility! It must be, really, more
+than a mere freak of Nature!"
+
+"Only do not let Nature play her freaks with you!" said Otto,
+smiling, and raised his hand. "You speak often of Eva."
+
+"Here it was association of ideas," answered Wilhelm. "The contrast
+awoke remembrance."
+
+Otto entered his chamber--he opened the window; it was a moonlight
+night. From the near wood resounded laughter and song. They came
+from the young men and girls, who, on their wandering, gave
+themselves up to merriment. Otto stood silent and full of thought
+in the open window. Perhaps it was the moon which lent her paleness
+to his countenance. On what did he reflect? Upon his departure,
+perhaps? Only one more day would he remain here, where he felt
+himself so much at home; but then the journey was toward his own
+house, to his grandfather, to Rosalie, and the old preacher, who
+all thought so much of him. Otto stood listening and silent. The
+wind bore the song more distinctly over from the wood.
+
+"That is their joy, their happiness!" said he. "It might have been
+my joy also, my happiness!" lay in the sigh which he heaved. His
+lips did not move, his thoughts alone spoke their silent language.
+"I might have stood on a level with these; my soul might have been
+chained to the dust, and yet it would have been the same which I
+now possess, with which I long to compass all worlds! the same,
+endowed with this sentiment of pride, which drives me on to active
+exertion. My fate wavered whether I should become one such as these
+or whether I should rise into that circle which the world calls the
+higher. The mist-form did not sink down into the mire, but rose
+above into the high refreshing air. And am I become happy through
+this?" His eye stared upon the bright disk of the moon. Two large
+tears rolled over his pale cheeks. "Infinite Omnipotence! I
+acknowledge Thy existence! Thou dost direct all; upon Thee will I
+depend!"
+
+A melancholy smile passed over his lips; he stepped back into the
+chamber, folded his hands, prayed, and felt rest and peace.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+"The travellers roll through the world of men,
+Like rose leaves in a stream.
+The past will ne'er come back again,
+But fade into a dream."--B. S. INGEMANN.
+
+The following day, the last before Otto's departure, whilst he and
+Wilhelm were walking in the garden, Sophie approached them with a
+garland made of oak-leaves: this was intended for Otto; they were
+now really to lose him.
+
+"Sophie will scarcely be up so early to-morrow morning," said
+Louise; "she is, therefore, obliged to present her garland to-day.
+I am never missing at the breakfast-table, as you well know; and I
+shall then bring my bouquet."
+
+"I shall preserve both until we meet again," returned Otto; "they
+are vignettes to my beautiful summer-dream. When I again sit in
+Copenhagen, when the rain patters and the winter approaches with
+cold and a joyless sky, I shall still see before me Funen with its
+green woods, flowers, and sunshine; it will appear to me that it
+must still be so there, and that the garland and bouquet are only
+withered because they are with me in the winter cold."
+
+"In Copenhagen we shall meet again!" said Sophie.
+
+"And I shall see you again with the swallows!" said Louise, "when
+my flowers spring up again, when we have again warm summer days!
+As far as I am concerned, you belong to the summer, and not to the
+cold, calm winter."
+
+Early on the following morning was Sophie, after all, at the
+breakfast table. That was to honor Otto. Mamma showed herself as
+the carriage was at the door. Wilhelm would accompany him as far as
+Odense. It was, therefore, a double leave taking, here and there.
+
+"We will always remain friends, faithful friends!" said Wilhelm,
+when they parted.
+
+"Faithful friends!" repeated Otto, and they rolled away toward
+Middelfart; thus far should mamma's own carriage convey the
+excellent Otto. Wilhelm remained behind in Odense; his coachman
+drove Otto, and they discoursed upon the way. They passed
+Vissenberg: the high, wooded hills there have received the name of
+the Funen Alps. The legend relates of robbers who had here deep
+passages underneath the high-road, where they hung bells which rang
+when any one passed above. The inhabitants are still looked upon
+with suspicion. Vissenberg appears a kind of Itri, between
+Copenhagen and Hamburg. [Author's Note: "Itri," Fra Diavolo's
+birthplace, lies in the Neapolitan States, on the highway between
+Rome and Naples. The inhabitants are not, without reason, suspected
+of carrying on the robber's trade.] Near the church there formerly
+lay a stone, on which Knud, the saint, is said to have rested
+himself when flying from the rebellious Jutlanders. In the stone
+remained the impression of where he had sat; the hard stone had
+been softer than the hearts of the rebellious people.
+
+This, and similar legends, the coachman knew how to relate; he was
+born in this neighborhood, but not in Vissenberg itself, where they
+make the false notes. [Author's Note: A number of years ago a band
+of men were seized in Vissenberg who had forged bank-notes.] Every
+legend gains in interest when one hears it in the place with which
+it is connected. Funen is especially rich in such relations.
+
+"That cairn elevates itself at Christmas upon four red posts, and
+one can then see the dance and merriment of the goblins within.
+Through that peasant's farm there drives every night a glowing
+coach, drawn by four coal-black horses. Where we now see a pond
+overgrown with reeds and roots there once stood a church, but it
+sank as the godless desecrated it; at midnight we still hear their
+sighs, and hymns of repentance."
+
+It is true that the narrator mixed up together certain leg-ends
+which related to other places in the country--that he took little
+springs, and mingled his own thoughts with his relations; but Otto
+listened to him with great interest. The discourse turned also upon
+the family at the hall.
+
+"Yes, they are very much liked!" said the coachman; "the gentleman
+may believe we know how to value them."
+
+"And now, which of the young ladies is the best?" asked Otto.
+
+"Yes, every one is best served by Miss Louise," returned the
+fellow.
+
+"Miss Sophie is the prettiest," said Otto.
+
+"Yes, she is also very good,--she belongs to the learned ones! She
+knows German, that she does! she can act comedy very excellently! I
+once got permission with the rest of the people to be up-stairs in
+the sitting-room--we stood behind the family; she did not manage
+her affairs at all badly."
+
+However much the old legends interested Otto, it seemed as though
+he listened with more pleasure to the simple reasonings of the
+coachman upon the family who were become so dear to him. Words and
+thoughts were busied about the objects there. Wilhelm, however, was
+and still remained the dearest; he recollected with what mildness
+Wilhelm had stretched forth his hand in reconciliation, when he
+himself had thrust him from him. Already the happy summer days
+which he had spent at the country-seat, the whole visit, appeared a
+beautiful but short dream.
+
+Otto felt an inward impulse to express his gratitude; his pride
+even, which was a fundamental feature of his character, commanded
+him to do this. Wilhelm's affection, his desire for a continued
+friendship, Otto thought he must reward; and on this account he
+added the following words to the few lines which he gave the
+coachman before his passage over the Little Belt:--
+
+"Wilhelm, in future we will say thou to each other; that is more
+confidential!" "He is the first to whom I have given my thou," said
+Otto, when the letter was dispatched. "This will rejoice him: now,
+however, I myself have for once made an advance, but he deserves
+it."
+
+A few moments later it troubled him. "I am a fool like the rest!"
+said he, and wished he could annihilate the paper. He was summoned
+on board. The Little Belt is only a river between the two
+countries; he soon found himself upon Jutland ground; the whip
+cracked, the wheels turned round, like the wheels of fortune, up
+and down, yet ever onward.
+
+Late in the evening he arrived at an inn. From his solitary chamber
+his thoughts flew in opposite directions; now toward the solitary
+country-seat of his grandfather, among the sand-hills; now toward
+the animated mansion in Funen, where the new friends resided. He
+had opened his box and taken out what lay quite at the top, the
+garland of oak-leaves and the beautiful bouquet of flowers of this
+morning.
+
+Most people maintain that one dreams at night of that which one has
+thought much about. According to this, Otto must have thought a
+deal about the North Sea, for of it he dreamed the whole night,--
+not of the young ladies.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+"The heat-lark warbles forth his sepulchral melodies."
+                                       S. S. BLICHER.
+
+The peninsula of Jutland possesses nothing of the natural beauty
+which Zealand and Funen present--splendid beeches and odoriferous
+clover-fields in the neighborhood of the salt sea; it possesses at
+once a wild and desolate nature, in the heath-covered expanses and
+the far-stretching moors. East and west are different; like the
+green, sappy leaf, and grayish white sea-weed on the sea shore.
+From the Woods of Marselisborg to the woods south of Coldinger
+Fjord, is the land rich and blooming; it is the Danish Nature in
+her greatness. Here rises the Heaven Mountain, with its wilderness
+of coppice and heather; from here you gaze over the rich landscape,
+with its woods and lakes, as far down as the roaring Cattegat.
+
+The western coast, on the contrary, lies without a tree, without
+bushes, with nothing but white sand-hills stretching along the
+roaring ocean, which scourges the melancholy coast with sand-storms
+and sharp winds. Between these contrasts, which the east and west
+coasts present, the Hesperides and Siberia, lies the vast heath
+which stretches itself from the Lyneborg sand to the Skagen's reef.
+No hedge shows here the limits of possession. Among the crossing
+tracks of carriage wheels must thou seek thy way. Crippled oaks,
+with whitish-green moss overgrown to the outermost branches, twist
+themselves along the ground, as if fearing storms and the sea-mist.
+Here, like a nomadic people, but without flocks, do the so-called
+Tartar bands wander up and down, with their peculiar language and
+peculiar ceremonies. Suddenly there shows itself in the interior of
+the heathy wilderness a colony--another, a strange people, German
+emigrants, who through industry compel the meagre country to
+fruitfulness.
+
+From Veile, Otto wished to take the road through Viborg, as the
+most direct and the shortest to his grandfather's estate, which lay
+between Nisumfjord and Lemvig.
+
+The first heath-bushes accosted him as dear friends of his
+childhood. The beautiful beech-woods lay behind him, the expanse of
+heath began; but the heath was dear to him: it was this landscape
+which formed the basis of many dear recollections.
+
+The country became ever higher with brown heights, beyond which
+nothing was visible; houses and farms became more rare, the cherry
+orchards transformed themselves into cabbage-gardens. Only single
+spots were free from heather, and here grew grass, but short, and
+like moss or duckweed which grows upon ponds: here birds
+congregated by hundreds, and fluttered twittering into the air as
+the carriage drove past.
+
+"You know where to find the green spot in the heath, and how to
+become happy through it," sighed Otto. "Could I only follow your
+example!"
+
+At a greater distance rose bare hills, without ling or ploughed
+land; the prickly heath looked brown and yellow on the sharp
+declivities. A little boy and girl herded sheep by the way-side;
+the boy played the Pandean pipe, the little girl sang a psalm,--it
+was the best song which she knew how to sing to the traveller, in
+order to win a little present from him.
+
+The day was warm and beautiful, but the evening brought the cold
+mist from the sea, which, however, in the interior of the country
+loses something of its power.
+
+"That is a kiss of welcome from my home," said Otto; "the death-kiss
+of the mermaid! In Funen they call it the elf maiden."
+
+Within the last few years a number of children have been sent from
+the Orphan Asylum to the heath, in order that, instead of
+Copenhagen rogues, they may become honest Jutland peasants. Otto
+had a boy of this description for his coachman. The lad was very
+contented, and yet Otto became low-spirited from his relation.
+Recollections from his own life stirred within his breast. "Return
+thanks to God," said he, and gave the lad a considerable present;
+"on the heath thou hast shelter and a home; in Copenhagen, perhaps,
+the sandy beach would have been thy nightly resting-place, hunger
+and cold the gifts which the day would bring thee."
+
+The nearer he approached the west, the more serious became his
+frame of mind; it was as if the desolate scenery and cold sea-mist
+entered his soul. The pictures of the gay country-seat at Funen
+were supplanted by recollections of his home with his grandfather.
+He became more and more low-spirited. It was only when a single
+mile separated him from his home that the thought of surprising his
+dear friends conquered his melancholy.
+
+He caught sight of the red roof of the house, saw the willow
+plantations, and heard the bark of the yard-dog. Upon the hillock
+before the gate stood a group of children. Otto could no longer
+endure the slow driving through the deep ruts. He sprang out of the
+carriage, and ran more than he walked. The children on the hillock
+became aware of him, and all looked toward the side from whence he
+came.
+
+The slow driving, and his being absorbed in melancholy fancies, had
+relaxed his powerful frame; but now in one moment all his
+elasticity returned: his cheeks glowed, and his heart beat loudly.
+
+From the court resounded singing--it was the singing of a psalm. He
+stepped through the gateway. A crowd of peasants stood with bared
+heads: before the door stood a carriage, some peasants were just
+raising a coffin into it. In the doorway stood the old preacher,
+and spoke with a man clad in black.
+
+"Lord Jesus! who is dead?" were Otto's first words, and his
+countenance became pale like that of a corpse.
+
+"Otto!" all exclaimed.
+
+"Otto!" exclaimed also the old preacher, astonished; then seized
+his hand, and said gravely, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken
+away; blessed be the name of the Lord!"
+
+"Let me see the face of the dead!" said Otto. Not a tear came to
+his eye; surprise and sorrow were too great.
+
+"Shall I take out the screws?" inquired the man who had just
+screwed up the coffin.
+
+"Let him sleep the eternal rest!" said the preacher.
+
+Otto stared at the black coffin in which his grandfather lay. The
+carriage drove away with it. Otto followed after with the preacher,
+heard him throw earth upon it, heard words which he did not
+comprehend, saw the last corner of the coffin, and it was then
+removed from his sight. All was as a dream to him.
+
+They returned back to the preacher's abode; a pale figure
+approached him: it was Rosalie--old Rosalie.
+
+"We have here no abiding-place, we all hasten toward futurity!"
+said the old preacher. "Strengthen yourself now with meat and
+drink! The body cannot suffer like the soul. We have accompanied
+him to His sleeping chamber; his bed was well prepared! I have
+prayed the evening prayer; he sleeps in God, and will awaken to
+behold His glory. Amen!"
+
+"Otto! thou dear Otto!" said Rosalie. "The bitterest day brings me
+this joy! How have I thought of thee! Amongst strangers shouldst
+thou receive the tidings of his death! with no one who could feel
+for thy sorrow! where thou shouldst see no eye weep for what thou
+hast lost! Now thou art here! now, when I believed thee so far
+distant--it is a miracle! Thou couldst only have received the
+letter to-day which carried the intelligence of thy grandfather's
+death to thee!"
+
+"I wished to surprise you," said Otto. "A melancholy surprise
+awaited me!"
+
+"Sit down, my child!" said the preacher, and drew him toward the
+covered table. "When the tree falls which gave us shade and fruit,
+from which we, in our own little garden, have planted shoots and
+sown seeds, we may well look on with sadness and feel our loss: but
+we must not forget our own garden, must not forget to cherish that
+which we have won from the fallen tree: we must not cease to live
+for the living! I miss, like you, the proud tree, which rejoiced my
+soul and my heart, but I know that it is planted in a better
+garden, where Christ is the gardener."
+
+The preacher's invitation to remain with him, during his stay, in
+his house, Otto declined. Already this first night he wished to
+establish himself in his own little chamber in the house of
+mourning. Rosalie also would return.
+
+"We have a deal to say to each other," said the old preacher, and
+laid his hand upon Otto's shoulder. "Next summer you will hardly
+press my hand, it will be pressed by the turf."
+
+"To-morrow I will come to you," said Otto, and drove back with the
+old Rosalie to the house.
+
+The domestics kissed the hand and coat of the young master--he
+wished to prevent this; the old woman wept. Otto stepped into the
+room; here had stood the corpse, on account of which the furniture
+had been removed, and the void was all the more affecting. The long
+white mourning curtains fluttered in tire wind before the open
+window. Rosalie led him by the hand into the little sleeping-room
+where the grandfather had died. Here everything yet stood as
+formerly--the large book case, with the glass doors, behind which
+the intellectual treasure was preserved: Wieland and Fielding,
+Millot's "History of the World," and Von der Hagen's "Narrenbuch,"
+occupied the principal place: these books had been those most read
+by the old gentleman. Here was also Otto's earliest intellectual
+food, Albertus Julius, the English "Spectator," and Evald's
+writings. Upon the wall hung pikes and pistols, and a large old
+sabre, which the grandfather had once worn. Upon the table beneath
+the mirror stood an hour-glass; the sand had run out. Rosalie
+pointed toward the bed. "There he died," said she, "between six
+and seven o'clock in the evening. He was only ill three days; the
+two last he passed in delirium: he raised himself in bed, and shook
+the bed posts; I was obliged to let two strong men watch beside
+him. 'To horse! to horse!' said he; 'the cannons forward!' His
+brain dreamed of war and battles. He also spoke of your blessed
+father severely and bitterly! Every word was like the stab of a
+knife; he was as severe toward him as ever!"
+
+"And did the people understand his words?" asked Otto with a
+wrinkled brow.
+
+"No, for the uninitiated they were dark words; and even had they
+possessed any meaning, the men would have believed it was the
+sickness which spoke out of him. 'There stands the mother with the
+two children! The one shall fall upon the flank of the enemy and
+bring me honor and joy. The mother and daughter I know not!' That
+was all which I heard him say about you and your mother and sister.
+By noon on the third day the fever had spent itself; the strong,
+gloomy man was become as weak and gentle as a child; I sat beside
+his bed. 'If I had only Otto here!' said he. 'I have been severely
+attacked, Rosalie, but I am now much better: I will go to sleep;
+that strengthens one.' Smilingly he closed his eyes and lay quite
+still: I read my prayers, withdrew gently so as not to wake him; he
+lay there unchanged when I returned. I sat a little while beside
+his bed; his hands lay upon the coverlid; I touched them, they
+were ice-cold. I was frightened, touched his brow, his face--he was
+dead! he had died without a death-struggle!"
+
+For a long time did they converse about the dead man; it was near
+midnight when Otto ascended the narrow stairs which led to the
+little chamber in the roof, where as child and boy he had slept.
+All stood here as it had done the year before, only in nicer order.
+Upon the wall hung the black painted target, near to the centre of
+which he had once shot. His skates lay upon the chest of drawers,
+near to the nodding plaster figure. The long journey, and the
+overpowering surprise which awaited him on his return, had strongly
+affected him: he opened the window; a large white sand-hill rose
+like a wall straight up before it, and deprived him of all view.
+How often, when a child, had the furrows made by rain in the sand,
+and the detached pieces, presented to him pictures,--towns, towers,
+and whole marching armies. Now it was only a white wall, which
+reminded him of a winding-sheet. A small streak of the blue sky was
+visible between the house and the steep slope of the hill. Never
+before had Otto felt, never before reflected, what it was to stand
+alone in the world, to be lovingly bound to no one with the band of
+consanguinity.
+
+"Solitary, as in this silent night do I stand in the world!
+solitary in the mighty crowd of human beings! Only ONE being can I
+call mine! only ONE being press as kindred to my heart! And I
+shudder at the thought of meeting with this being--I should bless
+the thought that she was dead! Father! thou didst ruin one being
+and make three miserable. I have never loved thee; bitterness
+germinated within my breast when I became acquainted with thee!
+Mother! thy features have died out of my recollection; I revere
+thee! Thou wast all love; to love didst thou offer up thy life--
+more than life! Pray for me with thy God! Pray for me, ye dead! if
+there is immortality; if the flesh is not alone born again in grass
+and the worm; if the soul is not lost in floods of air! We shall be
+unconscious of it: eternally shall we sleep! eternally!" Otto
+supported his forehead upon the window-frame, his arm sank
+languidly, "Mother! poor mother! thou didst gain by death, even if
+it be merely an eternal sleep,--asleep without dreams! We have only
+a short time to live, and yet we divide our days of life with
+sleep! My body yearns after this short death! I will sleep--sleep
+like all my beloved ones! They do not awaken!" He threw himself
+upon the bed. The cold air from the sea blew through the open
+window. The wearied body conquered; he sank into the death-like
+sleep, whilst his doubting soul, ever active, presented him with
+living dreams.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+"Man seems to me a foolish being; he drives along over the waves of
+time, endlessly thrown up and down, and descrying a little verdant
+spot, formed of mud and stagnant moor and of putrid green
+mouldiness, he cries out, Land! He rows thither, ascends--and sinks
+and sinks--and is no more to be seen."--The Golden Fleece of GRILLPARZER.
+
+Old Rosalie was pouring out coffee when Otto came down the next
+morning. Peace and resignation to the will of God lay in her soft
+countenance. Otto was pale, paler than usual, but handsomer than
+Rosalie had seen him before: a year had rendered him older and more
+manly; a handsome, crisp beard curled over his chin; manly gravity
+lay in his eyes, in which, at his departure, she had only remarked
+their inborn melancholy glance. With a kind of satisfaction she
+looked upon this beautiful, melancholy countenance, and with
+cordial affection she stretched forth her hand toward him.
+
+"Here stands thy chair, Otto; and here thy cup. I will drink to thy
+welcome. It seems to me long since I saw thee, and yet it is, now I
+have thee again, only a short time. Were that place only not
+empty!" and she pointed to the place at the table which the
+grandfather had used to occupy.
+
+"If I had only seen him!" said Otto.
+
+"His countenance was so gentle in death," said Rosalie. "The
+severity and gravity which had settled in his eyes were softened
+away. I was myself present when he was dressed. He had his uniform
+on, which he always wore upon occasions of ceremony, the sabre by
+his side and the great hat upon his head. I knew that this was his
+wish!" Quietly she made the sign of the cross.
+
+"Are all my grandfather's papers sealed?" inquired Otto.
+
+"The most important--those which have the greatest interest for
+thee," said Rosalie, "are in the hands of the preacher. Last year,
+the day after thy departure, he gave them to the preacher; thy
+father's last letter I know is amongst them."
+
+"My father!" said Otto, and glanced toward the ground. "Yes,"
+continued he, "there is truth in the words of Scripture,--the sins
+of the fathers are visited upon the children unto the third and
+fourth generation!"
+
+"Otto!" said Rosalie, with a beseeching and reproachful look, "thy
+grandfather was a severe man. Thou last known him, hast seen his
+darkest moments, and yet then age and cares had softened him: his
+love to thee calmed every outbreak. Had he only loved thy father as
+he loved thee, things would, perhaps, have ended better: but we may
+not judge!"
+
+"And what have I done?" said Otto. "Thou, Rosalie, knowest the
+history of my life. Is it not as if a curse rested upon me? I was a
+high-spirited boy, I often occasioned thee tears; yet didst thou
+always place thyself between me and punishment. It was my evil
+blood, the blood of my birth in which the curse lay, that drove me
+on!"
+
+"But thou didst become good and full of love, as thou art now!"
+said Rosalie.
+
+"Only when I became acquainted with myself and my destiny. In the
+thoughtlessness of childhood, unacquainted with myself and the
+world, did I myself have that sign of my misery, which now presses
+down my soul, cut into my flesh. Yes, Rosalie! I remember this very
+well, and have clearly preserved this, my earliest recollection
+before my grandfather took me, and I came here a boy. I remember
+the great building from whence I was brought, the number of people
+who there worked, sang, and laughed, and who told me extraordinary
+stories of how badly people were treated in the beautiful world.
+This was my parents' home, thought I, when I began to ponder upon
+parents and their connection with children. It was a large
+manufactory which they possessed, thought I; I remembered the
+number of work-people. All played and romped with me. I was wild
+and full of boisterous spirits a boy of only six years old, but
+with the perseverance and will of one of ten. Rosalie, thou sawest
+many proofs of the evil which lay in my blood; it bordered upon
+insolence. I remembered well the strong, merry Heinrich, who always
+sang at his loom; he showed me and the others his tattooed breast,
+upon which he had his whole mournful history imprinted. Upon his
+arm were his own and his bride's names. That pleased me; I wished
+to have my name also on my arm. 'It is painful!' said he; 'then
+thou wilt pipe, my lad!' That was spur enough to make me desire it.
+I allowed him to puncture my skin, to puncture an O and a T upon my
+shoulder, and did not cry,--no, not once whilst the powder burnt
+into it; but I was praised, and was proud to bear the initials--
+proud of them until three years ago, when I met Heinrich here. I
+recognized him, but he did not recognize me. I showed him my
+shoulder, and besought him to read the name, this O and T: but he
+did not say Otto Thostrup; he named a name which destroyed the
+happiness of my childhood, and has made me miserable forever!"
+
+"It was a fearful day!" said Rosalie. "Thou didst demand from me an
+explanation, thy grandfather gave it thee, and thou wast no longer
+the Otto thou hadst formerly been. Yet wherefore speak of it? Thou
+art good and wise, noble and innocent. Do not fill thy heart with
+sorrow from a time which is past, and which, for thy sake, shall be
+forgotten."
+
+"But Heinrich still lives!" said Otto; "I have met with him, have
+spoken with him: it was as if all presence of mind forsook me."
+
+"When and where?" asked Rosalie.
+
+Otto related of his walk with Wilhelm in the park, and of the
+juggler, in whom he had recognized Heinrich. "I tore myself from my
+friends, I wandered the whole night alone in the wood. O Rosalie, I
+thought of death! I thought of death as no Christian ought to do. A
+beautiful morning followed, I wandered beside the sea which I love,
+and in which I have so often dived. Since that explanation of the
+initials on my shoulder was suggested, that explanation which
+reminded me of my unhappy birth, I have never uncovered them before
+any one. O, I have rubbed thorn with a stone, until they were
+bloody! The letters are gone, but still I imagine I can read them
+in the deep scar--that in it I see a Cain's mark! That morning the
+desire to bathe came upon me. The fresh current infused life once
+more into my soul. Just then Wilhelm and several acquaintance came
+down; they called to me and carried off my clothes; my blood
+boiled; all my unhappiness, which this night had stirred within my
+soul, again overwhelmed me: it was as though the obliterated
+initials on my shoulder would reveal themselves in the scar and
+betray the secret of my grief. Disgust of life seized upon me. I no
+longer knew what I shouted to them, but it seemed to me as if I
+must swim out into the stream and never return. I swam until it
+became night before my eyes. I sank, and Wilhelm rescued me! Never
+since then have we spoken of this hour! O Rosalie! long is it since
+I have been able to open my heart as before thee at this moment.
+What use is it to have a friend if one cannot lay before him one's
+whole thoughts? To no one have I been able to unfold them but to
+thee, who already knowest them. I suffer, as a criminal and yet am
+I innocent,--just as the misshapen, the deformed man, is innocent
+of his ugliness!"
+
+"I do not possess thy knowledge, Otto," said Rosalie, and pressed
+his hand; "have never rejoiced in such a clear head as thine; but I
+have that which thou canst not as yet possess--experience. In
+trouble, as well as in joy, youth transforms the light cobweb into
+the cable. Self-deception has changed the blood in thy veins, the
+thoughts in thy soul; but do not forever cling to this one black
+spot! Neither wilt thou! it will spur thee on to activity, will
+enervate thy soul, not depress thee! The melancholy surprise of thy
+grandfather's death, whom thou didst believe active and well, has
+now made thee dejected, and thy thoughts so desponding. But there
+will come better days! happy days! Thou art young, and youth brings
+health for the soul and body!"
+
+She led Otto into the garden, where the willow plantations
+protected the other trees from the sharp west wind. The gooseberry-bushes
+bore fruit, but it was not yet ripe: one bush Otto had planted when
+a cutting; it was now large. Rosalie had tied the twigs to a palisade,
+so that, as an espalier, it could thoroughly drink in the sun's rays.
+Otto regarded the fetters more than the good intention.
+
+"Let it grow free!" said he; "if that brittle palisade should
+tumble down, the twigs would be broken." And he cut the bands.
+
+"Thou art still the old Otto," said Rosalie.
+
+They went into her little room, where the crucifix, and before it a
+small vase of flowers, adorned the table. Above the cross hung a
+garland of withered heather.
+
+"Two years ago didst thou give me that, Otto!" said Rosalie. "There
+were no more flowers, there was nothing green but the heath, and
+thou twinedst a garland of it for me. Afterward I would not take it
+down from the crucifix."
+
+They were interrupted by a visit. It was from the old preacher.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+"His coal was coarse, its fashion old;
+  He asked no dress of greater worth
+Than that which kept from storm and cold
+  The Baptist when he preached on earth."
+                          C. J. BORE.
+
+Not alone of Otto's affairs, but also of "the city yonder," as the
+preacher called Copenhagen, would he speak. Only once a week came
+the "Viborg Collector" to hint, and the Copenhagen papers were a
+whole month going their round. "One would willingly advance with
+the time," said he. Yesterday, at the interment, he had not found
+it seemly to gratify his desire of hearing dear Otto talk about the
+city, but to-day he thought it might well be done, and therefore he
+would not await Otto's visit but come over to pay one himself.
+
+"Thou hast certainly seen our good king?" was his first question.
+"Lord help the anointed one! he is then as vigorous and active as
+ever--my good King Frederik!" And now he must relate a trait which
+had touched his heart, and which, in his opinion, deserved a place
+in the annals of history. This event occurred the last time that
+the king was in Jutland; he had visited the interior of the country
+and the western coast also. When he was leaving a public-house the
+old hostess ran after him, and besought that the Father would, as a
+remembrance, write his name with chalk upon a beam. The grand
+gentlemen wished to deter her, but she pulled at the king's coat;
+and when he had learned her wish he nodded in a friendly manner,
+and said, "Very willingly!" and then turned back and wrote his name
+on the beam. Tears came into the old man's eyes; he wept, and
+prayed for his king. He now inquired whether the old tree was still
+standing in the Regent's Court, and then spoke of Nyerup and
+Abrahamson, whom he had known in his student days.
+
+In fact, after all, he was himself the narrator; each of his
+questions related to this or that event in his own life, and he
+always returned to this source--his student-days. There was then
+another life, another activity, he maintained. His royal idea of
+beauty had been Queen Matilda. [Translator's Note: The unhappy wife
+of Christian VII. and daughter of our George III.] "I saw her often
+on horseback," said he. "It was not then the custom in our country
+for ladies to ride. In her country it was the fashion; here it gave
+rise to scandal. God gave her beauty, a king's crown, and a heart
+full of love; the world gave her--what it can give--a grave near to
+the bare heath!"
+
+Whilst he so perpetually returned to his own recollections, his
+share of news was truly not new, but he was satisfied. Copenhagen
+appeared to him a whole world--a royal city; but Sodom and Gomorrah
+had more than one street there.
+
+Otto smiled at the earnestness with which he said this.
+
+"Yes, that I know better than thou, my young friend!" continued the
+old preacher. "True, the devil does not go about like a roaring
+lion, but there he has his greatest works! He is well-dressed, and
+conceals his claws and his tail! Do not rely upon thy strength! He
+goes about, like the cat in the fable, 'pede suspenso,' sneakingly
+and cautiously! It is, after all, with the devil as it is with a
+Jutland peasant. This fellow comes to the city, has nothing, runs
+about, and cleans shoes and boots for the young gentlemen, and by
+this means he wins a small sum of money. He knows how to spare. He
+can now hire the cellar of the house in which thou livest, and
+there commence some small trade. The trade is successful, very
+successful. It goes on so well that he can hire the lower story;
+then he gains more profit, and before thou canst look about thee
+he buys the whole house. See, that is the way with the Jutland
+peasant, and just the same with the devil. At first he gets the
+cellar, then the lower story, and at last the whole house!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+"Sure 'tis fair in foreign land,
+    But not so fair as home;
+
+Let me but see thy mountains grand
+    Glaciers and snowy dome!
+
+Let me but hear the sound that tells
+Of climbing cattle, dressed with bells."
+                          The Switzer's Homesickness.
+
+Not until after breakfast did the preacher pass over to Otto's
+affairs. His grandfather's will made him the sole heir to the large
+property; a man in Copenhagen, the merchant Berger, should be his
+guardian, since the preacher did not wish to undertake the office.
+Rosalie was not forgotten: her devotion and fidelity had won for
+her a relative's right. Her last days should be free from care: she
+had truly striven to remove all care from the dead whilst yet he
+lived. An old age free from care awaited her; but Otto wished that
+she should also have a happy old age. He imparted his plan to the
+preacher; but the latter shook his head, thought it was not
+practicable, and regarded it as a mere fancy--a whim. But such it
+was not.
+
+Some days passed by. One afternoon Rosalie sat upon a small wooden
+bench under the cherry-trees, and was making mourning for the
+winter.
+
+"This is the last summer that we shall sit here," said she; "the
+last summer that this is our home. Now I am become equally rooted
+to this spot; it grieves me that I must leave it."
+
+"Thou wast forced to leave thy dear Switzerland," said Otto; "that
+was still harder!"
+
+"I was then young," answered she. "The young tree may be easily
+transplanted, but the old one has shot forth deeper roots. Denmark
+is a good land--a beautiful land!"
+
+"But not the west coast of Jutland!" exclaimed Otto. "For thy green
+pasture hast thou here heath; for thy mountains, low sand-hills."
+
+"Upon the Jura Mountains there is also heath," said Rosalie. "The
+heath here often reminds me of my home on the Jura. There also is
+it cold, and snow can fall already in August. The fir-trees then
+stand as if powdered over."
+
+"I love Switzerland, which I have never seen," pursued Otto. "Thy
+relation has given me a conception of the picturesque magnificence
+of this mountain-land. I have a plan, Rosalie. I know that in the
+heart of a mountaineer homesickness never dies. I remember well how
+thy eyes sparkled when thou toldest of the walk toward Le Locle and
+Neufchatel; even as a boy I felt at thy words the light mountain
+air. I rode with thee upon the dizzy height, where the woods lay
+below us like potato fields. What below arose, like the smoke from
+a charcoal-burner's kiln, was a cloud in the air. I saw the Alpine
+chain, like floating cloud mountains; below mist, above dark shapes
+with glancing glaciers."
+
+"Yes, Otto," said Rosalie, and her eyes sparkled with youthful
+fire; "so looks the Alpine chain when one goes from Le Locle to
+Neulfchatel: so did I see it when I descended the Jura for the list
+time. It was in August. The trees, with their autumnal foliage,
+stood yellow and red between the dark firs; barberries and hips
+grew among the tall fern. The Alps lay in such a beautiful light,
+their feet blue as heaven, their peaks snow-white in the clear
+sunshine. I was in a sorrowful mood; I was leaving my mountains!
+Then I wrote in my book--O, I remember it so well!--The high Alps
+appear to me the folded wings of the earth: how if she should raise
+them! how if the immense wings should unfold, with their gay images
+of dark woods, glaciers, and clouds! What a picture! At the Last
+Judgment will the earth doubtless unfold these pinions, soar up to
+God, and in the rays of His sunlight disappear! I also have been
+young, Otto," pursued she, with a melancholy smile. "Thou wouldst
+have felt still more deeply at the sight of this splendor of
+nature. The lake at the foot of the mountains was smooth as a
+mirror; a little boat with white sails swam, like a swan, upon its
+expanse. On the road along which we drove were the peasants beating
+down chestnuts; the grapes hung in large black bunches. How an
+impression such as this can root itself in the memory! It is five
+and thirty years since, and yet I still see that boat with the
+white sail, the high Alps, and the black grapes."
+
+"Thou shalt see thy Switzerland again, Rosalie," exclaimed Otto;
+"again hear the bells of the cows upon the green pastures! Thou
+shalt go once more to the chapel in Franche Compte, shalt visit
+thy friends at Le Locle, see the subterranean mill, and the Doub
+fall."
+
+"The mill wheel yet goes round, the water dashes down as in my
+youth; but the friends are gone, my relatives dispersed! I should
+appear a stranger there; and when one has reached my age, nature
+cannot satisfy--one must have people!"
+
+"Thou knowest, Rosalie, my grandfather has settled a sum upon thee
+so long as thou livest. Now I have thought thou couldst spend thy
+latter days with thy beloved ones at home, in the glorious
+Switzerland. In October I take my philosophicum; the following
+summer I would then accompany thee. I must also see that splendid
+mountain-land,--know something more of the world than I have yet
+known. I know how thy thoughts always dwell upon Switzerland.
+Thither will I reconduct thee; thou wilt feel thyself less lonely
+there than here in Denmark."
+
+"Thou art carried away by the thoughts of youth, as thou shouldst
+and must be, thou dear, sweet soul!" said Rosalie, smiling. "At my
+age it is not so easy."
+
+"We will make short days' journeys," said Otto, "go with the
+steamboat up the Rhine--that is not fatiguing; and from Basel one
+is soon in Franche Compte on the Jura."
+
+"No, upon the heath, near Vestervovov, as it is called here, will
+old Rosalie die; here I have felt myself at home, here I have two
+or three friends. The family at Lemvig have invited me, have for me
+a place at table, a little room, and friendly faces. Switzerland
+would be no longer that Switzerland which I quitted. Nature would
+greet me as an old acquaintance; it would be to me music, once more
+to hear the ringing of the cows' bells; it would affect me deeply,
+once again to kneel in the little chapel on the mountain: but I
+should soon feel myself a greater stranger there than here. Had it
+been fifteen years ago, my sister would still have been living, the
+dear, pious Adele! She dwelt with my uncle close on the confines of
+Neufchatel, as thou knowest, scarcely a quarter of a mile from Le
+Locle--_the town_, as we called it, because it was the largest
+place in the neighborhood. Now there are only distant relations of
+mine living, who have forgotten me. I am a stranger there. Denmark
+gave me bread, it will also give me a grave!"
+
+"I thought of giving thee a pleasure!" said Otto.
+
+"That thou dost by thy love to me!" returned she.
+
+"I thought thou wouldst have shown me thy mountains, thy home, of
+which thou hast so often spoken!"
+
+"That can I still do. I remember every spot, every tree--all
+remains so clear in my recollection. Then we ascend together the
+Jura higher and higher; here are no more vineyards to be found, no
+maize, no chestnuts only dark pines, huge cliffs, here and there a
+beech, as green and large as in Denmark. Now we have the wood
+behind us, we are many feet above the sea; thou canst perceive this
+by the freshness of the air. Everywhere are green meadows;
+uninterruptedly reaches our ear the ringing of the cow-bells. Thou
+as yet seest no town, and yet we are close upon Le Locle. Suddenly
+the road turns; in the midst of the mountain-level we perceive a
+small valley, and in this lies the town, with its red roofs, its
+churches, and large gardens. Close beneath the windows rises the
+mountain-side, with its grass and flowers; it looks as though the
+cattle must be precipitated upon the houses. We go through the long
+street, past the church; the inhabitants are Protestants--it is a
+complete town of watchmakers. My uncle and Adele also sat the whole
+day, and worked at wheels and chains. That was for Monsieur
+Houriet, in Le Locle. His daughters I know; one is called Rosalie,
+like myself. Rosalie and Lydia, they will certainly have forgotten
+me! But it is true that we are upon our own journey! Now, thou
+seest, at the end of the town we do not follow the broad road--that
+leads to Besancon; we remain in the lesser one, here in the valley
+where the town lies. The beautiful valley! The green mountain-sides
+we keep to our right; on it are scattered houses, with large stones
+upon their steep wooden roofs, and with little gardens tilled with
+plum-trees. Steep cliff-walls shut in the valley; there stands up a
+crag; if thou climbest it thou canst look straight into France: one
+sees a plain, flat like the Danish plains. In the valley where we
+are, close under the rock, lies a little house; O, I see it
+distinctly! white-washed and with blue painted window-frames: at
+the gate a great chained dog. I hear him bark! We step into that
+quiet, friendly little house! The children are playing about on the
+ground. O, my little Henry-Numa-Robert! Ah, it is true that now he
+is older and taller than thou! We descend the steps toward the
+cellar. Here stand sacks and chests of flour; under the floor one
+hears a strange roaring; still a few steps lower, and we must light
+the lamp, for here it is dark. We find ourselves in a great water-mill,
+a subterranean mill. Deep below in the earth rushes a river--
+above no one dreams of it; the water dashes down several fathoms
+over the rushing wheel, which threatens to seize our clothes and
+whirl us away into the circle. The steps on which we stand are
+slippery: the stone walls drip with water, and only a step beyond
+the depth appears bottomless! O, thou wilt love this mill as I love
+it! Again having reached the light of day, and under free heaven,
+one only perceives the quiet, friendly little house. Dost thou
+know, Otto, often as thou hast sat quiet and dreaming, silent as a
+statue, have I thought of my mill, and the repose which it
+presented? and yet how wildly the stream roared in its bosom, how
+the wheels rushed round, and how gloomy it was in the depth!"
+
+"We will leave the mill!" said Otto, and sought to lead her from
+her reflections back to her own relation. "We find ourselves in the
+wood, where the ringing of the evening-bell reaches our ear from
+the little chapel in Franche Compte."
+
+"There stands my father's house!" said Rosalie. "From the corner-window
+one looks over the wood toward Aubernez, [Author's Note: A village
+in the canton Neufchatel, lying close upon the river Doub, where
+it forms the boundary between Switzerland and France.] where the
+ridge leads over the Doub. The sun shines upon the river, which,
+far below, winds along, gleaming like the clearest silver."
+
+"And the whole of France spreads itself out before us!" said Otto.
+
+"How beautiful! O, how beautiful!" exclaimed Rosalie, and her eyes
+sparkled as she gazed before her; but soon her glance became sad,
+and she pressed Otto's hand. "No one will welcome me to my home! I
+know neither their joys nor their sorrows--they are not my own
+family! In Denmark--I am at home. When the cold sea-mist spreads
+itself over the heath I often fancy I am living among my mountains,
+where the heather grows. The mist seems to me then to be a snow-cloud
+which rests over the mountains, and thus, when other people are
+complaining of the bad weather, I am up among my mountains!"
+
+"Thou wilt then remove to the family at Lemvig?" asked Otto.
+
+"There I am welcome!" returned she.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+"Look at the calming sea. The waves still tremble in the depths,
+and stem to fear the gale.--Over my head is hovering the shadowy
+mist.--My curls are wet with the filling dew."--OSSIAN.
+
+Otto had not as yet visited the sand-hills on the strand, the
+fishermen, or the peasants, among whom formerly he had spent all
+his spare time.
+
+The beautiful summer's day drove him forth, his heart yearned to
+drink in the summer warmth.
+
+Only the roads between the larger towns are here tolerable, or
+rather as tolerable as the country will allow. The by-ways were
+only to be discerned by the traces of cart-wheels, which ran on
+beside each other; at certain places, to prevent the wheels sinking
+into the deep sand, ling had been spread; where this is not the
+case, and the tracks cross each other, a stranger would scarcely
+find the way. Here the landmark places its unseen boundary between
+neighboring possessions.
+
+Every farm, every cottage, every hill, was an old acquaintance to
+Otto. He directed his steps toward Harbooere, a parish which, one
+may say, consists of sand and water, but which, nevertheless, is
+not to be called unfruitful. A few of the inhabitants pursue
+agriculture, but the majority consists of fishermen, who dwell in
+small houses and have no land.
+
+His first encounter upon his wandering was with one of those large
+covered wagons with which the so-called eelmen, between the days of
+St. John and St. Bartholomew, go with eels toward the small towns
+lying to the south and east, and then, laden with apples and garden
+produce, return home--articles which are rapidly consumed by the
+common people. The eelman stopped when he saw and recognized
+Otto.
+
+"Welcome, Mr. Otto!" said he. "Yes, you are come over abut a sad
+affair! That Major Thostrup should have gone off so! But there was
+nothing else to be expected from him he was old enough."
+
+"Death demands his right!" replied Otto, and pressed the man's
+hand. "Things go, doubtless, well with you, Morten Chraenseu?"
+
+"The whole cart full of eels, and some smoked carp! It is also good
+to meet with you, Mr. Otto. Upon the land a preacher is very good,
+but not upon the sea, as they say at home. Yes, you are certainly
+now a preacher, or will become one?"
+
+"No, I am not studying to become a preacher!" answered Otto.
+
+"No! will you then become a lawyer? It strikes me you are clever
+enough--you have no need to study any more! You will just go and
+say a few words to them at home? The grandmother sits and spins
+yarn for eel-nets. She has now the cataract on the other eye, but
+her mouth is as well as ever; she does not let herself grow dumb,
+although she does sit in the dark. Mother provides the baits; she
+has also enough to do with the hooks."
+
+"But Maria, the lively little Maria?" said Otto.
+
+"The girl? She has gone this year with the other fishergirls to
+Ringkjoebing, to be hired for the hay and corn harvest; we thought
+we could do without her at home. But now, God willing! I must
+travel on." Cordially he shook Otto's hand, and pursued his slow
+journey.
+
+The brothers of the eelman were active fishermen, as their father
+had been before them; and although they were all married they lived
+together. The swarm of children was not insignificant; young and
+old formed one family, in which the old grandmother had the first
+voice.
+
+Otto approached the dwelling; before it lay a little plot of land,
+planted with potatoes and carrots, and also beds of onions and
+thyme. Two large bull-dogs, with sharp teeth and wicked eyes,
+rushed toward Otto. "Tyv! Grumsling!" shrieked a voice, and the
+dogs let fall their tails and drew back, with a low growl, toward
+the house. Here at the threshold sat an old woman in a red woolen
+jacket, with a handkerchief of the same material and same color
+about her neck, and upon her head a man's black felt hat. She spun.
+Otto immediately recognized the old blind grandmother.
+
+"God's peace be in the house!" said he.
+
+"That voice I have not heard for a year and a day!" replied the old
+woman, and raised her head, as if she would see him with her dead
+eyes. "Are not you Major Thostrup's Otto? You resemble him in the
+voice. I thought, truly, that if you came here you would pay us a
+visit. Ide shall leave the baits and put on the kettle, that you
+may have a cup of coffee. Formerly you did not use to despise our
+entertainment. You have not grown proud with your journey, have
+you? The coffee-vetch [Author's Note: Astragalus baeticus is used
+as a substitute for coffee, and is principally grown upon the
+sand-hills west of Holmsland. It is first freed from the husk, and then
+dried and roasted a little.] is good; it is from Holmsland, and
+tastes better than the merchant's beans." The dogs still growled at
+Otto. "Cannot you stupid beasts, who have still eyes in your heads
+to see with, recognize that this is the Major's Otto?" cried she
+wrathfully, and gave them several good blows with her hand.
+
+Otto's arrival created a great stir in the little household that he
+was welcome, you might see by every countenance.
+
+"Yes," said the grandmother, "now you are grown much wiser in the
+town, could, very likely, were it needful, write an almanac! You
+will very likely have found for yourself a little bride there, or
+will you fetch one out of Lemvig? for no doubt she must be from a
+town! Yes, I have known him ever since he was a little fellow;
+yonder, on the wall, he made, out of herrings' heads, the living
+devil, just as he lives and breathes. He thrust our sucking-pig
+into the eel-cart, between the casks. We sought a whole day after
+the sucking-pig without finding him, and he was forced to make the
+journey with them to Holstebro. Yes, he was a wild fellow! Later,
+when he was obliged to learn so much, he became sad. Yes, yes,
+within the last years his books have overdone him!"
+
+"Yes, many a time has he put out to sea with my husband!" pursued
+one of the daughters-in-law. "One night he remained out with him.
+How anxious the French Mamsell at the hall was about him!"
+
+"He was never haughtty," said the grandmother. "He nibbled his
+dried fish with the fresh fish, and drank a little cup of water,
+although he was used to better things at home. But to-day we have
+white bread, fresh and good; it came yesterday from Lemvig."
+
+The brandy-glass, with its wooden, red-painted foot, was placed
+before Otto. Under the bed there was an anker of brandy,--"a little
+stock," as all stranded goods are here called.
+
+Otto inquired after the married sons. They were with their men on
+the shore, ready to embark on their fishing expedition, The
+grandmother would accompany him thither; they were not yet
+departed: she should first take them provisions.
+
+The old woman took her stick, the dog sprang forward, and now
+commenced their wandering among the sand-hills, where their huts or
+booths, built with rafters and smeared with earth, stood. Around
+lay the refuse of fish,--heads and entrails, thrown about. The men
+were just then busied in carrying the trough and fishing-tackle
+[Author's Note: A "Bakke" consists of three lines, each of 200
+Danish ells, or about 135 yards, and of 200 fishing-hooks; the
+stretched "Bakke" is thus about 200 yards, with 600 hooks; these
+are attached to the line with strings half an ell long and as thick
+as fine twine. To each "Bakke" belongs a square trough, on which it
+is carried on board. To a larger fishing-boat are reckoned six lots
+of hooks; each lot has eight to nine "Bakkes."] on board.
+
+The open sea lay before them, almost as bright as a mirror, for the
+wind was easterly. Near to them paused a horseman; he was partly
+dressed like a peasant, with riding-breeches on, which were
+buttoned down at the sides.
+
+"Have you heard the news?" he cried to Otto. "I come from
+Ringkjoebing. At Merchant Cohen's I have read the German paper;
+there is a revolution in France! Charles X. is fled with the whole
+royal family. Yes, in Paris, there is fine work!"
+
+"The French are a wild people!" said the grandmother. "A king and a
+queen they have beheaded in my time; now they will do the same with
+these. Will our dear Lord suffer that such things be done to His
+anointed?"
+
+"There will be war again!" said one of the fishermen.
+
+"Then more horses will go out of the country," said the stranger,
+pressed Otto's hand, and vanished behind the sandhills.
+
+"Was not that the horse-dealer from Varde?" inquired Otto.
+
+"Yes, he understands languages," said the fisherman; "and thus he
+is acquainted with foreign affairs sooner than we. Then they are
+now fighting in France! Blood flows in the streets; it will not be
+so in Denmark before the Turk binds his horse to the bush in the
+Viborg Lake. And then, according to the prophecy of the sibyl, it
+will be near the end of the world."
+
+Meanwhile, everything was prepared for their embarkation. If Mr.
+Otto would take the further oar, and was inclined to pass the night
+on the sea, there was a place for him in the boat. But he had
+promised Rosalie to be back before evening. The grandmother now
+prayed, kneeling with the others, and immediately after quick
+strokes of the oars the flat boat rowed away from the shore. The
+fate of France was forgotten; their calling occupied the fishermen.
+
+The old woman seemed to listen to the strokes of the oars; her dead
+eyes rested immovably on the sea. A sea-mew passed close to her in
+its flight. "That was a bird!" said she. "Is there no one here
+beside ourselves?"
+
+"No; no one at all," answered Otto, carelessly.
+
+"Is no one in the hut, no one behind the sand-hills?" again asked
+the grandmother. "It was not on account of the dried meat that I
+came here--it was not to wet my face on the shore; I speak with you
+alone, which I could not do in the house. Give me your hand! Now
+that the old man rests in the grave, you yourself will guide the
+rudder; the estate will be sold, and you will not come again to the
+west coast. Our Lord has made it dark before my eyes before He has
+closed my ears and given me leave to go. I can no longer see you,
+but I have you in my thought as you looked before you left our
+land. That you are handsomer now I can easily imagine; but gayer
+you are not! Talk you certainly can, and I have heard you laugh;
+but that was little better than the two last years you were here.
+Once it was different with you--no fairy could be wilder than you!"
+
+"With years one becomes more quiet," said Otto, and gazed with
+astonishment at the blind woman, who did not leave go his hand. "As
+a boy I was far too merry--that could not continue; and that I
+should now be grave, I have, as you will see, sufficient reason--I
+have lost my last support."
+
+"Yes, truly, truly!" repeated she slowly, and as if pondering; then
+shook her head. "That is not the reason. Do you not believe in the
+power of the devil? our Lord Christ forgive me! do not you believe
+in the power of wicked men? There is no greater difference between
+the human child and the changeling brat which the underground
+spirits lay in his stead in the cradle, than there is between you
+when you were a boy and you as you became during the last year of
+your stay here. 'That comes from books, from so much learning,'
+said I to other people. Could I only have said so to myself! But
+you shall become gay; the trouble of your heart shall wither like a
+poisonous weed. I know whence it sprung, and will, with God's help,
+heal it. Will you solemnly promise, that no soul in the world shall
+learn what we speak of in this hour?"
+
+"What have you to say to me?" asked Otto, affected by the
+extraordinary earnestness of the old woman.
+
+"The German Heinrich, the player! You remember him well? He is to
+blame for your grief! Yes, his name drives the blood more quickly
+through your pulse. I feel it, even if I cannot see your face."
+
+"The German Heinrich!" repeated Otto, and his hand really trembled.
+Had Heinrich, then, when he was here three years ago, told her and
+the fishermen that which no human being must know,--that which had
+destroyed the gayety of his youth? "What have I to do with the
+German Heinrich?"
+
+"Nothing more than a pious Christian has to do with the devil!"
+replied she, and made the sign of the cross. "But Heinrich has
+whispered an evil word in your ear; he has banished your joyous
+humor, as one banishes a serpent."
+
+"Has he told you this?" exclaimed Otto, and breathed more quickly.
+"Tell me all that he has said!"
+
+"You will not make me suffer for it!" said she. "I am innocent, and
+yet I have cooperated in it: it was only a word but a very unseemly
+word, and for it one must account at the day of judgment!"
+
+"I do not understand you!" said Otto, and his eyes glanced around
+to see whether any one heard. They were quite alone. In the far
+distance the boat with the fishermen showed itself like a dark
+speck.
+
+"Do you remember how wild you were as a boy? How you fastened
+bladders to the cat's legs and tail, and flung her out of the
+loft-window that she might fly? I do not say this in anger, for I
+thought a deal of you; but when you became too insolent one might
+wall say, 'Can no one, then, curb this lad?' See, these words I
+said!--that is my whole fault, but since then have lain heavy on my
+heart. Three years ago came the German Heinrich, and stayed two
+nights in our house; God forgive it us! Tricks he could play, and
+he understood more than the Lord's Prayer--more than is useful to a
+man. With one trick you were to assist him, but when he gave you
+the goblet you played your own tricks, and he could make nothing
+succeed. You would also be clever. Then he cast an evil eye upon
+you, although he was still so friendly and submissive, because you
+were a gentleman's child. Do you remember--no, you will certainly
+have forgotten--how you once took the baits of the hooks off and
+hung my wooden shoes on instead? Then I said in anger, and the
+anger of man is never good, 'Can no one, then, tame this boy for
+me? He was making downright fun of you to your own face,' said I to
+the player. 'Do you not know some art by which you can tame this
+wild-cat?' Then he laughed maliciously, but I thought no more of
+the matter. The following day, however, he said, 'Now I have curbed
+the lad! You should only see how tame he is become; and should he
+ever again turn unruly, only ask him what word the German Heinrich
+whispered in his ear, and you shall. Then see how quiet he will
+become. He shall not mock this trick!' My heart was filled with
+horror, but I thought afterward it really meant nothing. Ei! ei!
+from the hour he was here you are no longer the same as formerly;
+that springs from the magical word he whispered in your ear. You
+cannot pronounce the word, he told me; but by it you have been
+enchanted: this, and not book-learning, has worked the change. But
+you shall be delivered! If you have faith, and that you must have,
+you shall again become gay, and I, spite of the evil words which I
+spoke, be able to sleep peacefully in my grave. If you will only
+lay this upon your heart, now that the moon is in its wane, the
+trouble will vanish out of your heart as the disk of the moon
+decreases!" And saying this she drew out of her pocket a little
+leather purse, opened it and took out a piece of folded paper. "In
+this is a bit of the wood out of which our Saviour's cross was
+made. This will draw forth the sorrow from your heart, and bear it,
+as it bore Him who took upon Himself the sorrow of the whole
+world!" She kissed it with pious devotion, and then handed it to
+Otto.
+
+The whole became clear to him. He recollected how in his boyish
+wantonness he had caused Heinrich's tricks to miscarry, which
+occasioned much pleasure to the spectators, but in Heinrich
+displeasure: they soon again became friends, and Otto recognized in
+him the merry weaver of the manufactory, as he called his former
+abode. They were alone, Otto asked whether he did not remember his
+name: Heinrich shook his head. Then Otto uncovered his shoulder,
+bade him read the branded letters, and heard the unhappy
+interpretation which gave the death-blow to his gayety. Heinrich
+must have seen what an impression his words made upon the boy: he
+gained through them an opportunity of avenging himself, and at the
+same time of bringing himself again into repute: as a sorcerer. He
+had tamed him, whispered he to the old woman,--he had tamed the boy
+with a single word. At any future wantonness of Otto's, gravity and
+terror would immediately return should any one ask him, What word
+did the German Heinrich whisper into thy ear? "Only ask him," had
+Heinrich said.
+
+In a perfectly natural manner there lay, truly, enchantment in
+Heinrich's words, even although it were not that enchantment which
+the superstition of the old woman would have signified. A
+revelation of the connection of affairs would have removed her
+doubts, but here an explanation was impossible to Otto. He pressed
+her hand, besought her to be calm; no sorrow lay heavy on his
+heart, except the loss of his dear grandfather.
+
+"Every evening have I named your name it my prayers said the old
+grandmother." Each time when the harbingers of bad weather showed
+themselves, and my sons were on the sea, so that we hung out flags
+or lighted beacons as signals, did I think of the words which had
+escaped my lips, and which the wicked Heinrich had caught up; I
+feared lest our Lord might cause my children to suffer for my
+injustice."
+
+"Be calm, my dear old woman!" said Otto. "Keep for yourself the
+holy cross, on the virtue of which you rely; may it remove each
+sorrow from your own heart!"
+
+"No, I am guilty of my own sorrow! yours has a stranger laid upon
+your heart! Only the sorrow of the guiltless will the cross bear."
+
+The beautiful sentiment which, unconsciously to her, lay in these
+words, affected Otto. He accepted the present, preserved it, sought
+to calm the old woman, and once more at parting glanced toward the
+splendid sea expanse which formed its own boundary.
+
+It was almost evening before he reached the house where Rosalie
+awaited him. His last scene with the blind fisher-woman had again
+thrown him into his gloomy mood. "After all, she really knows
+nothing!" said he to himself. "This Heinrich is my evil angel!
+might he only die soon!" It was in Otto's soul as if he could shoot
+a ball through Heinrich's heart. "Did he only lie buried under the
+heather, and with him my secret! I will have blood! yes, there is
+something devilish in man! Were Heinrich only dead! But others live
+who know my birth,--my sister! my poor, neglected sister, she who
+had the same right to intellectual development as myself! How I
+fear this meeting! it will be bitter! I must away. I will hence--
+here will my life-germ be stifled! I have indeed fortune--I will
+travel! This animated France will drive away these whims, and--I am
+away, far removed from my home. In the coming spring I shall be a
+stranger among strangers!" And his thoughts melted into a quiet
+melancholy. In this manner he reached the hall.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+"L'Angleterre jalouse et la Grece homerique,
+Toute l'Europe admire, et la jeune Amerique
+Se leve et bat des mains du bord des oceans.
+Trois jours vous ont suffi pour briser vos entraves.
+Vous etes les aines d'une race de braves,
+Vous etes les fits des geans!"
+                            V. HUGO, Chants du Crepuscule.
+
+             "Politiken, mine Herrer!"
+                 MORTONS' Lystspil: den Hjemkomne Nabob
+
+"In France there is revolution!" was the first piece of information
+which Otto related. "Charles X. has flown with his family. This,
+they say, is in the German papers."
+
+"Revolution?" repeated Rosalie, and folded her hands. "Unhappy
+France! Blood has flowed there, and it again flows. There I lost my
+father and my brother. I became a refugee--must seek for myself a
+new father-land." She wiped away a tear from her cheek, and sunk
+into deep meditation. She knew the horrors of a revolution, and
+only saw in this new one a repetition of those scenes of terror
+which she had experienced, and which had driven her out into the
+world, up into the north, where she struggled on, until at length
+she found a home with Otto's grandfather--a resting abode.
+
+Everything great and beautiful powerfully affected Otto's soul;
+only in one direction had he shown no interest--in the political
+direction, and it was precisely politics which had most occupied
+the grandfather in his seclusion. But Otto's soul was too
+vivacious, too easily moved, too easily carried away by what lay
+nearest him. "One must first thoroughly enter into life, before the
+affairs of the world can seize upon us!" said he. "With the greater
+number of those who in their early youth occupy themselves with
+politics, it is merely affectation. It is with them like the boy
+who forces himself to smoke tobacco so as to appear older than he
+really is." Beyond his own country, France was the only land which
+really interested Otto. Here Napoleon had ruled, and Napoleon's
+name had reached his heart--he had grown up whilst this name passed
+from mouth to mouth; the name and the deeds of the hero sounded to
+him, yet a boy, like a great world adventure. How often had he
+heard his grandfather, shaking his head, say, "Yes, now newspaper
+writers have little to tell since Napoleon is quiet." And then he
+had related to him of the hero at Arcole and among the Pyramids, of
+the great campaign against Europe, of the conflagration at Moscow,
+and the return from Elba.
+
+Who has not written a play in his childhood? Otto's sole subject
+was Napoleon; the whole history of the hero, from the snow-batteries
+at Brienne to the rocky island in the ocean. True, this poem was
+a wild shoot; but it had sprung from an enthusiastic heart. At
+that time he preserved it as a treasure. A little incident which
+is connected with it, and is characteristic of Otto's wild outbreaks
+of temper when a boy, we will here introduce.
+
+A child of one of the domestics, a little merry boy with whom Otto
+associated a good deal, was playing with him in his garret. Otto
+was then writing his play. The boy bantered him, pulling the paper
+at the same time. Otto forbade him with the threat,--"If thou dost
+that again I will throw thee out of the window!" The boy again
+immediately pulled at the paper. In a moment Otto seized him by the
+waist, swung him toward the open window, and would certainly have
+thrown him out, had not Rosalie fortunately entered the room, and,
+with an exclamation of horror, seized Otto's arm, who now stood
+pale as death and trembling in every limb.
+
+In this manner had Napoleon awoke Otto's interest for France.
+Rosalie also spoke, next to her Switzerland, with most pleasure of
+this country. The Revolution had livingly affected her, and
+therefore her discourse regarding it was living. It even seemed to
+the old preacher as though the Revolution were an event which he
+had witnessed. The Revolution and Napoleon had often fed his
+thoughts and his discourse toward this land. Otto had thus, without
+troubling himself the least about politics, grown up with a kind of
+interest about France. The mere intelligence of this struggle of
+the July days was therefore not indifferent to him. He still only
+knew what the horse-dealer had related; nothing of the congregation,
+or of Polignac's ministry: but France was to him the mighty world-crater,
+which glowed with its splendid eruptions, and which he admired
+from a distance.
+
+The old preacher shook his head when Otto imparted this political
+intelligence to him. A king, so long as he lived, was in his eyes
+holy, let him be whatever sort of a man he might. The actions of a
+king, according to his opinion, resembled the words of the Bible,
+which man ought not to weigh; they should be taken as they were.
+"All authority is from God!" said he. "The anointed one is holy;
+God gives to him wisdom; he is a light to whom we must all look
+up!"
+
+"He is a man like ourselves!" answered Otto. "He is the first
+magistrate of the land, and as such we owe him the highest
+reverence and obedience. Birth, and not worth, gives him the high
+post which he fills. He ought only to will that which is good; to
+exercise justice. His duties are equally great with those of his
+subjects."
+
+"But more difficult, my son!" said the old man. "It is nothing, as
+a flower, to adorn the garland; more difficult is it to be the hand
+which weaves the garland. The ribbon must be tight as well as
+gently tied; it must not cut into the stems, and yet it must not be
+too loose. Yes, you young men talk according to your wisdom! Yes,
+you are wise! quite as wise as the woman who kept a roasted chicken
+for supper. She placed it upon a pewter plate upon the glowing
+coals, and went out to attend to her affairs. When she returned the
+plate was melted, and the chicken lay among the ashes. 'What a wise
+cat I have!' said she; 'she has eaten I the plate and left the
+chicken!' See, you talk just so, and regard things from the same
+foolish point of view. Do not speak like the rest of them in the
+city! 'Fear God, and honor the king!' We have nothing to argue with
+these two; they transact their business between them! The French
+resemble young students; when these have made their examen artium
+they imagine they are equal to the whole world: they grow restive,
+and give student-feasts! The French must have a Napoleon, who can
+give their something to do! If they be left to themselves they will
+play mad pranks!"
+
+"Let us first see what the papers really say," replied Otto.
+
+The following day a large letter arrived; it was from Wilhelm:--
+
+"My excellent Otto,--We have all drunk to Otto Thostrup's health. I
+raised the glass, and drank the health. The friendship's dissonance
+YOU has dissolved itself into a harmonious THOU, and thou thyself
+hast given the accord. All at home speak of thee; even the
+Kammerjunker's Mamsell chose lately thee, and not her work-box, as
+a subject of conversation. The evening as thou drovest over the
+Jutland heaths I seated myself at the piano, and played thy whole
+journey to my sisters. The journey over the heath I gave them in a
+monotonous piece, composed of three tones, quite dissimilar to that
+composed by Rousseau. My sisters were near despair; but I told them
+it was not more uninteresting than the heath. Sometimes I made a
+little flight, a quaver; that was the heath-larks which flew up
+into the air. The introduction to the gypsy-chorus in 'Preciosa'
+signified the German gypsy-flock. Then came the thema out of
+'Jeannot and Collin'--'O, joyous days of childhood!'--and then thou
+wast at home. I thundered powerfully down in the bass; that was the
+North Sea, the chorus in thy present grand' opera. Thou canst well
+imagine that it was quite original.
+
+"For the rest, everything at home remains in its old state. I have
+been in Svendborg, and have set to music that sweet poem, 'The
+Wishes,' by Carl Bagger. His verses seem to me a little rough; but
+something will certainly come out of the fellow! Thy own wishes are
+they which he has expressed. Besides this, the astonishing tidings
+out of France have given us, and all good people here, an
+electrical shock. Yes, thou in thy solitude hast certainly heard
+nothing of the brilliant July days. The Parisians have deposed
+Charles X. If the former Revolution was a blood-fruit, this one is
+a true passionflower, suddenly sprung up, exciting astonishment
+through its beauty, and as soon as the work is ended rolling
+together its leaves. My cousin Joachim, who as thou knowest is just
+now at Paris, has lived through these extraordinary days. The day
+before yesterday we received a long, interesting letter from him,
+which gave us--of the particulars as well as of the whole--a more
+complete idea than the papers can give us. People assemble in
+groups round the post-houses to receive the papers as they arrive.
+I have extracted from my cousin's letter what has struck me most,
+and send thee these extracts in a supplement. Thou canst thus in
+thy retirement still live in the world. A thousand greetings from
+all here. Thou hast a place in mamma's heart, but not less so in mine.
+
+          "Thy friend and brother,
+
+                       "WILHELM.
+
+"P. S.--It is true! My sister Sophie begs thee to bring her a stone
+from the North Sea. Perhaps thou wilt bring for me a bucket of
+water; but it must not incommode thee!"
+
+This hearty letter transported Otto into the midst of the friendly
+circle in Funen. The corner of the paper where Wilhelm's name stood
+he pressed to his lips. His heart was full of noble friendship.
+
+The extract which Wilhelm had made from his cousin's letter was
+short and descriptive. It might be compared with a beautiful poem
+translated into good prose.
+
+In the theatre we interest ourselves for struggling innocence; but
+we are still more affected when the destiny of a whole nation is to
+be decided. It is on this account that "Wilhelm Tell" possesses so
+much interest. Not of the single individual is here the question,
+but of all. Here is flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bone.
+Greater than the play created by the poet was the effect which this
+description of the July days produced upon Otto. This was the
+reality itself in which he lived. His heart was filled with
+admiration for France, who fought for Liberty the holy fight, and
+who, with the language of the sword, had pronounced the anathema of
+the age on the enemies of enlightenment and improvement.
+
+The old preacher folded his hands as he heard it; his eyes
+sparkled: but soon he shook his head. "May men so judge the
+anointed ones of God? 'He who taketh the sword shall perish by the
+sword!'"
+
+"The king is for the people," said Otto; "not the people for the
+king!"
+
+"Louis XVIth's unhappy daughter!" sighed Rosalie; "for the third
+time is she driven from her father-land. Her parents and brothers
+killed! her husband dishonored! She herself has a mind and heart.
+'She is the only man among the Bourbons,'" said Napoleon.
+
+The preacher, with his old-fashioned honesty, and a royalist from
+his whole heart, regarded the affair with wavering opinion, and
+with fear for the future. Rosalie thought most of those who were
+made unhappy of the royal ladies and the poor children. Each
+followed the impulse of their own nature, and the instinctive
+feeling of their age; thus did Otto also, and therefore was his
+soul filled with enthusiasm. Enthusiasm belongs to youth. His
+thoughts were busied with dreams of Paris; thither flew his wishes.
+"Yes, I will travel!" exclaimed he; "that will give my whole
+character a more decided bias: I will and must," added he in
+thought. "My sorrow will be extinguished, the recollections of my
+childhood be forgotten. Abroad, no terrific figures, as here, will
+present themselves to me. My father is dead, foreign earth lies
+upon his coffin!"
+
+"But the office--examination!" said the old preacher, "pass that
+first. It is always good to have this in reserve, even if thou dost
+make no use of it. Only make this year thy philosophicum."
+
+"And in the spring I shall travel," said Otto.
+
+"That depends upon thy guardian, my son!" said the preacher.
+
+Several days passed, and Otto began to feel it solitary in his
+home--all moved here in such a confined circle. His mind was
+accustomed to a wider sphere of action. He began to grow weary, and
+then the hours travel with the snail's pace.
+           "...minutterna ligesom racka og strarka sig.
+Man kanner behof at gore sa med." [Note: Sketches of Every-day Life.]
+
+He thought of his departure.
+
+"Thou must take the road through Lemvig," said Rosalie. "I will
+then visit the family there for a few days; it will make them quite
+happy to see thee, and I shall then be so much longer with thee.
+That thou wilt do, wilt thou not?"
+
+The day was fixed when they should travel.
+
+The evening previous, Otto paid his last visit to the preacher.
+They spoke together a long time about the deceased grandfather. The
+preacher gave up several papers to Otto; among them also his
+father's last letter.
+
+In honor of Otto, a bottle of wine was placed upon the table.
+
+"To thy health, my son!" said the preacher, raising his glass. "We
+shall hardly spend another evening together. Thou wilt have much to
+learn before thou comest as far as I. The world has more thorn-bushes
+than gold-mountains. The times look unsettled. France commences a new
+description of campaign in Europe, and certainly will draw along with
+it all young men: formerly it was the conquerer Napoleon who led to
+the field; now it is the idea of liberty! May the Lord preserve our
+good king, and then it will remain well with us! Thou, Otto, wilt fly
+out into the wide world--hadst thou only first passed thy examination
+for office! But when and where-ever thou mayest fly, remember on all
+occasions the words of Scripture.
+
+"We all desire to rule. Phaeton wished to drive the chariot of the
+sun, but not understanding how to guide the reins, he set fire to
+the countries, precipitated himself from the chariot, and broke his
+neck. I have no one in the city of Copenhagen whom I can ask thee
+to greet for me. All the friends of my youth are scattered to the
+east and to the west. If any of them still be in the city, they
+will certainly have forgotten me. But shouldst thou ever go to the
+Regent's Court, and smoke with the others a pipe under the tree,
+think of me. I have also sat there when I was young like thee; when
+the French Revolution drove also the blood quicker through my
+veins, and thoughts of freedom caused me to carry my head more
+high. The dear old tree! [Author's Note: At the end of the last
+century it was felled, and two younger ones, which are now in full
+growth, planted in its stead.] Yes, but one does not perceive in
+it, as in me, how many years have passed since then!"
+
+He pressed a kiss on Otto's forehead, gave him his blessing, and
+they parted.
+
+Otto was in a melancholy mood; he felt that he had certainly seen
+the old man for the last time. When he arrived at home he found
+Rosalie busy hacking. The following morning, by earliest dawn, they
+were to travel toward Lemvig. Otto had not been there within these
+two last years. In old times the journey thither had always been to
+him a festival, now it was almost indifferent to him.
+
+He entered his little chamber; for the last time in his life he
+should now sleep there. From the next morning commenced, so it
+seemed to him, a new chapter in his life. Byron's "Farewell"
+sounded in his ears like an old melody:--
+               "Fare thee well, and if forever,
+                Still for ever fare thee well."
+
+At break of day the carriage rolled away with him and old Rosalie.
+Both were silent; the carriage moved slowly along the deep ruts.
+Otto looked back once more. A lark rose, singing above him.
+
+"It will be a beautiful day!" said the coachman; his words and the
+song of the lark Rosalie regarded as a good omen for Otto's whole
+journey.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+"Geske.--Have you put syrup in the coffee?
+Henrich.--Yes, I have.
+Geske.--Be so good, dear madams, be so kind as to be contented."
+                                  HOLBERG'S Political Pewterer.
+
+Lemvig lies, as is well known, on an arm of the Limfjord. The
+legend relates, that in the Swedish war a troop of the enemy's
+cavalry compelled a peasant here to mount his horse and serve as a
+guide. Darkness came on; they found themselves already upon the
+high sand-banks. The peasant guided his horse toward a steep
+precipice; in a farm-house on the other side of the fjord they
+perceived a light. "That is Lemvig," said the peasant; "let us
+hasten!" He set spurs to his horse, the Swedes followed his
+example, and they were precipitated into the depth: the following
+morning their corpses were found. The monument of this bold Lemvig
+peasant consists of this legend and in the songs of the poets; and
+these are the monuments which endure the longest. Through this
+legend the bare precipice receives an intellectual beauty, which
+may truly compare itself with the naturally beautiful view over the
+city and the bay.
+
+Rosalie and Otto drove into the town. It was two years since he had
+been here; everything seemed to him, during this time, to have
+shrunk together: wherever he looked everything was narrow and
+small. In his recollection, Lemvig was very much larger.
+
+They now drew up before the merchant's house. The entrance was
+through the shop, which was decorated with wooden shoes, woolen
+gloves, and iron ware. Close within the door stood two large casks
+of tea. Over the counter hung an extraordinary stuffed fish, and a
+whole bunch of felt hats, for the use of both sexes. It was a
+business en gros and en detail, which the son of the house managed.
+The father himself was number one in Lemvig; he had ships at sea,
+and kept open house, as they call it, in the neighborhood.
+
+The sitting-room door opened, and the wife herself, a stout, square
+woman, with an honest, contented countenance, stepped out and
+received the guests with kisses and embraces. Alas! her good
+Jutland pronunciation cannot be given in writing.
+
+"O, how glorious that the Mamsell comes and brings Mr. Thostrup
+with her! How handsome he is become! and how grown! Yes, we have
+his mark still on the door." She drew Otto along with her. "He has
+shot up more than a quarter of a yard!"
+
+He looked at the objects which surrounded him.
+
+"Yes," said she, "that instrument we have had since you were last
+here; it is a present to Maren from her brother. She will now sing;
+you something. It is astonishing what a voice she has! Last
+Whitsuntide she sang in the church with the musical people; she
+sang louder than the organ!"
+
+Otto approached the sofa, over which a large piece of needlework
+hung, in a splendid gold frame. "That is Maren's name-sampler,"
+said the mistress of the house. "It is very pretty. See! there
+stand all our names! Can Mr. Thostrup guess who this is? Here are
+all the figures worked in open stitch. That ship, there, is the
+Mariane, which was called after me. There you see the Lemvig Arms--
+a tower which stands on the waves; and here in the corner, in
+regular and irregular stitches, is her name, 'Maren, October the
+24th, 1828.' Yes, that is now two years since. She has now worked a
+cushion for the sofa, with a Turk upon it. It went the round of the
+city--every one wished to see it; it is astonishing how Maren can
+use her hands!"
+
+Rosalie inquired after the excellent girl.
+
+"She is preparing the table," said the lady. "Some good friends are
+coming to us this evening. The secretary will also come; he will
+then play with Maren. You will doubtless, in Copenhagen, have heard
+much more beautiful music; ours is quite simple, but they sing from
+notes: and I think, most likely the secretary will bring his
+musical-box with him. That is splendid! Only lately he sang a
+little song to the box, that was much better than to the larger
+instrument; for I must say he has not the strong chest which Maren
+has."
+
+The whole family assembled themselves for the first time at the
+dinner-table. The two persons who took the lowest places at table
+appeared the most original; these were the shopman and the aunt.
+Both of them had only at dinner the honor of being with the family;
+they were quite shut out from the evening parties.
+
+The shopman, who in the shop was the first person, and who could
+there speak a few words, sat here like a quiet, constrained
+creature; his hair combed toward one side, and exhibiting two red,
+swollen hands: no sound escaped his lips; kissing the hand of the
+lady of the house, at coming and going, was all he did beside eat.
+
+The aunt, who was not alone called so by the family, but by the
+whole of Lemvig, was equally sparing of her words, but her face was
+constantly laughing. A flowered, red cotton cap fitted close to the
+thin face, giving something characteristic to the high cheek-bones
+and hanging lip. "She assisted in the household, but could take no
+part in genteel company," as the lady expressed herself. She could
+never forget how, at the Reformation Festival, when only the
+singers sang in the church, aunt began singing with them out of her
+book, so that the churchwarden was forced to beg her to be silent;
+but this she took very ill, and declared she had as notch right as
+the others to praise God, and then sang in defiance. Had she not
+been "aunt," and not belonged to the family to which she did, she
+would certainly have been turned out.
+
+She was now the last person who entered and took her place at
+table. Half an hour had she been sought after before she was found.
+She had stood at the end of the garden, before the wooden trellis.
+Grass had been mown in the field behind the garden, and made into a
+rick; to see this she had gone to the trellis, the odor had
+agreeably affected her; she had pressed her face against the
+trellis-work, and from contemplation of it had fallen into thought,
+or rather out of thought. There she was found, and the dreamer was
+shaken into motion. She was again right lively, and laughed each
+time that Otto looked at her. He had his seat between Maren and the
+lady of the house, at the upper end of the table. Maren was a very
+pretty girl--little, somewhat round, white and red, and well-dressed.
+A vast number of bows, and a great variety of colors, were her weak
+side. She was reading at this time "Cabal and Love."
+
+"Thou art reading it in German!" said the mother.
+
+"Yes, it must be a beautiful piece. I speak German very well, but
+when I wish to read it I get on too slowly with it: I like to get
+to the end of a book!"
+
+The husband had his place at the head of the table. A little black
+cap sat smoothly on his gray hair, and a pair of clever eyes
+sparkled in his countenance. With folded hands he prayed a silent
+prayer, and then bowed his head, before he allowed the dinner to be
+served. Rosalie sat beside him. Her neighbor on the right seemed
+very talkative. He was an old soldier, who in his fortieth year had
+gone as lieutenant with the land's troops, and had permission to
+wear the uniform, and therefore sat there in a kind of military
+coat, and with a stiff cravat. He was already deep in Polignac's
+ministry and the triumph of the July days; but he had the
+misfortune to confound Lafitte and Lafayette together. The son of
+the house only spoke of bull-calves. The lady at the table was a
+little mamsell from Holstebro, who sat beside him, dressed like a
+girl for Confirmation, in a black silk dress and long red shawl.
+She was in grand array, for she was on a visit. This young lady
+understood dress-making, and could play upon the flute; which,
+however, she never did without a certain bashfulness: besides this,
+she spoke well, especially upon melancholy events. The bottle of
+wine only circulated at the upper end of the table; the shopman and
+aunt only drank ale, but it foamed gloriously: it had been made
+upon raisin-stalks.
+
+"He is an excellent man, the merchant, whom you have received as
+guardian, Mr. Thostrup," said the master of the house. "I am in
+connection with him."
+
+"But it is strange," interrupted the lady, "that only one out of
+his five daughters is engaged. If the young ladies in Copenhagen do
+not go off better than that, what shall we say here?"
+
+"Now Mr. Thostrup can take one of them," said the husband. "There
+is money, and you have fortune also; if you get an office, you can
+live in floribus!"
+
+Maren colored, although there was no occasion for coloring; she
+even cast down her eyes.
+
+"What should Mr. Thostrup do with one of them?" pursued the wife.
+"He shall have a Jutland maiden! There are pretty young ladies
+enough here in the country-seats," added she, and laid the best
+piece of meat upon his plate.
+
+"Do the royal company give pretty operas?" asked Maren, and gave
+another direction to the conversation.
+
+Otto named several, among others Der Freischutz.
+
+"That must be horrible!" said the lieutenant. "They say the wolf-glen
+is so natural, with a waterfall, and an owl which flutters its wings.
+Burgomaster Mimi has had a letter from a young lady in Aarhuus,
+who has been in Copenhagen, and has seen this piece. It was so
+horrible that she held her hand before her face, and almost
+fainted. They have a splendid theatre!"
+
+"Yes, but our little theatre was very pretty!" said the lady of the
+house. "It was quite stupid that the dramatic company should have
+been unlucky. The last piece we gave is still clear in my
+recollection; it was the 'Sandseslose.' I was then ill; but
+because I wished so much to see it, the whole company was so
+obliging as to act it once more, and that, too, in our sitting-room,
+where I lay on the sofa and could look on. That was an extraordinary
+mark of attention from them! Only think--the burgomaster himself
+acted with them!"
+
+In honor of the strangers, coffee was taken after dinner in the
+garden, where, under the plum-trees, a swing was fixed. Somewhat
+later a sailing party was arranged. A small yacht belonging to the
+merchant lay, just unladen, near the bridge of boats.
+
+Otto found Maren and the young lady from Holstebro sitting in the
+arbor. Somewhat startled, they concealed something at his entrance.
+
+"The ladies have secrets! May one not be initiated?"
+
+"No, not at all!" replied Maren.
+
+"You have manuscript poems in the little book!" said Otto, and
+boldly approached. "Perhaps of your own composition?"
+
+"O, it is only a memorandum-book," said Maren, blushing. "When I
+read anything pretty I copy it, for we cannot keep the books."
+
+"Then I may see it!" said Otto. His eye fell upon the written
+sheet:--
+             "So fliessen nun zwei Wasser
+              Wohl zwischen mir und Dir
+              Das eine sind die Thranen,
+              Das andre ist der See!"
+              [Note: Des Knaben Wunderhorn.]
+he read. "That is very pretty! 'Der verlorne Schwimmer,' the poem
+is called, is it not?"
+
+"Yes, I have copied it out of the secretary's memorandum-book; he
+has so many pretty pieces."
+
+"The secretary has many splendid things!" said Otto, smiling.
+"Memorandum-book, musical snuff-box"--
+
+"And a collection of seals!" added the young lady from Holstebro.
+
+"I must read more!" said Otto; but the ladies fled with glowing
+cheeks.
+
+"Are you already at your tricks, Mr. Thostrup?" said the mother,
+who now entered the garden. "Yes, you do not know how Maren has
+thought of you--how much she has spoken of you. You never wrote to
+us; we never heard anything of you, except when Miss Rosalie
+related us something out of your letters. That was not nice of you!
+You and Maren were always called bride and bridegroom. You were a
+pair of pretty children, and your growth has not been disadvantageous
+to either of you."
+
+At four o'clock the evening party assembled--a whole swarm of young
+ladies, a few old ones, and the secretary, who distinguished
+himself by a collection of seals hanging to a long watch-chain, and
+everlastingly knocking against his body; a white shirt-frill, stiff
+collar, and a cock's comb, in which each hair seemed to take an
+affected position. They all walked down to the bay. Otto had some
+business and came somewhat later. Whilst he was crossing, alone,
+the court-yard, he heard, proceeding from the back of the house, a
+fearful, wild cry, which ended in violent sobbing. Terrified, he
+went nearer, and perceived the aunt sitting in the middle of a
+large heap of turf. The priestess at Delphi could not have looked
+more agitated! Her close cap she had torn from her head; her long,
+gray hair floated over her shoulders; and with her feet she stamped
+upon the turf, like a willful child, until the pieces flew in
+various directions. When she perceived Otto she became calm in a
+moment, but soon she pressed her thin hands before her face and
+sobbed aloud. To learn from her what was the matter was not to be
+thought of.
+
+"O, she is only quarrelsome!" said the girl, to whom Otto had
+turned for an explanation. "Aunt is angry because she was not
+invited to sail with the company. She always does so,--she can be
+quite wicked! Just lately, when she should have helped me to wring
+out the sheets, she always twisted them the same way that I did, so
+that we could never get done, and my hands hurt me very much!"
+
+Otto walked down to the bay. The sail was unfurled, the secretary
+brought out his musical-box, and, accompanied by its tones, they
+glided in the burning sunshine over the water.
+
+On the other side tea was to be drunk, and then Maren was to sing.
+Her mother asked her to sing the song with the strong tones, so
+that Otto might hear what a voice she had.
+
+She sang "Dannevang." Her voice had uncommon power, but no style,
+no grace.
+
+"Such a voice, I fancy, you have not heard in the theatre at
+Copenhagen?" said the secretary, with dogmatical gravity.
+
+"You might wish yourself such a chest!" said the lieutenant.
+
+The secretary should now sing; but he had a little cold, which he
+had always.
+
+"You must sing to the musical-box!" said the lady, and her wish was
+fulfilled. If Maren had only commenced, one might have believed it
+a trial of skill between Boreas and Zephyr.
+
+They now walked about, drank tea, and after this they were to
+return to the house, there to partake of fish and roast meat, a
+piece of boxed ham, and other good things.
+
+Otto could by no means be permitted to think of leaving them the
+following morning; he must remain a few days, and gather strength,
+so that in Copenhagen he might apply himself well to work. But only
+one day would he enjoy all the good things which they heaped upon
+him. He yearned for other people, for a more intellectual circle.
+Two years before he had agreed splendidly with them all, had found
+them interesting and intellectual; now he felt that Lemvig was a
+little town, and that the people were good, excellent people.
+
+The following play again brought capital cookery, good foul, and
+good wine--that was to honor Mr. Thostrup. His health was drunk,
+Maren was more confidential, the aunt had forgotten her trouble,
+and again sat with a laughing face beside the constrained shopman.
+They must, it is true, make a little haste over their dinner, for
+the fire-engine was to be tried; and this splendor, they
+maintained, Otto must see, since he so fortunately chanced to lie
+there.
+
+"How can my mother think that this will give Mr. Thostrup
+pleasure?" said Maren. "There is nothing to see in it."
+
+"That has given him pleasure formerly!" answered the mother. "It
+is, also, laughable when the boys run underneath the engine-rain,
+and the stream comes just in their necks."
+
+She spoke of the former Otto and of the present one--he was become
+so Copenhagenish, so refined and nice, as well in the cut of his
+clothes as in his manners; yet she still found an opportunity of
+giving him a little hint to further refinement. Only think! he took
+the sugar for his coffee with his fingers!
+
+"But where are the sugar-tongs, the massive silver sugar-tongs?"
+asked she. "Maren, dost thou allow him to take the sugar with his
+fingers?"
+
+"That is more convenient!" answered Otto. "I do that always."
+
+"Yes, but if strangers had been here," said the hostess, in a
+friendly but teaching tone, "we must, like that grand lady you know
+of, have thrown the sugar out of the window."
+
+"In the higher circles, where people have clean fingers, they make
+use of them!" said Otto. "There would be no end of it if one were
+to take it with the sugar-tongs."
+
+"They are of massive silver!" said the lady, and weighed them in
+her hand.
+
+Toward evening Rosalie went into the garden under the plum trees.
+
+"These, also, remind me of my mountains," said she; "this is the
+only fruit which will properly flourish there. Lemvig lies, like La
+Locle, in a valley," and she pointed, smiling, to the surrounding
+sand-hills. "How entirely different it is here from what it is at
+home on thy grandfather's estate! There I have been so accustomed
+to solitude, that it is almost too lively for me here. One
+diversion follows another."
+
+It was precisely this which Otto did not like. These amusements of
+the small towns wearied him, and he could not delight himself with
+them, no longer mingle in this life.
+
+He wished to set out early the following morning. It would be too
+exhausting to drive along the dry road in the sun's heat, they all
+declared; he must wait until the afternoon, then it would be
+cooler; it was, also, far pleasanter to travel in the night.
+Rosalie's prayers decided him. Thus, after dinner and coffee, the
+horses should be put into the carriage.
+
+It was the last day. Maren was somewhat in a grave mood. Otto must
+write in her album. "He would never come to Lemvig again," said
+she. As children they had played with each other. Since he went to
+Copenhagen she had, many an evening, seated herself in the swing
+near the summer-house and thought of him. Who knows whether she
+must not have done so when she copied out of the secretary's
+memorandum-book, the verses,--
+             "So fliessen nun zwei Wasser
+              Wohl zwischen mir and Dir?"
+
+The sea certainly flows between Aarhuus and Copenhagen.
+
+"Maren will perhaps go over for the winter," said the mother; "but
+we dare not speak too much about it, for it is not yet quite
+settled. It will really make her gayer! lately she has been very
+much inclined to melancholy, although God knows that we have denied
+her no pleasure!"
+
+There now arrived a quantity of letters from different
+acquaintance, and from their acquaintance: if Mr. Thostrup would
+have the goodness to take care of this to Viborg, these to Aarhuus,
+and the others as far as Copenhagen. It was a complete freight,
+such as one gets in little towns, just as though no post went
+through the country.
+
+The carriage stopped before the door.
+
+Rosalie melted into tears. "Write to me!" said she. "Thee I shall
+never see again! Greet my Switzerland when thou comest there!"
+
+The others were merry. The lady sang,--
+                "O could I, like a cloud, but fly!"
+
+The young lady from Holstebro bowed herself before him with an
+Album-leaf its her hand, upon which she must beg Mr. Thostrup to
+write her something. Maren gave him her hand, blushed and drew
+back: but as the carriage rolled away she waved her while
+handkerchief through the open window: "Farewell! Farewell!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+"Stop! cried Patroclus, with mighty, thundering voice."--WILSTER'S Iliad.
+
+The parting with Rosalie, the hospitality of the family, and their
+sincere sympathy, touched Otto; he thought upon the last days, upon
+his whole sojourn in his home. The death of his grandfather made
+this an important era in his life. The quiet evening and the
+solitary road inclined him still more to meditation.
+
+How cheering and interesting had been a visit to Lemvig in former
+times! Then it furnished matter for conversation with Rosalie for
+many weeks; it now lay before him a subject of indifference. The
+people were certainly the same, therefore the change must have
+taken place in himself. He thought of Copenhagen, which stood so
+high, and of the people there.
+
+"After all, the difference is not so great!" said he. "In
+Copenhagen the social foci are more numerous, the interests more
+varied; each day brings a fresh topic of conversation, and one can
+choose one's society. The multitude, on the contrary, has something
+citizenish; it obtrudes itself even from beneath the ball-dress
+which shows itself at court; it is seen in the rich saloon of the
+wholesale merchant, as well as in the house of the brandy
+distiller, whose possessions give to him and his two brewers the
+right of election. It is the same food which is presented to us; in
+the small towns one has it on earthenware, in Copenhagen on china.
+If one had only the courage, in the so-called higher classes, to
+break through the gloss which life in a greater circle, which
+participation in the customs of the world, has called forth, one
+should soon find in many a lady of rank, in many a nobleman who
+sits not alone in the theatre, on the first bench, merely that
+empty common earthenware; and that, as with the merchant's wife in
+Lemvig, a dejeuner or a soiree, like some public event, will
+occupy the mind before and after its occurrence. A court-ball, at
+which either the son or daughter has figured, resembles the most
+brilliant success in an examination for office. We laugh at the
+authorities of Lemvig, and yet with us the crowd runs after nothing
+but authorities and newspapers. This is a certain state of
+innocence. How many a poor officer or student must play the
+subordinate part of the shopman at the table of the rich, and
+gratefully kiss the hand of the lady of the house because she has
+the right of demanding gratitude? And in the theatre, with the
+multitude, what does not 'an astonishing chest' do? A strength of
+voice which can penetrate right through the leather of the mind
+gains stormy applause, whilst taste and execution can only be
+appreciated by the few. The actor can be certain of applause if he
+only thunder forth his parting reply. The comedian is sure of a
+shout of bravo if he puts forth an insipidity, and rubs his legs
+together as if replying with spirit and humor. The massive plate in
+the house gives many a lady the boldness to teach that in which she
+herself might perhaps have been instructed. Many a lady, like the
+Mamsell from Holstebro, dresses always in silk and a long shawl,
+and if one asks after her profession one finds it consists at most
+in dress-making; perhaps she does not even possess the little
+accompanying talent of playing the flute. How many people do not
+copy, like Maren, out of other people's memorandum-books, and do
+not excel musical-boxes! still one hears a deal of musical snuff-box
+music, and is waited upon by voices which are equally as insignificant
+as the secretary's."
+
+These were pretty much Otto's reflections, and certainly it was a
+good feeling which lay at the bottom of them. Let us remember in
+our judgment that he was so young, and that he had only known
+Copenhagen _one_ year; otherwise he would most certainly have
+thought _quite differently_.
+
+Night spread itself over the heath, the heavens were clear. Slowly
+the carriage wound along through the deep sand. The monotonous
+sound, the unchanging motion, all rendered Otto sleepy. A falling
+star shot like a fire column across the sky--this woke him for a
+moment; he soon again bowed his head and slept, fast and deep. It
+was an hour past midnight, when he was awoke by a loud cry. He
+started up--the fire burnt before them; and between it and the
+horse stood two figures, who had taken hold of the leather reins.
+Close beside them was a cart, under which was placed a sort of bed,
+on which slept a woman and some children.
+
+"Will you drive into the soup-kettle?" asked a rough voice, whilst
+another scolded in a gibberish which was unintelligible to Otto.
+
+It had happened to the coachman as to him, only that the coachman
+had fallen asleep somewhat later; the horses had lost their track,
+and uncertain, as they had long been, they were now traversing the
+impassable heath. A troop of the so-called Scavengers, who wander
+through these districts a nomadic race, had here taken up their
+quarters for the night, had made a fire and hung the kettle over
+it, to cook some pieces of a lamb they had stolen on their journey.
+
+"They were about half a mile from the highway," said an elderly
+woman who was laying some bushes of heath under the kettle.
+
+"Half a mile?" replied a voice from the other side of the cart, and
+Otto remarked a man who, wrapped in a large gray riding-cloak, had
+stretched himself out among the heather. "It is not a quarter of a
+mile to the highway if people know how to direct their course
+properly!"
+
+The pronunciation of the man was somewhat foreign, but pure, and
+free from the gibberish which the others employed in their speech.
+The voice seemed familiar to Otto, his ear weighed each syllable,
+and his blood ran quicker through his veins: "It is the German
+Heinrich, the evil angel of my life!" he felt, and wrapt himself
+closer in his mantle, so that his countenance was concealed.
+
+A half-grown lad came forward and offered himself as a guide.
+
+"But the lad must have two marks!" said the woman.
+
+Otto nodded assent, and glanced once more toward the man in whom he
+believed he recognized the German Heinrich; the man had again
+carelessly stretched himself among the heath, and did not seem
+inclined to enter into farther discourse.
+
+The woman desired the payment in advance, and received it. The boy
+led the horses toward one side; at the moment the fire flare up
+between the turf-sods, a great dog, with a loose cord about his
+neck, sprang forward and ran barking after the carriage, which now
+travelled on over the heath in the gloomy night.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+"Poetry does not always express sorrow; the rainbow can also arch
+across a cloudless blue firmament."--JEAN PAUL.
+
+We again find ourselves in Copenhagen, where we meet with Otto, and
+may every day expect Wilhelm, Miss Sophie, and the excellent mamma;
+they would only stay a few weeks. To learn tidings of their
+arrival, Otto determined to pay a visit where they were expected;
+we know the house, we were present at the Christmas festival: it
+was here that Otto received his noble pedigree.
+
+We will now become somewhat better acquainted with the family. The
+husband had a good head, as people sat, had an excellent wine-cellar,
+and was, as one of the friends maintained, a good l'hombre player.
+But the soul of the house, the animating genius, which drew into
+this circle all that possessed life and youth, was the wife.
+Beautiful one could by no means call her, but, enchanted by her
+natural loveliness, her mind, and her unaffectedness, you forgot
+this in a few moments. A rare facility in appreciating the comic of
+every-day life, and a good-humored originality in its representation,
+always afforded her rich material for conversation. It was as if Nature,
+in a moment of thoughtlessness, had formed an insipid countenance, but
+immediately afterward strove to make good her fault by breathing into
+it a soul, which, even through pale blue eyes, pale cheeks, and ordinary
+features, could make her beauty felt.
+
+When Otto entered the room he heard music. He listened: it must be
+either Weyse or Gerson.
+
+"It is the Professor Weyse," said the servant, and Otto opened the
+door softly, without knocking.
+
+The astral-lamp burnt upon the table; upon the sofa sat two young
+ladies. The mistress of the house nodded Otto a friendly welcome,
+but then smiling laid her finger on her lips, as a sign of silence,
+and pointed to a chair, on which he seated himself, and listened to
+the soft tones, which, like spirits, floated from the piano at
+which the musician sat. It was as if the slumbering thoughts and
+feelings of the soul, which in every breast find a response, even
+among the most opposite nations, had found a voice and language.
+The fantasies died away in a soft, spiritual piano. Thus lightly
+has Raphael breathed the Madonna di Foligno upon the clouds; she
+rests there as a soap-bubble rests upon velvet. That dying away of
+the tomes resembled the thoughts of the lover when his eye closes,
+and the living dream of his heart imperceptibly merges and vanishes
+in sleep. Reality is over.
+
+Here also the tones ceased.
+
+            "Der Bettelvogt von Ninive
+             Zog hinab zum Genfersee,
+                  Hm, hm!"
+             [Author's Note: An old popular German song.]
+commenced the musician once more, with an originality and spirit
+which influenced the whole company. Far too soon did he again break
+off, after he had enchanted all ears by his own treasures, as well
+as by the curiosities of the people's life in the world of sound.
+Only when he was gone did admiration find words; the fantasies
+still echoed in every heart.
+
+"His name deserves to be known throughout Europe!" said the
+gracious lady; "how few people in the world know Weyse and Kuhlau!"
+
+"That is the misfortune of a musician being born in a small
+country," said Otto. "His works become only manuscript for friends;
+his auditory extends only from Skagen to Kiel: there the door is
+closed."
+
+"One must console one's self that everything great and good becomes
+at length known," said the cousin of the family, who is known to us
+by his verses for the Christmas-tree. "The nations will become
+acquainted with everything splendid in the kingdom of mind, let it
+bloom in a small or in a large country. Certainly during this time
+the artist may have died, but then he must receive compensation in
+another world."
+
+"I truly believe," returned the gracious lady, "that he would wish
+a little in advance here below, where it is so ordered that the
+immortal must bow himself before the mortal."
+
+"Certainly," replied Otto; "the great men of the age are like
+mountains; they it is which cause the land to be seen from afar,
+and give it importance, but in themselves they are bare and cold;
+their heights are never properly known."
+
+"Very beautiful," said the lady; "you speak like a Jean Paul."
+
+At this moment the door opened, and all were surprised by the
+entrance of Miss Sophie, Wilhelm, and the dear mamma. They were
+not expected before the following evening. They had travelled the
+whole day through Zealand.
+
+"We should have been here to dinner," said Sophie, "but my brother
+could not get his business finished in Roeskelde; then he had
+forgotten to order horses, and other little misadventures occurred:
+six whole hours we remained there. Mamma contracted quite a passion
+there--she fell fairly in love with a young girl, the pretty Eva."
+
+"Yes, she is a nice creature!" said the old lady. "Had I not
+reason, Mr. Thostrup? You and my Wilhelm had already made her
+interesting to me. She has something so noble, so refined, which
+one so rarely meets with in the lower class; she deserves to come
+among educated people."
+
+"Otto, what shall our hearts say," exclaimed Wilhelm, "when my good
+mother is thus affected?"
+
+They assembled round the tea-table. Wilhelm addressed Otto with the
+confidential "thou" which Otto himself had requested.
+
+"We will drink together in tea and renew our brotherhood."
+
+Otto smiled, but with such a strangely melancholy air, and spoke
+not a word.
+
+"He's thinking about the old grandfather," thought Wilhelm, and
+laid his hand upon his friend's shoulder. "The Kammerjunker and his
+ladies greet thee!" said he. "I believe the Mamsell would willingly
+lay thee in her own work-box, were that to be done."
+
+Otto remained quiet, but in his soul there was a strange commotion.
+It would be a difficult thing to explain this motive, which
+belonged to his peculiarity of mind; it entered among the mysteries
+of the soul. The multitude call it in individuals singularity, the
+psychologist finds a deeper meaning in it, which the understanding
+is unable to fathom. We have examples of men, whose strength of
+mind and body were well known, feeling faint at the scent of a
+rose; others have been thrown into a convulsive state by touching
+gray paper. This cannot be explained; it is one of the riddles of
+Nature. A similar relaxing sensation Otto experienced when he, for
+the first time, heard himself addressed as "thou" by Wilhelm. It
+seemed to him as though the spiritual band which encircled them
+loosened itself, and Wilhelm became a stranger. It was impossible
+for Otto to return the "thou," yet, at the same time, he felt the
+injustice of his behavior and the singularity, and wished to
+struggle against it; he mastered himself, attained a kind of
+eloquence, but no "thou" would pass his lips.
+
+"To thy health, Otto," said Wilhelm, and pushed his cup against
+Otto's.
+
+"Health!" said Otto, with a smile.
+
+"It is true," began the cousin, "I promised you the other day to
+bring my advertisements with me; the first volume is closed." And
+he drew from his pocket a book in which a collection of the most
+original Address-Gazette advertisements, such as one sees daily,
+was pasted.
+
+"I have one for you," said the lady; "I found it a little time
+since. 'A woman wishes for a little child to bottle.' Is not that
+capital?"
+
+"Here is also a good one," said Wilhelm, who had turned over the
+leaves of the book: "'A boy of the Mosaic belief may be apprenticed
+to a cabinet-maker, but he need not apply unless he will eat
+everything that happens to be in the house.' That is truly a hard
+condition for the poor lad."
+
+"Almost every day," said the cousin, "one may read, 'For the play
+of to-day or to-morrow is a good place to be had in the third story
+in the Christenbernikov Street.' The place is a considerable
+distance from the theatre."
+
+"Theatre!" exclaimed the master of the house, who now entered to
+take his place at the tea-table, "one can soon hear who has that
+word in his mouth; now is he again at the theatre! The man can
+speak of nothing else. There ought, ready, to be a fine imposed,
+which he should pay each time he pronounces the word theatre. I
+would only make it a fine of two skillings, and yet I dare promise
+that before a month was over he would be found to pay in fines his
+whole pocket-money, and his coat and boots besides. It is a real
+mania with the man! I know no one among my young friends," added
+he, with an ironical smile at Wilhelm,--"no, not one, who has such
+a hobby-horse as our good cousin."
+
+"Here thou art unjust to him!" interrupted his wife; "do not place
+a fine upon him, else I will place thee in a vaudeville! Thy life
+is in politics; our cousin's in theatrical life; Wilhelm's in
+thorough-bass; and Mr. Thostrup's in learned subjects. Each of you
+is thus a little nail in the different world-wheels; whoever
+despises others shows that he considers his wheel the first, or
+imagines that the world is a wheelbarrow, which goes upon one
+wheel! No, it is a more complicated machine."
+
+Later in the evening, when the company broke up, Otto and Wilhelm
+went together.
+
+"I do not think," said Wilhelm, "that thou hast yet said thou to
+me. Is it not agreeable to thee?"
+
+"It was my own wish, my own request," replied Otto. "I have not
+remarked what expressions I have employed." He remained silent.
+Wilhelm himself seemed occupied with unusual thoughts, when he
+suddenly exclaimed: "Life is, after all, a gift of blessings! One
+should never make one's self sorrows which do not really exist!
+'Carpe diem,' said old Horace."
+
+"That will we!" replied Otto; "but now we must first think of our
+examination."
+
+They pressed each other's hands and parted.
+
+"But I have heard no thou!" said Wilhelm to himself "He is an
+oddity, and yet I love him! In this consists, perhaps, my own
+originality."
+
+He entered his room, where the hostess had been cleaning,
+and had arranged the books and papers in the nicest order. Wilhelm
+truly called it disorder; the papers in confusion and the books in
+a row. The lamp even had a new place; and this was called order!
+
+Smiling, he seated himself at the piano; it was so long since they
+had said "Good day" to each other! He ran over the keys several
+times, then lost himself in fantasies. "That is lovely!" he
+exclaimed. "But it is not my property! What does it belong to? It
+melts into my own feelings!" He played it again. It was a thema out
+of "Tancredi," therefore from Rossini, even the very composer whom
+our musical friends most looked down upon; how could he then guess
+who had created those tones which now spoke to his heart? His whole
+being he felt penetrated by a happiness, a love of life, the cause
+of which he knew not. He thought of Otto with a warmth which the
+latter's strange behavior did not deserve. All beloved beings
+floated so sweetly before his mind. This was one of those moments
+which all good people know; one feels one's self a member of the
+great chain of love which binds creation together.
+
+So long as the rose-bud remains folded together it seems to be
+without fragrance; yet only one morning is required, and the fine
+breath streams from the crimson mouth. It is only one moment; it is
+the commencement of a new existence, which already has lain long
+concealed in the bud: but one does not see the magic wand which
+works the change. This spiritual contrast, perhaps, took place in
+the past hour; perhaps the last evening rays which fell upon the
+leaves concealed this power! The roses of the garden must open;
+those of the heart follow the same laws. Was this love? Love is, as
+poets say, a pain; it resembles the disease of the mussel, through
+which pearls are formed. But Wilhelm was not sick; he felt himself
+particularly full of strength and enjoyment of life. The poet's
+simile of the mussel and the pearl sounds well, but it is false.
+Most poets are not very learned in natural history; and, therefore,
+they are guilty of many errors with regard to it. The pearl is
+formed on the mussel not through disease; when an enemy attacks her
+she sends forth drops in her defense, and these change into pearls.
+It is thus strength, and not weakness, which creates the beautiful.
+It would be unjust to call love a pain, a sickness; it is an energy
+of life which God has planted in the human breast; it fills our
+whole being like the fragrance which fills each leaf of the rose,
+and then reveals itself among the struggles of life as a pearl of
+worth.
+
+These were Wilhelm's thoughts; and yet it was not perfectly clear
+to him that he loved with his whole soul, as one can only love
+once.
+
+The following forenoon he paid a visit to Professor Weyse.
+
+"You are going to Roeskelde, are you not?" asked Wilhelm. "I have
+heard you so often play the organ here in Our Lady's church, I
+should very much like to hear you there, in the cathedral. If I
+were to make the journey, would you then play a voluntary for me?"
+
+"You will not come!" said the musician.
+
+"I shall come!" answered Wilhelm, and kept his word. Two days after
+this conversation he rolled through the streets of Roeskelde.
+
+"I am come for a wager! I shall hear Weyse play the organ!" said he
+to the host, although there was no need for an apology.
+
+Bulwer in his romance, "The Pilgrims of the Rhine," has with
+endless grace and tenderness called forth a fairy world. The little
+spirits float there as the breath of air floats around the material
+reality; one is forced to believe in their existence. With a genius
+powerful as that which inspired Bulwer, glorious as that which
+infused into Shakespeare the fragrance we find breathed over the
+"Midsummer-night's Dream," did Weyse's tones fill Wilhelm; the deep
+melodies of the organ in the old cathedral had indeed attracted him
+to the quiet little town! The powerful tones of the heart summoned
+him! Through them even every day things assumed a coloring, an
+expression of beauty, such as Byron shows us in words, Thorwaldsen
+in the hard stone, Correggio in colors.
+
+We have by Goethe a glorious poem, "Love a Landscape-painter." The
+poet sits upon a peak and gazes before him into the mist, which,
+like canvas spread upon the easel, conceals all heights and
+expanses; then comes the God of Love and teaches him how to paint a
+picture on the mist. The little one now sketches with his rosy
+fingers a picture such as only Nature and Goethe give us. Were the
+poet here, we could offer him no rock on which he might seat
+himself, but something, through legends and songs, equally
+beautiful. He would then sing,--I seated myself upon the mossy
+stone above the cairn; the mist resembled outstretched canvas. The
+God of Love commenced on this his sketch. High up he painted a
+glorious still, whose rays were dazzling! The edges of the clouds
+he made as of gold, and let the rays penetrate through them; then
+painted he the fine light boughs of fresh, fragrant trees; brought
+forth one hill after the other. Behind these, half-concealed, lay a
+little town, above which rose a mighty church; two tall towers with
+high spires rose into the air; and below the church, far out, where
+woods formed the horizon, drew he a bay so naturally! it seemed to
+play with the sunbeams as if the waves splashed up against the
+coast. Now appeared flowers; to the fields and meadows he gave the
+coloring of velvet and precious stones; and on the other side of
+the bay the dark woods melted away into a bluish mist. "I can
+paint!" said the little one; "but the most difficult still remains
+to do." And he drew with his delicate finger, just where the rays
+of the sun fell most glowingly, a maiden so gentle, so sweet, with
+dark blue eyes and cheeks as blooming as the rosy fingers which
+formed the picture. And see! a breeze arose; the leaves of the
+trees quivered; the expanse of water ruffled itself; the dress of
+the maiden was gently stirred; the maiden herself approached: the
+picture itself was a reality! And thus did the old royal city
+present itself before Wilhelm's eyes, the towers of the cathedral,
+she tay, the far woods, and--Eva!
+
+The first love of a pure heart is holy! This holiness may be
+indicated, but not described! We return to Otto.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+"A man only gains importance by a poet's fancy, when his genius
+vividly represents to our imagination a clearer, but not an
+ennobled image of men and objects which have an existence; then
+alone he understands how to idealize."--H. HERTZ.
+
+We pass on several weeks. It was toward the end of September, the
+examen philosophicum was near. Preparations for this had been
+Otto's excuse for not yet having visited the family circle of his
+guardian, the merchant Berger. This was, however, brought about by
+Otto's finding one day, when he went to speak with his guardian,
+the mistress of the house in the same room. We know that there are
+five daughters in the house, and that only one is engaged, yet they
+are all well-educated girls--domestic girls, as their mother
+assured her friend upon more than one occasion.
+
+"So, then, I have at length the honor of making your acquaintance,"
+said Mrs. Berger. "this visit, truly, is not intended either for me
+or the children, but still you must now drink a cup of coffee with
+us. Within it certainly looks rather disorderly; the girls are
+making cloaks for the winter. We will not put ourselves out of the
+way for you: you shall be regarded as a member of the family: but
+then you must come to us in a friendly way. Every Thursday our
+son-in-law dines with us, will you then be contented with our dinner?
+Now you shall become acquainted with my daughters."
+
+"And I must to my office," said the husband; "therefore let us
+consider Thursday as an appointment. We dine at three o'clock, and
+after coffee Laide gives us music."
+
+The lady now conducted Otto into the sitting-room, where he found
+the four daughters in full activity with a workwoman. The fifth
+daughter, Julle, was, as they had told him, gone to the shops for
+patterns: yesterday she had run all over the town, but the patterns
+she received were not good.
+
+The lady told him the name of each daughter; their characteristics
+he naturally learnt later.
+
+All the five sisters had the idea that they were so extremely
+different, and yet they resembled each other to a hair. Adelaide,
+or Laide, as she was also called, was certainly the prettiest; that
+she well knew also, therefore she would have a fur cape, and no
+cloak; her figure should be seen. Christiane was what one might
+call a practical girl; she knew how to make use of everything.
+Alvilde had always a little attack of the tooth-ache; Julle went
+shopping, and Miss Grethe was the bride. She was also musical, and
+was considered witty. Thus she said one evening when the house-door
+was closed, and groaned dreadfully on its hinges, "See now, we have
+port wine after dinner." [Translator's Note: A pun which it is
+impossible to translate. The Danish word Portviin according to
+sound, may mean either port wine or the creaking of a door.] The
+brother, the only son of the house, with whom we shall become
+better acquainted, had written down this conceit; "but that was
+only to be rude toward her," said Miss Grethe. "Such good ideas as
+this I have every hour of the day!"
+
+We ought really to accuse these excellent girls of nothing foolish;
+they were very good and wise. The lover, Mr. Svane, was also a
+zealous wit; he was so lively, they said. Every one with whom he
+became a little familiar he called immediately Mr. Petersen, and
+that was so droll!
+
+"Now the father has invited Mr. Thostrup to come on Thursday!" said
+the lady. "I also think, if we were to squeeze ourselves a little
+together, he might find a place with us in the box; the room is,
+truly, very confined."
+
+Otto besought them not to incommode themselves.
+
+"O, it is a large box!" said the lady, but she did not say how many
+of them were already in it. Only eleven ladies went from the family
+itself. They were obliged to go to the theatre in three parties, so
+that people might not think; if they all went together, there was a
+mob. One evening, when the box had been occupied by eighteen
+persons, beside several twelve-year old children, who had sat in
+people's laps, or stood before them, and the whole party had
+returned home in one procession, and were standing before the house
+door to go in, people streamed together, imagining there was some
+alarm, or that some one had fallen into convulsions. "What is the
+matter?" they asked, and Miss Grethe immediately replied, "It is a
+select company!" [Translator's Note: A select or shut-out company.
+We regret that this pun, like the foregoing one, is untransferable
+into English.] Since that evening they returned home in separate
+divisions.
+
+"It is really a good box!" said Alvilde; "if we had only other
+neighbors! The doors are opening and shutting eternally, and make a
+draught which is not bearable for the teeth. And then they speak so
+loud! the other night I did not hear a single word of the pretty
+song about Denmark."
+
+"But did you lose much through that?" asked Otto, smiling, and soon
+they found themselves very much at variance, just as if they had
+been old acquaintances. "I do not think much of these patriotic
+scraps, where the poet, in his weakness, supports himself by this
+beautiful sentiment of patriotism in the people. You will certainly
+grant that here the multitude always applauds when it only hears
+the word 'Father-land,' or the name of 'Christian IV.' The poet
+must give something more; this is a left-handed kind of patriotism.
+One would really believe that Denmark were the only country in the
+world!"
+
+"Fie, Mr. Thostrup!" said the lady: "do you not then love your
+father-land?"
+
+"I believe I love it properly!" returned he: "and because it really
+possesses so much that is excellent do I desire that only what is
+genuine should be esteemed, only what is genuine be prized."
+
+"I agree in the main with Mr. Thostrup," said Miss Grethe, who was
+busied in unpicking and turning her cloak, in order, as she herself
+said, to spoil it on the other side. "I think he is right! If a
+poem is well spoken on the stage, it has always a kind of effect.
+It is just the same as with stuffs--they may be of a middling
+quality and may have an unfavorable pattern, but if they are worn
+by a pretty figure they look well after all!"
+
+"I am often vexed with the public!" said Otto. "It applauds at
+improper places, and sometimes exhibits an extraordinary
+innocence."
+
+"Those are 'the lords of the kingdom of mind,'" said Miss Grethe, smiling.
+[Note:  "We are the lords of the kingdom of mind!
+         We are the stem which can never decay!"
+         --Students' Song, by CHRISTIAN WINTHER.]
+
+"No, the _neighbors_!" replied Otto quickly.
+
+At this moment Miss Julle entered. She had been wandering from shop
+to shop, she said, until she could bear it no longer! She had had
+the stuffs down from all the shelves, and at length had succeeded
+so far as to become possessed of eight small pieces--beautiful
+patterns, she maintained. And now she knew very well where the
+different stuffs were to be had, how wide they were, and how much
+the yard. "And whom did I meet?" said she; "only think! down the
+middle of East Street came the actor--you know well! Our little
+passion! He is really charming off the stage."
+
+"Did you meet him?" said Laide. "That girl is always lucky!"
+
+"Mr. Thostrup," said the mother, presenting him, for the young lady
+seemed to forget him entirely, so much was she occupied with this
+encounter and her patterns.
+
+Julle bowed, and said she had seen him before: he had heard
+Mynster, and had stood near the chair where she sat; he was dressed
+in an olive-green coat.
+
+"Then you are acquainted with each other!" said the lady. "She is
+the most pious of all the children. When the others rave about
+Spindler and Johanne Schoppenhauer, she raves about the clergyman
+who confirmed her. You know my son? He became a student a year
+before you. He sees you in the club sometimes."
+
+"There you will have seen him more amiable than you will find him
+at home," said Adelaide. "Heaven knows he is not gallant toward his
+sisters!"
+
+"Sweet Laide, how can you say so!" cried the mother. "You are
+always so unjust toward Hans Peter! When you become better
+acquainted with him, Mr. Thostrup, you will like him; he is a
+really serious young man, of uncorrupted manners. Do you remember,
+Laide, how he hissed that evening in the theatre when they gave
+that immoral piece? And how angry he is with that 'Red Riding
+Hood?' O, the good youth! Besides, in our family, you will soon
+meet with an old acquaintance--in a fortnight a lady out of Jutland
+will come here. She remains the winter here. Do you not guess who
+it is? A little lady from Lemvig!"
+
+"Maren!" exclaimed Otto.
+
+"Yes, truly!" said the lady. "She is said to have such a beautiful
+voice!"
+
+"Yes, in Lemvig," remarked Adelaide. "And what a horrible name she
+has! We must christen her again, when she comes. She must be called
+Mara, or Massa."
+
+"We could call her Massa Carara!" said Grethe.
+
+"No; she shall be called Maja, as in the 'Every-day Tales,'" said
+Christiane.
+
+"I am of Jane's opinion!" said the mother. "We will christen her
+again, and call her Maja."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+Men are not always what they seem.--LESSING.
+
+Our tale is no creation of fancy; it is the reality in which we
+live; bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh. Our own time and
+the men of our own age we shall see. But not alone will we occupy
+ourselves with every-day life, with the moss on the surface; the
+whole tree, from the roots to the fragrant leaves, will we observe.
+The heavy earth shall press the roots, the moss and bark of every-day
+life adhere to the stern, the strong boughs with flowers and leaves
+spread themselves out, whilst the sun of poetry shall shine among
+them, and show the colors, odor, and singing-birds. But the tree of
+reality cannot shoot up so soon as that of fancy, like the enchantment
+in Tieck's "Elves." We must seek our type in nature. Often may
+there be an appearance of cessation; but that is not the case. It
+is even so with our story; whilst our characters, by mutual discourse,
+make themselves worthy of contemplation, there arises, as with the
+individual branches of the tree, an unseen connection. The branch
+which shoots high up in the air, as though it would separate itself
+from the mother-stem, only presses forward to form the crown, to lend
+uniformity to the whole tree. The lines which diverge from the general
+centre are precisely those which produce the harmony.
+
+We shall, therefore, soon see, though these scenes out of every-day
+life are no digression from the principal events, nothing
+episodical which one may pass over. In order still sooner to arrive
+at a clear perception of this assertion, we will yet tarry a few
+moments in the house of Mr. Berger, the merchant; but in the mean
+time we have advanced three weeks. Wilhelm and Otto had happily
+passed their examen philosophicum. The latter had paid several
+visits, and was already regarded as an old friend of the family.
+The lover already addressed him with his droll "Good day, Mr.
+Petersen;" and Grethe was witty about his melancholy glance, which
+he was not always able to conquer. She called it "making faces,"
+and besought him to appear so on the day of her funeral.
+
+The object of the five sisters' first Platonic love had been their
+brother. They had overwhelmed him with caresses and tenderness, had
+admired and worshipped him. "The dear little man!" they called him;
+they had no other. But Hans Peter was so impolite and teasing
+toward the dear sisters, that they were found to resign him so soon
+as one of them had a lover. Upon this lover they all clung. Each
+one seemed to have a piece of him. He was Grethe's bridegroom,
+would be their brother-in-law. They might address him with the
+confidential thou, and even give him a little kiss.
+
+Otto's appearance in the family caused these rays to change their
+direction. Otto was handsome, and possessed of fortune; either of
+which often suffices to bow a female heart. Beauty bribes the
+thoughtless; riches, the prudent.
+
+Maren, or as she was here called, Maja, had arrived. The young
+ladies had already pulled off some of her bows, arranged her hair
+differently, and made one of her silk handkerchiefs into an apron;
+but, spite of all this finesse, she still remained the lady from
+Lemvig. They could remove no bows from her pronunciation. She had
+been the first at home; here she could not take that rank. This
+evening she was to see in the theatre, for the first time, the
+ballet of the "Somnambule."
+
+"It is French!" said Hans Peter; "and frivolous, like everything
+that we have from them."
+
+"Yes, the scene in the second act, where she steps out of the
+window," said the merchant; "that is very instructive for youth!"
+
+"But the last act is sweet!" cried the lady. "The second act is
+certainly, as Hans Peter very justly observed, somewhat French.
+Good heavens! he gets quite red, the sweet lad!" She extended her
+hand to him, and nodded, smiling, whereupon Hans Peter spoke very
+prettily about the immorality on the stage. The father also made
+some striking observation.
+
+"Yes," said the lady, "were all husbands like thee, and all young
+men like Hans Peter, they would speak in another tone on the stage,
+and dress in another manner. In dancing it is abominable; the
+dresses are so short and indecent, just as though they had nothing
+on! Yet, after all, we must say that the 'Somnambule' is beautiful.
+And, really, it is quite innocent!"
+
+They now entered still deeper into the moral: the conversation
+lasted till coffee came.
+
+Maren's heart beat even quicker, partly in expectation of the play,
+through hearing of the corruptions of this Copenhagen Sodom. She
+heard Otto defend this French piece; heard him speak of
+affectation. Was he then corrupted? How gladly would she have heard
+him discourse upon propriety, as Hans Peter had done. "Poor Otto!"
+thought she; "this is having no relations, but being forced to
+struggle on in the world alone."
+
+The merchant now rose. He could not go to the theatre. First, he
+had business to attend to; and then he must go to his club, where
+he had yesterday changed his hat.
+
+"Nay, then, it has happened to thee as to Hans Peter!" said the
+lady. "Yesterday, in the lecture-room, he also got a strange hat.
+But, there, thou hast his hat!" she suddenly exclaimed, as her eye
+fell upon the hat which her husband held in his hand. "That is Hans
+Peter's hat! Now, we shall certainly find that he has thine! You
+have exchanged them here at home. You do not know each other's
+hats, and therefore you fancy this occurred from home."
+
+One of the sisters now brought the hat which Hans Peter had got in
+mistake. Yes, it was certainly the father's. Thus an exchange in
+the house, a little intermezzo, which naturally, from its
+insignificance, was momentarily forgotten by all except the parties
+concerned, for to them it was an important moment in their lives;
+and to us also, as we shall see, an event of importance, which has
+occasioned us to linger thus long in this circle. In an adjoining
+room will we, unseen spirits, watch the father and son. They are
+alone; the family is already in the theatre. We may, indeed, watch
+them--they are true moralists. It is only a moral drawn from a hat.
+
+But the father's eyes rolled, his cheeks glowed, his words were
+sword-strokes, and must make an impression on any disposition as
+gentle as his son's; but the son stood quiet, with a firm look and
+with a smile on his lips, such as the moral bestows. "You were in
+the adjoining room!" said he. "Where it is proper for you to be
+there may I also come."
+
+"Boy!" cried the father, and named the place, but we know it not;
+neither know we its inhabitants. Victor Hugo includes them in his
+"Children's Prayer," in his beautiful poem, "La Priere pour Tous."
+The child prays for all, even "for those who sell the sweet name of
+love." [Note: "Prie! ...
+Pour les femmes echevelees
+Qui vendent le doux nom d'amour!"]
+
+"Let us be silent with each other!" said the son. "I am acquainted
+with many histories. I know another of the pretty Eva!"--
+
+"Eva!" repeated the father.
+
+We will hear no more! It is not proper to listen. We see the father
+and son extend their hands. It appeared a scene of reconciliation.
+They parted: the father goes to his business, and Hans Peter to the
+theatre, to anger himself over the immorality in the second act of
+the "Somnambule."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+"L'amour est pour les coeurs,
+Ce que l'aurore est pour les fleurs,
+Et le printemps pour la nature."--VIGUE.
+
+"Love is a childish disease and like the small-pox. Some die, some
+become deformed, others are more or less scarred, while upon others
+the disease does not leave any visible trace."--The Alchemist, by
+C. HAUCH.
+
+"Be candid, Otto!" said Wilhelm, as he one day visited his friend.
+"You cannot make up your mind to say thou to me; therefore let it
+be. We are, after all, good friends. It is only a form; although
+you must grant that in this respect you are really a great fool."
+
+Otto now explained what an extraordinary aversion he had felt, what
+a painful feeling had seized upon him, and made it impossible to
+him.
+
+"There you were playing the martyr!" said Wilhelm, laughing. "Could
+you not immediately tell me how you were constituted? So are most
+men. When they have no trouble, they generally hatch one
+themselves; they will rather stand in the cold shadow than in the
+warm sunshine, and yet the choice stands open to us. Dear friend,
+reflect; now we are both of us on the stream: we shall soon be put
+into the great business-bottles, where we shall, like little
+devils, stretch and strain ourselves without ever getting out,
+until life withdraws from us!" He laid his arm confidentially upon
+Otto's shoulder. "Often have I wished to speak with you upon one
+point! Yes, I do not desire that you should confess every word,
+every thought to me. I already know that I shall be able to prove
+to you that the thing lies in a region where it cannot have the
+power which you ascribe to it. In the cold zones a venomous bite
+does not operate as dangerously as in warmer ones; a sorrow
+in childhood cannot overpower us as it does in riper age. Whatever
+misfortune may have happened to you when a child, if in your
+wildness--you yourself say that you were wild--whatsoever you may
+have then done, it cannot, it ought not to influence your whole
+life: your understanding could tell you this better than I. At our
+age we find ourselves in the land of joy, or we never enter it!"
+
+"You are a happy man!" exclaimed Otto, and gazed sorrowfully
+before him. "Your childhood afforded you only joy and hope! Only
+think of the solitude in which mine was passed. Among the sand-hills
+of the west coast my days glided away: my grandfather was gloomy
+and passionate; our old preacher lived only in a past time which
+I knew not, and Rosalie regarded the world through the spectacles
+of sorrow. Such an environment might well cast a shadow upon my
+life-joy. Even in dress, one is strangely remarkable when one comes
+from afar province to the capital; first this receives another cut,
+and one gradually becomes like those around one. The same thing
+happens in a spiritual relation, but one's being and ideas one does
+not change so quickly as one's clothes. I have only been a short
+time among strangers, and who knows?" added he, with a melancholy
+smile, "perhaps I shall come into equilibrium when some really
+great misfortune happens to me and very much overpowers me, and
+then I may show the same carelessness, the same phlegm as the
+multitude."
+
+"A really great misfortune!" repeated Wilhelm. "You do, indeed, say
+something. That would be a very original means of cure, but you are
+an original being. Perhaps lay this means you might really be
+healed. 'Make no cable out of cobweb!' said a celebrated poet whose
+name does not occur to me at this moment. But the thought is good,
+you should have it embroidered upon your waistcoat, so that you
+might have it before your eyes when you droop your head. Do not
+look so grave; we are friends, are we not? Among all my young
+acquaintance you are the dearest to me, although there are moments
+when I know not how it stands with us. I could confide every secret
+to you, but I am not sure that you would be equally open with me.
+Do not be angry, my dear friend! There are secrets of so delicate a
+nature, that one may not confide them even to the dearest friend.
+So long as we preserve _our_ secret it is our prisoner; it is quite
+the contrary, however, so soon as we have let it escape us. And
+yet, Otto, you are so dear to me, that I believe in you as in my
+own heart. This, even now, bears a secret which penetrates me with
+joy and love of life! I must speak cut. But you must enter into my
+joy, partake in it, or say nothing about it; you have then heard
+nothing--nothing! Otto, I love! therefore am I happy, therefore is
+there sunshine in my heart, life joy in my veins! I love Eva, the
+beautiful lovely Eva!"
+
+Otto pressed his hand, but preserved silence.
+
+"No, not so!" cried Wilhelm. "Only speak a word! Do you I'm in a
+conception of the world which has opened before me?"
+
+"Eva is beautiful! very beautiful!" said Otto, slowly. "She is
+innocent and good. What can one wish for more? I can imagine how
+she fills your whole heart! But will she do so always? She will not
+always remain young, always lovely! Has she, then, mind sufficient
+to be everything to you? Will this momentary happiness which you
+prepare for her and yourself be great enough to outweigh--I will
+not say the sorrow, but the discontent which this union will bring
+forth in your family? For God's sake, think of everything!"
+
+"My dear fellow!" said Wilhelm, "your old preacher now really
+speaks out of you! But enough: I can bear the confession. I answer,
+'Yes, yes!' with all my heart, 'yes!' Wherefore will you now bring
+me out of my sunshine into shade? Wherefore, in my joy over the
+beauty of the rose should I be reminded that the perfume and color
+will vanish, that the leaves will fall? It is the course of life!
+but must one, therefore, think of the grave, of the finale, when
+the act begins?"
+
+"Love is a kind of monomania," said Otto; "it may be combated: it
+depends merely upon our own will."
+
+"Ah, you know this not at all!" said Wilhelm. "But it will come in
+due time, and then you will be far more violent than others! Who
+knows? perhaps this is the sorrow of which you spoke, the
+misfortune which should bring your whole being into equipoise! That
+was also a kind of search after the sorrowful. I will sincerely
+wish that your heart may be filled with love as mine is; then will
+the influence of the sand-hills vanish, and you will speak with me
+as you ought to do, and as my confidence deserves!"
+
+"That will I!" replied Otto. "You make the poor girl miserable! Now
+you love Eva, but then you will no longer be able. The distance
+between you and her is too great, and I cannot conceive how the
+beauty of her countenance can thus fill your whole being. A
+waiting-girl! yes, I repeat the name which offends your ear: a
+waiting-girl! Everywhere will it be repeated. And you? No one can
+respect nobility less than I do--that nobility which is only
+conferred by birth; it is nothing, and a time will come when this
+will not be prized at all, when the nobility of the soul will be
+the only nobility. I openly say this to you, who are a nobleman
+yourself. The more development of mind, the more ancestors! But Eva
+has nothing, can have nothing, except a pretty face, and this is
+what has enchained you; you are become the servant of a servant,
+and that is degrading yourself and your nobility of mind!"
+
+"Mr. Thostrup!" exclaimed Wilhelm, "you wound me! This is truly
+not the first time, but now I am weary of it. I have shown too much
+good nature, and that is the most unfortunate failing a man can be
+cursed with!"
+
+He seated himself at the piano, and hammered away.
+
+Otto was silent a moment, his checks glowed, but he was soon again
+calm, and in a joking tone said: "Do not expend your anger upon
+that poor instrument because we disagree in our views. You are
+playing only dissonances, which offend my ear more than your
+anger!"
+
+"Dissonances!" repeated Wilhelm. "Cannot you hear that they are
+harmonies? There are many things for which you have a bad ear!"
+
+Otto knew how to lead his anger to different points regarding which
+they had formerly been at variance, but he spoke with such mildness
+that Wilhelm's anger rather abated than increased.
+
+They were again friends, but regarding Eva not one word more was
+said.
+
+"I should not be an honest and true friend to him, were I to let
+him be swallowed up by this whirlpool!" said Otto to himself, when
+he was alone. "At present he is innocent and good but at his age,
+with his gay disposition!--I must warn Eva! soon! soon! The snow
+which has once been trodden is no longer pure! Wilhelm will
+scarcely forgive me! But I must!"
+
+On the morrow it was impossible for him to travel to Roeskelde, but
+the following day he really would and must hasten thither.
+
+Still, in the early morning hour, Eva occupied his thoughts; she
+busied Wilhelm's also, but in a different way: but they agreed in
+the purity of their intentions. There was still a third, whose
+blood was put in motion at the mention of her name, who said: "The
+pretty Eva is a servant there! One must speak with her. The family
+can make an excursion there!"
+
+"You sweet children!" said the merchant's wife, "the autumn is
+charming, far pleasanter than the whole summer! The father, should
+the weather remain good, will make an excursion with us to
+Lethraborg the day after to-morrow. We will then walk in the
+beautiful valley of the Hertha, and pass the night at Roeskelde.
+Those will be two delightful days! What an excellent father you
+have! But shall we not invite Mr. Thostrup to go with us? We are so
+many ladies, and it looks well to have a few young gentlemen with
+us. Grethe, thou must write an invitation; thou canst write thy
+father's name underneath."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+"These poetical letters are so similar to those of Baggesen, that
+we could be almost tempted to consider the news of his death as
+false, although so well affirmed that we must acknowledge it."
+--Monthly Journal of Literature.
+
+"She is as slender as the poplar-willow, as fleet as the hastening
+waters. A Mayflower odorous and sweet."--H. P. HOLST.
+
+"Ah, where is the rose?"--Lulu, by GUNTELBURG.
+
+The evening before Otto was to travel with the merchant's family to
+Roeskelde he called upon the family where Miss Sophie was staying.
+Her dear mamma had left three days before. Wilhelm had wished to
+accompany him to Roeskelde, but the mother did not desire it.
+
+"We have had a pleasure to-day," said Sophie, "a pleasure from
+which we shall long have enjoyment. Have you seen the new book, the
+'Letters of a Wandering Ghost?' It is Baggesen himself in his most
+perfect beauty, a music which I never believed could have been
+given in words. This is a poet! He has made July days in the poetry
+of Denmark. Natural thoughts are so strikingly, and yet so simply
+expressed; one has the idea that one could write such verses one's
+self, they fall so lightly."
+
+"They are like prose," said the lady, "and yet the most beautifully
+perfect verse I know. You must read the book, Mr. Thostrup!"
+
+"Perhaps you will read to us this evening?" said Sophie. "I should
+very much like to hear it again."
+
+"In a second reading one shall enter better into the individual
+beauties," said the lady of the house.
+
+"I will remain and listen," said the host.
+
+"This must be a masterpiece!" exclaimed Otto,"--a true masterpiece,
+since all are so delighted with it."
+
+"It is Baggesen himself; and truly as he must sing in that world
+where everything mortal is ennobled."
+
+"'Meadows all fragrance, the strongholds of pleasure,
+        Heaven blue streamlets,
+That speed through the green woods in musical measure,'"
+began Otto, and the spiritual battle-piece with beauty and tone
+developed itself more and more; they found themselves in the
+midst of the winter camp of the Muses, where the poet with
+        ..."lyre on his shoulder and sword at his side,
+Hastened to fight with the foes of the Muses."
+Otto's gloomy look won during the perusal a more animated
+expression. "Excellent!" exclaimed he; "this is what I myself have
+thought and felt, but, alas! have been unable to express."
+
+"I am a strange girl," said Sophie; "whenever I read a new poet of
+distinguished talent, I consider that he is the greatest. It was so
+with Byron and Victor Hugo. 'Cain' overwhelmed me, 'Notre Dame'
+carried me away with it. Once I could imagine no greater poet than
+Walter Scott, and yet I forget him over Oehlenschlager; yes, I
+remember a time when Heiberg's vaudevilles took almost the first
+place among my chosen favorites. Thus I know myself and my
+changeable disposition, and yet I firmly believe that I shall make
+an exception with this work. Other poets showed me the objects of
+the outer world, this one shows me my own mind: my own thoughts, my
+own being he presents before me, and therefore I shall always take
+the same interest in the Ghost's Letters."
+
+"They are true food for the mind," said Otto; "they are as words in
+season; there must be movement in the lake, otherwise it will
+become a bog."
+
+"The author is severe toward those whom he has introduced," said
+the lady; "but he carries, so to say, a sweet knife. A wound from a
+sharp sword-blade is not so painful as that from a rusty, notched
+knife."
+
+"But who may the author be?" said Sophie.
+
+"May we never learn!" replied Otto. "Uncertainty gives the book
+something piquant. In such a small country as ours it is good for
+the author to be unknown. Here we almost tread upon each other, and
+look into each other's garments. Here the personal conditions of
+the author have much to do with success; and then there are the
+newspapers, where either friend or enemy has an assistant, whereas
+the being anonymous gives it the patent of nobility. It is well
+never to know an author. What does his person matter to us, if his
+book is only good?
+
+"'Crush and confound the rabble dissolute
+That desecrate thy poet's grave?'"
+read Otto, and the musical poem was at an end. All were enchanted
+with it. Otto alone made some small objections: "The Muses ought not
+to come with 'trumpets and drums,' and so many expressions similar
+to 'give a blow on the chaps,' etc., ought not to appear."
+
+"But if the poet will attack what is coarse," said Sophie, "he must
+call things by their proper names. He presents us with a specimen
+of the prosaic filth, but in a soap-bubble. We may see it, but not
+seize upon it. I consider that you are wrong!"
+
+"The conception of idea and form," said Otto, "does not seem to be
+sufficiently presented to one; both dissolve into one. Even prose is a
+form."
+
+"But the form itself is the most important," said the lady of the
+house; "with poetry as with sculpture, it is the form which gives
+the meaning."
+
+"No, pardon me!" said Otto; "poetry is like the tree which God
+allows to grow. The inward power expresses itself in the form; both
+are equally important, but I consider the internal as the most
+holy. This is here the poet's thought. The opinion which he
+expresses affects us as much as the beautiful dress in which he has
+presented it."
+
+Now commenced a contest upon form and material, such as was
+afterward maintained throughout the whole of Copenhagen.
+
+"I shall always admire the 'Letters of a Wandering Ghost,'" said
+Sophie,--"always rave about these poems. To-night I shall dream of
+nothing but this work of art."
+
+How little men can do that which they desire, did this very moment
+teach.
+
+When we regard the fixed star through a telescope and lose
+ourselves in contemplation, a little hair can conceal the mighty
+body, a grain of dust lead us from these sublime thoughts. A letter
+came for Miss Sophie; a traveller brought it from her mother: she
+was already in Funen, and announced her safe arrival.
+
+"And the news?" said the hostess.
+
+"Mamma has hired a new maid, or, rather, she has taken to be with
+her an amiable young girl--the pretty Eva in Roeskelde. Mr.
+Thostrup and Wilhelm related to us this summer several things about
+her which make her interesting. We saw her on our journey hither,
+when mamma was prepossessed by her well-bred appearance. Upon her
+return, the young girl has quite won her heart. It really were a
+pity if such a pretty, respectable girl remained in a public-house.
+She is very pretty; is she not, Mr. Thostrup?"
+
+"Very pretty!" answered Otto, becoming crimson, for Sophie said
+this with an emphasis which was not without meaning.
+
+The following day, at an early hour, Otto found himself at the
+merchant's.
+
+Spite of the changeable weather of our climate, all the ladies were
+in their best dresses. Three persons must sit upon each seat. Hans
+Peter and the lover had their place beside the coachman. It was a
+long time before the cold meat, the provision for several days, was
+packed up, and the whole company were seated. At length, when they
+had got out of the city, Christiane recollected that they had
+forgotten the umbrellas, and that, after all, it would be good to
+have them. The coachman must go back for them, and meantime the
+carriage drew up before the Column of Liberty. The poor sentinel
+must now become an object of Miss Grethe's interest. Several times
+the soldier glanced down upon his regimentals. He was a
+Krahwinkler, who had an eye to his own advantage. A man who rode
+past upon a load of straw occupied a high position. That was very
+interesting.
+
+Otto endeavored to give the conversation another direction. "Have
+not you seen the new poem which has just appeared, the 'Letters of
+a Wandering Ghost?'" asked he, and sketched out their beauty and
+tendency.
+
+"Doubtless, very heavy blows are dealt!" said Mr. Berger, "the man
+must be witty--Baggesen to the very letter."
+
+"The 'Copenhagen Post' is called the pump!" said Hans Peter.
+
+"That is superb!" cried Grethe. "Who does it attack besides?"
+
+"Folks in Soroe, and this 'Holy Andersen,' as they call him."
+
+"Does he get something?" said Laide. "That I will grant him for his
+milk and water. He was so impolite toward the ladies!"
+
+"I like them to quarrel in this way!" said the merchant's lady.
+"Heiberg will doubtless get his share also, and then he will reply
+in something merry."
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Berger, "he always knows how to twist things in
+such a manner that one must laugh, and then it is all one to us
+whether he is right or not."
+
+"This book is entirely for Heiberg," said Otto. "The author is
+anonymous, and a clever man."
+
+"Good Heavens! you are not the author, Mr. Thostrup?" cried Julle,
+and looked at him with a penetrating gaze. "You can manage such
+things so secretly! You think so highly of Heiberg: I remember well
+all the beautiful things you said of his 'Walter the Potter' and
+his 'Psyche.'"
+
+Otto assured her that he could not confess to this honor.
+
+They reached Roeskelde in the forenoon, but Eva did not receive
+them. The excursion to Lethraborg was arranged; toward evening they
+should again return to the inn, and then Eva would certainly
+appear.
+
+The company walked in the garden at Lethraborg: the prospect from
+the terrace was beautiful; they looked through the windows of the
+castle, and at length came to the conclusion that it would be best
+to go in.
+
+"There are such beautiful paintings, people say!" remarked the
+lover.
+
+"We must see them," cried all the ladies.
+
+"Do you often visit the picture-gallery of the Christiansborg?"
+inquired Otto.
+
+"I cannot say that we do!" returned Mrs. Berger. "You well know
+that what is near one seldom sees, unless one makes a downright
+earnest attempt, and that we have not yet done. Besides, not many
+people go up: that wandering about the great halls is so wearying."
+
+"There are splendid pieces by Ruysdal!" said Otto.
+
+"Salvator Rosa's glorious 'Jonas" is well worth looking at!"
+
+"Yes, we really must go at once, whilst our little Maja is here. It
+does not cost more than the Exhibition, and we were there three
+times last year. The view from the castle windows toward the canal,
+as well as toward the ramparts, is so beautiful, they say."
+
+The company now viewed the interior of Lethraborg, and then
+wandered through the garden and in the wood. The trees had their
+autumnal coloring, but the whole presented a variety of tints far
+richer than one finds in summer. The dark fir-trees, the yellow
+beeches and oaks, whose outermost branches had sent forth light
+green shoots, presented a most picturesque effect, and formed a
+splendid foreground to the view over old Leire, the royal city, now
+a small village, and across the bay to the splendid cathedral.
+
+"That resembles a scene in a theatre!" cried Mrs. Berger, and
+immediately the company were deep in dramatic affairs.
+
+"Such a decoration they should have in the royal theatre!" said
+Hans Peter.
+
+"Yes, they should have many such!" said Grethe. "They should have
+some other pieces than those they have. I know not how it is with
+our poets; they have no inventive power. Relate the droll idea
+which thou hadst the other day for a new piece!" said she to her
+lover, and stroked his cheeks.
+
+"O," said he, and affected a kind of indifference, "that was only
+an idea such as one has very often. But it might become a very nice
+piece. When the curtain is drawn up, one should see close upon the
+lamps the gable-ends of two houses. The steep roofs must go down to
+the stage, so that it is only half a yard wide, and this is to
+represent a watercourse between the two houses. In each garret a
+poor but interesting family should dwell, and these should step
+forth into the watercourse, and there the whole piece should be
+played."
+
+"But what should then happen?" asked Otto.
+
+"Yes," said the lover, "I have not thought about that; but see,
+there is the idea! I am no poet, and have too much to do at the
+counting-house, otherwise one might write a little piece."
+
+"Heavens! Heiberg ought to have the idea!" said Grethe.
+
+"No, then it would be a vaudeville," said the lover, "and I cannot
+bear them."
+
+"O, it might be made charming!" cried Grethe. "I see the whole
+piece! how they clamber about the roofs! The idea is original, thou
+sweet friend!"
+
+By evening the family were again in Roeskelde.
+
+The merchant sought for Eva. Otto inquired after her, so did Hans
+Peter also, and all three received the same answer.
+
+"She is no longer here."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+"I wish I was air, that I could beat my wings, could chase the
+clouds, and try to fly over the mountain summits: that would be
+life."--F. RUCKERT.
+
+The first evening after Otto's return to Copenhagen he spent with
+Sophie, and the conversation turned upon his little journey. "The
+pretty Eva has vanished!" said he.
+
+"You had rejoiced in the prospect of this meeting, had you not?"
+asked Sophie.
+
+"No, not in the least!" answered Otto.
+
+"And you wish to make me believe that? She is really pretty, and
+has something so unspeakably refined, that a young gentleman might
+well be attracted by her. With my brother it is not all quite right
+in this respect; but, candidly speaking, I am in great fear on your
+account, Mr. Thostrup. Still waters--you know the proverb? I might
+have spared you the trouble. The letter which I received a few
+evenings ago informed me of her departure. Mamma has taken her with
+her. It seemed to her a sin to leave that sweet, innocent girl in a
+public-house. The host and hostess were born upon our estate, and
+look very much up to my mother; and as Eva will certainly gain by
+the change, the whole affair was soon settled. It is well that she
+is come under mamma's oversight."
+
+"The girl is almost indifferent to me!" said Otto.
+
+"Almost!" repeated Sophie. "But this almost, how many degrees of
+warmth does it contain? 'O Verite! Ou sont les autels et tes
+pretres?'" added she, and smiling raised her finger.
+
+"Time will show how much you are in error!" answered Otto with much
+calmness.
+
+The lady of the house now entered, she had made various calls;
+everywhere the Ghost's Letters were the subject of conversation,
+and now the conversation took the same direction.
+
+It was often renewed. Otto was a very frequent guest at the house.
+The ladies sat at their embroidery frames and embroidered splendid
+pieces of work, and Otto must again read the "Letters of the
+Wandering Ghost;" after this they began "Calderon," in whom Sophie
+found something resembling the anonymous author. The world of
+poetry afforded subjects for discourse, and every-day life
+intermingled its light, gay scenes; if Wilhelm joined them, he must
+give them music, and all remarked that his fantasies were become
+far richer, far softer. He had gained his touch from Weyse, said
+they. No one thought how much one may learn from one's own heart.
+With this exception he was the same joyous youth as ever. No one
+thought of him and Eva together. Since that evening when the
+friends had almost quarreled, he had never mentioned her name; but
+Otto had remarked how when any female figure met them, Wilhelm's
+eyes flashed, and how, in society, he singled out the most
+beautiful. Otto said jokingly to him, that he was getting oriental
+thoughts. Oehlenschlager's "Helge," and Goethe's Italian sonnets
+were now Wilhelm's favorite reading. The voluptuous spirit of these
+poems agreed with the dreams which his warm feelings engendered. It
+was Eva's beauty--her beauty alone which had awoke this feeling in
+him; the modesty and poverty of the poor girl had captivated him
+still more, and caused him to forget rank and condition. At the
+moment when he would approach her, she was gone. The poison was now
+in his blood. If is gay and happy spirit did not meanwhile let him
+sink into melancholy and meditation; his feeling for beauty was
+excited, as he himself expressed it. In thought he pressed beauty
+to his heart, but only in thought--but even this is sin, says the
+Gospel.
+
+Otto, on the contrary, moved in the lists of philosophy and poetry.
+Here his soul conceived beauty--inspired, he expressed it; and
+Sophie's eyes flashed, and rested with pleasure on him. This
+flattered him and increased his inspirations. For many years no
+winter had been to him so pleasant, had passed away so rich in
+change as this; he caught at the fluttering joy and yet there were
+moments when the though pressed upon him--"Life is hastening away,
+and I do not enjoy it." In the midst of his greatest happiness he
+experienced a strange yearning after the changing life of travel.
+Paris glanced before his eyes like a star of fortune.
+
+"Out into the bustling world!" said he so often to Wilhelm, that
+the same thought was excited in him. "In the spring we will
+travel!" Now were plans formed; circumstances were favorable. Thus
+in the coming spring, in April, the still happier days should
+begin.
+
+"We will fly to Paris!" said Wilhelm; "to joy and pleasure!"
+
+Joy and pleasure were to be found at home, and were found: we will
+introduce the evening which brought them; perhaps we shall also
+find something more than joy and pleasure.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+"A midsummer day's entertainment--but how? In February? Yea, some
+here and behold it!"--DR. BALFUNGO.
+
+With us the students form no Burschenschafts, have no colors. The
+professors do not alone in the chair come into connection with
+them; the only difference is that which exists between young and
+old scholars. Thus they come in contact with each other, thus they
+participate in their mutual pleasures. We will spend an evening of
+this kind in the Students' Club, and then see for ourselves whether
+Miss Sophie were right when she wished she were a man, merely that
+she might be a student and member of this club. We choose one
+evening in particular, not only that we may seek a brilliant
+moment, but because this evening can afford us more than a
+description.
+
+An excursion to the park had often been discussed in the club. They
+wished to hire the Caledonia steam-packet. But during the summer
+months the number of members is less; the majority are gone to the
+provinces to visit their relations. Winter, on the contrary,
+assembles them all. This time, also, is the best for great
+undertakings. The long talked of excursion to the park was
+therefore fixed for Carnival Monday, the 14th of February, 1831.
+Thus ran the invitations to the professors and older members. "It
+will be too cold for me," replied one. "Must one take a carriage
+for one's self?" asked mother. No, the park was removed to
+Copenhagen. In the Students' Club itself, in the Boldhuus Street,
+No. 225, was the park-hill with its green trees, its swings,
+and amusements. See, only the scholars of the Black School could
+have such ideas!
+
+The evening of the 114th of February drew near. The guests
+assembled in the rooms on the first floor. Meanwhile all was
+arranged in the second story. Those who represented jugglers were
+in their places. A thundering cracker was the steamboat signal, and
+now people hastened to the park, rushing up-stairs, where two large
+rooms had, with great taste and humor, been converted into the
+park-hill. Large fir-trees concealed the walls--you found yourself
+in a complete wood. The doors which connected the two rooms were
+decorated with sheets, so that it looked as if you were going
+through a tent. Hand-organs played, drums and trumpets roared, and
+from tents and stages the hawkers shouted one against the other.
+It was a noise such as is heard in the real park when the hubbub
+has reached its height. The most brilliant requisites of the real
+park were found here, and they were not imitated; they were the
+things themselves. Master Jakel's own puppets had been hired; a
+student, distinguished by his complete imitation of the first
+actors, represented them by the puppets. The fortress of
+Frederiksteen was the same which we have already seen in the park.
+"The whole cavalry and infantry,--here a fellow without a bayonet,
+there a bayonet without a fellow!" The old Jew sat under his tree
+where he announced his fiftieth park jubilee: here a student ate
+flax, there another exhibited a bear; Polignac stood as a wax
+figure outside a cabinet. The Magdalene convent exhibited its
+little boxes, the drum-major beat most lustily, and from a near
+booth came the real odor of warm wafer-cakes. The spring even,
+which presented itself in the outer room, was full of significance.
+Certainly it was only represented by a tea-urn concealed between
+moss and stones, but the water was real water, brought from the
+well in Christiansborg. Astounding and full of effect was the
+multitude of sweet young girls who showed themselves. Many of the
+youngest students who had feminine features were dressed as ladies;
+some of them might even be called pretty. Who that then saw the
+fair one with the tambourine can have forgotten her? The company
+crowded round the ladies. The professors paid court to them with
+all propriety, and, what was best of all, some ladies who were less
+successful became jealous of the others. Otto was much excited; the
+noise, the bustle, the variety of people, were almost strikingly
+given. Then came the master of the fire-engines, with his wife and
+little granddaughter; then three pretty peasant girls; then the
+whole Botanical Society, with their real professor at their head.
+Otto seated himself in a swing; an itinerant flute-player and a
+drummer deafened him with dissonances. A young lady, one of the
+beauties, in a white dress, and with a thin handkerchief over her
+shoulders, approached and threw herself into his arms. It was
+Wilhelm! but Otto found his likeness to Sophie stronger than he had
+ever before noticed it to be; and therefore the blood rushed to his
+cheeks when the fair one threw her arms around him, and laid her
+cheek upon his: he perceived more of Sophie than of Wilhelm in this
+form. Certainly Wilhelm's features were coarser--his whole figure
+larger than Sophie's; but still Otto fancied he saw Sophie, and
+therefore these marked gestures, this reeling about with the other
+students, offended his eyes. When Wilhelm seated himself on his
+knee, and pressed his cheek to his, Otto felt his heart beat as in
+fever; it sent a stream of fire through his blood: he thrust him
+away, but the fair one continued to overwhelm him with caresses.
+
+There now commenced, in a so-called Krahwinkel theatre, the comedy,
+in which were given the then popular witticisms of Kellerman.
+
+The lady clung fast to Otto, and flew dancing with him through the
+crowd. The heat, the noise, and, above all, the exaggerated lacing,
+affected Wilhelm; he felt unwell. Otto led him to a bench and would
+have unfastened his dress, but all the young ladies, true to their
+part, sprang forward, pushed Otto aside, surrounded their sick
+companion and concealed her, whilst they tore up the dress behind
+so that she might have air: but, God forbid! no gentleman might see
+it.
+
+Toward evening a song was commenced, a shot was heard, and the last
+verse announced:--
+
+"The gun has been fired, the vessel must fly
+  To the town from the green wood shady.
+Come, friends, now we to the table will hie,
+  A gentleman and a fair lady."
+
+And now all rushed with the speed of a steamboat downstairs, and
+soon sat in gay rows around the covered tables.
+
+Wilhelm was Otto's lady--the Baron was called the Baroness; the
+glasses resounded, and the song commenced:--
+
+"These will drink our good king's health,
+  Will drink it here, his loyal students."
+
+And that patriotic song:--
+
+"I know a land up in the North
+  Where it is good to be."
+
+It concluded with--
+
+                        "An hurrah
+For the king and the rescript!"
+
+In joy one must embrace everything joyful, and that they
+did. Here was the joy of youth in youthful hearts.
+
+"No condition's like the student's;
+  He has chosen the better way!"
+
+so ran the concluding verse of the following song, which ended with
+the toast,--
+
+"For her of whom the heart dreams ever,
+  But whom the lips must never name!"
+
+It was then that Wilhelm seemed to glow with inward fire; he struck
+his glass so violently against Otto's that it broke, and the wine
+was spilt.
+
+"A health to the ladies!" cried one of the signors.
+
+"A health to the ladies!" resounded from the different rooms, which
+were all converted into the banquet-hall.
+
+The ladies rose, stood upon their chairs, some even upon the table,
+bowed, and returned thanks for the toast.
+
+"No, no," whispered Otto to Wilhelm, at the same time pulling him
+down. "In this dress you resemble your sister so much, that it is
+quite horrible to me to see you act a part so opposed to her
+character!"
+
+"And your eyes," Said Wilhelm, smiling, "resemble two eyes which
+have touched my heart. A health to first love!" cried he, and
+struck his glass against Otto's so that the half of his wine was
+again lost.
+
+The champagne foamed, and amidst noise and laughter, as during the
+carnival joy, a new song refreshed the image of the nark which they
+had just left:--
+
+"Here if green trees were not growing
+  Fresh as on yon little hill,
+Heard we not the fountains flowing,
+  We in sooth should see them still!
+Tents were filled below, above,
+Filled with everything but love!
+***
+Here went gratis brushing-boys--
+Graduated have they all!
+Here stood, who would think it, sir?
+A student as a trumpeter!"
+
+"A health to the one whose eyes mine resemble!" whispered Otto,
+carried along with the merriment.
+
+"That health we have already drunk!" answered Wilhelm, "but we
+cannot do a good thing too often."
+
+"Then you still think of Eva?"
+
+"She was beautiful! sweet! who knows what might have happened had
+she remained here? Her fate has fallen into mamma's hands, and she
+and the other exalted Nemesis must now conduct the affair: I wash
+my hands of it."
+
+"Are you recovered?" asked Otto. "But when you see Eva again in the
+summer?"
+
+"I hope that I shall not fall sick," replied Wilhelm; "I have a
+strong constitution. But we must now hasten up to the dance."
+
+All rushed from the tables, and up-stairs, where the park was
+arranged. There was now only the green wood to be seen. Theatres
+and booths had been removed. Gay paper-lamps hung among the branches,
+a large orchestra played, and a half-bacchanalian wood-ball commenced.
+Wilhelm was Otto's partner, but after the first dance the lady sought
+out for herself a more lively cavalier.
+
+Otto drew back toward the wall where the windows were concealed by
+the boughs of Fir-tree. His eye followed Wilhelm, whose great
+resemblance to Sophie made him melancholy; his hand accidentally
+glided through the branches and touched the window-seat; there lay
+a little bird--it was dead!
+
+To increase the illusion they had bought a number of birds, which
+should fly about during the park-scene, but the poor little
+creatures had died from fright at the wild uproar. In the windows
+and corners they lay dead. It was one of these birds that Otto
+found.
+
+"It is dead!" said he to Wilhelm, who approached him.
+
+"Now, that is capital!" returned the friend; "here you have
+something over which you may be sentimental!"
+
+Otto would not reply.
+
+"Shall we dance a Scotch waltz?" asked Wilhelm laughing, and the
+wine and his youthful blood glowed in his cheeks.
+
+"I wish you would put on your own dress!" said Otto. "You resemble,
+as I said before, your sister"--
+
+"And I am my sister," interrupted Wilhelm, in his wantonness. "And
+as a reward for your charming readings aloud, for your excellent
+conversation, and the whole of your piquant amiability, you shall
+now be paid with a little kiss!" He pressed his lips to Otto's
+forehead; Otto thrust him back and left the company.
+
+Several hours passed before he could sleep; at length he was forced
+to laugh over his anger: what mattered it if Wilhelm resembled his
+sister?
+
+The following morning Otto paid her a visit. All listened with
+lively interest to his description of the merry St. John's day in
+February. He also related how much Wilhelm had resembled his
+sister, and how unpleasant this had been to him; and they laughed.
+During the relation, however, Otto could not forbear drawing a
+comparison. How great a difference did he now find! Sophie's beauty
+was of quite another kind! Never before had he regarded her in this
+light. Of the kisses which Wilhelm had given him, of course, they
+did not speak; but Otto thought of them, thought of them quite
+differently to what he had done before, and--the ways of Cupid are
+strange! We will now see how affairs stand after advancing fourteen
+days.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+"Huzza for Copenhagen and for Paris! may they both flourish!"
+                                 The Danes in Paris by HEIBERG.
+
+Wilhelm's cousin, Joachim, had arrived from Paris. We remember the
+young officer, out of whose letters Wilhelm had sent Otto a
+description of the struggle of the July days. As an inspired hero
+of liberty had he returned; struggling Poland had excited his
+lively interest, and he would willingly have combated in Warsaw's
+ranks. His mind and his eloquence made him doubly interesting. The
+combat of the July days, of which he had been an eye-witness, he
+described to them. Joachim was handsome; he had an elegant
+countenance with sharp features, and was certainly rather pale--one
+might perhaps have called him worn with dissipation, had it not
+been for the brightness of his eyes, which increased in
+conversation. The fine dark eyebrow, and even the little mustache,
+gave the countenance all expression which reminded one of fine
+English steel-engravings. His figure was small, almost slender, but
+the proportions were beautiful. The animation of the Frenchman
+expressed itself in every motion, but at the same time there was in
+him a certain determination which seemed to say: "I am aware of
+my own intellectual superiority!"
+
+He interested every one: Otto also listened with pleasure when
+Cousin Joachim related his experiences, but when all eyes were
+turned toward the narrator, Otto fixed his suddenly upon Sophie,
+and found that she could moderate his attentions. Joachim addressed
+his discourse to all, but at the points of interest his glance
+rested alone on the pretty cousin! "She interests him!" said Otto
+to himself. "And Cousin Joachim?" Yes, he relates well; but had we
+only traveled we should not be inferior to him!"
+
+"Charles X. was a Jesuit!" said Joachim; "he strove after an
+unrestrained despotism, and laid violent hands on the Charter. The
+expedition against Algiers was only a glittering fire-work arranged
+to flatter the national pride--all glitter and falseness! Like
+Peirronnet, through an embrace he would annihilate the Charter."
+
+The conversation now turned from the Jesuits to the Charter and
+Polignac. The minute particulars, which only an eyewitness can
+relate, brought the struggle livingly before their eyes. They saw
+the last night, the extraordinary activity in the squares where the
+balls were showered, and in the streets where the barricades were
+erected. Overturned wagons and carts, barrels and stones, were
+heaped upon each other--even the hundred year-old trees of the
+Boulevards were cut down to form barricades: the struggle began,
+Frenchman fought against Frenchman--for liberty and country they
+sacrificed their life. [Note:
+"Ceux qui pieusement sont morts pour la patrie
+Ont droit qu'a leur cerceuil la foule vienne et prie:
+Entre le plus beaux noms, leur nom est le plus beau.
+Toute gloire, pres d'eux, passe et tombe ephemere
+Et, comme ferait une mere,
+La voix d'un peuple entier les berce en leur tombeau!"
+--VICTOR HUGO.]
+And he described the victory and Louis Philippe, whom he admired
+and loved.
+
+"That was a world event," said the man of business. "It electrified
+both king and people. They still feel the movement. Last year was
+an extraordinary year!"
+
+"For the Copenhageners also," said Otto, "there were three colors.
+These things occupied the multitude with equal interest: the July
+Revolution, the 'Letters of a Wandering Ghost,' and Kellermann's
+'Berlin Wit.'"
+
+"Now you are bitter, Mr. Thostrup," said the lady of the house.
+"The really educated did not occupy themselves with these Berlin
+'Eckensteher' which the multitude have rendered national!"
+
+"But they hit the right mark!" said Otto; "they met with a
+reception from the citizens and people in office."
+
+"That I can easily believe," remarked Joachim; "that is like the
+people here!"
+
+"That is like the people abroad!" said the hostess. "In Paris they
+pass over still more easily from a revolution, in which they
+themselves have taken part, to a review by Jules Janin, or to a new
+step of Taglioni's, and from that to 'une histoire scandaleuse!'"
+
+"No, my gracious lady, of the last no one takes any notice--it
+belongs to the order of the day!"
+
+"That I can easily believe!" said Miss Sophie.
+
+The man of business now inquired after the Chamber. The cousin's
+answer was quite satisfactory. The lady of the house wished to hear
+of the flower-markets, and of the sweet little inclosed gardens in
+the Places. Sophie wished to hear of Victor Hugo. She received a
+description of him, of his abode in the Place Royale, and of the
+whole Europe litteraire beside. Cousin Joachim was extremely
+interesting.
+
+Otto did not pay another visit for two days.
+
+"Where have you been for so long?" asked Sophie, when he came
+again.
+
+"With my books!" replied he: there lay a gloomy expression in his
+eyes.
+
+"O, you should have come half an hour earlier--our cousin was here!
+He was describing to me the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. O, quite
+excellently!"
+
+"He is an interesting young man!" said Otto.
+
+"The glorious garden!" pursued Sophie, without remarking the
+emphasis with which Otto had replied. "Do you not remember, Mr.
+Thostrup, how Barthelemi has spoken of it?
+'Ou tout homme, qui reve a son pays absent,
+Retrouve ses parfums et son air caressant.'
+In it there is a whole avenue with cages, in which are wild
+beasts,--lions and tigers! In small court-yards, elephants and
+buffaloes wander about at liberty! Giraffes nibble the branches of
+high trees! In the middle of the garden are the courts for bears,
+only there is a sort of well in which the bears walk about; it is
+surrounded by no palisades, and you stand upon the precipitous
+edge! There our cousin stood!"
+
+"But he did not precipitate himself down!" said Otto, with
+indifference.
+
+"What is the matter?" asked Sophie. "Are you in your elegiac mood?
+You look as I imagine Victor Hugo when he has not made up his mind
+about the management of his tragic catastrophe!"
+
+"That is my innate singularity!" replied Otto. "I should have
+pleasure in springing down among the bears of which you relate!"
+
+"And in dying?" asked Sophie. "No, you must live.
+'C'est le bonheur de vivre
+Qui fait la gloire de mourir.'"
+
+"You speak a deal of French to-day," said Otto, with a friendliness
+of manner intended to soften the bitterness of the tone. "Perhaps
+your conversation with the lieutenant was in that language?"
+
+"French interests me the most!" replied she. "I will ask our cousin
+to speak it often with me. His accent is excellent, and he is
+himself a very interesting man!"
+
+"No doubt of it!" answered Otto.
+
+"You will remain and dine with us?" said the lady of the house, who
+now entered.
+
+Otto did not feel well.
+
+"These are only whims," said Sophie.
+
+The ladies made merry, and Otto remained. Cousin Joachim came and
+was interesting--very interesting, said all. He related of Paris,
+spoke also of Copenhagen, and drew comparisons. The quietness of
+home had made an especial impression on him.
+
+"People here," said he, "go about as if they bore some heavy grief,
+or some joy, which they might not express. If one goes into a
+coffee-house, it is just as if one entered a house of mourning.
+Each one seats himself, a newspaper in his hand, in a corner. That
+strikes one when one comes from Paris! One naturally has the
+thought,--Can these few degrees further north bring so much cold
+into the blood? There is the same quiet in our theatre. Now I love
+this active life. The only boldness the public permits itself is
+hissing a poor author; but a wretched singer, who has neither tone
+nor manner, a miserable actress, will be endured, nay, applauded by
+good friends--an act of compassion. She is so fearful! she is so
+good! In Paris people hiss. The decoration master, the manager,
+every one there receives his share of applause or blame. Even the
+directors are there hissed, if they manage badly."
+
+"You are preaching a complete revolution in our theatrical
+kingdom!" said the lady of the house. "The Copenhageners cannot
+ever become Parisians, and neither should they."
+
+"The theatre is here, as well as there, the most powerful organ of
+the people's life. It has the greatest influence, and ours stands
+high, very high, when one reflects in what different directions it
+must extend its influence. Our only theatre must accommodate
+itself, and represent, at the same time, the Theatre Francais, the
+grand Opera, the Vaudeville, and Saint-Martin; it must comprehend
+all kinds of theatrical entertainments. The same actors who to-day
+appear in tragedy, must to-morrow show themselves in a comedy or
+vaudeville. We have actors who might compare themselves with the
+best in Paris--only _one_ is above all ours, but, also, above all
+whom I have seen in Europe, and this one is Mademoiselle Mars. You
+will, doubtless, consider the reason extraordinary which gives this
+one, in my opinion, the first place. This is her age, which she so
+completely compels you to forget. She is still pretty; round,
+without being called fat. It is not through rouge, false hair, or
+false teeth, that she procures herself youth; it lies in her soul,
+and from thence it flows into every limb--every motion becomes
+charming! She fills you with astonishment! her eyes are full of
+expression, and her voice is the most sonorous which I know! It is
+indeed music! How can one think of age when one is affected by an
+immortal soul? I rave about Leontine Fay, but the old Mars has my
+heart. There is also a third who stands high with the Parisians--
+Jenny Vertpre, at the Gymnase Dramatique, but she would be soon
+eclipsed were the Parisians to see our Demoiselle Patges. She
+possesses talent which will shine in every scene. Vertpre has her
+loveliness, her whims, but not her Proteus-genius, her nobility. I
+saw Vertpre in 'La Reine de Seize Ans,'--a piece which we have not
+yet; but she was only a saucy soubrette in royal splendor--a
+Pernille of Holberg's, as represented by a Parisian. We have Madame
+Wexschall, and we have Frydendal! Were Denmark only a larger
+country, these names would sound throughout Europe!"
+
+He now described the decorations in the "Sylphide," in "Natalia,"
+and in various other ballets, the whole splendor, the whole
+magnificence.
+
+"But our orchestra is excellent!" said Miss Sophie.
+
+"It certainly contains several distinguished men," answered
+Joachim; "but must one speak of the whole? Yes, you know I am not
+musical, and cannot therefore express myself in an artistical
+manner about music, but certain it is that something lay in my ear,
+in my feeling, which, in Paris, whispered to me, 'That is
+excellent!' Here, on the contrary, it cries, 'With moderation! with
+moderation!' The voice is the first; she is the lady; the
+instruments, on the contrary, are the cavaliers who shall conduct
+the former before the public. Gently they should take her by the
+hand; she must stand quite foremost; but here the instruments
+thrust her aside, and it is to me as if each instrument would have
+the first place, and constantly shouted, 'Here am I! here am I!"
+
+"That sounds very well!" said Sophie; "but one may not believe you!
+You have fallen in love with foreign countries, and, therefore, at
+home everything must be slighted."
+
+"By no means! The Danish ladies, for instance, appear the
+prettiest, the most modest whom I have known."
+
+"Appear?" repeated Otto.
+
+"Joachim possesses eloquence," said the lady of the house.
+
+"That has developed itself abroad!" answered he: "here at home
+there are only two ways in which it can publicly develop itself--in
+the pulpit, and at a meeting in the shooting-house. Yet it is true
+that now we are going to have a Diet and a more political life. I
+feel already, in anticipation, the effect; we shall only live for
+this life, the newspapers will become merely political, the poets
+sing politics the painters choose scenes from political life.
+'C'est un Uebergang!' as Madame La Fleche says. [Author's Note:
+Holberg's Jean de France.] Copenhagen is too small to be a great,
+and too great to be a small city. See, there lies the fault!"
+
+Otto felt an irresistible desire to contradict him in most things
+which he said about home. But the cousin parried every bold blow
+with a joke.
+
+"Copenhagen must be the Paris of the North," said he, "and that it
+certainly would become in fifty, or twice that number of years. The
+situation was far more beautiful than that of the city of the
+Seine. The marble church must be elevated, and become a Pantheon,
+adorned with the works of Thorwaldsen and other artists;
+Christiansborg, a Louvre, whose gallery you visit; Oster Street and
+Pedermadsen's passage, arcades such as are in Paris, covered with
+glass roofs and flagged, shops on both sides, and in the evening,
+when thousands of gas-lamps burnt, here should be the promenade;
+the esplanades would be the Champs Elysees, with swings and slides,
+music, and mats de cocagne. [Author's Note: High smooth poles, to
+the top of which victuals, clothes, or money are attached. People
+of the lower classes then try to climb up and seize the prizes. The
+best things are placed at the very top of the pole.] On the
+Peblinger Lake, as on the Seine, there should be festive water
+excursions made. Voila!" exclaimed he, "that would be splendid!"
+
+"That might be divine!" said Sophie.
+
+Animation and thought lay in the cousin's countenance; his fine
+features became striking from their expression. Thus did his image
+stamp itself in Otto's soul, thus did it place itself beside
+Sophie's image as she stood there, with her large brown eyes, round
+which played thought and smiles, whilst they rested on the cousin.
+The beautifully formed white hand, with its taper fingers, played
+with the curls which fell over her cheeks. Otto would not think of
+it.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+"And if I have wept alone, it is my own sorrow."--GOETHE
+
+Latterly Otto had been but seldom at Mr. Berger's. He had no
+interest about the merchant's home. The family showed him every
+politeness and mark of confidence; but his visits became every week
+more rare. Business matters, however, led him one day there.
+
+Chance or fate, as we call it, if the shadow of a consequence shows
+itself, caused Maren to pass through the anteroom when Otto was
+about taking his departure. She was the only one of the ladies at
+home. In three weeks she would return to Lemvig. She said that she
+could not boast of having enjoyed Mr. Thostrup's society too often.
+
+"Your old friends interest you no longer!" added she, somewhat
+gravely. With this exception she had amused herself very well in
+the city, had seen everything but the stuffed birds, and these she
+should see to-morrow. She had been seven times in the theatre, and
+had seen the "Somnambule" twice. However, she had not seen "Der
+Frieschutz," and she had an especial desire to see this on account
+of the wolf-glen. At Aarhuus there was a place in the wood, said
+she, called the wolf-glen; this she knew, and now wished to see
+whether it resembled the one on the stage.
+
+"May I then greet Rosalie from you?" she asked at length.
+
+"You will still remain three weeks here," said Otto: "it is too
+soon to speak of leave-taking."
+
+"But you scarcely ever come here," returned she. "You have better
+places to go to! The Baron's sister certainly sees you oftener; she
+is said to be a pretty and very clever girl: perhaps one may soon
+offer one's congratulations?"
+
+Otto became crimson.
+
+"In spring you will travel abroad," pursued she; "we shall not then
+see you in Jutland: yes, perhaps yon will never go there again!
+That will make old Rosalie sad: she thinks so incredibly much of
+you. In all the letters which I have received here there were
+greetings to Mr. Thostrup. Yes, I have quite a multitude of them
+for you; but you do not come to receive them, and I dare not pay a
+visit to such a young gentleman. For the sake of old friendship let
+me, at least, be the first who can relate at home of the
+betrothal!"
+
+"How can you have got such a thought?" replied Otto. "I go to so
+many houses where there are young ladies; if my heart had anything
+to do with it, I should have a bad prospect. I have great esteem
+for Miss Sophie; I speak with her as with you, that is all. I
+perceive that the air of Copenhagen has affected you; here in the
+city they are always betrothing people. This comes from the ladies
+in the house here. How could you believe such stories?"
+
+Maren also joked about it, but after they had parted she seated
+herself in a corner, drew her little apron over her head and wept;
+perhaps because she should soon leave the lively city, where she had
+been seven times to the theatre, and yet had not seen the wolf-glen.
+
+"Betrothed!" repeated Otto to himself, and thought of Sophie, of
+the cousin, and of his own childhood, which hung like a storm-cloud
+in his heaven. Many thoughts passed through his mind: he
+recollected the Christmas Eve on which he had seen Sophie for the
+first time, when she, as one of the Fates, gave him the number. He
+had 33, she 34; they were united by the numbers following each
+other. He received the pedigree, and was raised to her nobility.
+The whole joke had for him a signification. He read the verse again
+which had accompanied it. The conclusion sounded again and again in
+his ears:--
+"From this hour forth thy soul high rank hath won her,
+Nor will forget thy knighthood and thy honor!"
+
+"O Sophie!" he exclaimed aloud, and the fire which had long
+smouldered in his blood now burst forth in flames. "Sophie! thee
+must I press to my heart!" He lost himself in dreams. Dark shapes
+disturbed them. "Can she then be happy? Can I? The picture which
+she received where the covering of ice was broken and the faithful
+dog watched in vain, is also significant. That is the fulfillment
+of hopes. I sink, and shall never return!"
+
+The image of the cousin mingled in his dreams. That refined
+countenance with the little mustache looked forth saucily and
+loquaciously; and Sophie's eyes he saw rest upon the cousin, whilst
+her white hand played with the brown curls which fell over her
+cheek.
+
+"O Sophie!" sighed Otto, and fell asleep.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+         ... "We live through others,
+We think we are others; we seem
+Others to be ... And so think others of us."
+                                 SCHEFER.
+
+When the buds burst forth we will burst forth also! had Otto and
+Wilhelm often said. Their plan was, in the spring to travel
+immediately to Paris, but on their way to visit the Rhine, and to
+sail from Cologne to Strasburg.
+
+"Yes, one must see the Rhine first!" said Cousin Joachim; "when one
+has seen Switzerland and Italy, it does not strike one nearly as
+much. That must be your first sight; but you should not see it in
+spring, but toward autumn. When the vines have their full variety
+of tint, and the heavy grapes hang from the stems, see, it is then
+the old ruins stand forth. These are the gardens of the Rhine!
+Another advantage which you have in going there in autumn is that
+you then enter Paris in winter, and that one must do; then one does
+not come post festum; then is the heyday of gayety--the theatre,
+the soirees, and everything which can interest the beau monde."
+
+Although Otto did not generally consider the cousin's words of much
+weight, he this time entered wonderfully into his views. "It would
+certainly be the most prudent to commence their journey toward
+autumn," he thought: "there could be no harm in preparing
+themselves a little more for it!"
+
+"That is always good!" said Joachim; "but, what is far more
+advantageous abroad than all the preparations you can make at home,
+is said in a few words--give up all intercourse with your own
+country-people! Nowadays every one travels! Paris is not now
+further from us than Hamburg was some thirty years ago. When I was
+in Paris I found there sixteen or seventeen of my countrymen. O,
+how they kept together! Eleven of them dwelt in the same hotel:
+they drank coffee together, walked out together, went to the
+restaurateur's together, and took together half a bench in the
+theatre. That is the most foolish thing a person can do! I consider
+travelling useful for every one, from the prince to the travelling
+journeyman. But we allow too many people to travel! We are not
+rich, therefore restrictions should be made. The creative artist,
+the poet, the engineer, and the physician must travel; but God
+knows why theologians should go forth. They can become mad enough
+at home! They come into Catholic countries, and then there is an
+end of them! Wherefore should book-worms go forth? They shut
+themselves up in the diligence and in their chambers, rummage a
+little in the libraries, but not so much as a pinch of snuff do
+they do us any good when they return! Those who cost the most
+generally are of the least use, and bring the country the least
+honor! I, thank God! paid for my journey myself, and am therefore
+free to speak my opinion!"
+
+We will now hear what Miss Sophie said, and therefore advance a few
+days.
+
+"We keep you then with us till August!" said she, once when she was
+alone with Otto. "That is wise! You can spend some time with us in
+Funen, and gather strength for your journey. Yes, the journey will
+do you good!"
+
+"I hope so!" answered Otto. "I am perhaps able to become as
+interesting as your cousin, as amiable!"
+
+"That would be requiring too much from you!" said Sophie, bantering
+him. "You will never have his humor, his facility in catching up
+character. You will only preach against the depravity of the
+Parisians; you will only be able to appreciate the melancholy
+grandeur of Switzerland and the solitude of the Hungarian forests."
+
+"You would make a misanthrope of me, which I by no means am."
+
+"But you have an innate talent for this character!" answered
+Sophie. "Something will certainly be polished away by this journey,
+and it is on account of this change that I rejoice."
+
+"Must one, then, have a light, fickle mood to please you?" asked
+Otto.
+
+"Yes, certainly!" answered Sophie, ironically.
+
+"Then it is true what your cousin told me!" said Otto. "If one will
+be fortunate with the ladies, one must at least be somewhat
+frivolous, fond of pleasure, and fickle,--that makes one
+interesting. Yes, he has made himself acquainted with the world, he
+has experience in everything!"
+
+"Yes, perfectly!" said Sophie, and laughed aloud.
+
+Otto was silent, with contracted brow.
+
+"I wish you sunshine!" said Sophie, and smiling raised her finger.
+Otto remained unchanged--he wrinkled his brow.
+
+"You must change very much!" said she, half gravely; and danced out
+of the room.
+
+Three weeks passed by, rich in great events in the kingdom of the
+heart; it was still a diplomatic secret: the eyes betrayed it by
+their pantomimic language, the mouth alone was silent, and it is
+after all the deciding power.
+
+Otto visited the merchant's family. Maren had departed just the day
+before. In vain had she awaited his visit throughout the three
+weeks.
+
+"You quite forget your true friends!" said the ladies. "Believe us,
+Maja was a little angry with you, and yet we have messages. Now she
+is sailing over the salt sea."
+
+This was not precisely the case; she was already on land, and just
+at this moment was driving over the brown heath, thinking of
+Copenhagen and the pleasures there, and of the sorrow also--it is
+so sad to be forgotten by a friend of childhood! Otto was so
+handsome, so clever--she did not dream at all how handsome and
+clever she herself would appear at home. Beauty and cleverness they
+had discovered in her before she left; now she had been in the
+capital, and that gives relief.
+
+The little birds fluttered round the carriage; perhaps they sang to
+her what should happen in two years: "Thou wilt be a bride, the
+secretary's lovely little bride; thou shalt have both him and the
+musical-box! Thou wilt be the grandest lady in the town, and yet
+the most excellent mother. Thy first daughter shall be called Maja
+--that is a pretty name, and reminds thee of past days!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+"The monastery is still called 'Andersskov' (the wood of Anders) in
+memory of its being the habitation of the pious Anders.
+
+"The hill on which he awoke, comforted by sleep, is still called
+'Hvile hoi' (the hill of rest). A cross having a Latin inscription,
+half-effaced, marks the spot."--J. L. HEIBERG.
+
+It was spring, fresh, life-bearing spring! Only one day and one
+night, and the birds of passage were back again; the woods made
+themselves once more young with green, odorous leaves; the Sound
+had its swimming Venice of richly laden vessels; only one day and
+one night, and Sophie was removed from Otto--they were divided by
+the salt sea; but it was spring in his heart; from it flew his
+thoughts, like birds of passage, to the island of Funen, and there
+sang of summer. Hope gave him more "gold and green woods" than the
+ships bear through the Sound, more than Zealand's bays can show.
+Sophie at parting pressed his hand. In her eyes lay what his heart
+might hope and dream.
+
+He forgot that hope and dreams were the opposites of reality.
+
+Cousin Joachim had gone to Stockholm, and would not return either
+in the spring or summer to Funen. On the contrary, Otto intended to
+spend a few weeks at the country-seat; not before August would he
+and Wilhelm travel. There would at least be one happy moment, and
+many perhaps almost as happy. In his room stood a rose-bush, the
+first buds formed themselves, and opened their red lips--as pure
+and tender as these leaves was Sophie's cheek: he bent over the
+flower, smiled and read there sweet thoughts which were related to
+his love. A rose-bud is a sweet mystery.
+
+                   "The myriad leaves enmaze
+                    Small labyrinthine ways
+                    Where spicy odor flows,
+                    Thou lovelv bud o' the rose!"
+
+The day came on which Otto, after he had comfortably terminated his
+visits of leave-taking, at midday, in the company of three young
+students travelled away through Zealand. They had taken a carriage
+together as far as Slagelse, where, like Abraham's and Lot's
+shepherds, they should separate to the right and left. Otto
+remained alone, in order to travel post that night to Nyborg. It
+was only four o'clock in the afternoon, Otto had no acquaintance
+here, therefore it was but to take a walk.
+
+"There still exist remains of the old Antvorskov convent, [Author's
+Note: The convent was founded by Waldemar I., 1177.] do there not?"
+asked he.
+
+"Yes, but very little!" answered the host. "The convent became a
+castle, the castle a private house, and now within the last few
+years, on account of the stones, it has been still more pulled
+down. You will find nothing old remaining, except here and there in
+the garden a piece of a red wall standing out. But the situation is
+beautiful! If you will only take the road toward the large village
+called Landsgrav, you are on the way to Korsoer, and close to the
+cross of the holy Anders. It is a right pleasant excursion!"
+
+"Convent ruins and the holy cross!" said Otto; "that sounds quite
+romantic!" And he commenced his wanderings.
+
+A few scholars from the Latin school, with their books held
+together by a strait, and then a square built lancer, who greeted
+in military style an elderly-young lady, who was seated behind a
+barricade of geraniums and wall flowers, were the only individuals
+he met with on his way. Yet Otto remarked that the windows were
+opened as he passed; people wanted to see who the stranger might be
+who was going up the street.
+
+A long avenue led from the town to the castle. On either side the
+way lay detached houses, with little gardens. Otto soon reached the
+remains of old Antvorskov. The way was red from the stones which
+were flung about, and were now ground to dust. Huge pieces of wall,
+where the mortar and stone were united in one piece, lay almost
+concealed among the high nettles. Rather more distant stood a
+solitary house of two stories. It was narrow, and whitewashed. A
+thick pilaster, such as one sees in churches, supported the strong
+wall. This was half of the last wing of the castle,--a mingling of
+the ancient and incident, of ruin and dwelling-house.
+
+Otto went into the garden, which was laid out upon the hill itself,
+and its terraces. Here were only young trees; but the walks were
+everywhere overgrown. The view stretched itself far over the plain,
+toward the Belt and Funen. He descended from the terrace down to
+the lowest wall. In this there yet remained a piece of an old
+tombstone, of the age of the convent, on which you perceived the
+trace of a female form; and near to this the figure of a skeleton,
+round which was twined a snake. Otto stood sunk in contemplation,
+when an old man, with two water-buckets suspended from a yoke on
+his shoulders, approached a near well.
+
+The old man was very ready to commence a conversation. He told of
+excavations, and of an underground passage which had not been
+discovered, but which, according to his opinion, was certainly in
+existence. So far they had only found a few walled-round spaces,
+which had most probably been prisons. In one of these was an iron
+chain fastened into the wall. But with regard to the underground
+passage, they had only not yet discovered the right place, for it
+must exist. It led from here, deep under the lake and forest,
+toward Soroe. There were large iron gates below. At Christmas one
+could hear how they were swung to and fro. "Whoever should have
+that which is concealed there," said the old man, "would be a made
+man, and need not neither slip nor slide."
+
+Otto looked at the solitary wing which rose up over the terrace.
+How splendid it had been here in former times!
+
+Close to the large wood, several miles in extent, which stretches
+itself on the other side of Soroe, down to the shore of the King's
+Brook, lay the rich convent where Hans Tausen spoke what the Spirit
+inspired him with. Times changed; the convent vanished;
+                 "Halls of state
+      Tower upon that spot elate;
+      Where the narrow cell once stood;"
+[Author's Note: Anders-skov, by Oehlenschlager.]
+where the monks sang psalms, knights and ladies danced to the sound
+of beating drums: but these tone's ceased; the blooming cheeks
+became dust. It was again quiet. Many a pleasant time did Holberg
+ride over from Soroe, through the green wood, to visit the steward
+of Antvorskov. Otto recollected what one of his daughters, when an
+old woman, had related to a friend of his. She was a child, and lay
+in the cradle, when old Holberg came riding there, with a little
+wheaten loaf and a small pot of preserve in his pocket--his usual
+provision on such little excursions. The steward's young wife sat
+at her spinning-wheel. Holberg paced up and down the room with the
+husband; they were discussing politics. This interested the wife,
+and she joined in the conversation. Holberg turned round to her,--
+"I fancy the distaff speaks!" said he. This the wife could never
+forget. [Translator's Note: Rokkehoved, distaff, means also dunce
+in Danish.]
+
+Otto smiled at this recollection of the witty but ungallant poet,
+quitted the garden, and went through a winding hollow way, where
+the luxuriant briers hung in rich masses over the stone fence.
+Slagelse, with its high hills in the background, looked
+picturesque. He soon reached Landsgrav. The sun went down as he
+walked over the field where the wooden cross stands, with its
+figure of the Redeemer, in memory of the holy Anders. Near it he
+perceived a man, who appeared to kneel. One hand held fast by the
+cross; in the other was a sharp knife, with which he was probably
+cutting out his name. He did not observe Otto. Near the man lay a
+box covered with green oil-cloth; and in the grass lay a knapsack,
+a pair of boots, and a knotty stick. It must be a wandering
+journeyman, or else a pedlar.
+
+Otto was about to return, when the stranger rose and perceived him.
+Otto stood as if nailed to the earth. It was the German Heinrich
+whom he saw before him.
+
+"Is not that Mr. Thostrup?" said the man and that horrible grinning
+smile played around his mouth. "No, that I did not expect!"
+
+"Does it go well with you, Heinrich?" asked Otto.
+
+"There's room for things to mend!" replied Heinrich "It goes better
+with you! Good Lord, that you should become such a grand gentleman!
+Who would have thought it, when you rode on my knee, and I pricked
+you in the arm? Things go on strangely in this world! Have you
+heard of your sister? She was not so much spoiled as you! But she
+was a beautiful child!"
+
+"I have neither seen her nor my parents!" replied he, with a
+trembling which he strove to conquer. "Do you know where she is?"
+
+"I am always travelling!" said Heinrich; "but thus much I know,
+that she is still in Funen. Yes, she must take one of us, an
+unpretending husband! You can choose a genteel young lady for
+yourself. That's the way when people are lucky. You will become a
+landed proprietor. Old Heinrich will then no doubt obtain
+permission to exhibit his tricks on your estate? But none of its
+will speak of former times!--of the red house on the Odense water!"
+This last he whispered quite low. "I shall receive a few shillings
+from you?" he asked.
+
+"You shall have more!" said Otto, and gave to him. "But I wish us
+to remain strangers to each other, as we are!"
+
+"Yes, certainly, certainly!" said Heinrich, and nodded
+affirmatively with his head, whilst his eyes rested on the gift
+Otto had presented him with. "Then you are no longer angry with my
+joke in Jutland?" asked he with a simpering smile, and kissed
+Otto's hand. "I should not have known you then. Had you not shown
+me your shoulder, on which I saw the letters O and T which I myself
+had etched, it would never have occurred to me that we knew each
+other! But a light suddenly flashed across me. I should have said
+Otto Thostrup; but I said 'Odense Tugt-huus.' [Note: Odense house
+of correction.] That was not handsome of me, seeing you are such a
+good gentleman!"
+
+"Yes, now adieu!" said Otto, and extended to him unwillingly his
+hand.
+
+"There, our Saviour looks down upon us!" said the German Heinrich,
+and fixed his eyes upon the figure on the cross. "As certainly as
+He lives may you rely upon the silence of my mouth. He is my
+Redeemer, who hangs there on the cross, just as he is etched upon
+my skin, and as he stands along the high-roads in my father-land.
+Here is the only place in the whole country where the sign of the
+cross stands under the free heaven; here I worship: for you must
+know, Mr. Thostrup, I am not of your faith, but of the faith of the
+Virgin Mary. Here I have cut into the wood the holy sign, such as
+is placed over every door in my father-land,--an I, an H, and this
+S. In this is contained my own name; for H stands for Heinrich; I,
+for I myself; and S means Sinner; that is, I, Heinrich, Sinner. Now
+I have completed my worship, and you have given me a handsome
+skilling, I shall now go to my bed at the public-house; and if the
+girl is pretty, and lets one flatter her, I am still young enough,
+and shall fancy that I am Mr. Thostrup, and have won that most
+glorious, elegant young lady! Hurrah! it is a player's life which
+we lead!"
+
+Otto left him, but heard how Heinrich sang:
+           "Tri, ri, ro,
+   The summer comes once mo!
+     To beer, boys! to beer
+   The winter lies in bands, O!
+     And he who won't come here,
+   We'll trounce him with our wands, O!
+            Yo, yo, yo,
+   The summer comes once mo!"
+
+As, suddenly on a clear sunny day, a cloud can appear, extinguish
+the warm sunshine, conceal the green coast, and change everything
+into gray mist forms, so was it now with Otto, who had but just
+before felt himself so happy and full of youthful joy.
+
+"You can sleep quietly!" said the host, when Otto returned to
+Slagelse; "you shall be wakened early enough to leave with the
+mail."
+
+But his rest was like a delirium.
+
+The post-horn sounded in the empty street; they rolled away--it was
+at daybreak.
+
+"Is that a gallows?" inquired one of the travellers, and pointed toward
+the hill, where at this distance the cross looked like a stake.
+
+"That is the cross of the holy Anders!" replied Otto; and livingly
+stood before him the recollections of the evening before.
+
+"Does that really exist?" said the stranger. "I have read of it in
+the 'Letters of a Wandering Ghost.'"
+
+This was a beautiful morning, the sun shone warmly, the sea was
+smooth as a mirror, and so much the faster did the steamboat glide
+away. The vessel with the mail, which had set sail two hours
+earlier, still lay not far from land. The sails hung down loosely;
+not a breeze stirred them.
+
+The steamboat glided close past her; the passengers in the mail-vessel,
+the greater portion coachmen, travelling journeymen, and peasants,
+stood on the deck to see it. They waved greetings. One of the
+foremost leaned on his knotty stick, pulled off his hat, and
+shouted, "Good morning, my noble gentlefolk!" It was the German
+Heinrich; he then was going to Funen. Otto's heart beat faster, he
+gazed down among the rushing waves which foamed round the paddle,
+where the sunbeams painted a glorious rainbow.
+
+"That is lovely!" said one of the strangers, close to him.
+
+"Very lovely!" returned Otto, and stilled the sigh which would
+burst forth from his breast.
+
+Scarcely two hours were fled--the cables were flung upon the Nyborg
+bridge of boats, and the steamboat made fast to the island of Funen.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+"It is so sweet when friendly hands bid you a hearty welcome, so
+dear to behold well-known features, wherever you turn your eyes.
+Everything seems so home-like and quiet about you and in your own
+breast."   HENRIETTE HAUCK.
+
+Otto immediately hired a carriage, and reached the hall just about
+dinner-time. In the interior court-yard stood two calashes and an
+Holstein carriage; two strange coachmen, with lace round their
+hats, stood in animated discourse when Otto drove in through the
+gate. The postilion blew his horn.
+
+"Be quiet there!" cried Otto.
+
+"There are strangers at the hall!" said the postilion; "I will only
+let them know that another is coming."
+
+Otto gazed at the garden, glanced up toward the windows, where mine
+of the ladies showed themselves only out of a side building a
+female head was stretched out, whose hair was put back underneath a
+cap. Otto recognized the grown-together eyebrows. "Is she the first
+person I am to see here?" sighed he; and the carriage rolled into
+the inner court. The dogs barked, the turkey-cocks gobbled, but not
+Wilhelm showed himself. The Kammerjunker came--the excellent
+neighbor! and immediately afterward Sophie; both exclaimed with
+smiles, "Welcome!"
+
+"See, here we have our man!" said the Kammerjunker; "we can make
+use of him in the play!"
+
+"It is glorious you are come!" cried Sophie. "We shall immediately
+put you under arrest." She extended her hand to him--he pressed it
+to his lips. "We will have tableaux vivants this evening!" said
+she: "the pastor has never seen any. We have no service from
+Wilhelm; he is in Svendborg, and will not return for two days. You
+must be the officer; the Kammerjunker will represent the
+Somnambulist, who comes with her light through the window. Will
+you?"
+
+"Everything you desire!" said Otto.
+
+"Do not speak of it!" returned Sophie, and laid her finger on her
+lips. The mother descended the steps.
+
+"Dear Thostrup!" said she, and pressed, with warm cordiality, both
+his hands. "I have really quite yearned after you. Now Wilhelm is
+away, you must for two whole days put up with us alone."
+
+Otto went through the long passage where hung the old portraits; it
+was as if these also wished welcome. It only seemed a night full of
+many dreams which had passed since he was here; a year in the lapse
+of time is also not so long as a winter's night in the life of man.
+
+Here it was so agreeable, so home-like; no one could have seen by
+the trees that since then they had stood stripped of leaves and
+covered with snow; luxuriantly green they waved themselves in the
+sun's warmth, just as when Otto last gazed out of this window.
+
+He had the red room as before. The dinner-bell rang.
+
+Louise met him in the passage.
+
+"Thostrup!" exclaimed she, with delight, and seized his hand. "Now,
+it is almost a year and a day since I saw you!"
+
+"Yes much has happened in this year!" said the Kammerjunker. "Come
+soon to me, and you shall see what I have had made for pastime--a
+bowling-green! Miss Sophie has tried her skill upon it."
+
+The Kammerjunker took the mother to dinner. Otto approached Sophie.
+
+"Will you not take the Kammerjunker's sister?" whispered she.
+
+Mechanically, Otto made his bow before Miss Jakoba.
+
+"Take one of the young ladies!" said she; "you would rather do
+that?"
+
+Otto bowed, cast a glance toward Sophie; she had the old pastor.
+Otto smiled, and conducted Jakoba to table.
+
+The Mamsell, renowned through her work-box, sat on his left hand.
+He observed the company who, beside those we have already
+mentioned, consisted of several ladies and gentlemen whom he did
+not know. One chair was empty, but it was soon occupied; a young
+girl, quiet in her attire, and dressed like Louise, entered.
+
+"Why do you come so late?" asked Sophie, smiling.
+
+"That is only known to Eva and me!" said Louise, and smiled at the
+young girl.
+
+Eva seated herself. It was, perhaps, the complete resemblance of
+their dress which induced Otto to observe both her and Louise so
+closely, and even against his own will to draw comparisons. Both
+wore a simple dark brown dress, a small sea-green handkerchief
+round the neck. Louise seemed to him enchanting--pretty one could
+not call her: Eva, on the contrary, was ideal; there lay something
+in her appearance which made him think of the pale pink hyacinth.
+Every human being has his invisible angel, says the mythos; both
+are different and yet resemble each other. Eva was the angel;
+Louise, on the contrary, the human being in all its purity. Otto's
+eyes encountered those of Sophie--they were both directed to the
+same point. "What power! what beauty!" thought he. Her mind is far
+above that of Louise, and in beauty she is a gorgeous flower, and
+not, like Eva, a fine, delicate hyacinth. He drew eloquence from
+these eyes, and became interesting like the cousin, although he had
+not been in Paris.
+
+The Kammerjunker spoke of sucking-pigs, but that also was
+interesting; perhaps be drew his inspiration out of the same source
+as Otto. He spoke of the power of green buckwheat, and how the
+swine which eat it become mad. From this doubtless originated the
+legend of the devil entering into the swine. It is only coal-black
+pigs which can digest green buckwheat; if they have a single white
+speck upon them, they become ill at eating. "This is extraordinary,"
+exclaimed he.
+
+In his enthusiasm his discourse became almost a cry, which caused
+Miss Jakoba to say that one might almost think that he himself had
+eaten green buckwheat.
+
+Otto meantime cut out of the green melon-peel a man, and made him
+ride on the edge of his glass; that withdrew Sophie's attention
+from the Kammerjunker. The whole company found that this little
+cut-out figure was very pretty; and the Mamsell begged that she
+might have it--it should lie in her work-box.
+
+Toward evening all were in preparation for the approaching tableaux.
+
+Eva must represent Hero. With a torch in her hand she must kneel on
+a table, which was to be draped so as to represent a balcony. The
+poor girl felt quite unhappy at having to appear in this manner.
+Sophie laughed at her fear, and assured her that she would be
+admired, and that therefore she must and should.
+
+"Give way to my sister," said Louise, in a beseeching voice; and
+Eva was ready, let down her long brown hair, and allowed Sophie to
+arrange the drapery.
+
+Otto must put on an officer's uniform. He presented himself to the
+sisters.
+
+"That gold is not sewn fast on the collar," said Sophie, and
+undertook to rectify it. He could easily keep the uniform on whilst
+she did this, said she. Her soft hand touched Otto's cheek, it was
+like an electric shock to him; his blood burned; how much he longed
+to press the hand to his lips!
+
+They all burst out laughing when the Kammerjunker appeared in a
+white petticoat which only reached a little below the knee, and in
+a large white lady's dressing-jacket. Miss Sophie must arrange his
+hair. She did it charmingly; her hand stroked the hair away from
+his brow, and glided over his cheeks: he kissed it; she struck him
+in the face, and begged him not to forget himself! "We are ladies,"
+said he, and rose in his full splendor. They all laughed except
+Otto; he could not--he felt a desire to beat him. The spectators
+arranged themselves in a dark room, the folding doors were opened.
+
+Eva as Hero, in a white linen robe, her hair hanging down on her
+shoulders, and a torch in her hand, gazed out over the sea. No
+painter could have imagined anything more beautiful; the large
+dark-blue eyes expressed tenderness and melancholy; it was Eva's
+natural glance, but here you saw her quiet. The fine black eyebrows
+increased the expression, the whole figure was as if breathed into
+the picture.
+
+Now followed a new picture--Faust and Margaret in the arbor; behind
+stood Mephistophiles, with his devilish smile. The Kammerjunker's
+Mamsell was Margaret. When the doors were opened she sent forth
+aloud cry, and ran away; she would not stay, she was so afraid. The
+group was disarranged, people laughed and found it amusing, but the
+Kammerjunker scolded aloud, and swore that she should come in
+again; at that the laughter of the spectators increased, and was
+not lessened when the Kammerjunker, forgetting his costume as the
+Somnambule, half stepped into the frame in which the pictures were
+represented, and seated the Mamsell on the bench. This group was
+only seen for one moment: the dorors were again closed; the
+spectators applauded, but a whistle was heard. Laughter, and the
+hum of conversation, resounded through the room; and it was
+impossible to obtain perfect quiet, although a new picture already
+shone in the frame. It was Sophie as Correggio's "Magdalene": her
+rich hair fell in waves over her shoulders and round arms; before
+her lay the skull and the holy book.
+
+Otto's blood flowed faster; never had he seen Sophie more
+beautiful. The audience, however, could not entirely forget the
+comic scene which they had just witnessed; there was heard a faint
+suppressed laughter.
+
+This at length was able to take its free course when the following
+picture presented itself, where the Kammerjunker, as the Somnambule,
+his hand half-concealing the extinguished light, showed himself at
+the open window.
+
+A most stormy burst of applause was awarded to the actors.
+
+"Miss Sophie has arranged the whole!" cried the Kammerjunker, and
+now her name sounded from the lips of all the audience.
+
+Not before two days did Wilhelm return. He and Otto slept in the
+same apartment. Otto told of the tableaux, and said how lovely Eva
+had been as Hero.
+
+"That I can well believe," replied Wilhelm, but did not enter
+further into the subject; he laughed about the Kammerjunker and the
+disarranged group.
+
+Otto again named Eva, but Wilhelm lightly passed over this subject
+in his replies. Otto could not fathom their connection.
+
+"Shall we not go to sleep?" said Wilhelm; they wished each other
+good-night, and it was quiet.
+
+The old man Sleep, as Tieck has described him, with the box out of
+which he brings his dream-puppets, now commenced his nightly
+dramatic adventures, which lasted until the sun shone in through
+the window.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+"He draws nearer and nearer to her.
+'O, give my hope an answer by this pink-flower.'
+She sighs: 'O, I will--no--I will not.'"
+                        The Dancer, by PALUDAN-MULLER
+
+"I shall get to know!" thought Otto. "This violent love cannot be
+evaporated." He paid attention to every little occurrence. Eva was
+the same quiet, modest creature as formerly--a house-fairy who
+exercised a friendly influence over all. Wilhelm spoke with her,
+but not with passion, neither with affected indifference. However,
+we cannot entirely rely upon Otto's power of observation: his
+glance was directed too often toward a dearer object--his attention
+was really directed to Sophie.
+
+They walked in the garden.
+
+"Once as you certainly know," said Otto, "your brother had a fancy
+for the pretty Eva. Is it not, therefore, somewhat dangerous her
+living here? Has your mother been prudent?"
+
+"For Wilhelm I am quite unconcerned!" answered Sophie. "Only take
+care of yourself! Eva is very amiable, and has very much changed
+for the better since she came here. My sister Louise quite raves
+about her, and my mother regards her almost as an adopted daughter.
+You have certainly remarked that she is not kept in the background.
+Yet she is weak; she resembles the tender mountain-flowers which
+grow in ice and snow, but which bow their heads in the soft
+mountain air, when it is warmed by the sun. It really seems to me
+that she is become weaker since she has enjoyed our care and happy
+days. When I saw her at Roeskelde she was far more blooming."
+
+"Perhaps she thinks of your brother--thinks of him with quiet sorrow?"
+
+"That I do not think is the case," replied Sophie; "otherwise
+Louise would have heard something of it. She possesses Eva's entire
+confidence. You may make yourself easy, if you are jealous!"
+
+"What make you conjecture this? My thoughts are directed above, and
+not beneath me!" said he, with a kind of pride, "I feel that I
+could never fall in love with Eva. Feel love toward her? no! Even
+when I think of it, I feel almost as though I had some prejudice
+against her. But you joke; you will rally me, as you have so often
+done. We shall soon part! Only two months longer shall I remain in
+Denmark! Two long years abroad! How much may occur in that time!
+Will you think of me--really think of me, Miss Sophie?" He bent,
+and kissed her hand.
+
+Sophie became crimson. Both were silent.
+
+"Are you here!" said the mother, who came out of a side walk.
+
+Otto stooped lower, and broke one of the beautiful stocks which
+hung over the border.
+
+"Are you taking Louise's favorite flowers?" said she, smiling.
+"This bed is declared to be inviolable."
+
+"I was so unfortunate as to break it!" said Otto, confused.
+
+"He wished to gather the dark-red pink for my table-garland!" said
+Sophie. "If he took it, my conscience would be clear!"
+
+And they all three walked along speaking of cherries, gooseberries,
+of the linen on the bleaching-ground, and of the warm summer's day.
+
+In the evening Eva and the two sisters sat at their work, Otto and
+Wilhelm had taken their seats beside them. They spoke of Copenhagen.
+
+Sophie knew how to introduce a number of little anecdotes, which
+she had gathered among the young ladies there. Otto entered into
+her ideas, and knew cleverly how to support what she said. What in
+reality interested young ladies was discussed.
+
+"When a girl is confirmed, all manner of fancies awake!" said Otto.
+"She experiences a kind of inclination for the heart of man; but
+this may not be acknowledged, except for two friends to the
+clergyman and the physician. For these she has quite a passion,
+especially for the former; she stands in a kind of spiritual
+rapport with him. His physical amiability melts into the spiritual.
+Thus her first love one may designate clergyman-love."
+
+"That is well said!" exclaimed Sophie.
+
+"He preaches himself so deeply into her heart!" pursued Otto. "She
+melts into tears, kisses his hand, and goes to church; but not for
+the sake of God, but on account of the sweet clergyman!"
+
+"O, I know that so well!" said Sophie, and laughed.
+
+"Fie! you do not mean so!" said Louise; "and I do not know how you
+can say such a thing Mr. Thostrup! That is frightful! You do not in
+the least know a young girl's soul! do not know the pure feeling
+with which she inclines herself to the man who has laid open before
+her the holy things of religion! Do not make sport of the innocent,
+the pure, which is so far removed from every earthly impression!"
+
+"I assure you," said Otto, smiling, "were I a poet, I would make
+the clergyman-love ridiculous in a hundred witty epigrams; and were
+I a teacher, I would protest against it from the chair."
+
+"That would be scattering poison into a well!" said Louise. "You,
+as a man, do not know the pure, the holy sentiment which exists in
+a young girl's bosom. Eva, thou art certainly of my opinion?"
+
+"Neither is this Mr. Thostrup's opinion?" answered she, and looked
+at him with a mild gravity.
+
+Wilhelm laughed aloud.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+
+"Alas, I am no sturdy oak!
+Alas, I'm but the flower
+  That wakes the kiss of May!
+And when has fled its little hour,
+  Will voice of Death obey."--RUCKERT.
+
+The following afternoon came visitors--two young ladies from
+Nyborg, friends of Sophie and Louise. Before dinner they would take
+a walk through the wood to an inclosure where the flax was in bloom.
+Otto was to accompany them.
+
+"I am also of the party!" said the Kammerjunker, who just galloped
+into the court-yard as the ladies, with Otto, were about setting
+out on their excursion. Thus the whole company consisted of five
+ladies and two gentlemen.
+
+"The cows are not in the field over which we must go, are they?"
+asked Eva.
+
+"No, my good girl!" returned Sophie; "you may be quite easy!
+Besides, we have two gentlemen with us."
+
+"Yes; but they would not be able to protect us from the unruly
+bullocks!" said Louise. "But we have nothing to fear. Where we are
+going the cows do not go until after they are milked. I am no
+heroine! Besides, it is not long since one bullock nearly gored the
+cowherd to death. He also gored Sidsel a great hole in her arm just
+lately: you remember the girl with her eyebrows grown together?"
+
+"There is also in the wood a wild sow, with eleven sucking pigs!"
+said Sophie, in ironical gravity; "it would not be agree able to
+meet with her!"
+
+"She is almost as dangerous as the bullocks!" said the Kammerjunker,
+ and laughed at Eva.
+
+The conversation took another turn.
+
+"Shall we not visit Peter Cripple?" asked Sophie. "The gentlemen
+can then see the smith's pretty daughter; she is really too
+beautiful to be his wife!"
+
+"Is Peter Cripple married?" inquired Otto.
+
+"No, the wedding will be held on Sunday!" replied the Kammerjunker;
+"but the bride is already in the house. The bans were published
+last Sunday, and they immediately commenced housekeeping together.
+This often takes place even earlier, when a man cannot do without a
+wife. She has taken him on account of his full money-bags!"
+
+"Yes, with the peasant it is seldom love which brings about the
+affair!" said Louise. "Last year there was quite a young girl who
+married a man who might have been her grandfather. She took him
+only, she said, because he had such a good set of earthenware."
+
+"These were very brittle things to marry upon!" remarked Otto.
+
+Meantime they were nearly come to the edge of the wood. Here stood
+a little house; hops hung luxuriantly over the hedge, the cat stood
+with bent back upon the crumbling edge of the well.
+
+Sophie, at the head of the whole company, stepped into the room,
+where Peter Cripple sat on the table sewing; but, light and active
+as an elf, he sprang down from the table to kiss her hand. The
+smith's pretty daughter was stirring something in an iron pot in
+the hearth. St. John's wort, stuck between the beams and the
+ceiling, shot forth in luxuriant growth, prophesying long life to
+the inhabitants of the house. On the sooty ceiling glittered
+herrings' souls, as a certain portion of the herring's entrails is
+called, and which Peter Cripple, following the popular belief, had
+flung up to the ceiling, convinced that so long as they hung there
+he should be freed from the ague.
+
+Otto took no part in the conversation, but turned over a quantity
+of songs which he found; they were stitched together in a piece of
+blue tobacco-paper. The principal contents were, "New, Melancholy
+Songs," "Of the Horrible Murder," "The Audacious Criminal," "The
+Devil in Salmon Lane," "Boat's Fall," and such things; which have
+now supplanted, among the peasants, the better old popular songs.
+
+With Louise, Eva, and one of the ladies from Nyborg, Otto slowly
+preceded the others, who had still some pleasantries to say before
+leaving Peter Cripple and his bride.
+
+"Shall we not go over the inclosure to the cairn?" said Louise. "It
+is clear to-day; we shall see Zealand. The others will follow us;
+here, from the foot-path, they will immediately discover us."
+
+Otto opened the gate and they went through the inclosure. They had
+already advanced a considerable way, when the Kammerjunker and his
+ladies reached the foot-path from which they could see the others.
+
+"They are going to the cairn," said he.
+
+"Then they will have a little fright!" said Sophie. "Down in the
+corner of the inclosure lie the young cattle. They may easily
+mistake them for cows, and the wild bullocks!"
+
+"Had we not better call them back?" asked the other lady.
+
+"But we must frighten them a little," said Sophie. "Shout to them
+that there are the cows!"
+
+"Yes, that I can do with a clear conscience!" said the Kammerjunker;
+and he shouted as loud as he could, "There are the cows! Turn back!
+turn back!"
+
+Eva heard it the first. "O God!" said she, "hear what they are
+calling to us!"
+
+Otto glanced around, but saw no cows.
+
+"They are standing still!" said Sophie; "call once again!"
+
+The Kammerjunker shouted as before, and Sophie imitated the lowing
+of the cows. At this noise the young cattle arose.
+
+Louise now became aware of them. "O heavens!" exclaimed she;
+"there, down in the corner of the inclosure, are all the cows!"
+
+"Let us run!" cried Eva, and took to flight.
+
+"For God's sake, do not run!" cried Otto; "walk slowly and quietly,
+otherwise they may come!"
+
+"Come away, away!" resounded from the wood.
+
+"O Lord!" shrieked Eva, when she saw the creatures raise their
+tails in the air as soon as they perceived the fugitives.
+
+"Now they are coming!" cried the lady who accompanied them, and
+sent forth a loud scream.
+
+Eva fled first, as if borne by the wind; the lady followed her, and
+Louise ran on after them.
+
+Otto now really saw all the cattle, which, upon the ladies flight,
+had instinctively followed, chasing over the field after them in
+the same direction.
+
+Nothing now remained for him but, like the others, to reach the
+gate. This he opened, and had just closed again, when the cattle
+were close upon them, but no one had eyes to see whether the cattle
+were little or big.
+
+"Now there is no more danger!" cried Otto, as soon as he had well
+closed the gate; but the ladies still fled on, passing among the
+trees until they reached the spot where the Kammerjunker and his
+two ladies awaited them with ringing laughter.
+
+Sophie was obliged to support herself against a tree through all
+the amusement. It had been a most remarkable spectacle, this
+flight; Eva at the head, and Mr. Thostrup rushing past them to open
+the gate. Louise was pale as death, and her whole body trembled; the
+friend supported her arm and forehead on a tree, and drew a long
+breath.
+
+"Bah!" again cried Sophie, and laughed.
+
+"But where is Eva?" asked Otto, and shouted her name.
+
+"She ran here before me!" said Louise; "she is doubtless leaning
+against a tree, and recovering her strength."
+
+"Eva!" cried Sophie. "Where is my hero: 'I want a hero!'"
+[Author's Note: Byron's Don Juan.]
+
+Otto returned to seek her. At this moment Wilhelm arrived.
+
+The Kammerjunker regretted that he had not seen the race with them,
+and related the whole history to him.
+
+"O come! come!" they heard Otto shout. They found him kneeling in
+the high grass. Eva lay stretched out on the ground; she was as
+pale as death; her head rested in Otto's lap.
+
+"God in heaven!" cried Wilhelm, and flung himself down before her.
+"Eva! Eva! O, she is dead! and thou art to blame for it, Sophie!
+Thou hast killed her!" Reproachfully he fixed his eyes on his
+sister. She burst into tears, and concealed her face in her hands.
+
+Otto ran to the peasant's cottage and brought water. Peter Cripple
+himself hopped like a mountain-elf behind him through the high
+nettles and burdocks, which closed above and behind him again.
+
+The Kammerjunker took Eva in his strong arms and carried her to the
+cottage. Wilhelm did not leave hold of her hand. The others
+followed in silence.
+
+"Try and get her home," said Wilhelm; "I myself will fetch the
+physician!" He rushed forth, and hastened through the wood to the
+ball, where he ordered the men to bring out a sedan-chair for the
+invalid; then had horses put into one of the lightest carriages,
+seated himself in it as coachman, and drove away to Nyborg, the
+nearest town, which, however, was distant almost twenty miles.
+
+Sophie was inconsolable. "It is my fault!" she said, and wept.
+
+Otto found her sitting before the house, under an elder-tree. She
+could not endure to see Eva's paleness.
+
+"You are innocent," said Otto. "Believe me, to-morrow Eva will be
+completely restored! She herself," added he, in an assuaging tone,
+"behaved in an imprudent manner. I warned her not to run. Her own
+terror is to blame for all."
+
+"No, no," returned Sophie; "my folly, my extravagance, has caused
+the whole misfortune!"
+
+"Now it is much better," said the Kammerjunker, coming out of the
+house. "She must be devilish tender to fly before a few calves! I
+really must laugh when I think of it, although it did come to such
+an end!"
+
+The men now arrived whom Wilhelm had sent with the sedan-chair.
+
+Eva thought she could walk, if she might lean upon some one; but it
+would be better, her friends thought, if she were carried.
+
+"Dost thou feel any pain?" asked Louise, and gave her a sisterly
+kiss on the brow.
+
+"No, none at all," replied Eva. "Do not scold me for having
+frightened you so. I am so fearful, and the bullock were close
+behind us."
+
+"They were, God help me, only calves!" answered the Kammerjunker;
+"they wished to play, and only ran because you ran!"
+
+"It was a foolish joke of mine!" said Sophie, and seized Eva's
+hand. "I am very unhappy about it!"
+
+"O no!" said Eva, and smiled so pensively, yet happily. "To-morrow
+I shall be quite well again!" Her eye seemed to seek some one.
+
+Otto understood the glance. "The physician is sent for. Wilhelm has
+himself driven over for him."
+
+Toward the middle of the wood the mother herself approached them;
+she was almost as pale as Eva.
+
+All sought to calm her; Eva bowed her head to kiss the good lady's
+hand. The Kammerjunker told the story to her, and she shook her
+head. "What an imprudent, foolish joke!" said she; "here you see
+the consequences!"
+
+Not before late in the afternoon did Wilhelm return with the
+physician; he found his patient out of all danger, but prescribed
+what should still be done. Quiet and the warm summer air would do
+the most for her.
+
+"See," said Otto, when, toward evening he met Sophie in the garden,
+"to-day Wilhelm did not conceal his feelings!"
+
+"I fear that you are right!" returned Sophie. "He loves Eva, and
+that is very unfortunate. Tell me what you know about it."
+
+"I know almost nothing!" said Otto, and told about little Jonas and
+the first meeting with Eva.
+
+"Yes, that he has told us already himself! But do you know nothing
+more?" Her voice became soft, and her eyes gazed full of confidence
+into Otto's.
+
+He related to her the short conversation which he had had last
+autumn with Wilhelm, how angry he had been with his candid warning,
+and how since then they had never spoken about Eva.
+
+"I must confide my fear to our mother!" said Sophie. "I almost now
+am glad that he will travel in two months, although we shall then
+lose you also!"
+
+And Otto's heart beat; the secret of his heart pressed to his lips;
+every moment he would speak it. But Sophie had always still another
+question about her brother; they were already out of the garden,
+already in the court-yard, and yet Otto had said nothing.
+
+Therefore was he so quiet when, late in the evening, he and Wilhelm
+entered their chamber. Wilhelm also spoke no word, but his eye
+repeatedly rested expectantly on Otto, as if waiting for him to
+break the silence. Wilhelm stepped to the open window and drank in
+the fresh air, suddenly he turned round, flung his arms round Otto,
+and exclaimed, "I can no longer endure it! I must say it to some
+one! I love her, and will never give her up, let every one be
+opposed! I have now silently concealed my feelings for some months;
+I can do so no longer, or I shall become ill, and for that I am not
+made!"
+
+"Does she know this?" asked Otto.
+
+"No, and yes! I do not know what I should answer! Here at home I
+have never spoken alone with her. The last time when Weyse played
+on the organ at Roeskelde I had bought a pretty silk handkerchief,
+and this I took with me for her; I know not, but I wished to give
+her pleasure. There came a woman past with lovely stocks; I stood
+at the open window; she offered me a bouquet, and I bought it.
+'Those are lovely flowers!' said Eva, when she entered. 'They will
+fade with me!' said I; 'put them in water and keep there for
+yourself!' She wished only to have a few, but I obliged her to take
+them all: she blushed, and her eyes gazed strangely down into my
+soul. I know not what sort of a creature I became, but it was
+impossible for me to give her the handkerchief; it seemed to me
+that this would almost be an offense. Eva went away with the
+flowers, but the next morning it seemed to me that she was uneasy;
+I fancied I saw her color come and go when I bade her adieu! She
+must have read the thoughts in my soul!"
+
+"And the handkerchief?" interrupted Otto.
+
+"I gave it to my sister Sophie," said Wilhelm.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV
+
+        "Tell me
+What would my heart?
+  My heart's with thee,
+With thee would have a part."
+          GOETHE'S West-ostlicher Divan.
+
+"There stands the man again--
+The man with gloomy mien."
+        Memories of Travel, by B. C. INGEMANN.
+
+Several days passed; the fine crimson again returned to Eva's
+cheeks. The first occasion of her going out with the others was to
+see the rape-stalks burned. These were piled together in two
+immense stacks. In the morning, at the appointed hour, which had
+been announced through the neighborhood that no one might mistake
+it for a conflagration, the stalks were set fire to. This took
+place in the nearest field, close beside the hall, where the
+rape-seed was threshed upon an out-spread sail.
+
+The landscape-painter, Dahl, has given us a picture of the burning
+Vesuvius, where the red lava pours down the side of the mountain;
+in the background one sees across the bay as far as Naples and
+Ischia: it is a piece full of great effect. Such a splendid
+landscape is not to be found in flat Denmark, where there are no
+great natural scenes, and yet this morning presented even there a
+picture with the same brilliant coloring. We will study it. In the
+foreground there is a hedge of hazels, the nuts hang in great
+clusters, and contrast strongly with their bright green against the
+dark leaves; the blue chicory-flower and the blood-red poppy grew
+on the side of the ditch, upon which are some tall rails, over
+which the ladies have to climb: the delicate sylph-like figure is
+Eva. In the field, where nothing remains but the yellow stubble,
+stand Otto and Wilhelm; two magnificent hounds wag their tails
+beside them. To the left is a little lake, thickly overgrown with
+reeds and water-lilies, with the yellow trollius for its border. In
+the front, where the wood retreats, lie, like a great stack, the
+piled-together rape-stalks: the man has struck fire, has kindled
+the outer side of them, and with a rapidity like that of the
+descending lava the red fire flashes up the gigantic pile. It
+crackles and roars within it. In a moment it is all a burning
+mound; the red flames flash aloft into the blue air, high above
+the wood which is now no longer visible. A thick black smoke
+ascends up into the clear air, where it rests like a cloud. Out of
+the flames, and even out of the smoke, the wind carries away large
+masses of fire, which, crackling and cracking, are borne on to the
+wood, and which fill the spectator with apprehension of their
+falling upon the nearest trees and burning up leaf and branch.
+
+"Let us go further off," said Sophie; "the heat is too great here."
+
+They withdrew to the ditch.
+
+"O, how many nuts!" exclaimed Wilhelm; "and I do not get one of
+them! I shall go after them if they be ripe."
+
+"But you have grapes and other beautiful fruit!" said Eva smiling.
+"We have our beautiful things at home!"
+
+"Yes, it is beautiful, very beautiful at home!" exclaimed Wilhelm;
+"glorious flowers, wild nuts; and there we have Vesuvius before
+us!" He pointed to the burning pile.
+
+"No," said Sophie; "it seems to me much more like the pile upon
+which the Hindoo widow lays herself alive to be burned! That must
+be horrible!"
+
+"One should certainly be very quickly dead!" said Eva.
+
+"Would you actually allow yourself to be burned to death, if you
+were a Hindoo widow--after, for instance, Mr. Thostrup, or after
+Wilhelm," said she, with a slight embarrassment, "if he lay dead in
+the fire?"
+
+"If it were the custom of the country, and I really had lost the
+only support which I had in the world--yes, so I would!"
+
+"O, no, no!" said Louise.
+
+"In fact it is brilliant!" exclaimed Sophie.
+
+"Burning is not, perhaps, the most painful of deaths!" said Otto,
+and plucked in an absent manner the nuts from the hedge. "I know a
+story about a true conflagration."
+
+"What is it like?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"Yet it is not a story to tell in a large company; it can only be
+heard when two and two are together. When I have an opportunity, I
+shall tell it!"
+
+"O, I know it!" said Wilhelm. "You can relate it to one of my
+sisters there, whichever you like best! Then I shall--yes, I must
+relate it to Eva!"
+
+"It is too early in the day to hear stories told!" said Louise;
+"let us rather sing a song!"
+
+"No, then we shall have to weep in the evening," replied Wilhelm.
+And they had neither the song nor the story.
+
+Mamma came wandering with Vasserine, the old, faithful hound: they
+two also wished to see how beautiful the burning looked. It
+succeeded excellently with the rape-stalks; but the other burning,
+of which the story was to be told, it did not yet arrive at an
+outbreak! It might be expected, however, any hour in the day.
+
+In the evening Otto walked alone through the great chestnut avenue.
+The moon shone brightly between the tree-branches. When he entered
+the interior court Wilhelm and Sophie skipped toward him, but
+softly, very softly. They lifted their hands as if to impress
+silence.
+
+"Come and see!" said Sophie; "it is a scene which might be painted!
+it goes on merrily in the servants' hall; one can see charmingly
+through the window!"
+
+"Yes, come!" said Wilhelm.
+
+Otto stole softly forward. The lights shone forth.
+
+Within there was laughter and loud talking; one struck upon the
+table, another sung,--
+        "And I will away to Prussia land,
+             Hurrah!
+         And when I am come to Prussia land,
+             Hurrah!"  [Note: People's song.]
+
+Otto looked in through the window.
+
+Several men and maids sat within at the long wooden table at the
+end of this stood Sidsel in a bent attitude, her countenance was of
+a deep crimson; she spoke a loud oath and laughed--no one imagined
+that they were observed. All eyes were riveted upon a great fellow
+who, with his shirt-sleeves rolled up, and a pewter tankard in his
+hand, was standing there. It was the German Heinrich, who was
+exhibiting to them his conjuring tricks. Otto turned pale; had the
+dead arisen from the bier before him it could not have shocked him
+more.
+
+"Hocus-pocus Larifari!" cried Heinrich within, and gave the tankard
+to a half-grown fellow, of the age between boy and man.
+
+"If thou hast already a sweetheart," said he; "then the corn which
+is within it will be turned to flour; but if thou art still only a
+young cuckoo, then it will remain only groats."
+
+"Nay, Anders Peersen!" said all the girls laughing, "now we shall
+see whether thou art a regular fellow!"
+
+Sophie stole away.
+
+The echoing laughter and clapping of hands announced the result.
+
+"Is it not the same person who was playing conjuring tricks in the
+park?" inquired Wilhelm.
+
+"Yes, certainly," replied Otto; "he is to me quite repulsive!" And
+so saying, he followed Sophie.
+
+Late in the evening, when all had betaken themselves to rest,
+Wilhelm proposed to Otto that they should make a little tour, as he
+called it.
+
+"I fancy Meg Merrilies, as my sister calls Sidsel," said he, "has
+made a conquest of the conjuror, although he might be her father.
+They have been walking together down the avenue; they have been
+whispering a deal together; probably he will to-night sleep in one
+of the barns. I must go and look after him; he will be lying there
+and smoking his pipe, and may set our whole place on fire. Shall we
+go down together? We can take Vasserine and Fingel with us."
+
+"Let him sleep!" said Otto; "he will not be so mad as to smoke
+tobacco in the straw! To speak candidly, I do not wish to be seen
+by him. He was several times at my grandfather's house. I have
+spoken with him, and now that I dislike him I do not wish to see
+him!"
+
+"Then I will go alone!" said Wilhelm.
+
+Otto's heart beat violently; he stood at the open window and looked
+out over the dark wood, which was lit up by the moon. Below in the
+court he heard Wilhelm enticing the dogs out. He heard yet another
+voice, it was that of the steward, and then all was again silent.
+Otto thought upon the German Heinrich and upon Sophie, his life's
+good and bad angels; and he pictured to himself how it would be if
+she extended to him her hand--was his bride! and Heinrich called
+forth before her the recollections which made his blood curdle.
+
+It seemed to him as if something evil impended over him this night.
+"I feel a forewarning of it!" said he aloud.
+
+Wilhelm came not yet back.
+
+Almost an hour passed thus. Wilhelm entered, both dogs were with
+him; they were miry to their very sides.
+
+"Did you meet any one?" inquired Otto.
+
+
+"Yes, there was some one," said Wilhelm, "but not in the barn. The
+stupid dogs seemed to lose their nature; it was as if there was a
+somebody stealing along the wall, and through the reeds in the
+moat. The hounds followed in there; you can see how they look!--but
+they came the next moment back again, whined, and hung down their
+ears and tails. I could not make them go in again. Then the steward
+was superstitious! But, however, it could only be either the
+juggler, or one of the servant-men who had stilts. How otherwise
+any one could go in among the reeds without getting up to their
+necks, I cannot conceive!"
+
+All was again perfectly still without. The two friends went to the
+open window, threw their arms over each other's shoulders, and
+looked out into the silent night.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+"Bring' hausliche Hulfe
+Incubus! incubus.
+Tritt herhor und mache den Schluss."
+                       GOETHE's Faust.
+
+"Es giebt so bange Zeiten,
+Es giebt so truben Muth!"--NOVALIS.
+
+The next morning Wilhelm related his evening adventure at the
+breakfast-table; the sisters laughed at it. The mother, on the
+contrary, was silent, left the room, and after some time returned.
+
+"There have been thieves here!" said she, "and one might almost
+imagine that they were persons in the household itself. They have
+been at the press where the table-linen is kept, and have not been
+sparing in their levies. The beautiful old silver tankard, which I
+inherited from my grandmother, is also missing. I would much sooner
+have given the value of the silver than have lost that piece!"
+
+"Will not the lady let it be tried by the sieve?" asked the old
+servant: "that is a pretty sure way!"
+
+"That is nothing but superstition," answered she; "in that way the
+innocent may so easily be suspected."
+
+"As the lady pleases!" said the servant, and shook his head.
+
+In the mean time a search through the house was instituted. The
+boxes of the domestics were examined, but nothing was discovered.
+
+"If you would only let the sieve be tried!" said the old servant.
+
+In the afternoon Otto went into the garden; he fell into discourse
+with the gardener, and they spoke of the theft which had occurred.
+
+"It vexes every one of us," said he, "because we think much of the lady,
+and of the whole family. And some one must, nevertheless, be suspected.
+We believe that it was Sidsel, for she was a good-for-nothing person!
+We folks tried among ourselves with the sieve, but however, at the
+mention of her name, if it did not move out of its place. We had set
+it upon the point of a knife, and mentioned the name of every person
+about the place, but it stood as if it were nailed quite fast. But
+there was really something to see, which not one of us would have
+believed. I'll say no more about it, although we had every one of
+us our own thoughts. I would have taken my oath of it."
+
+Otto pressed him to mention the person who was suspected.
+
+"Yes, to you perhaps, I may mention it," replied he; "but you will
+not say anything about it? As we were standing today, at noon,
+around the sieve, and it did not move at Sidsel's name, she became
+angry, because a word bad been let fall which could not be
+agreeable to her if she were innocent. She drew herself up as if in
+a passion, and said to us, 'But there are also in the hall a many
+people besides us, who may slip and slide! There are strangers
+here, and the fine Mamsell, and the farmers. Yes, I suspect no one,
+but every one ought to be named!'
+
+"And so we did it. Yes, we mentioned even your name, Mr. Thostrup,
+although we knew very well that you were guiltless of the charge;
+but we would not excuse any one. The sieve stood quite entirely
+still until we mentioned Eva's name, and then it moved. Not one of
+us actually could believe it, and the servant Peter said also that
+it was because of the draught from the chimney. We mentioned yet
+once more all the names, and the sieve stood still until we came to
+Eva's, and then we perceived very plainly a movement. The servant
+Peter at the same moment gave a great blow to the sieve, so that it
+fell to the ground, and be swore that it was a lie, and that he
+would answer for Eva. I would have done so too; but yet it was very
+extraordinary with the sieve! Most of the folks, however, have
+their own thoughts, but no one venture to express them to the
+gentry who think so much of her. I cannot, however, rightly
+reconcile it to myself!"
+
+"She is innocent!" said Otto; and it amazed him that any one should
+cast the slightest suspicion on Eva. He thought of German Heinrich
+and Sidsel, who alone appeared to him suspicious. There then
+occurred to him an experiment of which he had heard from Rosalie.
+It now seemed to him available, and, physiologically considered,
+much more certain than that with the sieve.
+
+"Probably it may lead to a discovery," said he, after he had
+communicated his whole plan to Sophie and the steward.
+
+"Yes, we mast try it!" said she; "it is excellent! I also will be
+put to the proof, although I am initiated into the mystery."
+
+"Yes, you, your sister, Wilhelm, Eva, we all of us must," said
+Otto. "Only I will not do the speaking: that the steward must do."
+
+"That is proper, very proper!" replied she: "it shall be tried this
+evening when it is dark."
+
+The time came; the steward assembled the people.
+
+"Now I know," said he, "how we shall find the thief!"
+
+All were to remain in the first room: within a side-room, which was
+quite dark, there stood in a corner on the right hand a copper
+kettle; to this every person as they came in, one by one, were to
+go and lay their hand down on the flat bottom of the kettle. The
+hand of every one who was innocent would be brought out again white
+and pure, but the hand of the criminal would be severely burned,
+and would become black as a coal.
+
+"He who now," said the steward, addressing them, "has a good
+conscience, may go with this and our Lord into the innermost room,
+lay his hand upon the bottom of the kettle, and show it to me. Now
+I go to receive you all!"
+
+The daughters went, the friends, Eva, and all the household. The
+steward questioned them as they came in: "Answer me, upon thy
+conscience, did thy hand touch the flat bottom of the kettle?"
+
+All replied, "Yes!"
+
+"Then show me your hand!" said he; and they showed them, and all
+were black: Sidsel's alone was white.
+
+"Thou art the thief!" said the steward. "Thy evil conscience has
+condemned thee. Thou hast not touched the kettle; hast not laid thy
+hand upon it, or it would have become as black as that of the
+others. The kettle was blackened inside with turpentine smoke; they
+who came with a good conscience, knowing that their hands would
+remain pure like their consciences, touched the kettle fearlessly
+and their hands became black! Thou hast condemned thyself! Confess,
+or it will go worse with thee!"
+
+Sidsel, uttered a horrible cry and fell down upon her knees.
+
+"O God, help me!" said she, and confessed that she was the thief.
+
+A chamber high up in the roof was prepared as a prison; here the
+delinquent was secured until the affair, on the following day,
+should be announced to the magistrate.
+
+"Thou shalt be sent to Odense, and work upon the treadmill!" said
+Wilhelm: "to that thou belongest!"
+
+The family assembled at the tea-table. Sophie joked about the day's
+adventure.
+
+"Poor Sidsel!" said Eva.
+
+"In England she would be hanged," said Wilhelm; "that would be a
+fine thing to see!"
+
+"Horrible!" replied Louise; "they must die of terror in going to
+the gallows."
+
+"Nay, it is very merry," said Wilhelm. "Now you shall hear what
+glorious music has been set to it by Rossini!" And he played the
+march from "Gazza Ladra," where a young girl is led to the gallows.
+
+"Is it not merry?" asked he. "Yes, he is a composer!"
+
+"To me it seems precisely characteristic," answered Otto. "They are
+not the feelings of the girl which the composer wished to express;
+it is the joy of the rude rabble in witnessing an execution--to
+them a charming spectacle, which is expressed in these joyous
+tones: it is a tragic opera, and therefore he chose exactly this
+character of expression!"
+
+"It is difficult to say anything against that," replied Wilhelm;
+"yet what you assert I have not heard from any other person."
+
+"When a soldier is executed they play some lively air," said Otto;
+"the contrast in this case brings forth the strongest effect!"
+
+The servant now entered, and said with a smile that Peter Cripple,
+the "new-married man," as he called him, was without and wished to
+speak to the Baron Wilhelm.
+
+"It is about a waltz," said he, "which the Baron had promised to
+him!"
+
+"It is late for him to come into the court!" said Sophie "the
+peasants generally go to bed with the sun."
+
+In the lobby stood the announced Peter in his stocking-feet, with
+his hat in one hand and a great stick in the other. He knew, he
+said, that it was still daytime with the gentlefolks; he was just
+coming past the hall and thought that he could, perhaps, have that
+Copenhagen Waltz which the Baron had promised him: he should want
+it to-morrow night to play at a wedding, and, therefore, he wished
+to have it now that he might practice it first of all.
+
+Sophie inquired after his young wife, and said something merry.
+Louise gave him a cup of tea, which he drank in the lobby. Otto
+looked at him through the open door; he made comical grimaces, and
+looked almost as if he wished to speak with him. Otto approached
+him, and Peter thrust a piece of paper into his hand, making at the
+same time a significant gesture indicative of silence.
+
+Otto stepped aside and examined the dirty piece of paper, which was
+folded together like a powder and sealed with a lump of wax. On the
+outside stood, in scarcely legible characters,
+           "TotH' WeL-borne,
+               Mr. Odto Tustraab."
+
+He endeavored, in the first place, to read it in the moonlight; but
+that was scarcely possible.
+
+After considerable labor he made out the meaning of this letter,
+written, as it was in a half-German, half-Danish gibberish, of the
+orthography of which we have given a specimen in the direction. The
+letter was from the German Heinrich. He besought Otto to meet him
+this evening in the wood near Peter Cripple's house, and he would
+give to him an explanation which should be worth the trouble of the
+walk. It would occasion, he said, much trouble and much misery to
+Mr Thostrup if he did not go.
+
+A strange anxiety penetrated Otto. How could he steal away without
+being missed? and yet go he both must and should. An extraordinary
+anxiety drove him forth.
+
+"Yes, the sooner the better!" said he, hastening down the steps and
+leaping in haste over the low garden-fence lest the gate should,
+perhaps, make a noise. He was very soon in the wood: he heard the
+beating of his own heart.
+
+"Eternal Father!" said he, "strengthen my soul! Release me from
+this anxiety which overpowers me! Let all be for the best!"
+
+He had now reached Peter Cripple's house. A figure leaned against
+the wall; Otto paused, measured it with his eye to ascertain who it
+was, and recognized German Heinrich.
+
+"What do you want with me?" inquired Otto.
+
+Heinrich raised his hand in token of silence, beckoned him forward,
+and opened a little gate which led to the back of the house. Otto
+mechanically followed him.
+
+"It goes on badly at the hall," said Heinrich. "Sidsel is really
+put in prison, and will be taken to-morrow to Odense, to the red
+house by the river."
+
+"It is what she has deserved!" said Otto. "I did not bring it
+about."
+
+"O no!" answered Heinrich; "in a certain way we bring nothing
+about; but you can put in a good word for her. You must see that
+this punishment does not befall her."
+
+"But the punishment is merited!" replied Otto; "and how can I mix
+myself up in the affair? What is it that you have to say to me?"
+
+"Yet, the good gentleman must not get angry!" began Heinrich again;
+"but I am grieved about the girl. I can very well believe that he
+does not know her, and therefore it gives him no trouble; but if I
+were now to whisper a little word in his ear? She is your own
+sister, Mr. Thostrup!"
+
+All grew dark before Otto's eyes; a chill as of death went through
+his blood; his hands held firmly by the cold wall, or he must have
+sunk to the earth; not a sound escaped his lips.
+
+German Heinrich laid his hand in a confidential manner upon his
+shoulder, and continued in a jeering, agitated tone, "Yes, it is
+hard for you to hear! I also struggled a long time with myself
+before I could make up my mind to tell you. But a little trouble is
+preferable to a great one. I had some talk with her yesterday, but
+I did not mention you, although it seemed queer to me at my heart
+that the brother should sit at the first table with the young
+ladies, and the sister be farm swine-maiden. Now they have put her
+in prison! I am very sorry for her and you too, Mr. Thostrup, for
+it is disagreeable! If the magistrate come to-morrow morning, and
+she fall into the claws of the red angel, it will not be so easy to
+set her at liberty again! But yet you could, perhaps, help her; as,
+for instance, to-night! I could make an opportunity--I would be in
+the great avenue beyond the hall. If she could get thus far she
+would be safe; I would then conduct her out of this part of the
+country. I may as well tell you that we were yesterday half-betrothed!
+She goes with me; and you can persuade the gracious lady at the hall
+to let the bird fly!"
+
+"But how can I? how can I?" exclaimed Otto.
+
+"She is, however, always your sister!" said Heinrich, and they both
+remained silent for a moment. "Then I will," said Heinrich, "if all
+be still at the hall, wait in the avenue as the bell goes twelve."
+
+"I must!" exclaimed Otto; "I must! God help me!"
+
+"Jesu, Maria, help!" said Heinrich, and Otto left him.
+
+"She is my sister! she, the most horrible of all!" sighed he; his
+knees trembled, and he leaned against a tree for support: his
+countenance was like that of the dead; cold sweat-drops stood upon
+his brow. All around him lay the dark night-like wood; only to the
+left glimmered, between the bushes, the moonlight reflected from
+the lake.
+
+"Within its depths," sighed he, "all would be forgotten--my grief
+would be over! Yet, what is my sin? Had I an existence before I was
+born upon this globe? Must I here be punished for sins which I then
+committed?"
+
+His dark eye stared lifelessly out of his pale countenance. Thus
+sit the dead upon their graves in the silent night; thus gazes the
+somnambulist upon the living world around him.
+
+"I have felt this moment before--this moment which now is here; it
+was the well-spring whence poison was poured over my youthful days!
+She is my sister! She? unhappy one that I am!"
+
+Tears streamed from his eyes, it was a convulsive weeping; he cried
+aloud, it was impossible to him to suppress his voice; he sank half
+down by the tree and wept, for it was night in his soul: silent,
+bitter tears flowed, as the blood flows when the heart is
+transpierced. Who could breathe to him consolation? There lay no
+balsam in the gentle airs of the clear summer night, in the
+fragrance of the wood, in the holy, silent spirit of nature. Poor
+Otto!
+
+             "Weep, only weep! it gives repose,
+              A world is every tear that flows,--
+              A world of anguish and unrest,
+              That rolleth from the troubled breast.
+
+             "And hast thou wept whilst tears can flow,
+              A tranquil peace thy heart will know;
+              For sorrow, trivial or severe,
+              Hath had its seat in every tear.
+
+             "Think'st thou that He, whose love beholds
+              The worm the smallest leaf enfolds,--
+              That He, whose power sustains the whole
+              Forgets a world--thy human soul?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+
+"Mourir! c'est un instant de supplice: mais vivre?"--FREDERIC SOULIE.
+
+The physician from Nyborg, who had been on a visit to a sick person
+in the neighborhood, took this opportunity of calling on the family
+and inquiring after Eva's health. They had prayed him to stay over
+the night there, and rather to drive hone in the early morning than
+so late in the evening. He allowed himself to be persuaded. Otto,
+on his return, found him and the family in deep conversation. They
+were talking of the "Letters of a Wandering Ghost."
+
+"Where have you been?" asked Sophie, as Otto entered.
+
+"You look so pale!" said Louise; "are you ill?"
+
+"I do not feel well!" replied Otto; "I went therefore down into the
+garden a little. Now I am perfectly recovered." And he took part in
+the conversation.
+
+The overwhelming sorrow had dissolved itself in tears. His mind had
+raised itself up again from its stupefaction, and sought for a
+point of light on which to attach itself. They were talking of the
+immense caves of Maastricht, how they stretch themselves out into
+deep passages and vast squares, in which sound is lost, and where
+the light, which cannot reach the nearest object, only glimmers
+like a point of fire. In order to comprehend this vacuity and this
+darkness, the travellers let the guide extinguish his torch, and
+all is night; they are penetrated, as it were, with darkness; the
+hand feels after a wall, in order to have some restraint, some
+thought on which to repose itself: the eye sees nothing; the ear
+hears nothing. Horror seizes on the strongest mind: the same
+darkness, the same desolate emotion, had Heinrich's words breathed
+into Otto's soul; therefore he sank like the traveller to the
+earth: but as the traveller's whole soul rivets itself by the eye
+upon the first spark which glimmers, to kindle again the torch
+which is to lead him forth from this grave, so did Otto attach
+himself to the first awakening thought of help. "Wilhelm? his soul
+is noble and good, him will I initiate into my painful secret,
+which chance had once almost revealed to him."
+
+But this was again extinguished, as the first spark is extinguished
+which the steel gives birth to. He could not confide himself to
+Wilhelm; the understanding which this very confidence would give
+birth to between them, must separate them from each other. It was
+humiliating, it was annihilating. But for Sophie? No, how could he,
+after that, declare the love of his heart? how far below her should
+he be placed, as the child of poverty and shame! But the mother of
+the family? Yes, she was gentle and kind; with a maternal sentiment
+she extended to him her hand, and looked upon him as on a near
+relation. His thoughts raised themselves on high, his hands folded
+themselves to prayer; "The will of the Lord alone be done!"
+trembled involuntarily from his lips. Courage returned refreshingly
+to his heart. The help of man was like the spark which was soon
+extinguished; God was an eternal torch, which illumined the
+darkness and could guide him through it.
+
+"Almighty God! thou alone canst and willest!" said he; "to thou who
+knowest the heart, do thou alone help and lead me!"
+
+This determination was firmly taken; to no human being would he
+confide himself; alone would he release the prisoner, and give her
+up to Heinrich. He thought upon the future, and yet darker and
+heavier than hitherto it stood before him. But he who confides in
+God can never despair the only thing that was now to be done was to
+obtain the key of the chamber where Sidsel was confined, and then
+when all in the house were asleep he would dare that which must be
+done.
+
+Courage and tranquillity return into every powerful soul when it
+once sees the possibility of accomplishing its work. With a
+constrained vivacity Otto mingled in the conversation, no one
+imagining what a struggle his soul had passed through.
+
+The disputation continued. Wilhelm was in one of his eloquent
+moods. The doctor regarded the "Letters of the Wandering Ghost" as
+one of the most perfect books in the Danish literature. Once Sophie
+had been of the same opinion, now she preferred Cooper's novels to
+this and all other books.
+
+"People so easily forget the good for the new," said Wilhelm; "if
+the new is only somewhat astonishing, the many regard the author as
+the first of writers. The nation is, aesthetically considered, now
+in its period of development. Every really cultivated person, who
+stands among the best spirits of his age, obtains, whilst he
+observes his own advance in the intellectual kingdom, clearness
+with regard to the development of his nation. This has, like
+himself, its distinct periods; in him some important event in life,
+in it some agitating world convulsion, may advance them suddenly a
+great leap forward. The public favor is unsteady; to-day it strews
+palm-branches, to-morrow it cries, 'Crucify him!' But I regard that
+as a moment of development. You will permit me to make use of an
+image to elucidate my idea. The botanist goes wandering through
+field and wood, he collects flowers and plants; every one of these
+had, while he gathered it, his entire interest, his whole thought--
+but the impression which it made faded before that of its
+successor: nor is it till after a longer time that he is able to
+enjoy the whole of his treasures, and arrange them according to
+their worth and their rareness. The public seizes alike upon
+flowers and herbs; we hear its assiduous occupation with the object
+of the moment, but it is not yet come into possession of the whole.
+At one time, that which was sentimental was the foremost in favor,
+and that poet was called the greatest who best knew how to touch
+this string; then it passed over to the peppered style of writing,
+and nothing pleased but histories of knights and robbers. Now
+people find pleasure in prosaic life, and Schroder and Iffland are
+the acknowledged idols. For us the strength of the North opened
+heroes and gods, a new and significant scene. Then tragedy stood
+uppermost with us. Latterly we have begun to feel that this is not
+the flesh and blood of the present times. Then the fluttering
+little bird, the vaudeville, came out to us from the dark wood, and
+enticed us into our own chambers, where all is warm and
+comfortable, where one has leave to laugh, and to laugh is now a
+necessity for the Danes. One must not, like the crowd, inconsiderately
+place that as foremost which swims upon the waters, but treasure
+the good of every time, and arrange them side by side, as the
+botanist arranges his plants. Every people must, under the poetical
+sunshine, have their sentimental period, their berserker rage, their
+enjoyment of domestic life, and their giddy flights beyond it; it
+must merge itself in individuality before it can embrace the beauty
+of the whole. It is unfortunate for the poet who believes himself to
+be the wheel of his age; and yet he, with his whole crowd of admirers,
+is, as Menzel says, only a single wheel in the great machine--a little
+link in the infinite chain of beauty."
+
+"You speak like a Plato!" said Sophie.
+
+"If we could accord as well in music as we do in poetry," said
+Otto, "then we should be entirely united in our estimation of the
+arts. I love that music best which goes through the ear to the
+heart, and carries me away with it; on the contrary, if it is to be
+admired by the understanding, it is foreign to me."
+
+"Yes, that is your false estimation of the subject, dear friend!"
+said Wilhelm: "in aesthetics you come at once to the pure and true;
+but in music you are far away in the outer court, where the crowd
+is dancing, with cymbals and trumpets, around the musical golden
+calf!"
+
+And now the aesthetic unity brought them into a musical disunity.
+On such occasions, Otto was not one to be driven back from his
+position; he very well knew how to bear down his assailant by
+striking and original observations: but Otto, this evening,
+although he was animated enough--excited, one might almost say--did
+not exhibit the calmness, the decision in his thoughts and words,
+which otherwise would have given him the victory.
+
+It was a long hour, and one yet longer and more full of anxiety,
+which commenced with supper. The conversation turned to the events
+of the day. Otto mingled in it, and endeavored therefrom to derive
+advantage; it was a martyrdom of the soul. Sophie praised highly
+his discovery.
+
+"If Mr. Thostrup had not been here," said she, "then we should
+hardly have discovered the thief. We must thank Mr. Thostrup for
+it, and really for a merry, amusing spectacle."
+
+They joked about it alai laughed, and Otto was obliged to laugh
+also.
+
+"And now she sits up there, like a captive, in the roof!" said he;
+"it must be an uncomfortable night to her!"
+
+"Oh, she sleeps, perhaps, better than some of us others!" said
+Wilhelm: "that will not annoy her!"
+
+"She is confined in the gable chamber, out in the court, is she
+not?" inquired Otto: "there she has not any moonlight."
+
+"Yes, surely she has!" answered Sophie; "it is in the gable to the
+right, hooking toward the wood, that she is confined. We have
+placed her as near to the moon as we could. The gable on the
+uppermost floor is our keep."
+
+"But is it securely locked?" inquired Otto.
+
+"There is a padlock and a great bar outside the door; those she
+cannot force, and no one about the place will do such a piece of
+service for her. They dislike her, every one of them."
+
+They rose up from the table; the bell was just on the stroke of
+eleven.
+
+"But the Baron must play us a little piece!" said the physician.
+
+"Then Mr. Thostrup will sing us the pretty Jutlandish song by
+Steen-Blicher!" exclaimed Louise.
+
+"O yes!" said the mother, and clapped Otto on the shoulder.
+
+Wilhelm played.
+
+"Do sing!" said Wilhelm; all besought him to do so, and Otto sang
+the Jutlandish song for them.
+
+"See, you sang that with the proper humor," said Sophie, and
+clapped her hands in applause. With that all arose, offered to him
+their hands, and Wilhelm whispered to him, yet so that the sisters
+heard it, "This evening you have been right amiable!"
+
+Otto and Wilhelm went to their sleeping-room.
+
+"But, my good friend," said Wilhelm, "what did you really go into
+the garden for? Be so good as to confess to me: you were not
+unwell! You did not go only into the garden! you went into the
+wood, and you remained a long time there! I saw it! You made a
+little visit to the handsome woman while the fiddler was here, did
+you not? I do not trust you so entirely!"
+
+"You are joking!" answered Otto.
+
+"Yes, yes," continued Wilhelm, "she is a pretty little woman. Do
+you not remember how, last year at the mowing-feast, I threw roses
+at her? Now she is Peter Cripple's wife. When she comes with her
+husband then we have, bodily, 'Beauty and the Beast.'"
+
+That which Otto desired was, that Wilhelm should now soon go to
+sleep, and, therefore, he would not contradict him; he confessed
+even that the young wife was handsome, but added that she, as Peter
+Cripple's wife, was to him like a beautiful flower upon which a
+toad had set itself,--it would be disgusting to him to press the
+flower to his lips.
+
+The friends were soon in bed. They bade each other good night, and
+seemed both of them to sleep; and with Wilhelm this was the case.
+
+Otto lay awake; his pulse throbbed violently.
+
+Now the great hall clock struck twelve. All was still, quite still;
+but Otto did not yet dare to raise himself. It struck a quarter
+past the hour. He raised himself slowly, and glanced toward the bed
+where Wilhelm lay. Otto arose and dressed himself, suppressing the
+while his very breathing. A hunting-knife which hung upon the wall,
+and which belonged to Wilhelm, he put in his pocket; and lifted up,
+to take with him, the fire-tongs, with which he intended to break
+the iron staple that held the padlock. Yet once more he looked
+toward Wilhelm, who slept soundly. He opened the door, and went out
+without his shoes.
+
+He looked out from the passage-windows to see if lights were
+visible from any part of the building. All was still; all was in
+repose. That which he now feared most was, that one of the dogs
+might be lying in the lobby, and should begin to bark. But there
+was not one. He mounted up the steps, and went into the upper
+story.
+
+Only once before had he been there; now all was in darkness. He
+felt with his hands before him as he went.
+
+At length he found a narrow flight of stairs which led into a yet
+higher story. The opening at the top was closed, and he was obliged
+to use his whole strength to open it. At length it gave way with a
+loud noise. This was not the proper entrance; that lay on the
+opposite side of the story, and had he gone there he would have
+found it open, whereas this one had not been opened for a long
+time.
+
+The violent efforts which he had made caused him great pain, both
+in his neck and shoulders; but he was now at the very top of the
+building, close before the door he sought, and the moonlight shone
+in through the opening in the roof.
+
+By the help of the hunting-knife and the fire-tongs he succeeded in
+forcing the door, and that without any very considerable noise. He
+looked into a small, low room, upon the floor of which some dirty
+coverlets were thrown.
+
+Sidsel slept deeply and soundly with open mouth. A thick mass of
+hair escaped from beneath her cap, upon her brow; the moonlight
+fell, through the window-pane in the roof, upon her face. Otto
+bowed himself over her and examined the coarse, unpleasing
+features. The thick, black eyebrows appeared only like one
+irregular streak.
+
+"She is my sister!" was the thought which penetrated him. "She lay
+upon the same bosom that I did! The blood in these limbs has
+kinship with that in mine! She was the repelled one, the rejected
+one!"
+
+He trembled with pain and anguish; but it was only for a short
+time.
+
+"Stand up!" cried he, and touched the sleeper.
+
+"Ih, jane dou! [Author's Note: An exclamation among the common
+people of Funen, expressive of terror.] what is it?" cried she,
+half terrified, and fixed her unpleasant eyes wildly upon him.
+
+"Come with me!" said Otto, and his voice trembled as he spoke.
+"German Heinrich waits in the avenue! I will help you out! Hence;
+to-morrow it will be too late!"
+
+"What do you say?" asked she, and still looked at him with a
+bewildered mien.
+
+Otto repeated his words.
+
+"Do you think that I can get away?" asked she, and seized him by
+the arm, as she hastily sprang up.
+
+"Only silently and circumspectly!" said Otto.
+
+"I should not have expected theft from you!" said she. "But tell me
+why you do it?"
+
+Otto trembled; it was impossible for him to tell her his reasons,
+or to express the word,--"Thou art my sister!"
+
+His lips were silent.
+
+"To many a fellow," said she, "have I been kinder than I ought to
+have been, but see whether any of them think about Sidsel! And you
+do it! You who are so fine and so genteel!"
+
+Otto pressed together his eyelids; he heard her speak; an animal
+coarseness mingled itself with a sort of confidential manner which
+was annihilating to him.
+
+"She is my sister!" resounded in his soul.
+
+"Come now! come now!" and, descending the steps, she followed after
+him.
+
+"I know a better way!" said she, as they came to the lowest story.
+She seized his arm and they again descended a flight of steps.
+
+Suddenly a door opened itself, and Louise, still dressed, stepped
+forth with a light. She uttered a faint cry, and her eye riveted
+itself upon the two forms before her.
+
+But still more terribly and more powerfully did this encounter
+operate upon Otto. His feet seemed to fail him, and, for a moment,
+every object moved before his eyes in bright colors. It was the
+moment of his severest suffering. He sprang forth toward Louise,
+seized her hand, and, pale as death, with lifeless, staring eyes,
+half kneeling, besought of her, with an agitated voice:--
+
+"For God's sake, tell no one of that which you have seen! I am
+compelled to serve her--she is my sister! If you betray my secret I
+am lost to this world--I must die! It was not until this evening
+that I knew this to be the case! I will tell you all, but do not
+betray me! And do you prevent tomorrow any pursuit after her! O
+Louise! by the happiness of your own soul feel for the misery of
+mine! I shall destroy myself if you betray me!"
+
+"O God!" stammered Louise. "I will do all--all! I will be silent!
+Conduct her hence, quick, that you may meet with no one!"
+
+She seized Otto's hand; he sank upon his knee before her, and
+looked like a marble image which expressed manly beauty and sorrow.
+
+Louise bent herself with sisterly affection over him; tears flowed
+down her cheeks; her voice trembled, but it was tranquillizing,
+like the consolation of a good angel. With a glance full of
+confidence in her, Otto tore himself away. Sidsel followed him and
+said not a word.
+
+He led her to the lowest story and opened for her, silently, a
+window, through which she could descend to the garden, and thence
+easily reach the avenue where German Heinrich waited for her. To
+have accompanied her any further was unnecessary; it would have
+been venturing too much without any adequate cause. She stood now
+upon the window-sill--Otto put a little money into her hand.
+
+"The Lord is above us!" said he, in a solemn voice. "Never forget
+Him and endeavor to amend your life! All may yet be well!" He
+involuntarily pressed her hand in his. "Have God always in your
+thoughts!" said he.
+
+"I shall get safely away, however," said she, and descended into
+the garden; she nodded, and vanished behind the hedge.
+
+Otto stood for a while and listened whether any noise was heard, or
+whether any dog barked. He feared for her safety. All was still.
+
+Just as sometimes an old melody will suddenly awake in our
+remembrance and sound in our ear, so awoke now a holy text to his
+thoughts. "Lord, if I should take the wings of the morning, and
+should fly to the uttermost parts of the sea, thither thou wouldst
+lead me, and thy right hand would hold me fast! Thou art near to
+us! Thou canst accomplish and thou willest our well-being! Thou
+alone canst help us!"
+
+In silence he breathed his prayer.
+
+He returned to his chamber more composed in mind. Wilhelm seemed to
+sleep; but as Otto approached his bed he suddenly raised himself,
+and looked, inquiringly, around him.
+
+"Who is there?" exclaimed he; "you are dressed! where have you
+been?" He was urgent in his inquiry.
+
+Otto gave a joking reason.
+
+"Let me have your hand!" said he. Otto gave it to him be felt his
+pulse.
+
+"Yes, quite correct!" said he; "the blood is yet in commotion. One
+sees plain enough that there is no concealing things! Here was I
+sleeping in all innocence, and you were running after adventures.
+You wicked bird!"
+
+The thoughts worked rapidly in Otto's soul. If Louise would only be
+silent, no one would dream of the possibility of his having part in
+Sidsel's flight. He must allow Wilhelm quietly to have his joke.
+
+"Was not I right?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"And if now you were so," replied Otto, "will you tell it to any
+one?"
+
+"Do you think that I could do such a thing?" replied Wilhelm; "we
+are all of us only mortal creatures!"
+
+Otto gave him his hand. "Be silent!" he said.
+
+"Yes, certainly," said Wilhelm; and, according to his custom,
+strengthened it with an oath. "Now I have sworn it," said he; "but
+when there is an opportunity you must tell me more about it!"
+
+"Yes, certainly," said Otto, with a deep sigh. Before his friend he
+no longer stood pure and guiltless.
+
+They slept. Otto's sleep was only a hateful dream.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII
+
+"...Wie entzuckend
+Und suss es ist, in einer schonen Seele,
+Verherrlicht uns zu fuhlen, es zu wissen,
+Das uns're Fruede fremde Wangen rothet,
+Und uns're Angst in fremdem Busen zittert,
+Das uns're Leiden fremde Augen nassen."
+                                SCHILLER.
+
+"How pale!" said Wilhelm the next morning to Otto. "Do you see,
+that is what people get by night-wandering?"
+
+"How so?" inquired Otto.
+
+Wilhelm made a jest of it.
+
+"You have been dreaming that!" said Otto.
+
+"How do you mean?" replied Wilhelm; "will you make me fancy that I
+have imagined it? I was really quite awake! we really talked about
+it; I was initiated in it. Actually I have a good mind to give you
+a moral lecture. If it had been me, how you would have preached!"
+
+They were summoned to breakfast. Otto's heart was ready to burst.
+What might he not have to hear? What must he say?
+
+Sophie was much excited.
+
+"Did you, gentlemen, hear anything last night?" she inquired. "Have
+you both slept?"
+
+"Yes, certainly," replied Wilhelm, and looked involuntarily at Otto.
+
+"The bird is flown, however!" said she; "it has made its escape out
+of the dove-cote."
+
+"What bird?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"Sidsel!" replied she; "and, what is oddest in the whole affair is,
+that Louise has loosed her wings. Louise is quite up to the romantic.
+Think only! she went up in the night to the topmost story, unlocked
+the prison-tower, gave a moral lecture to Sidsel, and after that let
+her go! Then in the morning comes Louise to mamma, relates the whole
+affair, and says a many affecting things!"
+
+"Yes, I do not understand it," said the mother, addressing Louise.
+"How you could have had the courage to go up so late at night, and
+go up to _her_! But it was very beautiful of you! Let her escape!
+it is, as you say, best that she should. We should all of us have
+thought of that last evening!"
+
+"I was so sorry for her!" said Louise; "and by chance it happened
+that I had a great many things to arrange after you were all in
+bed. Everything was so still in the house, it seemed to me as if I
+could hear Sidsel sigh; certainly it was only my own imagination,
+but I could do no other than pity her! she was so unfortunate! Thus
+I let her escape!"
+
+"Are you gone mad?" inquired Wilhelm; "what a history is this? Did
+you go in the night up to the top of the house? That is an
+unseasonable compassion!"
+
+"It was beautiful!" said Otto, bending himself involuntarily, and
+kissing Louise's hand.
+
+"Yes, that is water to his mill!" exclaimed Wilhelm. "I think
+nothing of such things!"
+
+"We will not talk about it to anyone," said the mother. "The
+steward shall not proceed any further in it. We have recovered the
+old silver tankard, and the losing that was my greatest trouble. We
+will thank God that we are well rid of her! Poor thing! she will
+come to an unfortunate end!"
+
+"Are you still unwell, Mr. Thostrup?" said Sophie, and looked at
+him.
+
+"I am a little feverish," replied he. "I will take a very long
+walk, and then I shall be better."
+
+"You should take a few drops," said the lady.
+
+"O, he will come to himself yet!" said Wilhelm; "he must take
+exercise! His is not a dangerous illness."
+
+Otto went into the wood. It was to him a temple of God; his heart
+poured forth a hymn of thanksgiving. Louise had been his good
+angel. He felt of a truth that she would never betray his secret.
+His thoughts clung to her with confidence. "Are you still unwell?"
+Sophie had said. The tones of her voice alone had been like the
+fragrance of healing herbs; in her eye he had felt sympathy and--
+love. "O Sophie!" sighed he. Both sisters were so dear to him.
+
+He entered the garden and went along the great avenue; here he met
+Louise. One might almost have imagined that she had sought for him:
+there was no one but her to be seen in the whole avenue.
+
+Otto pressed her hand to his lips. "You have saved my life!" said
+he.
+
+"Dear Thostrup!" answered she, "do not betray yourself. Yon have
+come happily out of the affair! Thank God! my little part in it has
+concealed the whole. For the rest I have a suspicion. Yes, I cannot
+avoid it. May not the whole be an error? It is possible that she is
+that which you said! Tell me all that you can let me know. From
+this seat we can see everybody who comes into the avenue. No one
+can hear us!"
+
+"Yes, to you alone I can confide it!" said Otto; "to you will I
+tell it."
+
+He now related that which we know about the manufactory, which he
+called the house, in which German Heinrich had first seen him, and
+had tattooed his initials upon his shoulder; their later meeting in
+the park, and afterwards by St. Ander's Cross.
+
+Louise trembled; her glance rested sympathizingly upon Otto's pale
+and handsome countenance. He showed her the letter which had been
+brought to him the last evening, and related to her what Heinrich
+had told him.
+
+"It may be so," said Louise; "but yet I have not been able to lose
+the idea all the morning that you have been deceived. Not one of
+her features resembles yours. Can brother and sister be so
+different as you and she? Yet, be the truth as it may, promise me
+not to think too much about it. There is a good Ruler above who can
+turn all things for the best."
+
+"These horrible circumstances," said Otto, "have robbed me of the
+cheerfulness of my youth. They thrust themselves disturbingly into
+my whole future. Not to Wilhelm--no, not to any one have I been
+able to confide them. You know all! God knows that you were
+compelled to learn them. I leave myself entirely in your hands!"
+
+He pressed her hand silently, and with the earnest glance of
+confidence and truth they looked at each other.
+
+"I shall speedily leave my native country," said Otto. "It may be
+forever. I should return with sorrow to a home where no happiness
+awaited me. I stand so entirely alone in the world!"
+
+"But you have friends," said Louise; "sincere friends. You must
+think with pleasure of returning home to Denmark. My mother loves
+you as if she were your own mother. Wilhelm and Sophie--yes, we
+will consider you as a brother."
+
+"And Sophie?" exclaimed Otto.
+
+"Yes, can you doubt it?" inquired Louise.
+
+"She knows me not as you know me; and if she did?"--He pressed his
+hands before his eyes and burst into tears. "You know all: you know
+more than I could tell her," sighed he. "I am more unfortunate than
+you can believe. Never can I forget her--never!"
+
+"For Heaven's sake compose yourself!" said Louise rising. "Some one
+might come, and you would not be able to conceal your emotion. All
+may yet be well! Confide only in God in heaven!"
+
+"Do not tell your sister that which I have told you. Do not tell
+any one. I have revealed to you every secret which my soul
+contains."
+
+"I will be to you a good sister," said Louise, and pressed his hand.
+
+They silently walked down the avenue.
+
+The sisters slept in the same room.
+
+At night, after Sophie had been an hour in bed, Louise entered the
+chamber.
+
+"Thou art become a spirit of the night," said Sophie. "Where hast
+thou been? Thou art not going up into the loft again to-night, thou
+strange girl? Had it been Wilhelm, Thostrup, or myself who had
+undertaken such a thing, it would have been quite natural; but
+thou"--
+
+"Am I, then, so very different to you all?" inquired Louise. "I
+should resemble my sister less than even Mr. Thostrup resembles
+her. You two are so very different!"
+
+"In our views, in our impulses, we very much resemble each other!"
+said Sophie.
+
+"He is certainly not happy," exclaimed Louise. "We can read it in
+his eyes."
+
+"Yes, but it is precisely that which makes him interesting!" said
+Sophie; "he is thus a handsome shadow-piece in everyday life."
+
+"Thou speakest about it so calmly," said Louise, and bent over her
+sister, "I would almost believe that it was love."
+
+"Love!" exclaimed Sophie, raising herself up in bed, for now
+Louise's words had become interesting to her; "whom dost thou think
+that he loves?"
+
+"Thyself," replied Louise, and seized her sister's hand.
+
+"Perhaps?" returned Sophie. "I also made fun of him! It certainly
+went on better when our cousin was here. Poor Thostrup!"
+
+"And thou, Sophie," inquired Louise, "dost thou return his love?"
+
+"It is a regular confession that thou desirest," replied she. "He
+is in love--that all young men are. Our cousin, I can tell thee,
+said many pretty things to me. Even the Kammerjunker flatters as
+well as he can, the good soul! I have now resolved with myself to
+be a reasonable girl. Believe me, however, Thostrup is in an ill
+humor!"
+
+"If the Kammerjunker were to pay his addresses to you, would you
+accept him?" asked Louise, and seated herself upon her sister's
+bed.
+
+"What can make you think of such a thing?" inquired she. "Hast thou
+heard anything?--Thou makest me anxious! O Louise! I joke, I talk a
+deal; but for all that, believe me, I am not happy!"
+
+They talked about the Kammerjunker, about Otto, and about the
+French cousin. It was late in the night. Large tears stood in
+Sophie's eyes, but she laughed for all that, and ended with a
+quotation from Jean Paul.
+
+Half an hour afterward she slept and dreamed; her round white arm
+lay upon the coverlet, and her lips moved with these words:
+           "With a smile as if an angel
+            Had just then kissed her mouth." [Note: Christian Winther.]
+
+Louise pressed her countenance on the soft pillow, and wept.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX
+
+"A swarm of colors, noise and screaming,
+   Music and sights, past any dreaming,
+ The rattle of wheels going late and early,--
+   All draw the looker-on into the hurly-burly."
+                                  TH. OVERSKOU.
+
+A few days passed on. Otto heard nothing of German Heinrich or of
+his sister. Peter Cripple seemed not to be in their confidence. All
+that he knew was, that the letter which he had conveyed to Otto was
+to be unknown to any one beside. As regarded German Heinrich, he
+believed that he was now in another part of tire country; but that
+at St. Knud's fair, in Odense, he would certainly find him.
+
+In Otto's soul there was an extraordinary combating. Louise's
+words, that he had been deceived, gave birth to hopes, which,
+insignificant as the grain of mustard-seed, shot forth green
+leaves.
+
+"May not," thought he, "German Heinrich, to further his own plans,
+have made use of my fear? I must speak with him; he shall swear to
+me the truth."
+
+He compared in thought the unpleasing, coarse features of Sidsel,
+with the image which his memory faintly retained of his little
+sister. She seemed to him as a delicate creature with large eyes.
+He had not forgotten that the people about them had spoken of her
+as of "a kitten that they could hardly keep alive." How then could
+she now be this square-built, singularly plain being, with the
+eyebrows growing together? "I must speak with Heinrich," resolved
+he; "she cannot be my sister! so heavily as that God will not try
+me."
+
+By such thoughts as these his mind became much calmer. There were
+moments when the star of love mirrored itself in his life's sea.
+
+His love for Sophie was no longer a caged bird within his breast;
+its wings were at liberty; Louise saw its release; it was about to
+fly to its goal.
+
+St. Knud's fair was at hand, and on that account the family was
+about to set out for Odense. Eva was the only one who was to remain
+at home. It was her wish to do so.
+
+"Odense is not worth the trouble of thy going to see," said Sophie;
+"but in this way thou wilt never increase thy geographical
+knowledge. In the mean time, however, I shall bring thee a fairing
+--a husband of honey cake, ornamented with almonds."
+
+Wilhelm thought that she should enjoy the passing pleasure, and go
+with them; but Eva prayed to stay, and she had her will.
+
+"There is a deal of pleasure in the world," said Wilhelm, "if
+people will only enjoy it. If one day in Paris is a brilliant
+flower, a day at Odense fair is also a flower. It is a merry,
+charming world that we live in! I am almost ready to say with King
+Valdemar, that if I might keep--yes, I will say, the earth, then
+our Lord might willingly for me keep heaven: there it is much
+better than we deserve; and God knows whether we may not, in the
+other world, have longings after the old world down here!"
+
+"After Odense fair?" asked Sophie ironically.
+
+Otto stood wrapped in his own thoughts. This day, he felt, would be
+one of the most remarkable in his life. German Heinrich must give
+him an explanation. Sophie must do so likewise Could he indeed meet
+with success from them both? Would not sorrow and pain be his
+fairings?
+
+The carriage rolled away.
+
+From the various cross-roads came driving up the carriages of the
+gentry and the peasants; the one drove past the other; and as the
+French and English Channel collects ships from the Atlantic Ocean,
+so did the King's Road those who drove in carriages, those who rode
+on horseback, and those who went on foot.
+
+Behind most of the peasant-vehicles were tied a few horses, that
+went trotting on with them. Mamsells from the farms sat with large
+gloves on their red arms and hands. They held their umbrellas
+before their faces on account of the dust and the sun.
+
+"The Kammerjunker's people must have set off earlier than we," said
+Sophie, "otherwise they would have called for us."
+
+Otto looked inquiringly at her. She thought on the Kammerjunker!
+
+"We shall draw up by Faugde church," said Sophie. "Mr. Thostrup can
+see Kingo's [Author's Note: The Bishop of Funen, who died in 1703.]
+grave--can see where the sacred poet lies. Some true trumpeting
+angels, in whom one can rightly see how heavy the marble is, fly
+with the Bishop's staff and hat within the chapel."
+
+Otto smiled, and she thought also about giving him pleasure.
+
+The church was seen, the grave visited, and they rapidly rolled
+along the King's Road toward Odense, the lofty tower of whose
+cathedral had hailed them at some miles' distance.
+
+We do not require alone from the portrait-painter that he should
+represent the person, but that he should represent him in his
+happiest moment. To the plain as well as to the inexpressive
+countenance must the painter give every beauty which it possesses.
+Every human being has moments in which something intellectual or
+characteristic presents itself. Nature, too, when we are presented
+only with the most barren landscape, has the same moments; light
+and shadow produce these effects. The poet must be like the
+painter; he must seize upon these moments in human life as the
+other in nature.
+
+If the reader were a child who lived in Odense, it would require
+nothing more from him than that he should say the words, "St.
+Knud's fair;" and this, illumined by the beams of the imagination
+of childhood, would stand before him in the most brilliant colors.
+Our description will be only a shadow; it will be that, perhaps,
+which the many will find it to be.
+
+Already in the suburbs the crowd of people, and the outspread
+earthenware of the potters, which entirely covered the trottoir,
+announced that the fair was in full operation.
+
+The carriage drove down from the bridge across the Odense River.
+
+"See, how beautiful it is here!" exclaimed Wilhelm.
+
+Between the gardens of the city and a space occupied as a bleaching
+ground lay the river. The magnificent church of St. Knud, with its
+lofty tower, terminated the view.
+
+"What red house was that?" inquired Otto, when they had lost sight
+of it.
+
+"That is the nunnery!" replied Louise, knowing what thought it was
+which had arisen in his mind.
+
+"There stood in the ancient times the old bishop's palace, where
+Beldenak lived!" said Sophie. "Just opposite to the river is the
+bell-well, where a bell flew out of St. Albani's tower. The well is
+unfathomable. Whenever rich people in Odense die, it rings down
+below the water!"
+
+"It is not a pleasant thought," said Otto, "that it rings in the
+well when they must die."
+
+"One must not take it in that way now!" said Sophie, laughing, and
+turned the subject. "Odense has many lions," continued she, "from a
+king's garden with swans in it to a great theatre, which has this
+in common with La Scala and many Italian ones, that it is built
+upon the ruins of a convent. [Note: That of the Black Brothers.]
+
+"In Odense, aristocracy and democracy held out the longest," said
+Wilhelm, smiling; "yet I remember, in my childhood, that when the
+nobles and the citizens met on the king's birthday at the town-house
+ball, that we danced by ourselves."
+
+"Were not, then, the citizens strong enough to throw the giddy
+nobles out of the window?" inquired Otto.
+
+"You forget, Mr. Thostrup, that you yourself are noble!" said
+Sophie. "I was really the goddess of fate who gave to you your
+genealogical tree."
+
+"You still remember that evening?" said Otto, with a gentle voice,
+and the thoughts floated as gayly in his mind as the crowd of
+people floated up and down in the streets through which they drove.
+
+Somewhere about the middle of the city five streets met; and this
+point, which widens itself out into a little square, is called the Cross
+Street: here lay the hotel to which the family drove.
+
+"Two hours and a quarter too late!" said the Kammerjunker, who came
+out to meet them on the steps. "Good weather for the fair, and good
+horses! I have already been out at the West-gate, and have bought
+two magnificent mares. One of them kicked out behind, and had
+nearly given me a blow on the breast, so that I might have said I
+had had my fairing! Jakoba is paying visits, drinking chocolate,
+and eating biscuits. Mamsell is out taking a view of things. Now
+you know our story."
+
+The ladies went to their chamber, the gentlemen remained in the
+saloon.
+
+"Yes, here you shall see a city and a fair, Mr. Thostrup!" said the
+Kammerjunker, and slapped Otto on the shoulder.
+
+"Odense was at one time my principal chief-city," said Wilhelm;
+"and still St. Knud's Church is the most magnificent I know. God
+knows whether St. Peter's in Rome would make upon me, now that I am
+older, the impression which this made upon me as a child!"
+
+"In St. Knud's Church lies the Mamsell with the cats," said the
+Kammerjunker.
+
+"The bishop's lady, you should say," returned Wilhelm. "The legend
+relates, that there was a lady of a Bishop Mus who loved her cats
+to that degree that she left orders that they should be laid with
+her in the grave. [Author's Note: The remains of the body, as well
+as the skeletons of the cats, are still to be seen in a chapel on
+the western aisle of the church.] We will afterward go and see
+them."
+
+"Yes, both the bishop's lady and the cats," said the Kammerjunker,
+"look like dried fish! Then you must also see the nunnery and the
+military library."
+
+"The Hospital and the House of Correction!" added Wilhelm.
+
+The beating of a drum in the street drew them to the window. The
+city crier, in striped linsey-woolsey jacket and breeches, and with
+a yellow band across his shoulders, stood there, beat upon his
+drum, and proclaimed aloud from a written paper many wonderful
+things which were to be seen in the city.
+
+"He beats a good drum," said the Kammerjunker.
+
+"It would certainly delight Rossini and Spontini to hear the
+fellow!" said Wilhelm. "In fact Odense would be, at New Year's
+time, a city for these two composers. You must know that at that
+season drums and fifes are in their glory. They drum the New Year
+in. Seven or eight little drummers and fifers go from door to door,
+attended by children and old women; at that time they beat both the
+tattoo and the reveille. For this they get a few pence. When the
+New Year is drummed-in in the city they wander out into the
+country, and drum there for bacon and groats. The New Year's
+drumming in lasts until about Easter."
+
+"And then we have new pastimes," said the Kammerjunker.
+
+"Then come the fishers from Stige, [Author's Note: A fishing
+village in Odense Fjord.] with a complete band, and carrying a boat
+upon their shoulders ornamented with a variety of flags. After that
+they lay a board between two boats, and upon this two of the
+youngest and the strongest have a wrestling-match, until one of
+them falls into the water. The last years they both have allowed
+themselves to tumble in. And this has been done in consequence of
+one young man who fell in being so stung by the jeers which his
+fall had occasioned that he left, that same day, the fishing
+village, after which no one saw him. But all the fun is gone now!
+In my boyhood the merriment was quite another thing. It was a fine
+sight when the corporation paraded with their ensign and harlequin
+on the top! And at Easter, when the butchers led about a bullock
+ornamented with ribbons and Easter-twigs, on the back of which was
+seated a little winged boy in a shirt. They had Turkish music, and
+carried flagons with them! See! all that have I outlived, and yet I
+am not so old. Baron Wilhelm must have seen the ornamented ox. Now
+all that is past and gone; people are got so refined! Neither is
+St. Knud's fair that which it used to be."
+
+"For all that, I rejoice that it is not so!" said Wilhelm. "But we
+will go into the market and visit the Jutlanders, who are sitting
+there among the heath with their earthenware. You will stand a
+chance there, Mr. Thostrup, of meeting with an old acquaintance;
+only you must not have home-sickness when you smell the heather and
+hear the ringing of the clattering pots!"
+
+The ladies now entered. Before paying any visits they determined
+upon making the round of the market. The Kammerjunker offered his
+arm to the mother. Otto saw this with secret gladness, and
+approached Sophie. She accepted him willingly as an attendant; they
+must indeed get into the throng.
+
+As in the Middle Ages the various professions had their distinct
+streets and quarters, so had they also here. The street which led
+to the: market place, and which in every-day life was called the
+"Shoemaker Street," answered perfectly to its name. The shoemakers
+had ranged their tables side by side. These, and the rails which
+had been erected for the purpose, were hung over with all kinds of
+articles for the feet; the tables themselves were laden with heavy
+shoes and thick-soled boots. Behind these stood the skillful
+workman in his long Sunday coat, and with his well-brushed felt-hat
+upon his head.
+
+Where the shoemakers' quarter ended that of the hatters' began, and
+with this one was in the middle of the great market-place, where
+tents and booths formed many parallel streets. The booth of
+galanterie wares, the goldsmith's, and the confectioner's, most of
+them constructed of canvas, some few of them of wood, were points
+of great attraction. Round about fluttered ribbons and handkerchiefs;
+round about were noise and bustle. Peasant-girls out of the same
+village went always in a row, seven or eight inseparables, with their
+hands fast locked in each other; it was impossible to break the chain;
+and if people tried to press through them, the whole flock rolled
+together in a heap.
+
+Behind the booths there lay a great space filled with wooden shoes,
+coarse earthenware, turners' and saddlers' work. Upon tables were
+spread out toys, generally rudely made and coarsely painted. All
+around the children assayed their little trumpets, and turned about
+their playthings. The peasant-girls twirled and twisted both the
+work-boxes and themselves many a time before the bargain was
+completed. The air was heavy with all kinds of odors, and was
+spiced with the fragrance of honey-cake.
+
+Here acquaintances met each other-some peasant-maidens, perhaps,
+who had been born in the same village, but since then had been
+separated.
+
+"Good day!" exclaimed they, took each other by the hand, gave their
+arms a swing, and laughed.
+
+"Farewell!"
+
+That was the whole conversation: such a one went on in many places.
+
+"That is the heather!" exclaimed Otto, as he approached the quarter
+where the Jutland potters had their station; "how refreshing is the
+odor!" said he, and stooping down seized a twig fresh and green, as
+if it had been plucked only yesterday.
+
+"Aye, my Jesus though! is not that Mr. Otto!" exclaimed a female
+voice just beside him, and a young Jutland peasantwoman skipped
+across the pottery toward him. Otto knew her. It was the little
+Maria, the eelman's daughter, who, as we may remember at Otto's
+visit to the fisher's, had removed to Ringkjoebing, and had hired
+herself for the hay and cornharvest--the brisk Maria, "the girl,"
+as her father called her. She had been betrothed in Ringkjoebing,
+and married to the rich earthenware dealer, and now had come across
+the salt-water to Odense fair, where she should meet with Mr. Otto.
+
+"Her parents lived on my grandfather's estate," said Otto to
+Sophie, who observed with a smile the young wife's delight in
+meeting with an acquaintance of her childhood. The husband was
+busily employed in selling his wares; he heard nothing of it.
+
+"Nay, but how elegant and handsome you are become!" said the
+young wife: "but see, I knew you again for all that! Grandmother,
+you may believe me, thinks a deal about you! The old body, she is
+so brisk and lively; it does not trouble her a bit that she cannot
+see! You are the second acquaintance that I have met with in the
+fair. It's wonderful how people come here from all parts of the
+world! The players are here too! You still remember the German
+Heinrich? Over there in the gray house, at the corner of the
+market, he is acting his comedy in the gateway."
+
+"I am glad that I have seen you!" said Otto, and nodded kindly.
+"Greet them at home, and the grandmother, for me!"
+
+"Greet them also from me!" said Sophie smiling. "You, Mr. Thostrup,
+must for old acquaintance sake buy something. You ought also to
+give me a fairing: I wish for that great jug there!"
+
+"Where are you staying!" cried Wilhelm, and came back, whilst the
+rest went forward.
+
+"We would buy some earthenware," said Sophie. "Souvenir de Jutland.
+The one there has a splendid picture on it!"
+
+"You shall have it!" said Otto. "But if I requested a fairing from
+you, I beseech of you, might I say"--
+
+"That it possibly might obtain its worth from my hand," said
+Sophie, smiling. "I understand you very well--a sprig of heather? I
+shall steal!" said she to the young wife, as she took a little
+sprig of heath and stuck it into his buttonhole. "Greet the
+grandmother for me!"
+
+Otto and Sophie went.
+
+"That's a very laughing body!" said the woman half aloud, as she
+looked after them; her glance followed Otto, she folded her hands--
+she was thinking, perhaps, on the days of her childhood.
+
+At St. Knud's church-yard Otto and Sophie overtook the others. They
+were going into the church. On the fair days this and all the tombs
+within it were open to the public.
+
+From whichever side this church is contemplated from without, the
+magnificent old building has, especially from its lofty tower and
+spire, something imposing about it; the interior produces the same,
+nay, perhaps a greater effect. But as the principal entrance is
+through the armory, and the lesser one is from the side of the
+church, its full impression is not felt on entering it; nor is it
+until you arrive at the end of the great aisle that you are aware
+rightly of its grandeur. All there is great, beautiful, and light.
+The whole interior is white with gilding. Aloft on the high-vaulted
+roof there shine, and that from the old time, many golden stars. On
+both sides, high up, higher than the side-aisles of the church, are
+large Gothic windows, from which the light streams down. The
+side-aisles are adorned with old paintings, which represent whole
+families, women and children, all clad in canonicals, in long robes
+and large ruffs. In an ordinary way, the figures are all ranged
+according to age, the oldest first, and then down to the very least
+child, and stand with folded hands, and look piously with downcast
+eyes and faces all in one direction, until by length of time the
+colors have all faded away.
+
+Just opposite to the entrance of the church may be seen, built into
+the wall, a stone, on which is a bas-relief, and before it a grave.
+This attracted Otto's attention.
+
+"It is the grave of King John and of Queen Christina, of Prince
+Francesco and of Christian the Second," said Wilhelm; "they lie
+together in a small vault!" [Author's Note: On the removal of the
+church of the Grey Brothers, the remains of these royal parents and
+two of their children were collected in a coffin and placed here in
+St. Knud's Church. The memorial stone, of which we have spoken, was
+erected afterwards.]
+
+"Christian the Second!" exclaimed Otto. "Denmark's wisest and
+dearest king!"
+
+"Christian the Bad!" said the Kammerjunker, amazed at the tone of
+enthusiasm in which Otto had spoken.
+
+"Christian the Bad!" repeated Otto; "yes, it is now the mode to
+speak of him thus, but we should not do so. We ought to remember
+how the Swedish and Danish nobles behaved themselves, what
+cruelties they perpetrated, and that we have the history of
+Christian the Second from one of the offended party. Writers
+flatter the reigning powers. A prince must have committed crimes,
+or have lost his power, if his errors are to be rightly presented
+to future generations. People forget that which was good in
+Christian, and have painted the dark side of his character, to the
+formation of which the age lent its part."
+
+The Kammerjunker could not forget the Swedish bloodbath, the
+execution of Torben Oxe, and all that can be said against the
+unfortunate king.
+
+Otto drove him completely out of the field, in part from his
+enthusiasm for Christian the Second, but still more because it was
+the Kammerjunker with whom he was contending. Sophie took Otto's
+side, her eye sparkled applause, and the victory could not be other
+than his.
+
+"What is it that the poet said of the fate of a king?" said Sophie.
+                              "Woe's me for him
+   Who to the world shows more of ill than good!
+   The good each man ascribes unto himself,
+   Whilst on him only rest the crimes o' th' age."
+
+"Had Christian been so fortunate as to have subdued the rebellious
+nobles," continued Otto, "could he have carried out his bold plans,
+then they would have called him Christian the Great: it is not the
+active mind, but the failure in any design, which the world
+condemns."
+
+Louise nevertheless took the side of the Kammerjunker, and
+therefore these two went together up the aisle toward the tomb of
+the Glorup family. Wilhelm and his mother were already gone out of
+the church.
+
+"I envy you your eloquence!" said Sophie, and looked with an
+expression of love into Otto's face; she bent herself over the
+railing around the tomb, and looked thoughtfully upon the stone.
+Thoughts of love were animated in Otto's soul.
+
+"Intellect and heart!" exclaimed he, "must admire that which is
+great: you possess both these!" He seized her hand.
+
+A faint crimson passed over Sophie's cheeks. "The others are gone
+out!" she said; "come, let us go up to the chancel."
+
+"Up to the altar!" said Otto; "that is a bold course for one's
+whole life!"
+
+Sophie looked jestingly at him. "Do you see the monument there
+within the pillars?" asked she after a short pause; "the lady with
+the crossed arms and the colored countenance? In one night she
+danced twelve knights to death, the thirteenth, whom she had
+invited for her partner, cut her girdle in two in the dance and she
+fell dead to the earth!" [Author's Note: In Thiele's Danish Popular
+Tradition it is related that she was one Margrethe Skofgaard of
+Sanderumgaard, and that she died at a ball, where she had danced to
+death twelve knights. The people relate it with a variation as
+above; it is probable that it is mingled with a second tradition,
+for example, that of the blood-spots at Koldinghuus, which relates
+that an old king was so angry with his daughter that he resolved to
+kill her, and ordered that his knights should dance with her one
+after another until the breath was out of her. Nine had danced with
+her, and then came up the king himself as the tenth, and when he
+became weary he cut her girdle in two, on which the blood streamed
+from her mouth and she died.]
+
+"She was a northern Turandot!" said Otto; "the stony heart itself
+was forced to break and bleed. There is really a jest in having the
+marble painted. She stands before future ages as if she lived--a
+stone image, white and red, only a mask of beauty. She is a warning
+to young ladies!"
+
+"Yes, against dancing!" said Sophie, smiling at Otto's
+extraordinary gravity.
+
+"And yet it must be a blessed thing," exclaimed he, "a very blessed
+thing, amid pealing music, arm-in-arm with one's beloved, to be
+able to dance life away, and to sink bleeding before her feet!"
+
+"And yet only to see that she would dance with a new one!" said
+Sophie.
+
+"No, no!" exclaimed Otto, "that you could not do! that you will not
+do! O Sophie, if you knew!"--He approached her still nearer, bent
+his head toward her, and his eye had twofold fire and expression in
+it.
+
+"You must come with us and see the cats!" said the Kammerjunker,
+and sprang in between them.
+
+"Yes, it is charming!" said Sophie. "You will have an opportunity,
+Mr. Thostrup, of moralizing over the perishableness of female
+beauty!"
+
+"In the evening, when we drive home together," thought Otto to
+himself consolingly, "in the mild summer-evening no Kammerjunker
+will disturb me. It must, it shall be decided! Misfortune might
+subject the wildness of childhood, but it gave me confidence, it
+never destroyed my independence; Love has made me timid,--has made
+me weak. May I thereby win a bride?"
+
+Gravely and with a dark glance he followed after Sophie and her
+guide.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL
+
+"In vain his beet endeavors were;
+Dull was the evening, and duller grew."--LUDOLF SCHLEF.
+
+"Seest thou how its little life
+  The bird hides in the wood?
+Wilt thou be my little wife--
+  Then do it soon. Good!
+--A bridegroom am I."--Arion.
+
+Close beside St. Knud's Church, where once the convent stood, is
+now the dwelling of a private man. [Author's Note: See Oehlenschlager's
+Jorney to Funen.] The excellent hostess here, who once charmed the
+public on the Danish stage as Ida Munster, awaited the family to dinner.
+
+After dinner they wandered up and down the garden, which extended
+to the Odense River.
+
+In the dusk of evening Otto went to visit the German Heinrich; he
+had mentioned it to Louise, and she promised to divert attention from
+him whilst he was away.
+
+The company took coffee in the garden-house; Otto walked in deep
+thought in the avenue by the side of the river. The beautiful scene
+before him riveted his eye. Close beside lay a water-mill, over the
+two great wheels of which poured the river white as milk. Behind
+this was thrown a bridge, over which people walked and drove. The
+journeyman-miller stood upon the balcony, and whistled an air. It
+was such a picture as Christian Winther and Uhland give in their
+picturesque poems. On the other side of the mill arose tall poplars
+half-buried in the green meadow, in which stood the nunnery; a nun
+had once drowned herself where now the red daisies grow.
+
+A strong sunlight lit up the whole scene. All was repose and summer
+warmth. Suddenly Otto's ear caught the deep and powerful tones of
+an organ; he turned himself round. The tones, which went to his
+heart, came from St. Knud's Church, which lay close beside the
+garden. The sunshine of the landscape, and the strength of the
+music, gave, as it were, to him light and strength for the darkness
+toward which he was so soon to go.
+
+The sun set; and Otto went alone across the market-place toward the
+old corner house, where German Heinrich practiced his arts. Upon
+this place stood St. Albani's Church, where St. Knud, betrayed by
+his servant Blake, [Author's Note: Whence has arisen the popular
+expression of "being a false Blake."] was killed by the tumultuous
+rebels. The common people believe that from one of the deep cellars
+under this house proceeds a subterranean passage to the so-called
+"Nun's Hill." At midnight the neighboring inhabitants still hear a
+roaring under the marketplace, as if of the sudden falling of a
+cascade. The better informed explain it as being a concealed
+natural water-course, which has a connection with the neighboring
+river. In our time the old house is become a manufactory; the
+broken windows, the gaps of which are repaired either with slips of
+wood or with paper, the quantity of human bones which are found in
+the garden, and which remain from the time when this was a church-yard,
+give to the whole place a peculiar interest to the common people of
+Odense.
+
+Entering the house at the front, it is on the same level as the
+market-place; the back of the house, on the contrary, descends
+precipitously into the garden, where there are thick old walls and
+foundations. The situation is thus quite romantic; just beside it
+is the old nunnery, with its dentated gables, and not far off the
+ruins, in whose depths the common people believe that there resides
+an evil being, "the river-man," who annually demands his human
+sacrifice, which he announces the night before. Behind this lie
+meadows, villas, and green woods.
+
+On the other side of the court, in a back gate-way, German Heinrich
+had set up his theatre. The entrance cost eight skillings; people
+of condition paid according to their own will.
+
+Otto entered during the representation. A cloth constituted the
+whole scenic arrangement. In the middle of the floor sat a horrible
+goblin, with a coal-black Moorish countenance and crispy hair upon
+its head. An old bed-cover concealed the figure, yet one saw that
+it was that of a woman.
+
+The audience consisted of peasants and street boys. Otto kept
+himself in the background, and remained unobserved by Heinrich.
+
+The representation was soon at an end, and the crowd dispersed. It
+was then that Otto first came forward.
+
+"We must speak a few words together!" said he. "Heinrich, you have
+not acted honestly by me! The girl is not that which you
+represented her to be; you have deceived me: I demand an
+explanation!"
+
+German Heinrich stood silent, but every feature eloquently
+expressed first amazement, and then slyness and cunning; his
+knavish, malicious eye, measured Otto from top to toe.
+
+"Nay; so then, Mr. Thostrup, you are convinced, are you, that I
+have been cheating you?" said he. "If so, why do you come to me? In
+that case there needs no explanation. Ask herself there!" And so
+saying he pointed to the black-painted figure.
+
+"Do not be too proud, Otto!" said she, smiling; "thou couldst yet
+recognize thy sister, although she has a little black paint on her
+face!"
+
+Otto riveted a dark, indignant glance upon her, pressed his lips
+together, and tried to collect himself. "It is my firm determination
+to have the whole affair searched into," said he, with constrained
+calmness.
+
+"Yes, but it will bring you some disagreeables!" said Heinrich, and
+laughed scornfully.
+
+"Do not laugh in that manner when I speak to you!" said Otto, with
+flushing cheeks.
+
+Heinrich leaned himself calmly against the door which led into the
+garden.
+
+"I am acquainted with the head of the police," said Otto, "and I
+might leave the whole business in his hands. But I have chosen a
+milder way; I am come myself. I shall very soon leave Denmark; I
+shall go many hundred miles hence shall, probably, never return;
+and thus you see the principal ground for my coming to you is a
+whim: I will know wherefore you have deceived me; I will know what
+is the connection between you and her."
+
+"Nay; so, then, it is _that_ that you want to know?" said Heinrich,
+with a malicious glance. "Yes, see you, she is my best beloved; she
+shall be my wife: but your sister she is for all that, and that
+remains so!"
+
+"Thou couldst easily give me a little before thou settest off on
+thy journey!" said Sidsel, who seemed excited by Heinrich's words,
+and put forth her painted face.
+
+Otto glanced at her with contracted eyebrows.
+
+"Yes," said she, "I say 'thou' to thee: thou must accustom thyself
+to that! A sister may have, however, that little bit of pleasure!"
+
+"Yes, you should give her your hand!" said Heinrich, and laughed.
+
+"Wretch!" exclaimed Otto, "she is not that which you say! I will
+find out my real sister! I will have proof in hand of the truth! I
+will show myself as a brother; I will care for her future! Bring to
+me her baptismal register; bring to me one only attestation of its
+reality--and that before eight days are past! Here is my address,
+it is the envelope of a letter; inclose in it the testimonial which
+I require, and send it to me without delay. But prove it, or you
+are a greater villain than I took you for."
+
+"Let us say a few rational words!" said Heinrich, with a constrained,
+fawning voice. "If you will give to me fifty rix-dollars, then you
+shall never have any more annoyance with us! See, that would be a
+great deal more convenient."
+
+"I abide by that which I have said!" answered Otto; "we will not
+have any more conversation together!" And so saying, he turned him
+round to go out.
+
+Heinrich seized him by the coat.
+
+"What do you want?" inquired Otto.
+
+"I mean," said Heinrich, "whether you are not going to think about
+the fifty rix-dollars?"
+
+"Villain!" cried Otto, and, with the veins swelling in his
+forehead, he thrust Heinrich from him with such force, that he fell
+against the worm eaten door which led into the garden; the panel of
+the door fell out, and had not Heinrich seized fast hold on some
+firm object with both his hands, he must have gone the same way.
+Otto stood for a moment silent, with flashing eyes, and threw the
+envelope, on which his address was, at Heinrich's feet, and went
+out.
+
+When Otto returned to the hotel, he found the horses ready to be
+put to the carriage.
+
+"Have you had good intelligence?" whispered Louise.
+
+"I have in reality obtained no more than I had before!" replied he;
+"only my own feelings more strongly convince me than ever that I
+have been deceived by him."
+
+He related to her the short conversation which had taken place.
+
+The Kammerjunker's carriage was now also brought out; in this was
+more than sufficient room for two, whereas in the other carriage
+they had been crowded. The Kammerjunker, therefore, besought that
+they would avail themselves of the more convenient seat which he
+could offer; and Otto saw Sophie and her mother enter the
+Kammerjunker's carriage. This arrangement would shortly before have
+confounded Otto, now it had much less effect upon him. His mind was
+so much occupied by his visit to German Heinrich, his soul was
+filled with a bitterness, which for the moment repelled the impulse
+which he had felt to express his great love for Sophie.
+
+"I have been made Heinrich's plaything--his tool!" thought he. "Now
+he ridicules me, and I am compelled to bear it! That horrible being
+is not my sister!--she cannot be so!"
+
+The street was now quiet. They mounted into the carriage. In the
+corner house just opposite there was a great company; light
+streamed through the long curtains, a low tenor voice and a high
+ringing soprano mingled together in Mozart's "Audiam, audiam, mio
+bene."
+
+"The bird may not flutter from my heart!" sighed Otto, and seated
+himself by the side of Louise. The carriage rolled away.
+
+The full moon shone; the wild spiraea sent forth its odor from the
+road side; steam ascended from the moor-lands; and the white mist
+floated over the meadows like the daughters of the elfin king.
+
+Louise sat silent and embarrassed; trouble weighed down her heart.
+Otto was also silent.
+
+The Kammerjunker drove in first, cracked his whip, and struck up a
+wild halloo.
+
+Wilhelm began to sing, "Charming the summer night," and the
+Kammerjunker joined in with him.
+
+"Sing with us man," cried Wilhelm to the silent Otto, and quickly
+the two companies were one singing caravan.
+
+It was late when they reached the hall.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI
+
+"Destiny often pulls off leaves, as we treat the vine, that its
+fruits may be earlier brought to maturity."--JEAN PAUL.
+
+It was not until toward morning that Otto fell into sleep. Wilhelm
+and he were allowed to take their own time in rising, and thus it
+was late in the day before these two gentlemen made their
+appearance at the breakfast-table; the Kammerjunker was already
+come over to the hall, and now was more adorned than common.
+
+"Mr. Thostrup shall be one of the initiated!" said the mother. "It
+will be time enough this evening for strangers to know of it. The
+Kammerjunker and my Sophie are betrothed."
+
+"See, it was in the bright moonlight, Mr. Thostrup, that I became
+such a happy man!" said the Kammerjunker, and kissed the tips of
+Sophie's fingers. He offered his other hand to Otto.
+
+Otto's countenance remained unchanged, a smile played upon his
+lips. "I congratulate you!" said he; "it is indeed a joyful day! If
+I were a poet, I would give you an ode!"
+
+Louise looked at him with an extraordinary expression of pain in
+her countenance.
+
+Wilhelm called the Kammerjunker brother-in-law, and smiling shook
+both his hands.
+
+Otto was unusually gay, jested, and laughed. The ladies went to
+their toilet, Otto into the garden.
+
+He had been so convinced in his own mind that Sophie returned his
+passion. With what pleasure had she listened to him! with what an
+expression had her eye rested upon him! Her little jests had been
+to him such convincing proofs that the hope which he nourished was
+no self-delusion. She was the light around which his thoughts had
+circled. Love to her was to him a good angel, which sung to him
+consolation and life's gladness in his dark moments.
+
+Now, all was suddenly over. It was as if the angel had left him;
+the flame of love which had so entirely filled his soul, was in a
+moment extinguished to its last spark. Sophie was become a stranger
+to him; her intellectual eye, which smiled in love on the
+Kammerjunker, seemed to him the soulless eye of the automaton. A
+stupefying indifference went through him, deadly as poison that is
+infused into the human blood.
+
+"The vain girl! she thought to make herself more important by
+repelling from her a faithful heart! She should only see how
+changed her image is in my soul. All the weaknesses which my love
+for her made me pass over, now step forth with repulsive features!
+Not a word which she spoke fell to the ground. The diamond has lost
+its lustre; I feel only its sharp corners!"
+
+Sophie had given the preference to a man who, in respect of
+intellect, stood far below Otto! Sophie, who seemed to be
+enthusiastic for art and beauty, for everything glorious in the
+kingdom of mind, could thus have deceived him!
+
+We will now see the sisters in their chamber.
+
+Louise seemed pensive, she sat silently looking before her.
+
+Sophie stood thoughtfully with a smile upon her lips.
+
+"The Kammerjunker is very handsome, however!" exclaimed she: "he
+looks so manly!"
+
+"You ought to find him love-worthy!" said Louise.
+
+"Yes," replied her sister, "I have always admired these strong
+countenances! He is an Axel--a northern blackbearded savage. Faces
+such as Wilhelm's look like ladies'! And he is so good! He has
+said, that immediately after our marriage we shall make a tour to
+Hamburg. What dress do you think I should wear?"
+
+"When you make the journey to Hamburg?" inquired Louise.
+
+"O no, child! to-day I mean. Thostrup was indeed very polite! he
+congratulated me! I felt, however, rather curious when it was told
+to him. I had quite expected a scene! I was almost ready to beg of
+you to tell him first of all. He ought to have been prepared. But
+he was, however, very rational! I should not have expected it from
+him. I really wish him all good, but he is an extraordinary
+character! so melancholy! Do you think that he will take my
+betrothal to heart? I noticed that when I was kissed he turned
+himself suddenly round to the window and played with the flowers. I
+wish that he would soon go! The journey into foreign countries will
+do him good--there he will soon forget his heart's troubles.
+To-morrow I will write to Cousin Joachim; he will also be
+surprised!"
+
+Late in the afternoon came Jakoba, the Mamsell, the preacher, and
+yet a few other guests.
+
+In the evening the table was arranged festively. The betrothed sat
+together, and Otto had the place of honor--he sat on the other side
+of Sophie. The preacher had written a song to the tune of "Be thou
+our social guardian-goddess;" this was sung. Otto's voice sounded
+beautifully and strong; he rang his glass with the betrothed pair,
+and the Kammerjunker said that now Mr. Thostrup must speedily seek
+out a bride for himself.
+
+"She is found," answered Otto; "but now that is yet a secret."
+
+"Health to the bride!" said Sophie, and rung her glass; but soon
+again her intellectual eye rested upon the Kammerjunker, who was
+talking about asparagus and stall-feeding with clover, yet her
+glance brought him back again to the happiness of his love.
+
+It was a very lively evening. Late in the night the party broke up.
+The friends went to their chamber.
+
+"My dear, faithful Otto!" said Wilhelm, and laid his hand on his
+shoulder; "you were very lively and good-humored this evening.
+Continue always thus!"
+
+"I hope to do so," answered Otto: "may we only always have as happy
+an evening as this!"
+
+"Extraordinary man!" said Wilhelm, and shook his head. "Now we will
+soon set out on our journey, and catch for ourselves the happiness
+of the glorious gold bird!"
+
+"And not let it escape again!" exclaimed Otto. "Formerly I used to
+say, To-morrow! to-morrow! now I say, To-day, and all day long!
+Away with fancies and complainings. I now comprehend that which you
+once said to me, that is. Man _can_ be happy if he only _will_ be
+so."
+
+Wilhelm took his hand, and looked into his face with a half-melancholy
+expression.
+
+"Are you sentimental?" inquired Otto.
+
+"I only affect that which I am not!" answered Wilhelm; and with
+that, suddenly throwing off the natural gravity of the moment,
+returned to his customary gayety.
+
+The following days were spent in visiting and in receiving
+visitors. On every post-day Otto sought through the leathern bag of
+the postman, but he found no letter from German Heinrich, and heard
+nothing from him. "I have been deceived," said he, "and I feel
+myself glad about it! She, the horrible one, is not my sister!"
+
+There was a necessity for him to go away, far from home, and yet he
+felt no longing after the mountains of Switzerland or the luxuriant
+beauty of the south.
+
+"Nature will only weaken me! I will not seek after it. Man it is
+that I require: these egotistical, false beings--these lords of
+everything! How we flatter our weaknesses and admire our virtues!
+Whatever serves to advance our own wishes we find to be excellent.
+To those who love us, we give our love in return. At the bottom,
+whom do I love except myself? Wilhelm? My friendship for him is
+built upon the foundation,--I cannot do without thee! Friendship is
+to me a necessity. Was I not once convinced that I adored Sophie,
+and that I never could bear it if she were lost to me? and yet
+there needed the conviction 'She loves thee not,' and my strong
+feeling was dead. Sophie even seems to me less beautiful; I see
+faults where I formerly could only discover amiabilities! Now, she
+is to me almost wholly a stranger. As I am, so are all. Who is
+there that feels right lovingly, right faithfully for me, without
+his own interest leading him to do so? Rosalie? My old, honest
+Rosalie? I grew up before her eyes like a plant which she loved. I
+am dear to her as it! When her canary-bird one morning lay dead in
+its cage, she wept bitterly and long; she should never more hear it
+sing, she should never more look after its cage and its food. It
+was the loss of it which made her weep. She missed that which had
+been interesting to her. I also interested her. Interest is the
+name for that which the world calls love. Louise?" He almost spoke
+the name aloud, and his thoughts dwelt, from a strong combination
+of circumstances, upon it. "She appears to me true, and capable of
+making sacrifices! but is not she also very different from all the
+others? How often have I not heard Sophie laugh at her for it--look
+down upon her!" And Otto's better feeling sought in vain for a
+shadow of self-love in Louise, a single selfish motive for her
+noble conduct.
+
+"Away from Denmark! to new people! Happy he who can always be on
+the wing, making new friendships, and speedily breaking them off!
+At the first meeting people wear their intellectual Sunday apparel;
+every point of light is brought forth; but soon and the festival-day
+is over, and the bright points have vanished."
+
+"We will set off next week!" said Wilhelm, "and then it shall be--
+    'Over the rushing blue waters away!
+     We will speed along shores that are verdant and gay!'
+Away over the moors, up the Rhine, through the land of champagne to
+the city of cities, the life-animating Paris!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLII
+
+"A maiden stood musing, gentle and mild. I grasped the hand of the
+friendly child, but the lovely fawn shyly disappeared. ... From
+the Rhine to the Danish Belt, beautiful and lovely maidens are
+found in palaces and tents; yet nobody pleases me."--SCHMIDT VON LUBECK.
+
+The last day at home was Sophie's birthday. In the afternoon the
+whole family was invited to the Kammerjunker's, where Jakoba and
+the Mamsell were to be quite brilliant in their cookery.
+
+A table filled with presents, all from the Kammerjunker, awaited
+Miss Sophie; it was the first time that he had ever presented to
+her a birthday gift, and he had now, either out of his own head or
+somebody's else, fallen on the very good idea of making her a
+present for every year which she had lived. Every present was
+suited to the age for which it was intended, and thus he began with
+a paper of sugar-plums and ended with silk and magnificent fur;
+but between beginning and end there were things, of which more than
+the half could be called solid: gold ear-rings, a boa, French
+gloves, and a riding-horse. This last, of course, could not stand
+upon the table. It was a joy and a happiness; people walked about,
+and separated themselves by degrees into groups.
+
+The only one who was not there was Eva. She always preferred
+remaining at home; and yet, perhaps, to-day she might have allowed
+herself to have been overpersuaded, had she not found herself so
+extremely weak.
+
+Silently and alone she now sat at home in the great empty parlor.
+It was in the twilight; she had laid down her work, and her
+beautiful, thoughtful eyes looked straight before her: thoughts
+which we may not unveil were agitating her breast.
+
+Suddenly the door opened, and Wilhelm stood before her. Whilst the
+others were walking he had stolen away. He knew that Eva was alone
+at home; nobody would know that he visited her, nobody would dream
+of their conversation.
+
+"You here!" exclaimed Eva, when she saw him.
+
+"I was compelled to come," answered he. "I have slipped away from
+the others; no one knows that I am here. I must speak with you,
+Eva. To-morrow I set off; but I cannot leave home calmly and
+happily without knowing--what this moment must decide."
+
+Eva rose, her checks crimsoned, she cast down her eyes.
+
+"Baron Wilhelm!" stammered she, "it is not proper that I should
+remain here!" She was about to leave the room.
+
+"Eva!" said Wilhelm, and seized her hand, "you know that I love
+you! My feelings are honorable! Say Yes, and it shall be holy to me
+as an oath. Then I shall begin my journey glad at heart, as one
+should do. Your assent shall stand in my breast, shall sound in my
+ear, whenever sin and temptation assail me! It will preserve me in
+an upright course, it will bring me back good and unspoiled. My
+wife must you be! You have soul, and with it nobility! Eva! in
+God's name, do not make a feeble, life-weary, disheartened being of
+me!"
+
+"O Heavens!" exclaimed she, and burst into tears, "I cannot, and--
+will not! You forget that I am only a poor girl, who am indebted
+for everything to your mother! My assent would displease her, and
+some time or other you would repent of it! I cannot!--I do not love
+you!" added she, in a tremulous voice.
+
+Wilhelm stood speechless.
+
+Eva suddenly rang the bell.
+
+"What are you doing?" exclaimed he.
+
+The servant entered.
+
+"Bring in lights!" said she; "but first of all you must assist me
+with these flowers down into the garden. It will do them good to
+stand in the dew."
+
+The servant did as she bade; she herself carried down one of the
+pots, and left the room.
+
+"I do not love you!" repeated Wilhelm to himself, and returned to
+the company which he had left, and where he found all gayety and
+happiness.
+
+The supper-table was spread in the garden; lights burned in the
+open air with a steady flame; it was a summer-evening beautiful as
+the October of the South; the reseda sent forth its fragrance; and
+when Sophie's health was drunk cannon were fired among the lofty
+fir-trees, the pines of the North.
+
+The next morning those countenances were dejected which the evening
+before had been so gay. The carriage drew up to the door. The dear
+mother and sisters wept; they kissed Wilhelm, and extended their
+hands to Otto.
+
+"Farewell!" said Louise; "do not forget us!" and her tearful glance
+rested upon Otto. Eva stood silent and pale.
+
+"You will not forget me!" whispered Otto, as he seized Louise's
+hand. "I will forget your sister!"
+
+The carriage rolled away; Wilhelm threw himself back into a corner.
+Otto looked back once more; they all stood at the door, and waved
+their white handkerchiefs.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIII
+
+"In one short speaking silence all conveys--
+And looks a sigh, and weeps without a tear."
+                             MRS. BROWNING.
+
+"Forgive us our debts as we
+  The debts of others forgive;
+And lead us not in tempting ways;
+  Apart from evil let us live."
+              A. VON CHAMISSO.
+
+We will not accompany the friends, but will remain behind in Funen,
+where we will make a bolder journey than they, namely, we will go
+back one-and-twenty years. We will allow the circumstances of
+Otto's birth again to come before us. It is a leap backward that we
+take from 1830 to 1810. We are in Odense, that old city, which
+takes its name from Odin.
+
+The common people there have still a legend about the origin of the
+name of the city. Upon Naesbyhoved's Hill [Author's Note: Not far
+from the city, by the Odense Channel; it is described in Wedel
+Simonsen's City Ruins.] there once stood a castle; here lived King
+Odin and his wife: Odense city was not then in existence, but the
+first building of it was then begun. [Author's Note: The place is
+given as being that of the now so-called Cross Street.] The court
+was undecided as to the name which should be given to the city.
+After long indecision it was at last agreed that the first word
+which either King or Queen should speak the next morning should be
+the name given to it. In the early morning the Queen awoke and
+looked out from her window over the wood. The first house in the
+city was erected to the roof, and the builders had hung up a great
+garland, glittering with tinsel, upon the rooftree. "Odin, see!"
+exclaimed the Queen; and thenceforward the city was called Odensee,
+which name, since then, has been changed by daily speech to Odense.
+
+When people ask the children in Copenhagen whence they have come,
+they reply, out of the Peblingsoe. The little children of Odense,
+who know nothing about the Peblingsoe, say that they are fetched
+out of Rosenbaek, a little brook which has only been ennobled
+within the few last years, just as in Copenhagen is the case with
+Krystal Street, which formerly had an unpleasant name. This brook
+runs through Odense, and must, in former times, when united with
+the Odense River, have formed an island where the city at that time
+stood; hence some people derive the name of Odense from Odins Ei,
+or Odins O, that is, Odin's Island. Be it then as it might, the
+brook flows now, and in 1810, when the so-called Willow-dam, by the
+West Gate, was not filled up, it stood, especially in spring, low
+and watery. It often overflowed its banks, and in so doing
+overflowed the little gardens which lay on either side. It thus ran
+concealed through the city until near the North Gate, where it made
+its appearance for a moment and then dived again in the same
+street, and, like a little river, flowed through the cellars of the
+old justice-room, which was built by the renowned Oluf Bagger.
+[Author's Note: He was so rich that once, when Frederick the Second
+visited him, he had the room heated with cinnamon chips. Much may
+be found about this remarkable man in the second collection of
+Thiele's Popular Danish Legends. His descendants still live in
+Odense, namely, the family of the printer Ch. Iversen, who has
+preserved many curiosities which belonged to him.]
+
+It was an afternoon in the summer of 1810; the water was high in
+the brook, yet two washerwomen were busily employed in it; reed-matting
+was fast bound round their bodies, and they beat with wooden staves
+the clothes upon their washing-stools. They were in deep conversation,
+and yet their labor went on uninterruptedly.
+
+"Yes," said one of them, "better a little with honor, than much
+with dishonor. She is sentenced; to-morrow she is to go about in
+the pillory. That is sure and certain! I know it from the
+trumpeter's Karen, and from the beggar-king's [Author's Note:
+Overseer of the poor.] wife: neither of them go about with lies."
+
+"Ih, my Jesus!" exclaimed the other, and let her wooden beater
+fall, "is Johanne Marie to go in the pillory, the handsome girl?
+she that looked so clever and dressed herself so well?"
+
+"Yes, it is a misfortune!" said the first; "a great misfortune it
+must be! No, let every one keep his own! say I every day to my
+children. After the sweet claw comes the bitter smart. One had much
+better work till the blood starts from the finger-ends."
+
+"Ih, see though!" said the other; "there goes the old fellow,
+Johanne Marie's father. He is an honest man; he was so pleased with
+his daughter, and to-morrow he must himself bind her to the
+pillory! But can she really have stolen?"
+
+"She has herself confessed," returned she; "and the Colonel is
+severe. I fancy the Gevaldiger is going there."
+
+"The Colonel should put the bridle on his own son. He is a bad
+fellow! Not long ago, when I was washing yarn there, and was merry,
+as I always am, he called me 'wench.' If he had said 'woman,' I
+should not have troubled myself about it, for it has another
+meaning; but 'wench,' that is rude! Ei, there sails the whole
+affair!" screamed she suddenly, as the sheet which she had wound
+round the washing-stool got loose and floated down the stream: she
+ran after it, and the conversation was broken off.
+
+The old man whom they had seen and compassionated, went into a
+great house close by, where the Colonel lived. His eyes were cast
+upon the ground; a deep, silent suffering lay in his wrinkled face;
+he gently pulled at the bell, and bowed himself deeply before the
+black-appareled lady who opened to him the door.
+
+We know her--it was the old Rosalie, then twenty years younger than
+when we saw her upon the western coast of Jutland.
+
+"Good old man!" said she, and laid her hand kindly on his shoulder.
+"Colonel Thostrup is severe, but he is not, however, inhuman; and
+that he would be if he let you tomorrow do your office. The Colonel
+has said that the Gevaldiger should stay at home."
+
+"No!" said the old man, "our Lord will give me strength. God be
+thanked that Johanne Marie's mother has closed her eyes: she will
+not see the misery! We are not guilty of it!"
+
+"Honest man!" said Rosalie. "Johanne was always so good and clever;
+and now"--she shook her head--"I would have sworn for her, but she
+has confessed it herself!"
+
+"The law must have its course!" said the old man, and tears
+streamed down his cheeks.
+
+At that moment the door opened, and Colonel Thostrup, a tall, thin
+man, with a keen eye, stood before them. Rosalie left the room.
+
+"Gevaldiger," said the Colonel, "to-morrow you will not be required
+to act in your office."
+
+"Colonel," returned the old man, "it is my duty to be there, and,
+if I may say a few words, people would speak ill of me if I kept
+away."
+
+On the following forenoon, from the early morning, the square where
+lay the council-house and head-watch, was filled with people; they
+were come to see the handsome girl led forth in the pillory. The
+time began to appear long to them, and yet no sign was seen of that
+which they expected. The sentinel, who went with measured step
+backward and forward before the sentry-box, could give no
+intelligence. The door of the council-house was closed, and
+everything gave occasion to the report which suddenly was put into
+circulation, that the handsome Johanne Marie had been for a whole
+hour in the pillory within the council-house, and thus they should
+have nothing at all to see. Although it is entirely opposed to
+sound reason that punishment should be inflicted publicly, it met
+with much support, and great dissatisfaction was excited.
+
+"That is shabby!" said a simple woman, in whom we may recognize one
+of the washerwomen; "it is shabby thus to treat the folks as if
+they were fools! Yesterday I slaved like a horse, and here one has
+stood two whole hours by the clock, till I am stiff in the legs,
+without seeing anything at all!"
+
+"That is what I expected," said another woman; "a fair face has
+many friends! She has known how to win the great people to her
+side!"
+
+"Do not you believe," inquired a third, "that she has been good
+friends with the Colonels son?"
+
+"Yes; formerly I would have said No, because she always looked so
+steady, and against her parents there is not a word to be said; but
+as she has stolen, as we know she has, she may also have been
+unsteady. The Colonel's son is a wild bird; riots and drinks does
+he in secret! We others know more than his father does: he had held
+too tight a hand over him. Too great severity causes bad blood!"
+
+"God help me, now it begins!" interrupted another woman, as a
+detachment of soldiers marched out of the guard-house, and at some
+little distance one from the other inclosed an open space. The door
+of the council-house now opened, and two officers of police,
+together with some of the guard, conducted out the condemned, who
+was placed in the pillory. This was a sort of wooden yoke laid
+across the shoulders of the delinquent; a piece of wood came
+forward from this into which her hands were secured: above all
+stood two iron bars, to the first of which was fastened a little
+bell; to the other a long fox's tail, which hung down the lack of
+the condemned.
+
+The girl seemed hardly more than nineteen, and was of an unusually
+beautiful figure; her countenance was nobly and delicately formed,
+but pale as death: yet there was no expression either of suffering
+or shame,--she seemed like the image of a penitent, who meekly
+accomplishes the imposed penance.
+
+Her aged father, the Gevaldiger, followed her slowly; his eye was
+determined; no feature expressed that which went forward in his
+soul: he silently took his place beside one of the pillars before
+the guard house.
+
+A loud murmur arose among the crowd when they saw the beautiful
+girl and the poor old father, who must himself see his daughter's
+disgrace.
+
+A spotted dog sprang into the open space; the girl's monotonous
+tread, as she advanced into the middle of the square, the ringing
+of the little bell, and the fox-tail which moved in the wind,
+excited the dog, which began to bark, and wanted to bite the fox's
+tail. The guards drove the dog away, but it soon came back again,
+although it did not venture again into the circle, but thrust
+itself forward, and never ceased barking.
+
+Many of those who already had been moved to compassion by the
+beauty of the girl and the sight of the old father, were thrown
+again by this incident into a merry humor; they laughed and found
+the whole thing very amusing.
+
+The hour was past, and the girl was now to be released. The
+Gevaldiger approached her, but whilst he raised his hand to the
+yoke the old man tottered, and sank, in the same moment, back upon
+the hard stone pavement.
+
+A shriek arose from those who stood around; the young girl alone
+stood silent and immovable; her thoughts seemed to be far away. Yet
+some people fancied they saw how she closed her eyes, but that was
+only for a moment. A policeman released her from the pillory, her
+old father was carried into the guard-house, and two policemen led
+her into the council-house.
+
+"See, now it is over!" said an old glover, who was among the
+spectators; "the next time she'll get into the House of Correction."
+
+"O, it is not so bad there," answered another; "they sing and are
+merry there the whole day long, and have no need to trouble
+themselves about victuals."
+
+"Yes, but that is prison fare."
+
+"It is not so bad--many a poor body would thank God for it; and
+Johanne Marie would get the best of it. Her aunt is the head-cook,
+and the cook and the inspector they hang together. It's my opinion,
+however, that this affair will take the life out of the old man. He
+got a right good bump as he fell on the stone-pavement; one could
+hear how it rung again."
+
+The crowd separated.
+
+The last malicious voice had prophesied truth.
+
+Three weeks afterward six soldiers bore a woven, yellow straw
+coffin from a poor house in East Street. The old Gevaldiger lay,
+with closed eyes and folded hands, in the coffin. Within the
+chamber, upon the bedstead, sat Johanne Marie, with a countenance
+pale as that of the dead which had been carried away. A
+compassionate neighbor took her hand, and mentioned her name
+several times before she heard her.
+
+"Johanne, come in with me; eat a mouthful of pease and keep life in
+you; if not for your own sake, at least for that of the child which
+lies under your heart."
+
+The girl heaved a wonderfully deep sigh. "No, no!" said she, and
+closed her eyes.
+
+Full of pity, the good neighbor took her home with her.
+
+A few days passed on, and then one morning two policemen entered
+the poor room in which the Gevaldiger had died. Johanne Marie was
+again summoned before the judge.
+
+A fresh robbery had taken place at the Colonel's. Rosalie said that
+it was a long time since she had first missed that which was gone,
+but that she thought it best to try to forget it. The Colonel's
+violent temper and his exasperation against Johanne Marie, who, as
+he asserted, by her bad conduct, had brought her old, excellent
+father to the grave, insisted on summoning her before the tribunal,
+that the affair might be more narrowly inquired into.
+
+Rosalie, who had been captivated by the beauty of the girl and by
+her modest demeanor, and who was very fond of her, was this time
+quite calm, feeling quite sure that she would deny everything,
+because, in fact, the theft had only occurred within the last few
+days. The public became aware of this before long, and the opinion
+was that Johanne Marie could not possibly have been an actor in it;
+but, to the astonishment of the greater number, she confessed that
+she was the guilty person, and that with such calmness as amazed
+every one. Her noble, beautifully formed countenance seemed
+bloodless; her dark-blue eyes beamed with a brilliancy which seemed
+like that of delirium; her beauty, her calmness, and yet this
+obduracy in crime, produced an extraordinary impression upon the
+spectators.
+
+She was sentenced to the House of Correction in Odense. Despised
+and repulsed by the better class of her fellow-beings, she went to
+her punishment. No one had dreamed that under so fair a form so corrupt
+a soul could have been found. She was set to the spinning-wheel;
+silent and introverted, she accomplished the tasks that were
+assigned her. In the coarse merriment of the other prisoners she
+took no part.
+
+"Don't let your heart sink within you, Johanne Marie," said German
+Heinrich, who sat at the loom; "sing with us till the iron bars
+rattle!"
+
+"Johanne, you brought your old father to the grave," said her
+relation, the head-cook; "how could you have taken such bad
+courses?"
+
+Johanne Marie was silent; the large, dark eyes looked straight
+before her, whilst she kept turning the wheel.
+
+Five months went on, and then she became ill--ill to death, and
+gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl--two beautiful and well-formed
+children, excepting that the girl was as small and delicate as if its
+life hung on a thread.
+
+The dying mother kissed the little ones and wept; it was the first
+time that the people within the prison had seen her weep. Her
+relation the cook sat alone with her upon the bed.
+
+"Withdraw not your hand from the innocent children," said Johanne
+Marie; "if they live to grow up, tell them some time that their
+mother was innocent. My eternal Saviour knows that I have never
+stolen! Innocent am I, and innocent was I when I went out a
+spectacle of public derision, and now when I sit here!"
+
+"Ih, Jesus though! What do you say?" exclaimed the woman.
+
+"The truth!" answered the dying one. "God be gracious to me!--my
+children!"
+
+She sank back upon the couch, and was dead.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIV
+
+"Ah! wonderfully beautiful is God's earth, and worthy it is to live
+contented."--HOLTY.
+
+We now return to the hall in Funen, to the family which we left
+there; but autumn and winter are gone whilst we have been lingering
+on the past. Otto and Wilhelm have been two months away. It is the
+autumn of 1832.
+
+The marriage of the Kammerjunker and Sophie was deferred, according
+to her wish, until the second of April, because this day is
+immortal in the annals of Denmark. In the house, where there now
+were only the mother, Louise, and Eva, all was quiet. Through the
+whole winter Eva had become weaker; yet she did not resemble the
+flowers which wither; there was no expression of illness about her--
+it was much more as if the spiritual nature overpowered the
+bodily; she resembled an astral lamp which, filled with light,
+seems almost resembled be an ethereal existence. The dark-blue eyes
+had an expression of soul and feeling which attracted even the
+simple domestics at the hall. The physician assured them that her
+ chest was sound, and that her malady was to him a riddle. A
+beautiful summer, he thought, would work beneficially upon her.
+
+Wilhelm and Otto wrote alternately. It was a festival-day whenever
+a letter came; then were maps and plans of the great cities fetched
+out, and Louise and Eva made the journey with them.
+
+"To-day they are here, to-morrow they will be there," cried they.
+
+"How I envy them both, to see all these glorious things!" said
+Louise.
+
+"The charming Switzerland!" sighed Eva. "How refreshing the air
+must be to breathe! How well one must feel one's self there!"
+
+"If you could only go there, Eva," said Louise, "then you would
+certainly get better."
+
+"Here all are so kind to me; here I am so happy!" answered she. "I
+am right thankful to God for it. How could I have hoped for such a
+home as this? God reward you and your good mother for your kindness
+to me. Once I was so unhappy; but now I have had a double repayment
+for all my sorrow, and all the neglect I have suffered. I am so
+happy, and therefore I would so willingly live!"
+
+"Yes, and you shall live!" said Louise. "How came you now to think
+about dying? In the summer you will perfectly recover, the
+physician says. Can you hide from me any sorrow? Eva, I know that
+my brother loves you!"
+
+"He will forget that abroad!" said Eva. "He must forget it! Could I
+be ungrateful? But we are not suited for each other!" She spoke of
+her childhood, of long-passed, sorrowful days. Louise laid her arm
+upon her shoulder: they talked till late in the evening, and tears
+stood in Louise's eyes.
+
+"Only to you could I tell it!" said Eva. "It is to me like a sin,
+and yet I am innocent. My mother was so too--my poor mother! Her
+sin was love. She sacrificed all; more than a woman should
+sacrifice. The old Colonel was stern and violent. His wrath often
+became a sort of frenzy, in which he knew not what he did. The son
+was young and dissipated; my mother a poor girl, but very handsome,
+I have heard. He seduced her. She had become an unfortunate being,
+and that she herself felt. The Colonel's son robbed his father and
+an old woman who lived in the family: that which had been taken was
+missed. The father would have murdered the son, had he discovered
+the truth; the son, therefore, sought in his need help from my poor
+mother. He persuaded her to save him by taking the guilt on
+herself. The whole affair as regarded her was, he intended, only to
+come from the domestics. She thought that with her honor all was
+lost. She, indeed, had already given him the best of which she was
+possessed. In anguish of heart, and overpowered by his prayers, she
+said, 'Yes; my father has been angry and undone already '"
+
+Eva burst into tears.
+
+"Thou dear, good girl!" said Louise, and kissed her forehead.
+
+"My poor mother," continued Eva, "was condemned to an undeserved
+punishment. I cannot mention it. For that reason I have never had a
+desire to go to Odense. The old lady in the Colonel's family
+concealed, out of kindness, her loss; but by accident it was
+discovered. The Colonel was greatly embittered. My mother was
+overwhelmed by shame and misfortune: the first error had plunged
+her into all this. She was taken to the House of Correction in
+Odense. The Colonel's son shortly afterward went away in a vessel.
+My unhappy mother was dispirited: nobody knew that she had endured,
+out of despair and love, a disgrace which she had not deserved. It
+was not until she lay upon her death-bed, when I and my brother
+were born, that she told a relation that she was innocent. Like a
+criminal, in the early morning she was carried to the grave in a
+coffin of plaited straw. A great and a noble heart was carried
+unacknowledged to the dead!"
+
+"You had a brother?" inquired Louise, and her heart beat violently.
+"Did he die? and where did you, poor children, remain?"
+
+"The cook in the house kept us with her. I was small and weak; my
+brother, on the contrary, was strong, and full of life. He lived
+mostly among the prisoners. I sat in a little room with my doll.
+When we were in our seventh year, we were sent for to the old
+Colonel. His son died abroad; but before his death he had written
+to the old man, confessing to him his crime, my mother's innocence,
+and that we were his children! I resembled my father greatly. The
+old gentleman, as soon as he saw me, was very angry, and said, 'I
+will not have her!' I remained with my foster-mother. I never saw
+my brother after that time. The Colonel left the city, and took him
+with him."
+
+"O God!" cried Louise; "you have still some papers on this subject?
+Do you not know your brother? It is impossible that it should be
+otherwise! You are Otto's sister!"
+
+"O Heavens!" exclaimed Eva; her hands trembled, and she became as
+pale as a corpse.
+
+"You are fainting!" cried Louise, throwing her arm around her
+waist and kissing her eyes and her cheeks. "Eva! he is your
+brother! the dear, good Otto! O, he will be so happy with you!
+Yes, your eyes are like his! Eva, you beloved girl!"
+
+Louise related to her all that Otto had confided to her. She told
+her about German Heinrich, and how Otto had assisted Sidsel away,
+and how they had met.
+
+Eva burst into tears. "My brother! O Father in heaven, that I may
+but live! live and see him! Life is so beautiful! I must not die!"
+
+"Happiness will make you strong! There is no doubt but that he is
+your brother! We must tell it to mamma. O Heavens! how delighted
+she will be! and Otto will no longer suffer and be unhappy! He may
+be proud of you, and happy in you! O, come, come!"
+
+She led Eva out with her to her mother, who was already in bed; but
+how could Louise wait till next morning?
+
+"May the Lord bless thee, my good child!" said the lady, and
+pressed a kiss upon her forehead.
+
+Eva related now how the Colonel had, given a considerable sum to
+her foster-mother; but that was all she was to receive, he had
+said. Afterward, when the foster-mother died, Eva had still two
+hundred rix-dollars; and on consideration of this the sister of the
+deceased had taken Eva to live with her. With her she came to
+Copenhagen and to Nyboder, and at that time she was ten years old.
+There she had to nurse a little child--her brother she called it--
+and that was the little Jonas. As she grew older, people told her
+that she was handsome. It was now four years since she was followed
+one evening by two young men, one of whom we know--our moral Hans
+Peter. One morning her foster-mother came to her with a proposal
+which drove her to despair. The merchant had seen her, and wished
+to purchase the beautiful flower. Upon this Eva left her home, and
+came to the excellent people at Roeskelde; and from that day God
+had been very good to her.
+
+She sank down upon her knees before the elderly lady's bed. She was
+not among strangers: a mother and a sister wept with the happy one.
+
+"O that I might live!" besought Eva, in the depths of her heart. As
+a glorified one she stood before them. Her joy beamed through
+tears.
+
+The next morning she felt herself singularly unwell. Her feet
+trembled; her cheeks were like marble. She seated herself in the
+warm sunshine which came in through the window. Outside stood the
+trees with large, half-bursting buds. A few mild nights would make
+the wood green. But summer was already in Eva's heart; there was
+life's joy and gladness. Her large, thoughtful eyes raised
+themselves thankfully to heaven.
+
+"Let me not die yet, good God!" prayed she; and her lips moved to a
+low melody, soft as if breezes passed over the outstretched chords:--
+
+           "The sunshine warm, the odorous flowers,
+            Of these do not bereave me!
+            I breathe with joy the morning hours,
+            Let not the grave receive me!
+            There can no pleasant sunbeams fall,
+            No human voice come near me;
+            There should I miss the flow'rets small,
+            There have no friends to cheer me.
+
+            Now, how to value life I know--
+            I hold it as a treasure;
+            There is no love i' th' grave below,
+            No music, warmth, or pleasure.
+            On it the heavy earth is flung,
+            The coffin-lid shuts tightly!
+            My blood is warm, my soul is young!
+            Life smiles--life shines so brightly!"
+
+She folded her hands: all became like flowers and gold before her
+eyes. Afar off was the sound of music: she reeled and sank down
+upon the sofa which was near her. Life flowed forth from her heart,
+but the sensation was one of bliss; a repose, as when the weary
+bow down their heads for sleep.
+
+"Here is a letter!" cried Louise, full of joy, and found her white
+and cold. Terrified, she called for help, and bent over her.
+
+Eva was dead.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLV
+
+"Knowest thou the mountain and its cloudy paths? where the mule is
+seeking its misty way."--GOETHE.
+
+The letter was from Wilhelm; every line breathed life's joy and
+gladness.
+
+"MIA CARA SORELLA!
+
+"Does it not sound beautifully? It is Italian! Now then, I am in
+that so-often-sung-of Paradise, but of the so much-talked-about
+blue air, I have as yet seen nothing of consequence. Here it is
+gray, gray as in Denmark. To be sure Otto says that it is
+beautiful, that we have the heaven of home above us, but I am not
+so poetical. The eating is good, and the filth of the people
+strikes one horribly after being in Switzerland, the enchanting
+Switzerland! Yes, there is nature! We have made a crusade through
+it, you may think. But now you shall hear about the journey, and
+the entrance into 'la bella Italia,' which is yet below all my
+expectations. I cannot at all bear these feeble people; I cannot
+endure this monk-odor and untruthfulness. We are come direct from
+the scenery of Switzerland, from clouds and glaciers, from
+greatness and power. We travelled somewhat hastily through the
+valley of the Rhone; the weather was gray, but the whole obtained
+therefrom a peculiar character. The woods in the lofty ridges
+looked like heather; the valley itself seemed like a garden filled
+with vegetables, vineyards, and green meadows. The clouds over and
+under one another, but the snow-covered mountains peeped forth
+gloriously from among them, It was a riven cloud-world which drove
+past,--the wild chase with which the daylight had disguised itself.
+It kissed in its flight Pissevache, a waterfall by no means to be
+despised. In Brieg we rested some time, but at two o'clock in the
+morning began again our journey over the Simplon. This is the
+journey which I will describe to you. Otto and I sat in the
+coupee. Fancy us in white blouses, shawl-caps, and with green
+morocco slippers, for the devil may travel in slippers--they are
+painful to the feet.
+
+"We both of us have mustaches! I have seduced Otto. They become us
+uncommonly well, and give us a very imposing air; and that is very
+good now that we are come into the land of banditti, where we must
+endeavor to awe the robbers. Thus travelled we. It was a dark
+night, and still as death, as in the moment when the overture
+begins to an opera. Soon, indeed, was the great Simplon curtain to
+be rolled up, and we to behold the land of music. Immediately on
+leaving the city, the road began to ascend; we could not see a
+hand before us; around us tumbled and roared the water-courses,--it
+was as if we heard the pulse of Nature beat. Close above the
+carriage passed the white clouds; they seemed like transparent
+marble slabs which were slid over us. We had the gray dawn with us,
+whilst deep in the valley lay yet the darkness of night; in an
+hour's time it began to show itself there among the little wooden houses.
+
+"It is a road hewn out of the rocks. The giant Napoleon carried it
+through the backbone of the earth. The eagle, Napoleon's bird, flew
+like a living armorial crest over the gigantic work of the master.
+There it was cold and gray; the clouds above us, the clouds below
+us, and in the middle space steep rocky walls.
+
+"At regular distances houses (relais) are erected for the
+travellers; in one of these we drank our coffee. The passengers sat
+on benches and tables around the great fire-place, where the pine
+logs crackled. More than a thousand names were written on the
+walls. I amused myself by writing mamma's, yours, Sophie's, and
+Eva's; now they stand there, and people will fancy that you have
+been on the Simplon. In the lobby I scratched in that of Mamsell,
+and added 'Without her workbox.' Otto was thinking about you. We
+talked in our, what the rest would call 'outlandish speech,' when I
+all at once exclaimed, 'It is really Eva's birthday!' I remembered
+it first. In Simplon town we determined to drink her health.
+
+"We set off again. Wherever the glaciers might fall and destroy the
+road the rocks have been sprung, and formed into great galleries,
+through which one drives without any danger. One waterfall succeeds
+another. There is no balustrade along the road, only the dark,
+deep abyss where the pine-trees raise themselves to an immense
+height, and yet only look like rafters on the mighty wall of rock.
+Before we had advanced much further, we came to where trees no
+longer grew. The great hospice lay in snow and cloud. We came into
+a valley. What solitude! what desolation! only naked crags! They
+seemed metallic, and all had a green hue. The utmost variety of
+mosses grew there; before us towered up an immense glacier, which
+looked like green bottle-glass ornamented with snow. It was
+bitterly cold here, and in Simplon the stoves were lighted; the
+champagne foamed, Eva's health was drunk, and, only think! at that
+very moment an avalanche was so gallant as to fall. That was a
+cannonade; a pealing among the mountains! It must have rung in
+Eva's ears. Ask her about it. I can see how she smiles.
+
+"We now advanced toward Italy, but cold was it, and cold it
+remained. The landscape became savage; we drove between steep
+crags. Only fancy, on both sides a block of granite several miles
+long, and almost as high, and the road not wider than for two
+carriages to pass, and there you have a picture of it. If one
+wanted to see the sky, one was obliged to put one's head out of the
+carriage and look up, and then it was as if one looked up from the
+bottom of the deepest well, dark and narrow. Every moment I kept
+thinking, 'Nay, if these two walls should come together!' We with
+carriage and horses were only like ants on a pebble. We drove
+through the ribs of the earth! The water roared; the clouds hung
+like fleeces on the gray, craggy walls. In a valley we saw boys and
+girls dressed in sheep-skins, who looked as wild as if they had
+been brought up among beasts.
+
+"Suddenly the air became wondrously mild. We saw the first fig-tree
+by the road-side. Chestnuts hung over our heads; we were in Isella,
+the boundary town of Italy. Otto sang, and was wild with delight; I
+studied the first public-house sign, 'Tabacca e vino.'
+
+"How luxuriant became the landscape! Fields of maize and vineyards!
+The vine was not trained on frames as in Germany!--no, it hung in
+luxuriant garlands, in great huts of leaves! Beautiful children
+bounded along the road, but the heavens were gray, and that I had
+not expected in Italy. From Domo d'Ossola, I looked back to my
+beloved Switzerland! Yes, she turns truly the most beautiful side
+toward Italy. But there was not any time for me to gaze; on we
+must. In the carriage there sat an old Signorina; she recited
+poetry, and made: with her eyes 'che bella cosa!'
+
+"About ten o'clock at night we were in Baveno, drank tea, and
+slept, whilst Lago Maggiore splashed under our window. The lake and
+the Borromaen island we were to see by daylight.
+
+"'Lord God!' thought I, 'is this all?' A scene as quiet and riant
+as this we--have at home! Funen after this should be called Isola
+bella, and the East Sea is quite large enough to be called Lago
+Maggiore. We went by the steamboat past the holy Borromeus
+[Author's Note: A colossal statue on the shore of Lago Maggiore.]
+to Sesto de Calende; we had a priest on board, who was very much
+astonished at our having come from so far. I showed him a large
+travelling map which we had with us, where the Lago Maggiore was
+the most southern, and Hamburg the most northern point. 'Yet still
+further off,' said I; 'more to the north!' and he struck his hands
+together when he perceived that we were from beyond the great map.
+He inquired whether we were Calvinists.
+
+"We sped through glorious scenes. The Alps looked like glass
+mountains in a fairy tale. They lay behind us. The air was warm as
+summer, but light as on the high mountains. The women wafted kisses
+to us; but they were not handsome, the good ladies!
+
+"Tell the Kammerjunker that the Italian pigs have no bristles, but
+have a coal-black shining skin like a Moor.
+
+"Toward night we arrived at Milan, where we located ourselves with
+Reichmann, made a good supper, and had excellent beds; but I
+foresee that this bliss will not last very long. On the other side
+of the Apennines we shall be up to the ears in dirt, and must eat
+olives preserved in oil; but let it pass. Otto adapts himself
+charmingly to all things; he begins to be merry--that is, at times!
+I, too, have had a sort of vertigo--I am taken with Italian music;
+but then there is a difference in hearing it on the spot. It has
+more than melody; it has character. The luxuriance in nature and in
+the female form; the light, fluttering movement of the people,
+where even pain is melody, has won my heart and my understanding.
+Travelling changes people!
+
+"Kiss mamma for me! Tell Eva about the health-drinking on the
+Simplon, and about the falling avalanche: do not forget that; that
+is precisely the point in my letter! Tell me too how Eva blushed,
+and smiled, and said, 'He thought of me!' Yes, in fact it is very
+noble of me. My sweet Sophie and her Kammerjunker, Jakoba and
+Mamsell, must have a bouquet of greetings, which you must arrange
+properly. If you could but see Otto and me with our mustaches! We
+make an impression, and that is very pleasant. If the days only did
+not go on so quickly--if life did not pass so rapidly!
+
+           "'Questa vita mortale
+             Che par si bella, a quasi piuma al vento
+             Che la porta a la perde in un momento,' [Note: Guarini]
+as we Italians say. Cannot you understand that?
+
+"Thy affectionate brother,
+
+"WILHELM."
+
+Otto wrote in the margin of the letter, "Italy is a paradise! Here
+the heavens are three times as lofty as at home. I love the proud
+pine-trees and the dark-blue mountains. Would hat everybody could
+see the glorious objects!"
+
+Wilhelm added to this, "What he writes about the Italian heavens is
+stupid stuff. Ours at home is just as good. He is an odd person, as
+you very well know!
+
+"'Addic! A rivederci!'"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVI
+
+"Thou art master in thy world.
+Hast thou thyself, then thou hast all!"
+--WAHLMANN.
+
+In the summer of 1834 the friends had been absent for two years. In
+the last year, violet-colored gillyflowers had adorned a grave in
+the little country church-yard.
+
+"A heart which overflowed with love,
+Was gone from earth to love and God,"
+were the words which might be read upon the grave-stone.
+
+A withered bouquet of stocks had been found by Louise, with the
+certificate of Eva's birth and her hymn-book. These were the
+flowers which Wilhelm had given her that evening at Roeskelde.
+Among the dry leaves there lay a piece of paper, on which she had
+written,--"Even like these flowers let the feelings die away in my
+soul which these flowers inspire it with!"
+
+And now above her grave the flowers which she had loved sent forth
+their fragrance.
+
+It was Sunday; the sun shone warm; the church-goers, old and young,
+assembled under the great lime-tree near Eva's grave. They expected
+their young preacher, who to-day was to preach for the third time.
+
+The gentlefolks would also certainly be there, they thought,
+because the young Baron was come back out of foreign parts, and
+with him the other gentleman, who certainly was to have Miss
+Louise.
+
+"Our new preacher is worth hearing," said one of the peasant women;
+"such a young man, who actually preaches the old faith! as gentle
+and as meek in conversation as if he were one of ourselves! And in
+the pulpit, God help us! it went quite down into my legs the last
+time about the Day of Judgment!"
+
+"There is Father!" [Note: The general term applied to the preacher
+by the Danish peasants.] exclaimed the crowd, and the heads of old
+and young were uncovered. The women courtesied deeply as a young
+man in priest-robes went into the church-door. His eyes and lips
+moved to a pious smile, the hair was smooth upon his pale forehead.
+
+"Good day, children!" said he.
+
+It was Hans Peter. He had, indeed, had "the best characters," and
+thus had received a good living, and now preached effectively about
+the devil and all his works.
+
+The singing of the community sounded above the grave where the sun
+shone, where the stocks sent forth their fragrance, and where Eva
+slept: she whose last wish was to live.
+
+"There is no love i' th' grave below,
+No music, warmth, or pleasure."
+
+The earth lay firm and heavy upon her coffin-lid.
+
+During the singing of the second hymn a handsome carriage drove up
+before the church-yard. The two friends, who were only just
+returned to their home in Denmark, entered the church, together
+with the mother and Louise.
+
+Travelling and two years had made Wilhelm appear somewhat older;
+there was a shadow of sadness in his otherwise open and life-rejoicing
+countenance. Otto looked handsomer than formerly; the gloomy
+expression in his face was softened, he looked around cheerfully,
+yet thoughtfully, and a smile was on his lips when he spoke with
+Louise.
+
+There was in the sermon some allusion made to those who had
+returned home; for the rest, it was a flowery discourse interlarded
+with many texts from the Bible. The community shed tears; the good,
+wise people, they understood it to mean that their young lord was
+returned home uninjured from all the perils which abound in foreign
+lands.
+
+The preacher was invited to dinner at the hall. The Kammerjunker
+and Sophie came also, but it lasted "seven long and seven wide," as
+Miss Jakoba expressed herself, before they could get through all
+the unwrapping and were ready to enter the parlor, for they had
+with them the little son Fergus, as he was called, after the
+handsome Scotchman in Sir Walter Scott's "Waverley." That was
+Sophie's wish. The Kammerjunker turned the name of Fergus to
+Gusseman, and Jacoba asserted that it was a dog's name.
+
+"Now you shall see my little bumpkin!" said he, and brought in a
+square-built child, who with fat, red cheeks, and round arms,
+stared around him. "That is a strong fellow! Here is something to
+take hold of! Tralla-ralla-ralla!" And he danced him round the
+room.
+
+Sophie laughed and offered her hand to Otto.
+
+Wilhelm turned to Mamsell. "I have brought something for you," said
+he, "something which I hope may find a place in the work-box--a man
+made of very small mussel-shells; it is from Venice."
+
+"Heavens! from all that way off!" said she and courtesied.
+
+After dinner they walked in the garden.
+
+Wilhelm spoke already of going the following year again to Paris.
+
+"Satan!" said the Kammerjunker. "Nay, I can do better with Mr.
+Thostrup. He is patriotic. He lays out his money in an estate. It
+is a good bargain which you have made, and in a while will be
+beautiful; there is hill and dale."
+
+"There my old Rosalie shall live with me," said Otto; "there she
+will find her Switzerland. The cows shall have bells on their
+necks."
+
+"Lord God! shall they also be made fools of?" exclaimed Jakoba:
+"that is just exactly as if it were Sophie."
+
+They went through the avenue where Otto two years before had wept,
+and had related all his troubles to Louise. He recollected it, and
+a gentle sigh passed his lips whilst his eyes rested on Louise.
+
+"Now, do you feel yourself happy at home?" asked she; "a lovelier
+summer's day than this you certainly have not abroad."
+
+"Every country has its own beauties," replied Otto. "Our Denmark is
+not a step child of Nature. The people here are dearest to me, for
+I am best acquainted with them. They, and not Nature, it is that
+makes a land charming. Denmark is a good land; and here also will I
+look for my happiness." He seized Louise's hand; she blushed, and
+was silent. Happy hours succeeded.
+
+This circle assembled every Sunday; on the third, their delight was
+greater, was more festal than on any former occasion.
+
+Nature herself had the same expression. The evening was most
+beautiful; the full moon shone, magnificent dark-blue clouds raised
+themselves like mountains on the other side the Belt. Afar off
+sailed the ships, with every sail set to catch the breeze.
+
+Below the moon floated a coal-black cloud, which foretold a squall.
+
+A little yacht went calmly over the water. At the helm sat a boy--
+half a child he seemed: it was Jonas, the little singing-bird, as
+Wilhelm had once called him. Last Whitsuntide he had been
+confirmed, and with his Confirmation all his singer-dreams were at
+an end: but that did not trouble him; on the contrary, it had lain
+very heavy upon his heart that he was not to be a fifer. His
+highest wish had been to see himself as a regimental fifer, and
+then he should have gone to his Confirmation in his red uniform,
+with a sabre at his side, and a feather in his hat half as tall
+as himself. Thus adorned, he might have gone with the girls into
+the King's Garden and upon the Round Tower, the usual walk for poor
+children in Copenhagen. On Confirmation-day they ascend the high
+tower, just as if it were to gain from it a free view over the
+world. Little Jonas, however, was confirmed as a sailor, and he now
+sat at the helm on this quiet night.
+
+Upon the deck lay two persons and slept; a third went tranquilly up
+and down. Suddenly he shook one of the sleepers, and caught hold on
+the sail. A squall had arisen with such rapidity and strength, that
+the vessel in a moment was thrown on her side. Mast and sail were
+below the water. Little Jonas uttered a shriek. Not a vessel was
+within sight. The two sleepers had woke in time to cling to the
+mast. With great force they seized the ropes, but in vain; the
+sail hung like lead in the water. The ship did not right herself.
+
+"Joseph, Maria!" exclaimed one of them, a man with gray hairs and
+unpleasing features. "We sink! the water is in the hold!"
+
+All three clambered now toward the hinder part of the vessel, where
+a little boat floated after. One of them sprang into it.
+
+"My daughter!" cried the elder, and bent himself toward the narrow
+entrance into the cabin. "Sidsel, save thy life!" and so saying, he
+sprang into the boat.
+
+"We must have my daughter out," cried he. One of the ship's cabin
+windows was under water; he burst in the other window.
+
+"We are sinking!" cried he, and a horrible scream was heard within.
+
+The old man was German Heinrich, who was about to come with this
+vessel from Copenhagen to Jutland: Sidsel was his daughter, and
+therefore he wished now to save her life a second time.
+
+The water rushed more and more into the ship. Heinrich thrust his
+arm through the cabin-window, he grasped about in the water within;
+suddenly he caught hold on a garment, he drew it toward him; but it
+was only the captain's coat, and not his daughter, as he had hoped.
+
+"The ship sinks!" shrieked the other, and grasped wildly on the
+rope which held the boat fast: in vain he attempted to divide it
+with his pocket-knife. The ship whirled round with the boat and
+all. Air and water boiled within it, and, as if in a whirlpool, the
+whole sunk into the deep. The sea agitated itself into strong
+surges over the place, and then was again still. The moon shone
+tranquilly over the surface of the water as before. No wreck
+remained to tell any one of the struggle which there had been with
+death.
+
+The bell tolled a quarter past twelve; and at that moment the last
+light at the hall was extinguished.
+
+"I will go to Paris," said Wilhelm, "to my glorious Switzerland;
+here at home one is heavy-hearted; the gillyflowers on the grave
+have an odor full of melancholy recollections. I must breathe the
+mountain air; I must mingle in the tumult of men, and it is quite
+the best in the world."
+
+Otto closed his eyes; he folded his hands.
+
+"Louise loves me," said he. "I am so happy that I fear some great
+misfortune may soon meet me; thus it used always to be. Whilst
+German Heinrich lives I cannot assure myself of good! If he were
+away, I should be perfectly tranquil, perfectly happy!"
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's O. T., A Danish Romance, by Hans Christian Andersen
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK O. T., A DANISH ROMANCE ***
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+Project Gutenberg's O. T., A Danish Romance, by Hans Christian Andersen
+#3 in our series by Hans Christian Andersen
+
+Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
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+*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
+
+
+Title: O. T., A Danish Romance
+
+Author: Hans Christian Andersen
+
+Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7513]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on May 13, 2003]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-Latin-1
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK O. T., A DANISH ROMANCE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nicole Apostola
+
+
+
+
+O. T.
+A Danish Romance
+
+by Hans Christian Andersen
+Author of the "Improvisatore" and the "Two Baronesses"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+"Quod felix faustumque sit!"
+
+There is a happiness which no poet has yet properly sung, which no
+lady-reader, let her be ever so amiable, has experienced or ever
+will experience in this world. This is a condition of happiness
+which alone belongs to the male sex, and even then alone to the
+elect. It is a moment of life which seizes upon our feelings,
+our minds, our whole being. Tears have been shed by the innocent,
+sleepless nights been passed, during which the pious mother, the
+loving sister, have put up prayers to God for this critical moment
+in the life of the son or the brother.
+
+Happy moment, which no woman, let her be ever so good, so
+beautiful, or intellectual, can experience--that of becoming a
+student, or, to describe it by a more usual term, the passing of
+the first examination!
+
+The cadet who becomes an officer, the scholar who becomes an
+academical burgher, the apprentice who becomes a journeyman, all
+know, in a greater or less degree, this loosening of the wings,
+this bounding over the limits of maturity into the lists of
+philosophy. We all strive after a wider field, and rush thither
+like the stream which at length loses itself in the ocean.
+
+Then for the first time does the youthful soul rightly feel her
+freedom, and, therefore, feels it doubly; the soul struggles for
+activity, she comprehends her individuality; it has been proved and
+not found too light; she is still in possession of the dreams of
+childhood, which have not yet proved delusive. Not even the joy of
+love, not the enthusiasm for art and science, so thrills through
+all the nerves as the words, "Now am I a student!"
+
+This spring-day of life, on which the ice-covering of the school is
+broken, when the tree of Hope puts forth its buds and the sun of
+Freedom shines, falls with us, as is well known, in the month of
+October, just when Nature loses her foliage, when the evenings
+begin to grow darker, and when heavy winter-clouds draw together,
+as though they would say to youth,--"Your spring, the birth of the
+examination, is only a dream! even now does your life become
+earnest!" But our happy youths think not of these things, neither
+will we be joyous with the gay, and pay a visit to their circle. In
+such a one our story takes its commencement.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+"At last we separate:
+To Jutland one, to F�nen others go;
+And still the quick thought comes,
+--A day so bright, so full of fun,
+Never again on us shall rise."--CARL BAGGER.
+
+It was in October of the year 1829. Examen artium had been passed
+through. Several young students were assembled in the evening at
+the abode of one of their comrades, a young Copenhagener of
+eighteen, whose parents were giving him and his new friends a
+banquet in honor of the examination. The mother and sister had
+arranged everything in the nicest manner, the father had given
+excellent wine out of the cellar, and the student himself, here the
+rex convivii, had provided tobacco, genuine Oronoko-canaster. With
+regard to Latin, the invitation--which was, of course, composed in
+Latin--informed the guests that each should bring his own.
+
+The company, consisting of one and twenty persons--and these were
+only the most intimate friends--was already assembled. About one
+third of the friends were from the provinces, the remainder out of
+Copenhagen.
+
+"Old Father Homer shall stand in the middle of the table!" said one
+of the liveliest guests, whilst he took down from the stove a
+plaster bust and placed it upon the covered table.
+
+"Yes, certainly, he will have drunk as much as the other poets!"
+said an older one. "Give me one of thy exercise-books, Ludwig! I
+will cut him out a wreath of vine-leaves, since we have no roses
+and since I cannot cut out any."
+
+"I have no libation!" cried a third,--"Favete linguis." And he
+sprinkled a small quantity of salt, from the point of a knife, upon
+the bust, at the same time raising his glass to moisten it with a
+few drops of wine.
+
+"Do not use my Homer as you would an ox!" cried the host. "Homer
+shall have the place of honor, between the bowl and the garland-cake!
+He is especially my poet! It was he who in Greek assisted me to
+laudabilis et quidem egregie. Now we will mutually drink healths!
+J�rgen shall be magister bibendi, and then we will sing 'Gaudeamus
+igitur,' and 'Integer vitae.'"
+
+"The Sexton with the cardinal's hat shall be the precentor!" cried
+one of the youths from the provinces, pointing toward a rosy-cheeked
+companion.
+
+"O, now I am no longer sexton!" returned the other laughing. "If
+thou bringest old histories up again, thou wilt receive thy old
+school-name, 'the Smoke-squirter.'"
+
+"But that is a very nice little history!" said the other. "We
+called him 'Sexton," from the office his father held; but that,
+after all, is not particularly witty. It was better with the hat,
+for it did, indeed, resemble a cardinal's hat. I, in the mean time,
+got my name in a more amusing manner."
+
+"He lived near the school," pursued the other; "he could always slip
+home when we had out free quarters of an hour: and then one day he
+had filled his mouth with tobacco smoke, intending to blow it into
+our faces; but when he entered the passage with his filled cheeks
+the quarter of an hour was over, and we were again in class: the
+rector was still standing in the doorway; he could not, therefore,
+blow the smoke out of his mouth, and so wished to slip in as he
+was. 'What have you there in your mouth?' asked the rector; but
+Philip could answer nothing, without at the same time losing the
+smoke. 'Now, cannot you speak?' cried the rector, and gave him a
+box on the ear, so that the smoke burst through nose and mouth.
+This looked quite exquisite; the affair caused the rector such
+pleasure, that he presented the poor sinner with the nota bene."
+
+"Integer vitae!" broke in the Precentor, and harmoniously followed
+the other voices. After this, a young Copenhagener exhibited his
+dramatic talent by mimicking most illusively the professors of the
+Academy, and giving their peculiarities, yet in such a good-natured
+manner that it must have amused even the offended parties
+themselves. Now followed the healths--"Vivant omnes hi et hae!"
+
+"A health to the prettiest girl!" boldly cried one of the merriest
+brothers. "The prettiest girl!" repeated a pair of the younger
+ones, and pushed their glasses toward each other, whilst the blood
+rushed to their cheeks at this their boldness, for they had never
+thought of a beloved being, which, nevertheless, belonged to their
+new life. The roundelay now commenced, in which each one must give
+the Christian name of his lady-love, and assuredly every second
+youth caught a name out of the air; some, however, repeated a name
+with a certain palpitation of the heart. The discourse became more
+animated; the approaching military exercises, the handsome uniform,
+the reception in the students' club, and its pleasures, were all
+matters of the highest interest. But there was the future
+philologicum and philosophicum--yes, that also was discussed;
+there they must exhibit their knowledge of Latin.
+
+"What do you think," said one of the party, "if once a week we
+alternately met at each other's rooms, and held disputations? No
+Danish word must be spoken. This might be an excellent scheme."
+
+"I agree to that!" cried several.
+
+"Regular laws must be drawn up."
+
+"Yes, and we must have our best Latin scholar, the Jutlander, Otto
+Thostrup, with us! He wrote his themes in hexameters."
+
+"He is not invited here this evening," remarked the neighbor, the
+young Baron Wilhelm of Funen, the only nobleman in the company.
+
+"Otto Thostrup!" answered the host. "Yes, truly he's a clever
+fellow, but he seems to me so haughty. There is something about him
+that does not please me at all. We are still no dunces, although
+he did receive nine prae caeteris!"
+
+"Yet it was very provoking," cried another, "that he received the
+only Non in mathematics. Otherwise he would have been called in.
+Now he will only have to vex himself about his many brilliant
+characters."
+
+"Yes, and he is well versed in mathematics!" added Wilhelm "There
+was something incorrect in the writing; the inspector was to blame
+for that, but how I know not. Thostrup is terribly vehement, and
+can set all respect at defiance; he became angry, and went out.
+There was only a piece of unwritten paper presented from him,
+and this brought him a cipher, which the verbal examination could
+not bring higher than non. Thostrup is certainly a glorious fellow.
+We have made a tour together in the steamboat from Helsing�er to
+Copenhagen, and in the written examination we sat beside each other
+until the day when we had mathematics, and then I sat below him. I
+like him very much, his pride excepted; and of that we must break
+him."
+
+"Herr Baron," said his neighbor, "I am of your opinion.
+Shall not we drink the Thou-brotherhood?"
+
+"To-night we will all of us drink the Thou!" said the host; "it is
+nothing if comrades and good friends call each other _you_."
+
+"Evoe Bacchus!" they joyously shouted. The glasses were filled, one
+arm was thrown round that of the neighbor, and the glasses were
+emptied, whilst several commenced singing "dulce cum sodalibus!"
+
+"Tell me what thou art called?" demanded one of the younger guests
+of his new Thou-brother.
+
+"What am I called?" replied he. "With the exception of one letter,
+the same as the Baron."
+
+"The Baron!" cried a third; "yes, where is he?"
+
+"There he stands talking at the door; take your glasses! now have
+all of us drank the Thou-brotherhood?"
+
+The glasses were again raised; the young Baron laughed, clinked his
+glass, and shouted in the circle, "Thou, Thou!" But in his whole
+bearing there lay something constrained, which, however, none of
+the young men remarked, far less allowed themselves to imagine that
+his sudden retreat, during the first drinking, perhaps occurred
+from the sole object of avoiding it. But soon was he again one of
+the most extravagant; promised each youth who would study theology
+a living on his estate when he should once get it into his own
+hands; and proposed that the Latin disputations should commence
+with him, and on the following Friday. Otto Thostrup, however,
+should he of the party--if he chose, of course being understood;
+for he was a capital student, and his friend they had made a
+journey together and had been neighbors at the green table.
+
+Among those who were the earliest to make their valete amici was
+the Baron. Several were not yet inclined to quit this joyous
+circle. The deepest silence reigned in the streets; it was the most
+beautiful moonlight. In most houses all had retired to rest--only
+here and there was a light still seen, most persons slept, even
+those whose sense of duty should leave banished the god of sleep:
+thus sat a poor hackney-coachman, aloft upon his coach-box, before
+the house where he awaited his party, and enjoyed, the reins wound
+about his hand, the much-desired rest. Wilhelm (henceforth we will
+only call the young Baron by his Christian name) walked alone
+through the street. The wine had heated his northern blood--besides
+which it never flowed slowly; his youthful spirits, his jovial
+mood, and the gayety occasioned by the merry company he had just
+quitted did not permit him quietly to pass by this sleeping
+Endymion. Suddenly it occurred to him to open the coach-door and
+leap in; which having done, he let the glass fall and called out
+with a loud voice, "Drive on!" The coachman started up out of his
+blessed sleep and asked, quite confused, "Where to?" Without
+reflecting about the matter, Wilhelm cried, "To the Ship in West
+Street." The coachman drove on; about half-way, Wilhelm again
+opened the coach-door, a bold spring helped him out, and the coach
+rolled on. It stopped at the public-house of the Ship. The coachman
+got down and opened the door; there was no one within; he thrust
+his head in thoroughly to convince himself; but no, the carriage
+was empty! "Extraordinary!" said the fellow; "can I have dreamed
+it? But still I heard, quite distinctly, how I was told to drive to
+the Ship! Lord preserve us! now they are waiting for me!" He leaped
+upon the box and drove rapidly back again.
+
+In the mean time Wilhelm had reached his abode in Vineyard Street;
+he opened a window to enjoy the beautiful night, and gazed out upon
+the desolate church-yard which is shut in by shops. He had no
+inclination for sleep, although everything in the street, even the
+watchmen not excepted, appeared to rejoice the gift of God. Wilhelm
+thought upon the merry evening party, upon his adventure with the
+poor hackney-coachman, then took down his violin from the wall and
+began to play certain variations.
+
+The last remaining guests from the honorable carousal, merrier than
+when Wilhelm left them, now came wandering up the street. One of
+them jodeled sweetly, and no watchman showed himself as a
+disturbing principle. They heard Wilhelm violin and recognized the
+musician.
+
+"Play us a Fran�aise, thou up there!" cried they.
+
+"But the watchman?" whispered one of the less courageous.
+
+"Zounds, there he sits!" cried a third, and pointed toward a
+sleeping object which leaned its head upon a large wooden chest
+before a closed booth.
+
+"He is happy!" said the first speaker. "If we had only the strong
+Icelander here, he would soon hang him up by his bandelier upon one
+of the iron hooks. He has done that before now; he has the strength
+of a bear. He seized such a lazy fellow as this right daintily by
+his girdle on one of the hooks at the weighing-booth. There hung
+the watchman and whistled to the others; the first who hastened to
+the spot was immediately hung up beside him, and away ran the
+Icelander whilst the two blew a duet."
+
+"Here, take hold!" cried one of the merry brothers, quickly opening
+the chest, the lid of which was fastened by a peg. "Let us put the
+watchman into the chest; he sleeps indeed like a horse!" In a
+moment, the four had seized the sleeper, who certainly awoke during
+the operation, but he already lay in the chest. The lid flew down,
+and two or three of the friends sprang upon it whilst the peg was
+stuck in again. The watchman immediately seized his whistle and
+drew the most heart-rending tones from it. Quickly the tormenting
+spirits withdrew themselves; yet not so far but that they could
+still hear the whistle and observe what would take place.
+
+The watchmen now came up.
+
+"The deuce! where art thou?" cried they, and then discovered the
+place.
+
+"Ah, God help me!" cried the prisoner. "Let me out, let me out! I
+must call!"
+
+"Thou hast drunk more than thy thirst required, comrade!" said the
+others. "If thou hast fallen into the chest, remain lying there,
+thou swine!" And laughing they left him.
+
+"O, the rascals!" sighed he, and worked in vain at opening the lid.
+Through all his powerful exertions the box fell over. The young men
+now stepped forth, and, as though they were highly astonished at
+the whole history which he related to them, they let themselves be
+prevailed upon to open the box, but only upon condition that he
+should keep street free from the interference of the other
+watchmen whilst they danced a Fran�aise to Wilhelm's violin.
+
+The poor man was delivered from his captivity, and must obligingly
+play the sentinel whilst they arranged them for the dance. Wilhelm
+was called upon to play, and the dance commenced; a partner,
+however, was wanting. Just then a quiet citizen passed by. The
+gentleman who had no partner approached the citizen with comic
+respect, and besought him to take part in the amusement.
+
+"I never dance!" said the man, laughing, and wished to pursue his
+way.
+
+"Yes," replied the cavalier, "yet you must still do me this
+pleasure, or else I shall have no dance." Saying this he took hold
+of him by the waist and the dance commenced, whether the good man
+would or no.
+
+"The watchman should receive a present from every one!" said they,
+when the Fran�aise was at an end. "He is an excellent man who thus
+keeps order in the street, so that one can enjoy a little dance."
+
+"These are honest people's children!" said the watchman to himself,
+whilst he with much pleasure thrust the money into his leathern
+purse.
+
+All was again quiet in the street; the violin was also silent.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+"Who looks into the shadowy realm of my heart?"
+                               A. V. CHAMISSO.
+
+In the former chapter we heard mention made of a young student,
+Otto Thostrup, a clever fellow, with nine prae caeteris, as his
+comrades said, but also of a proud spirit, of which he must be
+broken. Not at the disputations, which have been already mentioned,
+will we make his acquaintance, although there we must be filled
+with respect for the good Latin scholar; not in large companies,
+where his handsome exterior and his speaking, melancholy glance
+must make him interesting; as little in the pit of the Opera
+although his few yet striking observations there would show him to
+be a very intellectual young man; but we will seek him out for the
+first time at the house of his friend, the young Baron Wilhelm. It
+is the beginning of November: we find them both with their pipes in
+their mouths; upon the table lie Tibullus and Anacreon, which they
+are reading together for the approaching philologicum.
+
+In the room stands a piano-forte, with a number of music-books;
+upon the walls hang the portraits of Weyse and Beethoven, for our
+young Baron is musical, nay a composer himself.
+
+"See, here we have again this lovely, clinging mist!" said Wilhelm.
+"Out of doors one can fairly taste it; at home it would be a real
+plague to me, here it only Londonizes the city."
+
+"I like it!" said Otto. "To me it is like an old acquaintance from
+Vestervovov. It is as though the mist brought me greetings from the
+sea and sand-hills."
+
+"I should like to see the North Sea, but the devil might live
+there! What town lies nearest to your grandfather's estate?"
+
+"Lernvig," answered Otto. "If any one wish to see the North Sea
+properly, they ought to go up as far as Thisted and Hj�rring. I
+have travelled there, have visited the family in B�rglum-Kloster;
+and, besides this, have made other small journeys. Never shall I
+forget one evening; yes, it was a storm of which people in the
+interior of the country can form no conception. I rode--I was then
+a mere boy, and a very wild lad--with one of our men. When the
+storm commenced we found ourselves among the sand-hills. Ah!
+that you should have seen! The sand forms along the strand high
+banks, which serve as dikes against the sea; these are overgrown
+with sea-grass, but, if the storm bursts a single hole, the whole
+is carried away. This spectacle we chanced to witness. It is a true
+Arabian sand-storm, and the North Sea bellowed so that it might be
+heard at the distance of many miles. The salt foam flew together
+with the sand into our faces."
+
+"That must have been splendid!" exclaimed Wilhelm, and his eyes
+sparkled. "Jutland is certainly the most romantic part of Denmark.
+Since I read Steen-Blicher's novels I have felt a real interest for
+that country. It seems to me that it must greatly resemble the
+Lowlands of Scotland. And gypsies are also found there, are they
+not?"
+
+"Vagabonds, we call them," said Otto, with an involuntary motion of
+the mouth. "They correspond to the name!"
+
+"The fishermen, also, on the coast are not much better! Do they
+still from the pulpit pray for wrecks? Do they still slay
+shipwrecked mariners?"
+
+"I have heard our preacher, who is an old man, relate how, in the
+first years after he had obtained his office and dignity, he was
+obliged to pray in the church that, if ships stranded, they might
+strand in his district; but this I have never heard myself. But
+with regard to what is related of murdering, why, the fishermen--
+sea-geese, as they are called--are by no means a tender-hearted
+people; but it is not as bad as that in our days. A peasant died in
+the neighborhood, of whom it was certainly related that in bad
+weather he had bound a lantern under his horse's belly and let it
+wander up and down the beach, so that the strange mariner who was
+sailing in those seas might imagine it some cruising ship, and thus
+fancy himself still a considerable way from land. By this means
+many a ship is said to have been destroyed. But observe, these are
+stories out of the district of Thisted, and of an elder age, before
+my power of observation had developed itself; this was that golden
+age when in tumble-down fishers' huts, after one of these good
+shipwrecks, valuable shawls, but little damaged by the sea, might
+be found employed as bed-hangings. Boots and shoes were smeared
+with the finest pomatum. If such things now reach their hands, they
+know better how to turn them into money. The Strand-commissioners
+are now on the watch; now it is said to be a real age of copper."
+
+"Have you seen a vessel stranded?" inquired Wilhelm, with
+increasing interest.
+
+"Our estate lies only half a mile from the sea. Every year about
+this time, when the mist spreads itself out as it does to-day and
+the storms begin to rage, then was it most animated. In my wild
+spirits, when I was a boy, and especially in the midst of our
+monotonous life, I truly yearned after it. Once, upon a journey to
+B�rglum-Kloster, I experienced a storm. In the early morning; it
+was quite calm, but gray, and we witnessed a kind of Fata Morgana.
+A ship, which had not yet risen above the horizon, showed itself in
+the distance, but the rigging was turned upside down; the masts
+were below, the hull above. This is called the ship of death, and
+when it is seen people are sure of bad weather and shipwreck.
+Later, about midday, it began to blow, and in an hour's time we had
+a regular tempest. The sea growled quite charmingly; we travelled
+on between sand-hills--they resemble hills and dales in winter
+time, but here it is not snow which melts away; here never grows
+a single green blade; a black stake stands up here and there, and
+these are rudders from wrecks, the histories of which are unknown.
+In the afternoon arose a storm such as I had experienced when
+riding with the man between the sand-hills. We could not proceed
+farther, and were obliged on this account to seek shelter in one of
+the huts which the fishermen hail erected among the white sand-hills.
+There we remained, and I saw the stranding of a vessel: I shall never
+forget it! An American ship lay not a musket-shot from land. They cut
+the mast; six or seven men clung fast to it in the waters. O, how
+they rocked backward and forward in the dashing spray! The mast took
+a direction toward the shore; at length only three men were left
+clinging to the mast; it was dashed upon land, but the returning
+waves again bore it away; it had crushed the arms and legs of the
+clinging wretches--ground them like worms! I dreamed of this for
+many nights. The waves flung the hull of the vessel up high on the
+shore, and drove it into the sand, where it was afterward found.
+Later, as we retraced our steps, were the stem and sternpost gone:
+you saw two strong wooden walls, between which the road took its
+course. You even still travel through the wreck!"
+
+"Up in your country every poetical mind must become a Byron," said
+Wilhelm. "On my parents' estate we have only idyls; the whole of
+Funen is a garden. We mutually visit each other upon our different
+estates, where we lead most merry lives, dance with the peasant-girls
+at the brewing-feast, hunt in the woods, and fish in the lakes. The
+only melancholy object which presents itself with us is a funeral,
+and the only romantic characters we possess are a little hump-backed
+musician, a wise woman, and an honest schoolmaster, who still firmly
+believes, as Jeronimus did, that the earth is flat, and that, were it
+to turn round, we should fall, the devil knows where!"
+
+"I love nature in Jutland!" exclaimed Otto. "The open sea, the
+brown heath, and the bushy moorland. You should see the wild moor
+in Vendsyssel--that is an extent! Almost always wet mists float
+over its unapproachable interior, which is known to no one. It is
+not yet fifty years since it served as an abode for wolves. Often
+it bursts into flames, for it is impregnated with sulphuric gas,--
+one can see the fire for miles."
+
+"My sister Sophie ought to hear all this!" said Wilhelm. "You would
+make your fortune with her! The dear girl! she has the best head at
+home, but she loves effect. Hoffman and Victor Hugo are her
+favorites. Byron rests every night under her pillow. If you related
+such things of the west coast of Jutland, and of heaths and moors,
+you might persuade her to make a journey thither. One really would
+not believe that we possessed in our own country such romantic
+situations!"
+
+"Is she your only sister?" inquired Otto.
+
+"No," returned Wilhelm, "I have two--the other is named Louise; she
+is of quite an opposite character: I do not know of which one ought
+to think most. Have you no brothers or sisters?" he asked of Otto.
+
+"No!" returned the latter, with his former involuntary, half-melancholy
+expression. "I am an only child. In my house it is solitary and silent.
+My grandfather alone is left alive. He is an active, strong man, but
+very grave. He instructed me in mathematics, which he thoroughly
+understands. The preacher taught me Latin, Greek, and history: two
+persons, however, occupied themselves with my religious education--
+the preacher and my old Rosalie. She is a good soul. How often have
+I teased her, been petulant, and almost angry with her! She thought
+so much of me, she was both mother and sister to me, and instructed
+me in religion as well as the preacher, although she is a Catholic.
+Since my father's childhood she has been a sort of governante in the
+house. You should have seen her melancholy smile when she heard my
+geography lesson, and we read of her dear Switzerland, where she was
+born, and of the south of France, where she had travelled as a child.
+The west coast of Jutland may also appear very barren in comparison
+with these countries!"
+
+"She might have made you a Catholic! But surely nothing of this
+still clings to you?"
+
+"Rosalie was a prudent old creature; Luther himself need not have
+been ashamed of her doctrine. Whatever is holy to the heart of man,
+remains also holy in every religion!"
+
+"But then, to erect altars to the Madonna!" exclaimed Wilhelm; "to
+pray to a being; whom the Bible does not make a saint!--that is
+rather too much. And their tricks with burning of incense and
+ringing of bells! Yes, indeed, it would give me no little pleasure
+to cut off the heads of the Pope and of the whole clerical body! To
+purchase indulgence!--Those must, indeed, be curious people who can
+place thorough faith in such things! I will never once take off my
+hat before the Madonna!"
+
+"But that will I do, and in my heart bow myself before her!"
+answered Otto, gravely.
+
+"Did I not think so? she has made you a Catholic!"
+
+"No such thing! I am as good a Protestant as you yourself: but
+wherefore should we not respect the mother of Christ? With regard
+to the ceremonials of Catholicism, indulgence, and all these
+additions of the priesthood, I agree with you in wishing to strike
+off the heads of all who, in such a manner, degrade God and the
+human understanding. But in many respects we are unjust: we so
+easily forget the first and greatest commandment, 'Love thy
+neighbor as thyself!' We are not tolerant. Among our festivals we
+have still one for the Three Kings--it is yet celebrated by the
+common people; but what have these three kings done? They knelt
+before the manger in which Christ lay, and on this account we honor
+them. On the contrary, the mother of God has no festival-day; nay,
+the multitude even smile at her name! If you will only quietly
+listen to my simple argument, we shall soon agree. You will take
+off your hat and bow before the Madonna. Only two things are to be
+considered--either Christ was entirely human, or He was, as the
+Bible teaches us, a divine being. I will now admit the latter. He
+is God Himself, who in some inexplicable manner, is born to us of
+the Virgin Mary. She must therefore be the purest, the most perfect
+feminine being, since God found her worthy to bring into the world
+the Son, the only one; through this she becomes as holy as any
+human being can, and low we must bow ourselves before the pure, the
+exalted one. Take it for granted that Christ was human, like
+ourselves, otherwise He cannot, according to my belief, call upon
+us to imitate Him; neither would it be great, as God, to meet a
+corporeal death, from which He could remove each pain. Were He only
+a man, born of Mary, we must doubly admire Him; we must bow in the
+dust before His mighty spirit, His enlightening and consoling
+doctrine. But can we then forget how much the mother has must have
+influenced the child, how sublime and profound the soul must have
+been which spoke to His heart? We must reverence and honor her!
+Everywhere in the Scriptures where she appears we see an example of
+care and love; with her whole soul she adheres to her Son. Think
+how uneasy she became, and sought for Him in the temple--think of
+her gentle reproaches! The words of the Son always sounded harsh in
+my ears. 'Those are the powerful expressions of the East!' said my
+old preacher. The Saviour was severe, severe as He must be! Already
+there seemed to me severity in His words! She was completely the
+mother; she was it then, even as when she wept at Golgotha.
+Honor and reverence she deserves from us!"
+
+"These she also receives!" returned Wilhelm; and striking him upon
+the shoulder he added, with a smile, "you are, according to the
+Roman Catholic manner, near exalting the mother above the Son! Old
+Rosalie has made a proselyte; after all, you are half a Catholic!"
+
+"That am I not!" answered Otto, "and that will I not be!"
+
+          "See! the thunder-cloud advances!"
+resounded below in the court: the sweet Neapolitan song reached the
+ears of the friends. They stepped into the adjoining room and
+opened the window. Three poor boys stood below in the wind and
+rain, and commenced the song. The tallest was, perhaps, fourteen or
+fifteen years old, his deep, rough voice seemed to have attained
+its strength and depth more through rain and bad weather than
+through age. The dirty wet clothes hung in rags about his body; the
+shoes upon the wet feet, and the hat held together with white
+threads, were articles of luxury. The other two boys had neither
+hat nor shoes, but their clothes were whole and clean. The youngest
+appeared six or seven years old; his silvery white hair formed a
+contrast with his brown face, his dark eyes and long brown
+eyelashes. His voice sounded like the voice of a little girl, as
+fine and soft, beside the voices of the others, as the breeze of an
+autumnal evening beside that of rude November weather.
+
+"That is a handsome boy!" exclaimed the two friends at the same
+time.
+
+"And a lovely melody!" added Otto.
+
+"Yes, but they sing falsely!" answered Wilhelm: "one sings half a
+tone too low, the other half a tone too high!"
+
+"Now, thank God that I cannot hear that!" said Otto. "It sounds
+sweetly, and the little one might become a singer. Poor child!"
+added he gravely: "bare feet, wet to the very skin; and then the
+elder one will certainly lead him to brandy drinking! Within a
+month, perhaps, the voice will be gone! Then is the nightingale
+dead!" He quickly threw down some skillings, wrapped in paper.
+
+"Come up!" cried Wilhelm, and beckoned. The eldest of the boys flew
+up like an arrow; Wilhelm, however, said it was the youngest who
+was meant. The others remained standing before the door; the
+youngest stepped in.
+
+"Whose son art thou?" asked Wilhelm. The boy was silent, and cast
+down his eyes in an embarrassed manner. "Now, don't be bashful!
+Thou art of a good family--that one can see from thy appearance!
+Art not thou thy mother's son? I will give thee stockings and--the
+deuce! here is a pair of boots which are too small for me; if thou
+dost not get drowned in them they shall be thy property: but now
+thou must sing." And he seated himself at the piano-forte and
+struck the keys. "Now, where art thou?" he cried, rather
+displeased. The little one gazed upon the ground.
+
+"How! dost thou weep; or is it the rain which hangs in thy black
+eyelashes?" said Otto, and raised his head: "we only wish to do
+thee a kindness. There--thou hast another skilling from me."
+
+The little one still remained somewhat laconic. All that they
+learned was that he was named Jonas, and that his grandmother
+thought so much of him.
+
+"Here thou hast the stockings!" said Wilhelm; "and see here! a coat
+with a velvet collar, a much-to-be-prized keepsake! The boots! Thou
+canst certainly stick both legs into one boot! See! that is as good
+as having two pairs to change about with! Let us see!"
+
+The boy's eyes sparkled with joy; the boots he drew on, the
+stockings went into his pocket, and the bundle he took under his
+arm.
+
+"But thou must sing us a little song!" said Wilhelm, and the little
+one commenced the old song out of the "Woman-hater," "Cupid never
+can be trusted!"
+
+The lively expression in the dark eyes, the boy himself in his wet,
+wretched clothes and big boots, with the bundle under his arm; nay,
+the whole had something so characteristic in it, that had it been
+painted, and had the painter called the picture "Cupid on his
+Wanderings," every one would have found the little god strikingly
+excellent, although he were not blind.
+
+"Something might be made of the boy and of his voice!" said
+Wilhelm, when little Jonas, in a joyous mood, had left the house
+with the other lads.
+
+"The poor child!" sighed Otto. "I have fairly lost my good spirits
+through all this. It seizes upon me so strangely when I see misery
+and genius mated. Once there came to our estate in Jutland a man
+who played the Pandean-pipes, and at the same time beat the drum
+and cymbals: near him stood a little girl, and struck the triangle.
+I was forced to weep over this spectacle; without understanding how
+it was, I felt the misery of the poor child. I was myself yet a
+mere boy."
+
+"He looked so comic in the big boots that I became quite merry, and
+not grave," said Wilhelm. "Nevertheless what a pity it is that such
+gentle blood, which at the first glance one perceives he is, that
+such a pretty child should become a rude fellow, and his beautiful
+voice change into a howl, like that with which the other tall Laban
+saluted us. Who knows whether little Jonas might not become the
+first singer on the Danish stage? Yes, if he received education of
+mind and voice, who knows? I could really have, pleasure in
+attempting it, and help every one on in the world, before I myself
+am rightly in the way!"
+
+"If he is born to a beggar's estate," said Otto, "let him as beggar
+live and die, and learn nothing higher. That is better, that is
+more to be desired!"
+
+Wilhelm seated himself at the piano-forte, and played some of his
+own compositions. "That is difficult," said he; "every one cannot
+play that."
+
+"The simpler the sweeter!" replied Otto.
+
+"You must not speak about music!" returned the friend "upon that
+you know not how to pass judgment. Light Italian operas are not
+difficult to write."
+
+In the evening the friends separated. Whilst Otto took his hat,
+there was a low knock at the door. Wilhelm opened it. Without stood
+a poor old woman, with pale sharp features; by the hand she led a
+little boy--it was Jonas: thus then it was a visit from him and his
+grandmother.
+
+The other boys had sold the boots and shoes which had been given
+him. They ought to have a share, they maintained. This atrocious
+injustice had induced the old grandmother to go immediately with
+little Jonas to the two good gentlemen, and relate how little the
+poor lad had received of flint which they had assigned to him
+alone.
+
+Wilhelm spoke of the boy's sweet voice, and thought that by might
+make his fortune at the theatre; but then he ought not now to be
+left running about with bare feet in the wind and rain.
+
+"But by this means he brings a skilling home," said the old woman.
+"That's what his father and mother look to, and the skilling they
+can always employ. Nevertheless she had herself already thought of
+bringing him out at the theatre,--but that was to have been in
+dancing, for they got shoes and stockings to dance in, and with
+these they might also run home; and that would be an advantage."
+
+"I will teach the boy music!" said Wilhelm; "he can come to me
+sometimes."
+
+"And then he will, perhaps, get a little cast-off clothing, good
+sir," said the grandmother; "a shirt, or a waistcoat, just as it
+happens?"
+
+"Become a tailor, or shoemaker," said Otto, gravely, and laid his
+hand upon the boy's head.
+
+"He shall be a genius!" said Wilhelm.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+                    "Christmas-tide,
+When in the wood the snow shines bright."
+                        OEHLENSCHL�GER'S Helge
+
+We again let several weeks pass by; it was Christmas Eve, which
+brings us the beautiful Christmas festival. We find the two friends
+taking a walk.
+
+Describe to an inhabitant of the south a country where the earth
+appears covered with the purest Carrara marble, where the tree
+twigs resemble white branches of coral sprinkled with diamonds, and
+above a sky as blue as that belonging to the south, and he will say
+that is a fairy land. Couldst thou suddenly remove him from his
+dark cypresses and olive-trees to the north, where the fresh snow
+lies upon the earth, where the white hoar-frost has powdered the
+trees over, and the sun shines down from the blue heaven, then
+would he recognize the description and call the north a fairy land.
+
+This was the splendor which the friends admired. The large trees
+upon the fortification-walls appeared crystallized when seen
+against the blue sky. The Sound was not yet frozen over; vessels,
+illuminated by the red evening sun, glided past with spread sails.
+The Swedish coast seemed to have approached nearer; one might see
+individual houses in Landskrona. It was lovely, and on this account
+there were many promenaders upon the walls and the Langelinie.
+
+"Sweden seems so near that one might swim over to it!" said
+Wilhelm.
+
+"The distance would be too far," answered Otto; "but I should love
+to plunge among the deep blue waters yonder."
+
+"How refreshing it is," said Wilhelm, "when the water plays about
+one's cheeks! Whilst I was at home, I always swam in the Great
+Belt. Yes, you are certainly half a fish when you come into the
+water."
+
+"I!" repeated Otto, and was silent; but immediately added, with a
+kind of embarrassment which was at other times quite foreign to
+him, and from which one might infer how unpleasant confessing any
+imperfection was to him, "I do not swim."
+
+"That must be learned in summer!" said Wilhelm.
+
+"There is so much to learn," answered Otto; "swimming will
+certainly be the last thing." He now suddenly turned toward the
+fortress, and stood still. "Only see how melancholy and quiet!"
+said he, and led the conversation again to the surrounding scenery.
+"The sentinel before the prison paces so quietly up and down, the
+sun shines upon his bayonet! How this reminds me of a sweet little
+poem of Heine's; it is just as though he described this fortress
+and this soldier, but in the warmth of summer: one sees the picture
+livingly before one, as here; the weapon glances in the sun, and
+the part ends so touchingly,--'Ich wollt', er sch�sse mich todt!'
+It is here so romantically beautiful! on the right the animated
+promenade, and the view over the Sund; on the left, the desolate
+square, where the military criminals are shot, and close upon it
+the prison with its beam-fence. The sun scarcely shines through
+those windows. Yet, without doubt, the prisoner can see us walking
+here upon the wall."
+
+"And envy our golden freedom!" said Wilhelm.
+
+"Perhaps he derides it," answered Otto. "He is confined to his
+chamber and the small courts behind the beam-lattice; we are
+confined to the coast; we cannot fly forth with the ships into the
+mighty, glorious world. We are also fastened with a chain, only
+ours is somewhat longer than that of the prisoner. But we will not
+think of this; let us go down to where the beautiful ladies are
+walking."
+
+"To see and to be seen," cried Wilhelm. "'Spectatum veniunt;
+veniunt spectentur ut ipsae,' as Ovid says."
+
+The friends quitted the wall.
+
+"There comes my scholar, little Jonas!" cried Wilhelm. "The boy was
+better dressed than at his last appearance; quickly he pulled his
+little cap off and stood still: a young girl in a wretched garb
+held him by the hand.
+
+"Good day, my clever lad!" said Wilhelm, and his glance rested on
+the girl: she was of a singularly elegant form; had she only
+carried herself better she would have been a perfect beauty. It was
+Psyche herself who stood beside Cupid. She smiled in a friendly
+manner; the little lad had certainly told her who the gentlemen
+were; but she became crimson, and cast down her eyes when Wilhelm
+looked back after her: he beckoned to Jonas, who immediately came
+to him. The girl was his sister, he said, and was called Eva.
+Wilhelm nodded to her, and the friends went on.
+
+"That was a beautiful girl!" said Wilhelm, and looked back once
+more. "A rosebud that one could kiss until it became a full blown
+rose!"
+
+"During the experiment the rosebud might easily be broken!"
+answered Otto; "at least such is the case with the real flower. But
+do not look back again, that is a sin!"
+
+"Sin?" repeated Wilhelm; "no, then it is a very innocent sin!
+Believe me, it flatters the little creature that we should admire
+her beauty. I can well imagine how enchanting a loving look from a
+rich young gentleman may be for a weak, feminine mind. The sweet
+words which one can say are as poison which enters the blood. I
+have still a clear conscience. Not ONE innocent soul have I
+poisoned!"
+
+"And yet you are rich and young enough to do so," returned Otto,
+not without bitterness. "Our friends precede us with a good
+example: here come some of our own age; they are acquainted with
+the roses!"
+
+"Good evening, thou good fellow!" was the greeting Wilhelm received
+from three or four of the young men.
+
+"Are you on Thou-terms with all these?" inquired Otto.
+
+"Yes," answered Wilhelm; "we became so at a carouse. There all
+drank the Thou-brotherhood. I could not draw myself back. At other
+times I do not willingly give my 'thou' to any but my nearest
+friends. _Thou_ has something to my mind affectionate and holy.
+Many people fling it to the first person with whom they drink a
+glass. At the carouse I could not say no."
+
+"And wherefore not?" returned Otto; "that would never have troubled
+me."
+
+The friends now wandered on, arm-in-arm. Later in the evening we
+again meet with them together, and that at the house of a noble
+family, whose name and rank are to be found in the "Danish Court
+Calendar;" on which account it would be wanting in delicacy to
+mention the same, even in a story the events of which lie so near
+our hearts.
+
+Large companies are most wearisome. In these there are two kinds of
+rank. Either you are riveted to a card-table, or placed against the
+wall where you must stand with your hat in your hand, or, later in
+the evening, with it at your feet, nay, even must stand during
+supper. But this house was one of the most intellectual. Thou who
+dost recognize the house wilt also recognize that it is not to be
+reckoned with those,--
+               "Where each day's gossiping stale fish
+                Is served up daily for thy dish."
+
+This evening we do not become acquainted with the family, but only
+with their beautiful Christmas festival.
+
+The company was assembled in a large apartment; the shaded lamp
+burned dimly, but this was with the intention of increasing the
+effect when the drawing-room doors should open and the children
+joyfully press in together.
+
+Wilhelm now stepped to the piano-forte; a few chords produced
+stillness and attention. To the sounds of low music there stepped
+forth from the side-doors three maidens arrayed in white; each wore
+a long veil depending from the back of her head,--one blue, the
+other red, and the third white. Each carried in her arms an urn,
+and thus they represented fortune-tellers from the East. They
+brought good or ill luck, which each related in a little verse.
+People were to draw a number, and according to this would he
+receive his gift from the Christmas-tree. One of the maidens
+brought blanks--but which of them? now it was proved whether you
+were a child of fortune. All, even the children, drew their
+uncertain numbers: exception was only made with the family
+physician and a few elderly ladies of the family; these had a
+particular number stuck into their hands--their presents had been
+settled beforehand.
+
+"Who brings me good luck?" inquired Otto, as the three pretty young
+girls approached him. The one with a white veil was Wilhelm's
+eldest sister, Miss Sophie, who was this winter paying a visit to
+the family. She resembled her brother. The white drapery about her
+head increased the expression of her countenance. She rested her
+gaze firmly upon Otto, and, perhaps, because he was the friend of
+her brother, she raised her finger. Did she wish to warn or to
+challenge him? Otto regarded it as a challenge, thrust his hand
+into the urn, and drew out number 33. All were now provided. The
+girls disappeared, and the folding-doors of the drawing-room were
+opened.
+
+A dazzling light streamed toward the guests. A splendid fir-tree,
+covered with burning tapers, and hung over with tinsel-gold, gilt
+eggs and apples, almonds and grapes, dazzled the eye. On either
+side of the tree were grottoes of fir-trees and moss, hung with red
+and blue paper lamps. In each grotto was an altar; upon one stood
+John of Bologna's floating Mercury; upon the other, a reduced cast
+in plaster of Thorwaldsen's Shepherd-boy. The steps were covered
+with presents, to which were attached the different numbers.
+
+"Superbe! lovely!" resounded from all sides; and the happy children
+shouted for joy. People arranged themselves in a half-circle, one
+row behind the other. One of the cousins of the family now stepped
+forth, a young poet, who, if we mistake not, has since then
+appeared among the Anonymouses in "The New Year's Gift of Danish
+Poets." He was appareled this evening as one of the Magi, and
+recited a little poem which declared that, as each one had himself
+drawn out of the urn of Fate, no one could be angry, let him have
+procured for himself honor or derision--Fate, and not Merit, being
+here the ruler. Two little boys, with huge butterfly wings and in
+flowing garments, bore the presents to the guests. A number, which
+had been purposely given to one of the elder ladies, was now called
+out, and the boys brought forward a large, heavy, brown earthen
+jug. To the same hung a direction the length of two sheets of
+paper, upon which was written, "A remedy against frost." The jug
+was opened, and a very nice boa taken out and presented to the
+lady.
+
+"What number have you?" inquired Otto of Wilhelm's sister, who,
+freed from her long veil, now entered the room and took her place
+near him.
+
+"Number 34," she answered. "I was to keep the number which remained
+over when the others had drawn."
+
+"We are, then, neighbors in the chain of Fate," returned Otto; "I
+have number 33."
+
+"Then one of us will receive something very bad!" said Sophie.
+"For, as much as I know, only every other number is good." At this
+moment their numbers were called out. The accompanying poem
+declared that only a poetical, noble mind deserved this gift. It
+consisted of an illuminated French print, the subject a simple but
+touching idea. You saw a frozen lake, nothing but one expanse of
+ice as far as the horizon. The ice was broken, and near to the
+opening lay a hat with a red lining, and beside it sat a dog with
+grave eyes, still and expectant. Around the broken opening in the
+ice were seen traces of the dog having scratched into the hard
+crust of ice. "Il attend toujours" was the simple motto.
+
+"That is glorious!" exclaimed Otto. "An affecting thought! His
+master has sunk in the depth, and the faithful log yet awaits him.
+Had that picture only fallen to my lot!"
+
+"It is lovely!" said Sophie, and a melancholy glance made the young
+girl still more beautiful.
+
+Soon after Wilhelm's turn came.
+
+           "Open the packet, thou shalt see
+            The very fairest gaze on thee!"
+ran the verse. He opened the packet, and found within a small
+mirror. "Yes, that was intended for a lady," said he; "in that case
+it would have spoken the truth! in my hands it makes a fool of me.
+
+"For me nothing certainly remains but my number!" said Otto to his
+neighbor, as all the gifts appeared to be distributed.
+
+"The last is number 33," said the cousin, and drew forth a roll of
+paper, which had been hidden among the moss. It was unrolled. It
+was an old pedigree of an extinct race. Quite at the bottom lay the
+knight with shield and armor, and out of his breast grew the many-branched
+tree with its shields and names. Probably it had been bought, with other
+rubbish, at some auction, and now at Christmas, when every hole and
+corner was rummaged for whatever could be converted into fun or
+earnest, it had been brought out for the Christmas tree. The cousin
+read the following verse:--
+         "Art thou not noble?--then it in far better;
+          This tree unto thy father is not debtor;
+          Thyself alone is thy ancestral crown.
+          From thee shall spring forth branches of renown,
+          And if thou come where blood gives honor's place,
+          This tree shall prove thee first of all thy race!
+          From this hour forth thy soul high rank hath won her,
+          Not will forget thy knighthood and thy honor."
+
+"I congratulate you," said Wilhelm, laughing. "Now you will have to
+pay the nobility-tax!"
+
+Several of the ladies who stood near him, smiling, also offered a
+kind of congratulation. Sophie alone remained silent, and examined
+the present of another lady--a pretty pincushion in the form of a
+gay butterfly.
+
+The first row now rose to examine more nearly how beautifully the
+Christmas tree was adorned. Sophie drew one of the ladies away with
+her.
+
+"Let us look at the beautiful statues," said she; "the Shepherd-boy
+and the Mercury."
+
+"That is not proper," whispered the lady; "but look there at the
+splendid large raisins on the tree!"
+
+Sophie stepped before Thorwaldsen's Shepherd-boy. The lady
+whispered to a friend, "It looks so odd that she should examine the
+figures!"
+
+"Ah!" replied the other, "she is a lover of the fine arts, as you
+well know. Only think! at the last exhibition she went with her
+brother into the great hall where all the plaster-casts stand, and
+looked at them!--the Hercules, as well as the other indecent
+figures! they were excellent, she said. That is being so natural;
+otherwise she is a nice girl."
+
+"It is a pity she is a little awry."
+
+Sophie approached them; both ladies made room for her, and invited
+her most lovingly to sit clown beside them. "Thou sweet girl!" they
+flatteringly exclaimed.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+"Hark to trumpets and beaten gongs,
+Squeaking fiddles, shouts and songs.
+     Hurra! hurra!
+     The Doctor is here;
+And here the hills where fun belongs."
+                        J. L. HEIBERG.
+
+We will not follow the principal characters of our story step for
+step, but merely present the prominent moments of their lives to
+our readers, be these great or small; we seize on them, if they in
+any way contribute to make the whole picture more worthy of
+contemplation.
+
+The winter was over, the birds of passage had long since returned;
+the woods and fields shone in the freshest green, and, what to the
+friends was equally interesting, they had happily passed through
+their examen philologicum. Wilhelm, who, immediately after its
+termination, had accompanied his sister home, was again returned,
+sang with little Jonas, reflected upon the philosophicum, and also
+how he would thoroughly enjoy the summer,--the summer which in the
+north is so beautiful, but so short. It was St. John's Day.
+Families had removed from Copenhagen to their pretty country-seats
+on the coast, where people on horseback and in carriages rushed
+past, and where the highway was crowded with foot-passengers. The
+whole road presented a picture of life upon the Paris Boulevard.
+The sun was burning, the dust flew up high into the air; on which
+account many persons preferred the pleasanter excursion with the
+steamboat along the coast, from whence could be seen the traffic on
+the high-road without enduring the annoyance of dust and heat.
+Boats skimmed past; brisk sailors, by the help of vigorous strokes
+of the oar, strove to compete with the steam-packet, the dark smoke
+from which, like some demon, partly rested upon the vessel, partly
+floated away in the air.
+
+Various young students, among whom were also Wilhelm and Otto,
+landed at Charlottenlund, the most frequented place of resort near
+Copenhagen. Otto was here for the first time; for the first time he
+should see the park.
+
+A summer's afternoon in Linken's Bad, near Dresden, bears a certain
+resemblance to Charlottenlund, only that the Danish wood is larger;
+that instead of the Elbe we have the Sound, which is here three
+miles broad, and where often more than a hundred vessels, bearing
+flags of all the European nations, glide past. A band of musicians
+played airs out of "Preciosa;" the white tents glanced like snow or
+swans through the green beech-trees. Here and there was a fire-place
+raised of turf, over which people boiled and cooked, so that the
+smoke rose up among the trees. Outside the wood, waiting in long
+rows, were the peasants' vehicles, called "coffee-mills," completely
+answering ho the couricolo of the Neapolitan and the coucou of the
+Parisian, equally cheap, and overladen in the same manner with
+passengers, therefore forming highly picturesque groups. This scene
+has been humorously treated in a picture by Marstrand. Between fields
+and meadows, the road leads pleasantly toward the park; the friends
+pursued the foot-path.
+
+"Shall I brush the gentlemen?" cried five or six boys, at the same
+time pressing upon the friends as they approached the entrance to
+the park. Without waiting for an answer, the boys commenced at once
+brushing the dust from their clothes and boots.
+
+"These are Kirsten Piil's pages," said Wilhelm, laughing; "they
+take care that people show themselves tolerably smart. But now we
+are brushed enough!" A six-skilling-piece rejoiced these little
+Savoyards.
+
+The Champs Elys�es of the Parisians on a great festival day, when
+the theatres are opened, the swings are flying, trumpets and drums
+overpowering the softer music, and when the whole mass of people,
+like one body, moves itself between the booths and tents, present a
+companion piece to the spectacle which the so-called Park-hill
+affords. It is Naples' "Largo dei Castello," with its dancing apes,
+shrieking Bajazzoes, the whole deafening jubilee which has been
+transported to a northern wood. Here also, in the wooden booths,
+large, tawdry pictures show what delicious plays you may enjoy
+within. The beautiful female horse-rider stands upon the wooden
+balcony and cracks with her whip, whilst Harlequin blows the
+trumpet. Fastened to a perch, large, gay parrots nod over the heads
+of the multitude. Here stands a miner in his black costume, and
+exhibits the interior of a mine. He turns his box, and during the
+music dolls ascend and descend. Another shows the splendid fortress
+of Frederiksteen: "The whole cavalry and infantry who have endured
+an unspeakable deal; here a man without a weapon, there a weapon
+without a man; here a fellow without a bayonet, here a bayonet
+without a fellow; and yet they are merry and contented, for they
+have conquered the victory."  [Note: Literal translation of the
+real words of a showman.] Dutch wafer-cake booths, where the
+handsome Dutch women, in their national costume, wait on the
+customers, entice old and young. Here a telescope, there a rare
+Danish ox, and so forth. High up, between the fresh tree boughs,
+the swings fly. Are those two lovers floating up there? A current
+of air seizes the girl's dress and shawl, the young man flings his
+arm round her waist; it is for safety: there is then less danger.
+At the foot of the hill there is cooking and roasting going on; it
+seems a complete gypsy-camp. Under the tree sits the old Jew--this
+is precisely his fiftieth jubilee; through a whole half-century has
+he sung here his comical Doctor's song. Now that we are reading
+this he is dead; that characteristic countenance is dust, those
+speaking eyes are closed, his song forgotten tones. Oehlenschl�ger,
+in his "St. John's Eve," has preserved his portrait for us, and it
+will continue to live, as Master Jakel (Punch), our Danish Thespis,
+will continue to live. The play and the puppets were transferred from
+father to son, and every quarter of an hour in the day the piece is
+repeated. Free nature is the place for the spectators, and after every
+representation the director himself goes round with the plate.
+
+This was the first spectacle which exhibited itself to the friends.
+Not far off stood a juggler in peasant's clothes, somewhat advanced
+in years, with a common ugly countenance. His short sleeves were
+rolled up, and exhibited a pair of hairy, muscular arms. The crowd,
+withdrawing from Master Jakel when the plate commenced its
+wanderings, pushed Otto and Wilhelm forward toward the low fence
+before the juggler's table.
+
+"Step nearer, my gracious gentlemen, my noble masters!" said the
+juggler, with an accentuation which betrayed his German birth. He
+opened the fence; both friends were fairly pushed in and took their
+places upon the bench, where they, at all events, found themselves
+out of the crowd.
+
+"Will the noble gentleman hold this goblet?" said the juggler, and
+handed Otto one from his apparatus. Otto glanced at the man: he was
+occupied with his art; but Otto's cheek and forehead were colored
+with a sudden crimson, which was immediately afterward supplanted
+by a deathly paleness: his hand trembled, but this lasted only a
+moment; he gathered all his strength of mind together and appeared
+the same as before.
+
+"That was a very good trick!" said Wilhelm.
+
+"Yes, certainly!" answered Otto; but he had seen nothing
+whatsoever. His soul was strangely affected. The man exhibited
+several other tricks, and then approached with the plate. Otto laid
+down a mark, and then rose to depart. The juggler remarked the
+piece of money: a smile played about his mouth; he glanced at Otto,
+and a strange malicious expression lay in the spiteful look which
+accompanied his loudly spoken thanks: "Mr. Otto Thostrup is always
+so gracious and good!"
+
+"Does he know you?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"He has the honor!" grinned the juggler, and proceeded.
+
+"He has exhibited his tricks in the Jutland villages, and upon my
+father's estate," whispered Otto.
+
+"Therefore an acquaintance of your childhood?" said Wilhelm.
+
+"Of my childhood," repeated Otto, and they made themselves a way
+through the tumult.
+
+They met with several young noblemen, relatives of Wilhelm, with
+the cousin who had written the verses for the Christmas tree; also
+several friends from the carouse, and the company increased. They
+intended, like many others, to pass the night in the wood, and at
+midnight drink out of Kirsten Piil's well. "Only with the
+increasing darkness will it become thoroughly merry here," thought
+they: but Otto had appointed to be in the city again toward
+evening. "Nothing will come out of that!" said the poet; "if you
+wish to escape, we shall bind you fast to one of us."
+
+"Then I carry him away with me on my back," replied Otto; "and
+still run toward the city. What shall I do here at night in the
+wood?"
+
+"Be merry!" answered Wilhelm. "Come, give us no follies, or I shall
+grow restive."
+
+Hand-organs, drums, and trumpets, roared against each other;
+Bajazzo growled; a couple of hoarse girls sang and twanged upon the
+guitar: it was comic or affecting, just as one was disposed. The
+evening approached, and now the crowd became greater, the joy more
+noisy.
+
+"But where is Otto?" inquired Wilhelm. Otto had vanished in the
+crowd. Search after him would help nothing, chance must bring them
+together again. Had he designedly withdrawn himself? no one knew
+wherefore, no one could dream what had passed within his soul. It
+became evening. The highway and the foot-path before the park
+resembled two moving gay ribbons.
+
+In the park itself the crowd perceptibly diminished. It was now the
+high-road which was become the Park-hill. The carriages dashed by
+each other as at a race; the people shouted and sung, if not as
+melodiously as the barcarole of the fisher men below Lido, still
+with the thorough carnival joy of the south. The steamboat moved
+along the coasts. From the gardens surrounding the pretty country-houses
+arose rockets into the blue sky, the Moccoli of the north above the
+Carnival of the Park.
+
+Wilhelm remained with his young friends in the wood, and there they
+intended, with the stroke of twelve, to drink out of Kirsten's
+well. Men and women, girls and boys of the lower class, and jovial
+young men, meet, after this manner, to enjoy St. John's Eve. Still
+sounded the music, the swings were in motion, lamps hung out,
+whilst the new moon shone through the thick tree boughs. Toward
+midnight the noise died away; only a blind peasant still scratched
+upon the three strings which were left on his violin; some servant-girls
+wandered, arm-in-arm, with their sweethearts, and sang. At twelve
+o'clock all assembled about the well, and drank the clear, ice-cold
+water. From no great distance resounded, through the still night,
+a chorus of four manly voices. It was as if the wood gods sang in
+praise of the nymph of the well.
+
+Upon the hill all was now deserted and quiet. Bajazzo and il
+Padrone slept behind the thin linen partition, under a coverlid.
+The moon set, but the night was clear; no clear, frosty winter
+night has a snore beautiful starry heaven to exhibit. Wilhelm's
+party was merry, quickly flew the hours away; singing in chorus,
+the party wandered through the wood, and down toward the strand.
+The day already dawned; a red streak along the horizon announced
+its approach.
+
+Nature sang to them the mythos of the creation of the world, even
+as she had sung it to Moses, who wrote down this voice from God,
+interpreted by Nature. Light banished the darkness, heaven and
+earth were parted; at first birds showed themselves in the clear
+air; later rose the beasts of the field; and, last of all, appeared
+man.
+
+"The morning is fairly sultry," said Wilhelm; "the sea resembles a
+mirror: shall we not bathe?"
+
+The proposal was accepted.
+
+"There we have the Naiades already!" said one of the party, as a
+swarm of fishermen's wives and daughters, with naked feet, their
+green petticoats tucked up, and baskets upon their backs, in which
+they carried fish to Copenhagen, came along the road. The gay young
+fellows cast toward the prettiest glances as warm and glowing as
+that cast by the sun himself, who, at this moment, came forth and
+shone over the Sound, where a splendid three-masted vessel had
+spread all her sails to catch each breeze. The company reached the
+strand.
+
+"There is some one already swimming out yonder," said Wilhelm. "He
+stands it bravely. That is an excellent swimmer!"
+
+"Here lie his clothes," remarked another.
+
+"How!" exclaimed Wilhelm: "this is Otto Thostrup's coat! But Otto
+cannot swim; I have never been able to persuade him to bathe. Now,
+we will out and make a nearer acquaintance."
+
+"Yes, certainly it is he," said another; "he is now showing his
+skill."
+
+"Then he must have been all night in the wood," exclaimed Wilhelm.
+"Yes, indeed, he's a fine bird. Does he fly us? He shall pay for
+ this. Good morning, Otto Thostrup," criedhe; "have you lain all
+night in the water, or in any other improper place? To quit friends
+without saying a word does not appertain to the customs of
+civilized people. Since you, therefore, show yourself such a man of
+nature, we will carry away your garments; it cannot annoy you in
+puris naturalibus to seek us out in the wood."
+
+Otto raised his head, but was silent.
+
+"Now, will you not come forth?" cried Wilhelm. "Only kneeling
+before each of us can you receive the separate articles of your
+dress, so that you may again appear as a civilized European." And
+saying this he divided the clothes among the others; each one held
+an article in his hand.
+
+"Leave such jokes!" cried Otto with singular earnestness. "Lay down
+the clothes, and retire!"
+
+"Aye, that we will, presently," returned Wilhelm. "You are a fine
+fellow! You cannot swim, you say. Now, if you should not kneel"--
+
+"Retire!" cried Otto, "or I will swim out into the stream, and not
+return again!"
+
+"That might be original enough," answered Wilhelm. "Swim forth, or
+come and kneel here!"
+
+"Wilhelm!" cried Otto, with an affecting sigh, and in a moment swam
+forth with quick strokes.
+
+"There he shoots away," said one of the party. "How he cuts the
+waves! He is a splendid swimmer!"
+
+Smiling they gazed over the expanse; Otto swam even farther out.
+
+"But where will he swim to?" exclaimed, somewhat gravely, one of
+the spectators. "He will certainly lose his strength before he
+returns the same distance."
+
+They unmoored the boat. Otto swam far out at sea; with quick
+strokes of the oars they rowed after him.
+
+"Where is he now?" cried Wilhelm shortly afterwards; "I see him no
+longer."
+
+"Yes, there he comes up again," said another; "but his strength is
+leaving him."
+
+"On! on!" cried Wilhelm; "he will be drowned if we do not come to
+his help. Only see--he sinks!"
+
+Otto had lost all power; his head disappeared beneath the water.
+The friends had nearly reached him; Wilhelm and several of the best
+swimmers flung from themselves boots and coats, sprang into the
+sea, and dived under the water. A short and noiseless moment
+passed. One of the swimmers appeared above water. "He is dead!"
+were the first words heard. Wilhelm and the three others now
+appeared with Otto; the boat was near oversetting as they brought
+him into it. Deathly pale lay he there, a beautifully formed marble
+statue, the picture of a young gladiator fallen in the arena.
+
+The friends busied themselves about him, rubbing his breast and
+hands, whilst two others rowel toward the land.
+
+"He breathes!" said Wilhelm.
+
+Otto opened his eyes; his lips moved; his gaze became firmer; a
+deep crimson spread itself over his breast and countenance; he
+raised himself and Wilhelm supported him. Suddenly a deep sigh
+burst from his breast; he thrust Wilhelm from him, and, like a
+madman, seized an article of dress to cover himself with; then,
+with a convulsive trembling of the lips, he said to Wilhelm, who
+held his hand, "I HATE YOU!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+--"Art thou Prometheus, pierced with wounds?
+The Vulture thou that tugs at his heart?"
+              J. CHR. V. ZEDLITZ'S Todtenkr�nze.
+
+Not half an hour after this adventure a carriage rolled toward the
+city--a large carriage, containing three seats, but, beside the
+coachman, there was only one person within. This was Otto; his lips
+were pale; death, it is true, had touched them. Alone he dashed
+forward; his last words to Wilhelm had been his only ones.
+
+"He has lost his wits," said one of the friends.
+
+"It is a fit of madness," answered another, "such as he was seized
+with at the examination, when he only sent in a scrap of white
+paper for the mathematical examination, because he felt himself
+offended by the inspector."
+
+"I could quite vex myself about my stupid joke," said Wilhelm. "I
+ought to have known him better; he is of a strange, unhappy
+character. Give me your hands! We will mention to no one what has
+occurred; it would only give occasion to a deal of gossip, and
+wound him deeply, and he is an excellent, glorious fellow."
+
+They gave their hands upon it, and drove toward the city.
+
+The same day, toward evening, we again seek Otto. We find him in
+his chamber. Silent, with crossed arms, he stands before a print, a
+copy of Horace Vernet's representation of Mazeppa, who, naked and
+bound upon a wild horse, rushes through the forest. Wolves thrust
+forth their heads and exhibit their sharp teeth.
+
+"My own life!" sighed Otto. "I also am bound to this careering wild
+horse. And no friend, not a single one! Wilhelm, I could kill thee!
+I could see you all lying in your blood! O, Almighty God!" He
+pressed his hands before his face and threw himself into a seat;
+his eyes, however, again directed themselves toward the picture; it
+exhibited a moment similar to the condition of his own mind.
+
+The door now opened, and Wilhelm stood before him.
+
+"How do you find yourself, Thostrup?" he inquired. "We are still
+friends as before?" and he wished to give his hand. Otto drew back
+his. "I have done nothing which could so much offend you," said
+Wilhelm; "the whole was merely a joke! Give me your hand, and we
+will speak no more of the affair!"
+
+"To the man whom I hate, I never reach my hand," replied Otto and
+his lips were white like his cheeks.
+
+"A second time to-day you speak these words to me," said Wilhelm,
+and the blood rushed to his face. "We were friends, wherefore
+cannot we be so still? Have people slandered me to you? Have they
+told lies about me? Only tell me faithfully, and I shall be able to
+defend myself."
+
+"You must fight with me!" said Otto; and his glance became more
+gloomy. Wilhelm was silent; there reigned a momentary stillness.
+Otto suppressed a deep sigh. At length Wilhelm broke silence, and
+said, with a grave and agitated voice,--"I am so thoughtless, I
+joke so often, and regard everything from the ridiculous side. But
+for all that I have both heart and feeling. You must have known how
+much dearer you were to me than most other people. You are so
+still, although you offend me. At this moment your blood is in a
+fever; not now, but after a few days, you yourself will best see
+which of us is the offended party. You demand that I fight with
+you; I will if your honor requires this satisfaction: but you must
+lay before me an acceptable reason. I will know wherefore we risk
+our lives. Let some days pass by; weigh all with your understanding
+and your heart! It will still depend upon yourself whether we
+remain friends as before. Farewell!" And Wilhelm went.
+
+Each of his words had penetrated to Otto's heart. A moment he stood
+silent and undecided, then his limbs trembled involuntarily, tears
+streamed from his eyes--it was a convulsive fit of weeping; he
+pressed his head back. "God, how unfortunate I am!" were his only
+words.
+
+So passed some minutes; he had ceased to weep, and was calm;
+suddenly he sprang up, shot the bolt in the door, drew down the
+blinds, lighted his candle, and once more looked searchingly
+around: the key-hole was also stopped up. He then flung his coat
+away from him and uncovered the upper part of his body.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+"The towers pass by, even before we perceive them."
+               OEHLENSCHL�ER'S Journey to F�nen.
+
+Early the following morning, whilst Wilhelm still slept and dreamed
+of his beloved sisters, well-known footsteps sounded on the stairs,
+the door opened, and Otto stepped into the sleeping-room. Wilhelm
+opened his eyes. Otto was pale; a sleepless night and sorrow of
+heart had breathed upon his brow and eyes.
+
+"Thostrup!" cried Wilhelm, with joyous surprise, and stretched
+forth his hand toward him, but it again sank; Otto seized it, and
+pressed it firmly in his own, adding at the same time, with
+gravity,--"You have humbled me! Is that sufficient satisfaction for
+you?"
+
+"We are then friends!" said Wilhelm. "Friends must be very
+indulgent toward each other. Yesterday you were a little strange,
+to-morrow I may be so; that is the way in which one retaliates."
+
+Otto pressed his hand. "We will never speak again of the occurrence
+of yesterday!"
+
+"Never!" repeated Wilhelm, affected by the strange gravity of his
+friend.
+
+"You are a noble, a good creature!" said Otto, and bent over him;
+his lips touched Wilhelm's forehead.
+
+Wilhelm seized his hand, and gazed frankly into his eye. "You are
+not happy!" exclaimed he. "If I cannot assist you, I can, at least,
+dear Otto, honestly share the grief of a friend!"
+
+"Even on that very point we may never speak!" replied Otto.
+"Farewell! I have determined on travelling home; we have only
+vacation for a few weeks, and I have not been in Jutland since I
+became a student. Even a month's sojourn there cannot throw me
+back; I am well prepared for the philosophicum."
+
+"And when will you set out?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"To-morrow, with the steamboat. It is hot and sultry here in the
+city: my blood becomes heated: it will, also, soon be a year since
+I saw my family."
+
+"Thostrup!" exclaimed Wilhelm, through whom a thought suddenly
+flashed, "I should also like to see my family; they have written to
+me to come. Listen: make your journey through Funen, and only
+remain three or four days with us. My mother's carriage shall
+convey you then to Middelfart. Say 'Yes,' and we will set out this
+evening."
+
+"That cannot be done!" replied Otto; but half an hour later, as
+both sat together over the tea-table, and Wilhelm repeated his
+wish, Otto consented, but certainly more through a feeling of
+obligation than through any pleasure of his own. Toward evening,
+therefore, they set out in the beautiful summer night to travel
+through Zealand.
+
+Smartly dressed families wandered pleasantly through the city gate
+toward the summer theatre and Fredericksberg. The evening sun shone
+upon the column of Liberty; the beautiful obelisk, around which
+stand Wiedewelt's statues, one of which still weeps,
+             "In white marble clothing,
+                Hand upon the breast,
+                Ever grief-oppressed,
+              Looking down upon the gloomy sea,"
+where were closed the eyes of the artist. Was it the remembrance
+which here clouded Otto's glance, as his eye rested upon the
+statues as they drove past, or did his own soul, perhaps, mirror
+itself in his eyes?
+
+"Here it is gay and animated!" said Wilhelm, wishing to commence a
+conversation. "Vesterbro is certainly your most brilliant suburb.
+It forms a city by itself,--a little state! There upon the hill
+lies the King's Castle, and there on the left, between the willows,
+the poet's dwelling, where old Rahbek lived with his Kamma!"
+
+"Castle and poet's dwelling!" repeated Otto; "the time will be when
+they will inspire equal interest!"
+
+"That old place will soon be pulled down!" said Wilhelm; "in such
+a beautiful situation, so near the city, a splendid villa will be
+raised, and nothing more remind one of Philemon and Baucis!"
+
+"The old trees in the park will be spared!" said Otto; "in the
+garden the flowers will scent the air, and remind one of Kamma's
+flowers. Rahbek was no great poet, but he possessed a true poet's
+soul, labored faithfully in the great vineyard, and loved flowers
+as Kamma loved them."
+
+The friends hail left Fredericksberg behind them. The white walls
+of the castle glanced through the green boughs; behind S�ndermark,
+the large, wealthy village stretched itself out. The sun had set
+before they reached the Dam-house, where the wild swans, coming
+from the ocean, build in the fresh water fake. This is the last
+point of beauty; nothing but lonely fields, with here and there a
+cairn, extend to the horizon.
+
+The clear summer's night attracted their gaze upward; the postilion
+blew his horn, and the carriage rolled toward the town of
+Roeskilde, the St. Denis of Denmark, where kings turn to dust;
+where Hroar's spring still flows, and its waters mingle with those
+of Issefjords.
+
+They drove to a public-house to change horses. A young girl
+conducted the friends into the public room; she lighted the way for
+them. Her slender figure and her floating gait drew Wilhelm's
+attention toward her; his hand touched her shoulder, she sprang
+aside and fixed her beautiful grave eyes upon him; but their
+expression became milder, she smiled and colored at the same time.
+
+"You are the sister of little Jonas!" cried Wilhelm, recognizing
+the young girl he had seen with him at Christmas.
+
+"I must also thank you," said she, "for your kindness toward the
+poor boy!" She quickly placed the lights on the table, and left the
+room with a gentle glance.
+
+"She is beautiful, very beautiful!" exclaimed Wilhelm. "That was
+really quite a pleasant meeting."
+
+"Is it then you, Herr Baron, who honor me thus?" cried the host,
+stepping in--an elderly man with a jovial countenance. "Yes, the
+Baron will doubtless visit his dear relations in hunch? It is now
+some little time since you were there."
+
+"This is our host!" said Wilhelm to Otto. "He and his wife were
+born upon my parent's estate."
+
+"Yes," said the host, "in my youth I have shot many a snipe and
+wild duck with the Herr Baron's father. But Eva should spread the
+table; the gentlemen will certainly take supper, and a glass of
+good punch the Herr Baron will certainly not despise, if he is like
+his blessed father."
+
+The young girl spread the cloth in an adjoining room.
+
+"She is pretty!" Wilhelm whispered to the old man.
+
+"And just as pious and innocent as she is pretty!" returned he;
+"and that is saying much, as she is a poor girl, and from
+Copenhagen. She is of good service to us, and my wife says Eva
+shall not leave us until she is well married."
+
+Wilhelm invited the host to join them at a glass. The old man
+became more animated, and now confided to him, half mysteriously,
+what made Eva so honorable in the eyes of his wife, and what was,
+indeed, really very nice of her. "My old woman," said he, "was in
+Copenhagen, in search of a waiting-girl. Yes, there are enough to
+be had, and they are fine girls; but mother has her own thoughts
+and opinions: she has good eyes--that she has! Now, there came
+many, and among others Eva; but, good Lord! she was very poorly
+clad, and she looked feeble and weak, and what service could one
+get out of her! But she had a good countenance, and the poor girl
+wept and besought mother to take her, for she was not comfortable
+at home, and would not remain at Copenhagen. Now, mother knows how
+to make use of her words: it is unfortunate that she is not at home
+to-night; how pleased she would have been to see the Herr Baron!
+Yes, what I would say is, she so twisted her words about, that Eva
+confessed to her why she wished to leave home. You see the girl is
+petty; and the young gallant gentlemen of Copenhagen had remarked
+her smooth face,--and not alone the young, but the old ones also!
+So an old gentleman--I could easily name him, but that has nothing
+to do with the affair--a very distinguished man in the city, who
+has, besides, a wife and children, had said all sorts of things to
+her parents; and, as eight hundred dollars is a deal of money to
+poor people, one can excuse them: but Eva wept, and said she would
+rather spring into the castle-ditch. They represented all sorts of
+things to the poor girl; she heard of the service out here with us.
+She wept, kissed my old woman's hand, and thus came to us; and
+since then we have had a deal of service from Eva, and joy also!"
+
+Some minutes after Eva stepped in, Otto's eye rested with a
+melancholy expression upon the beautiful form: never had he before
+so gazed upon a woman. Her countenance was extraordinarily fine,
+her nose and forehead nobly formed, the eyebrows dark, and in the
+dark-blue eyes lay something pensive, yet happy: one might employ
+the Homeric expression, "smiling through tears," to describe this
+look. She announced that the carriage was ready.
+
+A keen observer would soon have remarked what a change the host's
+relation had worked in the two friends. Wilhelm was no longer so
+free toward poor Eva. Otto, on the contrary, approached her more,--
+and at their leave-taking they offered her a greater present than
+they would otherwise have given.
+
+She stood with Otto at the door, and assisted him on with his
+travelling cloak.
+
+"Preserve your heart pure!" said he, gravely; "that is more than
+beauty!"
+
+The young girl blushed, and gazed at him with astonishment; in such
+a manner had no one of his age ever before spoken to her.
+
+"The poor girl!" said Otto; "but I think she is come to good
+people."
+
+"She has a strange glance!" said Wilhelm. "Do you know that there
+is really a certain affinity between you and her? It was to me
+quite striking."
+
+"That is a compliment which I cannot accept," returned Otto,
+smiling. "Yet, perhaps, I might resemble her."
+
+It was not yet three o'clock when the friends reached Ringsted.
+
+"I have never before been so far in Zealand," said Otto.
+
+"Shall I be your guide?" returned Wilhelm. "Ringsted has a street
+and an inn, and one is very badly served there, as you will soon
+both see and experience yourself. Meanwhile, one can think of
+Hagbarth and Signe; not far from here, at Sigersted, he hung his
+mantle on the oak, and Signelil's abode stood in flames. Now only
+remain fields and meadows, a cairn, and the old popular song. Then
+we rush past the friendly Soroe, that mirrors itself with the wood
+in the lake, which forms itself into so many bays; but we do not
+see much of it. We have here another romantic spot, an old castle
+converted into a church, high up on the hill near the lake, and
+close to it the dismal place of execution. We then reach Slagelse,
+an animated little town; with the Antvorskov convent, the poet
+Frankenau's grave, and a Latin school, celebrated on account of its
+poets. It was there Baggesen and Ingemann learned their Latin. When
+I once questioned the hostess regarding the lions of the town, she
+would only acknowledge two,--Bastholm's library, and the English
+fire-engine. The curtain in the theatre represents an alley with a
+fountain, the jets of which are painted as if spouting out of the
+prompter's box; or is this, perhaps, the English fire-engine? I
+know not. The scene-decoration for towns represents the market-place
+of Slagelse itself, so that the pieces thus acquire a home-feeling.
+This is the modern history of the little town; and, with regard to
+its older and romantic history, learn that the holy Anders was
+preacher here! Yes, indeed, that was a man! He has been also
+sung of by our first poets. We end with Kors�er, where Baggesen
+was born and Birckner lies buried. In the more modern history
+of this town, King Solomon and J�rgen the hatter play a considerable
+r�le. Besides this, I know that the town is said once to have
+possessed a private theatre; but this soon was done for, and the
+decorations were sold; a miller bought them, and patched his
+windmill sails with them. Upon one sail was a piece of a wood,
+upon another a shred of a room, or a street; and so they rushed
+round one after the other. Perhaps this is mere slander, for I have
+my information from Slagelse; and neighboring towns never speak
+well of each other."
+
+In this manner Wilhelm gossiped on, and the friends travelled over
+the way he had described. Slagelse, and the peasant village of
+Landsgrav, they had already behind them, when Wilhelm ordered the
+coachman to diverge from the high-road toward the right.
+
+"Where will you take us to?" asked Otto.
+
+"I will give you a pleasure!" returned Wilhelm. "We shall reach the
+weariful Kors�er early enough: the steamboat leaves at ten, and it
+is not yet seven. You shall be surprised--I know well that you are
+half a Catholic; I will conduct you where you may believe yourself
+carried back several centuries, and may imagine yourself in a
+Catholic country. That is right pleasant, is it not?"
+
+Otto smiled. The friends alighted from the coach and walked over a
+corn-field. They found themselves upon a hill, the whole landscape
+spread itself out before them--they saw the Belt, with Sprog�e and
+Funen. The surrounding country was certainly flat, but the variety
+of greens, the near meadow, the dark stretch of wood in the
+neighborhood of Kors�er, the bay itself, and all this seen in a
+warm morning light, produced effect. The friends diverged to the
+right; and before them, upon a hill, stood a large wooden cross,
+with the figure of the Crucified One. Above the cross was built a
+small roof to carry off the rain,--such as one may yet find in
+Bavaria. The figure of the Redeemer was of wood, painted with
+strong, tawdry colors; a withered garland of corn-flowers still
+hung around his bowed head.
+
+"It is extraordinary," said Otto, "to find in our time, in the year
+1830, such a Catholic symbol in Lutheran Denmark! And yet--yes, you
+will laugh at me, but I find it lovely: it affects me, moves me to
+worship."
+
+"That tawdry, tasteless figure!" cried Wilhelm. "Only see how
+coarse! the hair is covered with tar to keep off the rain! The
+peasants here have their peculiar superstition. If they allow the
+cross to fall they have no luck with their lands. It was upon this
+hill that the holy Anders, the celebrated preacher of Slagelse,
+awoke. He visited the sepulchre of Christ, but through praying
+there too long the ship sailed without him, and he was forced to
+stay behind. Then came a man and took him upon his horse, and they
+would ride to Joppa: the holy Anders fell asleep; but when he awoke
+he lay here, and heard the bells ringing in Slagelse. Upon a foal,
+only one night old, he rode round the extensive city lands, whilst
+King Waldemar lay in his bath. He could hang his glove upon the
+beams of the sun. This hill, where he awoke, was called Rest-hill;
+and the cross, with the figure of the Redeemer erected upon it,
+which still stands here, reminds us of the legend of the holy
+Anders."
+
+A little peasant girl at this moment mounted the hill, but paused
+when she perceived the strangers.
+
+"Don't be afraid, my child!" said Wilhelm. "What hast thou there? a
+garland! shall it hang here upon the cross? Only come, we will help
+thee."
+
+"It should hang over our Lord," said the little one, holding, in an
+embarrassed manner, the garland of pretty blue cornflowers in her
+hand. Otto took the garland, and hung it up in place of the faded
+one.
+
+"That was our morning adventure!" said Wilhelm, and soon they were
+rolling in the deep sand toward Kors�er, toward the hill where the
+poet watched the sun and moon sink into the sea, and wished that he
+had wings that he might catch them.
+
+Melancholy and silent lies the town on the flat coast, the old
+castle turned into a farm-house--high grass grows upon the walls.
+In a storm, when the wind blows against the city, the surf beats
+against the outermost houses. High upon the church stands a
+telegraph; the black wooden plates resemble mourning-flags hung
+above the sinking town. Here is nothing for the stranger to see,
+nothing except a grave--that of the thinker Birckner. The friends
+drove to the public-house on the strand. No human being met them in
+the street except a boy, who rung a hand-bell.
+
+"That calls to church," said Wilhelm. "Because there are no bells
+in the tower, they have here such a wandering bell-ringer as this.
+Holla! there lies the inn!"
+
+"Baron Wilhelm!" cried a strong voice, and a man in a green jacket
+with pockets in the breast, the mighty riding-boots splashed above
+the tops, and with whip in hand, approached them, pulled his horse-hair
+cap, and extended his hand to Wilhelm.
+
+"The Kammerjunker from Funen!" said Wilhelm; "my mother's neighbor,
+one of the most industrious and rich noblemen in all Funen."
+
+"You will come one of the first days to me!" said the Kammerjunker;
+"you shall try my Russian steam-bath: I have erected one upon my
+estate. All who visit me, ladies and gentlemen without any
+exception, must try it!"
+
+"And do the cherry-trees bear well this year?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"No, no," answered the Kammerjunker, "they are good for nothing;
+but the apples are good! All the old trees in the hill-garden stand
+in full splendor: I've brought them into condition! Two years ago
+there was not, on all the trees together, a bushel of fruit. But I
+had all the horses which had to be bled led under the trees, and
+had the warm blood sprinkled upon the roots; this happened several
+times, and it has been a real inoculation for life."
+
+"The wind is certainly favorable," said Otto, whom this
+conversation began to weary.
+
+"No, just the contrary!" said the Kammerjunker. "The vane upon the
+little house yonder lies; it points always to Nyborg, always shows
+a good wind for us when we want to leave. In Nyborg is also a vane,
+which stands even as firmly as this, and prates to the folk there
+of good wind. I regard both vanes as a kind of guide-post, which
+merely says, There goes the way! No, if we had had a wind I should
+have gone with the boat, and not with the little splashing thing,
+as the seamen call the steamboat. The carriage is doubtless
+awaiting the young gentleman in Nyborg?" pursued he. "I will join
+company with you--my brown horse waits for me at Schalburg. You
+should see him! He has sinews like steel springs, and legs like a
+dancing-master! He is my own brown."
+
+"No one knows that we are coming," answered Wilhelm. "We shall,
+therefore, take a carriage from Nyborg."
+
+"We will join company," said the Kammerjunker, "and then you will
+pay me a visit with the young gentleman. You shall sleep in the
+black chamber! Yes, you will give me the pleasure?" said he to
+Otto. "If you are a lover of the antique, my estate will afford you
+pleasure; you find there moats, towers, guard-rooms, ghosts, and
+hobgoblins, such as belong to an old estate. The black chamber!
+after all, it is not quite secure there; is it, Herr Baron?"
+
+"No, the deuce remain a night with you!" said Wilhelm; "one gets to
+bed late, and even then it is not permitted one to close one's
+eyes. You, your sister, and the Mamsell,--yes, you are a pretty
+clover-leaf! Yes, Thostrup, you cannot believe what pranks are
+hatched upon the Kammerjunker's estate! One must be prepared for
+it! It is said to be haunted, but if the dead will not take that
+trouble the living do. The Kammerjunker is in the plot with his
+women-folk. They sewed me lately live cockchafers into my pillow,
+and they crawled and scrambled about till I did not know what the
+deuce it could be! A live cock they had also placed under my bed,
+and just in the morning, when I would go to sleep, the creature
+began to crow!"
+
+"The women-folk had done that," said the Kammerjunker. "Did they
+not the very same night fasten a door-bell to the head of my bed? I
+never thought of it; fat Laender slept in the same room, and had
+fastened along the wall a string to the bell. I awoke with the
+ringing. 'What the devil is that bell?' said I, and glanced about
+the room, for I could not conceive what it was. 'Bell?' asked
+Laender--'there is no bell here!' The ringing also ceased. I
+thought I must have dreamed, or that our merry evening must have
+left some buzzing in my ears. Again it began to ring. Laender
+looked so innocent all the time, I could not comprehend myself;
+I thought it must be my imagination. I became quite fainthearted, I
+denied my own hearing, and said, 'No, I have only dreamed!' and
+commenced reckoning and counting to employ my mind; but that did
+no good, and it nearly drove me mad! I sprang out of bed, and then
+I found out the trick: but how Laender grinned! he was swollen and
+red in the face with his mirth."
+
+"Do you play such jokes on your estate?" inquired Otto, addressing
+himself to Wilhelm.
+
+"No, not such refined ones!" returned the Kammerjunker; "perhaps a
+piece of wood, or a silly mask, is laid in your bed. Miss Sophie
+gives us other clever things for amusement--tableaux and the magic-lantern.
+I was once of the party. Yes, what was it I represented? Ah, I played,
+Heaven help me! King Cyrus: had a paper crown on my head, and Miss
+Sophie's cloak about me, the wrong side turned outward, for it is
+lined with sable. I looked like Satan!"
+
+The steamboat passengers were summoned on board, the company went
+down to the vessel, and soon it was cutting through the waves of
+the Belt.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+"See now, F�nen signifieth _fine_,
+  And much in that word lies;
+For F�nen is the garden fine,
+  Where Denmark glads its eyes."
+
+The nakedness which the last aspect of Zealand presents occasions
+one to be doubly struck by the affluent abundance and luxuriance
+with which Funen steps forth. Green woods, rich corn-fields, and,
+wherever the eye rests, noblemen's seats and churches. Nyborg
+itself appears a lively capital in comparison with the still
+melancholy Kors�er. One now perceives people upon the great bridge
+of boats, on the ramparts, and in the broad streets with their high
+houses; one sees soldiers, hears music, and, what is especially
+animating upon a journey, one comes to an excellent inn. The drive
+out through the arched gateway is an astonishment; it is the same
+length and breadth as one of the gates of Copenhagen. Villages and
+peasants' houses here assume a more well-to-do aspect than in
+Zealand, where one often on the way-side imagines one sees a
+manure-heap heaped upon four poles, which upon nearer examination
+one finds is the abode of a family. On the highroads in Funen one
+perceives only clean houses; the window-frames are painted; before
+the doors are little flower-gardens, and wherever flowers are
+grown, as Bulwer strikingly remarks, the peasant is in a higher
+state of civilization; he thinks of the beautiful. In the ditches
+along the highway one sees lilac with their white and lilac
+flowers. Nature herself has here adorned the country with a
+multitude of wild poppies, which for splendor of color might vie
+with the most admired and beautiful in a botanic garden. Especially
+in the neighborhood of Nyborg do they grow in exceeding abundance.
+
+"What a dazzling color!" exclaimed Otto, as the friends rolled past
+these beautiful red flowers.
+
+"That is a proud color!" said the Kammerjunker, who rode near them
+upon his brown steed, "a proud color! but they are manured with the
+blood of Andalusian horses. It was just here where the battle
+between these beasts took place. You know that sit the year 1808
+the Spaniards lay in Funen; the English ships were cruising about
+in the Belt, and Romana fled with his whole army on board, but they
+could net take their horses with them. These were the most splendid
+Andalusian creatures that eyes ever saw. The Spaniards took off
+their bridles, and left them here to scamper about the fields like
+wild horses. The horses of Nyborg chanced also to graze here, and
+as soon as the Andalusian steeds became aware of ours they arranged
+themselves in a row, and fell upon the Danish horses: that was a
+combat! At length they fell upon each other, and fought until they
+fell bleeding to earth. Whilst still a boy I saw little skull of
+one of these beasts. This is the last adventure left us from the
+visit of the Spaniards to Denmark. In the village through which we
+shall now pass are some outer remembrances. Remark the young lads
+and lasses,--they are of a darker complexion than the inhabitants
+of other Funen valleys; that is Spanish blood, it is said. It was
+in this village that the story took its rise of the preacher's
+servant-girl, who wept and was so inconsolable at the departure of
+the Spaniards. But not on account of her bridegroom did she weep,--
+not over her own condition. The preacher consoled her, and then she
+said she only wept to think that if the innocent child resembled
+its father it certainly would speak Spanish, and then not a soul
+would understand it! Yes, such histories as this have we in Funen!"
+said he laughingly to Otto.
+
+With similar relations, and some agricultural observations,
+according as they were called forth by surrounding objects, did our
+excellent landed proprietor amuse our young gentlemen. They were
+already distant several miles from Nyborg, when he suddenly broke
+off in the midst of a very interesting discourse upon a
+characteristic of a true inhabitant of Funen, which is, that
+whenever he passes a field of buckwheat he moves his mouth as if
+chewing, and made Wilhelm observe a Viennese carriage, which
+approached them by a neighboring road. To judge from the coachman
+and the horses, it must be the family from the hall.
+
+This was the case--they returned from paying a visit. Where the
+roads crossed they met each other. Otto immediately recognized Miss
+Sophie, and near to her sat an elderly lady, with a gentle, good-humored
+countenance; this was the mother. Now there was surprise and joy.
+Sophie blushed--this blush could not have reference to the brother;
+was it then the Kammerjunker? No: that appeared impossible! therefore,
+it must concern Otto. The mother extended her hand to him with a
+welcome, whilst at the same time she invited the Kammerjunker to
+spend the afternoon with them. There lay, in the manner with which
+she proposed this, so much attention and consideration, that Otto
+felt the man was here held in greater esteem, and was otherwise
+regarded than he, during their short acquaintance, had imagined possible.
+
+Sophie added, smiling, "You must stay!" To which the Kammerjunker
+replied with an apology for his travelling-dress.
+
+"We are not strangers!" said the mother; "it is only a family meal!
+You see the usual circle. You, Mr. Thostrup," added she, with a
+most obliging manner, "I know so well from Wilhelm's letters, that
+we are no strangers. The gentlemen are acquainted with each other!"
+
+"I accept the invitation," said the Kammerjunker, "and I will now
+show you into what a gallop I can put my steed! It is Carl Rise,
+[Translator's Note: Name of one of the heroes in Waldemar the
+Conqueror, a romance by Ingemann.] as you see, young lady--you
+called him so yourself!"
+
+"Yes, ride forward," said Sophie, smiling. "By that means you will
+oblige my sister. She might otherwise be quite frightened, did she
+see such a mighty caravan approach the house, did she had not
+properly prepared the dinner-table."
+
+"As my gracious young lady commands!" said the rider, and sprang
+forward.
+
+The country became more woody; the road passed various small lakes,
+almost overgrown with water-lilies and shaded by old trees; the
+old-fashioned, indented gable-ends of the hall now peeped forth.
+They drove through an avenue of wild chestnut-trees; the stone
+pavement here threatened to smash the carriage axles. On the right
+lay the forge, through the open door of which flew the sparks. A
+little girl, with bare feet, opened a gate, and they now found
+themselves in a large open space before the red-painted out-buildings.
+The ground was covered with straw, and all the cows of the farm were
+collected here for milking. Here they were obliged to drive, step
+by step, until by the gateway they reached the larger courtyard,
+which was inclosed by the barns and the principal building itself.
+This was surrounded by broad ditches, almost grown over with reeds.
+Over a solid bridge, resting upon pillars of masonry, and through
+a principal wing which bore the armorial bearings and initials of
+the old possessor, they arrived in the innermost court, which was
+shut in by three wings, the antique one already mentioned, and two
+others: the fourth side was inclosed by a low trellis-work which
+adjoined the garden, where the canals lost themselves in a small lake.
+
+"That is an interesting old court!" exclaimed Otto.
+
+"O, that is not to be compared with the Kammerjunker's!" returned
+Wilhelm: "you should first see his!"
+
+"Yes, you must come over some of these days," said the
+Kammerjunker. "Silence, Fingal! Silence, Valdine!" cried he to the
+barking dogs. A couple of turkey-cocks spread their feathers out,
+and gobbled with all their might. Men and women servants stood at
+the door: that was their reception!
+
+"Thostrup will have the red room, will he not?" said Wilhelm, and
+the friends ascended the stairs together.
+
+A pale young girl, not free from freckles, but with eyes full of
+soul, hastened toward them; this was Wilhelm's youngest sister. She
+pressed her brother to her breast, and took Otto's hand with
+kindness. She is not beautiful! was the first impression she made
+upon him. His chamber was vaulted, and the walls painted in the
+style of Gobelin tapestry; they represented the whole of Olympus.
+On the left was an old fire-place, with decorations and a gilt
+inscription; on the right stood an antiquated canopy-bed, with red
+damask hangings. The view was confined to the moat and the interior
+court. But a few minutes and Otto and Wilhelm were summoned to
+table. A long gallery through two wings of the hall, on one side
+windows, on the other entrances to the rooms, led to the dining-room.
+The whole long passage was a picture-gallery. Portraits the size
+of life, representing noble knights and ladies shining forth in
+red powdered periwigs, children adorned like their elders, with
+tulips in their hands, and great hounds by their sides, together
+with some historical pieces, decorated the walls.
+
+"Have we no garland on the table?" asked Sophie, as she entered the
+dining-room with the others.
+
+"Only a weak attempt to imitate my sister!" said Louise, smiling.
+
+"But there is not a single flower in the garland! What economy! And
+yet it is sweet!"
+
+"How tasteful!" exclaimed Otto, examining the garland which Louise
+had laid.
+
+All kinds of green leaves, with their innumerable shades, a few
+yellow linden-leaves, and some from the copper-beech, formed,
+through their varied forms and colors, a tasteful garland upon the
+white table-cloth.
+
+"You receive a thistle and a withered leaf!" whispered Wilhelm, as
+Otto seated himself.
+
+"But yet the most beautiful!" answered he. "The copper beech
+contrasts so sweetly with the whitish-green thistle and the yellow
+leaf."
+
+"My sister Sophie," said Louise, "lays us each day a different
+garland;--it is such a pretty decoration! If she is not here we get
+none; that would have been the case to-day, but when I learned that
+Wilhelm was coming, and that we," she added, with a friendly
+glance, "should have two other guests, I in great haste, made an
+attempt, and"--
+
+"And wished to show how nicely it could be made without robbing
+your flowers!" interrupted Sophie, laughing. "In reality, I am very
+cruel! I cut all the heads of her favorites off. To-morrow, as a
+parody upon her garland of to-day, will I make one of green cabbage
+and pea-shells!"
+
+"Madeira or port wine?" asked the Kammerjunker, and led the
+conversation from flowers to articles of food and drink.
+
+"One feels one's self comfortable here at the hall! Miss Louise
+cares for the body, and Miss Sophie for the soul!"
+
+"And mamma bestows a good cup of coffee," said the mother; "you
+must also praise me a little!"
+
+"I give music after dinner!" cried Wilhelm; "and thus the whole
+family will have shown their activity!"
+
+"But no voluntaries!" said the Kammerjunker; "no voluntaries, dear
+friend! No, a brisk song, so that one can hear what it is! but none
+of your artificial things!" A right proper blow on the shoulders
+was intended to soften his expression.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+"She sees if the cloth is clean and white
+--If the bed has pillows and sheets;
+If the candle fits in the candlestick. ...
+
+"Modest she is, although you know
+  She makes the whole of the place;
+And in she slips in the evening glow,
+  To light the room with her merry face "--OEHLENSCHL�GER
+
+A quiet, busy house-fairy was Louise; the beautiful, fragrant
+flowers were her favorites. Good-humoredly she smiled at the
+raillery of her sister, quietly listened to each thoughtless jest;
+but if any one, in joke, touched upon what was holy to her soul,
+she was aroused from her calmness and attained a certain eloquence.
+
+We will now become more nearly acquainted with the sisters, and on
+this account pass over to one of the following days.
+
+An abode together of a week, at a country-seat, will often bring
+about a greater intimacy than if, throughout a whole winter, people
+had met in large companies in cities. Otto soon felt himself at
+home; he was treated as a near relative. Wilhelm related all he
+knew of the beautiful Eva, and Sophie discovered that she was a
+romantic character. Mamma pitied the poor child, and Louise wished
+she had her on the estate: an inn was, after all, no proper place
+for a respectable girl. They then spoke of the winter enjoyments in
+Copenhagen, of art, and the theatre. Louise could not speak much
+with them upon these subjects, although she had seen one play,
+"Dyveke:" the amiable nature of the actress had spoken deeply to
+her heart.
+
+Several days had passed; the sky was gray; the young people
+assembled round the table; they were at no loss for a subject of
+conversation. All those who have brothers or sons who study well,
+have remarked how much they are especially fascinated by the
+lectures on natural philosophy and astronomy; the world, as it
+were, expands itself before the intellectual eye. We know that the
+friends, during the past summer, had participated in these
+lectures, and, like the greater number, were full of these
+subjects, from the contemplation of a drop of water, with its
+innumerable animalculae, to the distance and magnitude of stars and
+planets.
+
+To most of us these are well-known doctrines; to the ladies, also,
+this was nothing entirely new: nevertheless, it interested them;
+perhaps partly owing to Otto's beautiful eloquence. The gray, rainy
+weather led the conversation to the physical explanation of the
+origin of our globe, as the friends, from Orsted's lectures,
+conceived it to have been.
+
+"The Northern and Grecian myths agree also with it!" sail Otto. "We
+must imagine, that in infinite space there floated an eternal,
+unending mist, in which lay a power of attraction. The mist
+condensed itself now to one drop--our globe was one enormous egg-shaped
+drop; light and warmth operated upon this huge world egg, and hatched,
+not alone ONE creature, but millions. These must die and give way
+to new ones, but their corpses fell as dust to the centre: this
+grew; the water itself condensed, and soon arose a point above
+the expanse of ocean. The warmth of the sun developed moss and
+plants; fresh islands presented themselves; for centuries did a
+more powerful development and improvement show themselves, until
+the perfection was attained which we now perceive!"
+
+"But the Bible does not teach us thus!" said Louise.
+
+"Moses invented his account of the creation," answered Otto; "we
+keep to Nature, who has greater revelations than man."
+
+"But the Bible is to you a holy book?" asked Louise, and colored.
+
+"A venerable book!" returned Otto. "It contains the profoundest
+doctrines, the most interesting histories, but also much which
+belongs not at all to a holy book."
+
+"How can you say such things?" exclaimed Louise.
+
+"Do not touch upon religion in her presence," said Sophie; "she
+is a pious soul, and believes, without desiring to know wherefore."
+
+"Yes," said Wilhelm, "this winter she became quite angry, and, as I
+believe, for the first time angry with me, because I maintained
+that Christ was a man."
+
+"Wilhelm!" interrupted the young girl, "do not speak of that; I
+feel myself unhappy at this thought; I can and will not see the
+Holy brought down to my level, and to that of every-day life. It
+lies in my nature that I commit a sin if I think otherwise than I
+have learned and than my heart allows me. It is profane, and if you
+speak longer of religion in this strain I shall leave the room."
+
+At this moment the mother entered. "The festival has commenced,"
+said she; "I have been forced to give my brightest silver skilling.
+Does Mr. Thostrup know the old custom which is observed here in the
+country, when beer is brewed for the mowing-feast?"
+
+A piercing cry, as from a horde of savages, at this moment reached
+the ears of the party.
+
+The friends descended.
+
+In the middle of the brew-house stood a tub, around which danced
+all the female servants of the estate, from the dairymaids down to
+the girl who tended the swine; their iron-bound wooden shoes dashed
+against the uneven flag-stones. The greater number of the dancers
+were without their jackets, but with their long chemise-sleeves and
+narrow bodices. Some screamed, others laughed, the whole was
+blended together in a howl, whilst they danced hand in hand around
+the tub in which the beer should be brewed. The brewing-maid now
+flung into it the silver skilling, upon which the girls, like wild
+Maenades, tore off each other's caps, and with bacchanalian
+wildness whirled round the tub. By this means should the beer
+become stronger, and work more intoxicatingly at the approaching
+mowing-feast.
+
+Among the girls, one especially distinguished herself by her Strong
+frame of body, and her long black hair, which, now that her cap was
+torn off, hung in disorder over her red face. The dark eyebrows
+were grown together. All seemed to rage most violently within her,
+and in truth she assumed something wild, nay almost brutal. Both
+arms she raised high in the air, and with outstretched fingers she
+whirled around.
+
+"That is disgusting!" whispered Otto: "they all look like crazy
+people."
+
+Wilhelm laughed at it. The wild merriment was lost in a joyous
+burst of laughter. The girl with the grown-together eyebrows let
+fall her arms; but still there lay in her glance that wild
+expression, which the loose hair and uncovered shoulders made still
+more striking. Either one of the others had had the misfortune to
+scratch her lip, or else she herself had bitten it in bacchanalian
+wildness until it bled: she accidentally glanced toward the open
+door where stood the friends. Otto's countenance became clouded, as
+was ever the case when anything unpleasant affected him. She seemed
+to guess his thoughts, and laughed aloud. Otto stepped aside; it
+was as though he in anticipation felt the shadow which this form
+would one day cast across his life.
+
+When he and Wilhelm immediately afterward returned to Sophie and
+Louise, he related the unpleasant impression which the girl had
+made upon him.
+
+"O, that is my Meg Merrilies!" exclaimed Sophie. "Yes, spite of her
+youth, do you not find that she has something of Sir Walter Scott's
+witch about her? When she grows older, she will be excellent. She
+has the appearance of being thirty, whereas she is said not to be
+more than twenty years old: she is a true giantess."
+
+"The poor thing!" said Louise; "every one judges from the exterior.
+All who are around her hate her, I believe, because her eyebrows
+are grown together, and that is said to be a sign that she is a
+nightmare: [Note: This superstition of the people is mentioned in
+Thieles's Danish traditions: "When a girl at midnight stretches
+between four sticks the membrane in which the foal lies when it is
+born, and then creeps naked through it, she will bear her child
+without pains; but all the boys she conceives will become were-wolves,
+and all the girls nightmares. You will know them in the daytime by
+their eyebrows grown together over the nose. In the night she creeps
+in through the key-hole, and places herself upon the sleeper's bosom.
+The same superstition is also found in German Grimm speaks thus
+about it: If you say to the nightmare,--
+         Old hag, come to-morrow,
+         And I from you will borrow,
+it retreats directly, and comes the next morning in the shape of a
+man to borrow something."] they are angry with her, and how could
+one expect, from the class to which she belongs, that she should
+return scorn with kindness? She is become savage, that she may not
+feel their neglect. In a few days, when we have the mowing-feast,
+you yourself will see how every girl gets a partner; but poor
+Sidsel may adorn herself as much as she likes, she still stands
+alone. It is truly hard to be born such a being!"
+
+"The unfortunate girl!" sighed Otto.
+
+"O, she does not feel it!" said Wilhelm: "she cannot feel it; for
+that she is too rude, too much of an animal."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+"Were the pease not tender, and the vegetables fresh and sweet as sugar
+What was the matter with the hams, the smoked goose-breasts, and the
+herrings? What with the roasted lamb, and the refreshing red-sprinkled
+head-lettuce? Was not the vinegar sharp, and the nut-oil balmy? Was not
+the butter as sweet as a nut, the red radishes tender? What?" --VOSS'S
+Louise.
+
+"Mr. Thostrup shall see the Kammerjunker's old country-seat;
+to-morrow we must go over."
+
+Louise could not go with them, a hundred small duties chained her
+to the house. The most important of them all was ironing.
+
+"But that the house-maid can do," said Sophie. "Do come with us."
+
+"When thou seest thy linen nice and neat in thy drawers," returned
+Louise, "thou wilt certainly pardon me for remaining at home."
+
+"Yes, thou art a glorious girl!" said Sophie; "thou dost deserve to
+have been known by Jean Paul, and made immortal in one of his
+books. Thou dost deserve the good fortune of being sung of by such
+a poet."
+
+"Dost thou call it good fortune," answered the sister, "when the
+whole world directs its attention to one person?--that must be
+painful! unhappy! No, it is much better not to be remarked at all.
+Take my greetings with you, and ask for my Claudius back; they have
+had it now a whole half year."
+
+"There, they have kept half my sister's library," said Sophie,
+smiling to Otto. "You must know she has only two books: Mynster's
+Sermons, and the 'Wandsbecker Boten.'"
+
+The carriage rolled away through the chestnut avenue. "There upon
+the hill, close by the wood, did I act the elf-maiden," said
+Sophie. "I was not yet confirmed; there were strangers staying with
+us at the hall, and we wandered in the beautiful moonlight through
+the wood. Two of my friends and I hastened toward the hill, took
+hold of each other's hands and danced in a ring. The day after, two
+persons of the congregation told the preacher about three elfin-maidens,
+clad in white, who had danced upon the hill in the moonlight. The
+elfin-maidens were we; but that our backs were hollow as baking-troughs,
+and that the hill glanced like silver, was their own invention."
+
+"And in this oak," exclaimed Wilhelm, "when a boy, I killed the
+first bird which fell from my shot. It was a crow, and was very
+honorably interred."
+
+"Yes, beneath my sister's weeping-willow," said Sophie. "We buried
+it in an old chapeaubras, adorned with white bows; the grave was
+decorated with peony-leaves and yellow lilies. Wilhelm, who was
+then a big boy, made an oration, and Louise strewed flowers."
+
+"You were little fools!" said the mother. "But see, who comes
+here?"
+
+"O, my little Dickie, my dwarf of Kenilworth!" exclaimed Sophie, as
+a little hump-backed man, with thin legs and an old face,
+approached. He was dressed as a peasant, and bore upon his back a
+little knapsack of red calfskin, the hairy side turned outward: in
+this he carried his violin.
+
+"Is he called Dickie?" asked Otto.
+
+"No, that is only a joke of Sophie's," pursued Wilhelm; "she must
+always make suitable people romantic. He is called commonly
+'Musikanti.' The inhabitant of Funen Italianizes most names;
+otherwise he is called Peter Cripple."
+
+"You will hear his tones," said Sophie. "The day after to-morrow,
+when we have the mowing-feast, he will he number one. He
+understands music with which you are scarcely acquainted; he will
+play you the 'Shoemaker's Dance' as well as 'Cherry-soup:' such
+dances as these have people here in the country."
+
+"We are now beyond my lands, and upon our neighbor's," said the old
+lady. "You will see a thorough old mansion."
+
+"Now, I should like to know how the inhabitants will please Mr.
+Thostrup," said Sophie. "The Kammerjunker you know; he is an
+excellent country gentleman. His sister, on the contrary, is a
+little peculiar: she belongs to that class of people who always,
+even wily the best intentions, say unpleasant things. She has for
+this quite a rare talent--you will soon experience this; but she
+does not intend anything so bad. She can also joke! Thank God that
+you will not remain there over night, otherwise you would
+experience what she and the Mamsell can invent!"
+
+"Yes, the Mamsell is my friend!" said Wilhelm. "You will see her
+work-box with all the curiosities. That little box plays a great
+part: it is always taken out with her when she pays a visit--for
+the sake of conversation it is brought out; all is then looked
+through, and every article goes the round of the company. Yes,
+there are beautiful things to be seen: a little wheelbarrow with a
+pincushion, a silver fish, and the little yard-measure of silk
+ribbon."
+
+"Yes, and the amber heart!" said Sophie; "the little Napoleon of
+cast iron, and the officer who is pasted fast to the bottom of the
+box: that is a good friend in Odense, she lately told to me in
+confidence."
+
+"See what beautiful stone fences the Kammerjunker has made!" said
+the mother. "And how beautifully the cherry-trees grow! He is an
+industrious man!"
+
+They approached the garden. It was laid out in the old French
+style, with straight walks, pyramids of box, and white painted
+stone figures: satyrs and goddesses peeped through the green
+foliage. You now caught sight of a high tower with a spire; and
+soon the whole of the old mansion presented itself to view. The
+water was conveyed away from the broad moats, where the weeping
+willows with bowed heads and uncovered roots stood in the warm
+sunshine. A number of work-people were busily employed in clearing
+the moats of mud, which was wheeled in barrows on both sides.
+
+They soon reached the principal court-yard. The barns and the
+out-buildings lay on the opposite side. A crowd of dogs rushed forth
+barking toward the carriage--all possible races, from the large
+Danish hound, which is known to the Parisian, down to the steward's
+little pug-dog, which had mixed with this company. Here stood the
+greyhound, with his long legs, beside the turnspit. You saw all
+varieties, and each had its peculiar and melodious bark. A couple
+of peacocks, with bright outspread tails, raised at the same time a
+cry, which must have made an impression. The whole court-yard had a
+striking air of cleanliness. The grass was weeded from between the
+stones; all was swept and arranged in its appointed order. Before
+the principal flight of steps grew four large lime-trees; their
+tops, from youth bent together and then clipped short, formed in
+spring and summer two large green triumphal arches. On the right
+stood upon an upright beam, which was carved and formed into a
+pillar, a prettily painted dove-cot; and its gay inhabitants
+fluttered and cooed around. The peacock-pigeon emulated the peacock
+in spreading its tail; and the cropper-pigeon elevated itself upon
+its long legs, and drew itself up, as though it would welcome the
+strangers with the air of a grand gentleman. The reddish-brown
+tiles and the bright window-panes were the only things which had a
+modern air. The building itself, from the stone window-seats to the
+old-fashioned tower through which you entered, proclaimed its
+antiquity. In the vaulted entrance-hall stood two immense presses:
+the quantity of wood which formed them, and the artistical carving,
+testified to their great age. Above the door were fastened a couple
+of antlers.
+
+The Kammerjunker's sister, Miss Jakoba, a young lady of about
+thirty, neither stout nor thin, but with a strange mixture of
+joviality and indolence, approached them. She appeared to rejoice
+very much in the visit.
+
+"Well, you are come over, then!" said she to Wilhelm. "I thought
+you had enough to do with your examination."
+
+Wilhelm smiled, and assured her that after so much study people
+required relaxation.
+
+"Yes, you doubtless study in handsome boots!" said the young lady,
+and in a friendly manner turned toward Sophie. "Good heavens,
+miss!" she exclaimed, "how the sun has burnt your nose! That looks
+horrible! Don't you ever wear a veil? you, who otherwise look so
+well!"
+
+Otto was a stranger to her. He escaped such unpleasant remarks.
+"They should spend the whole day there," insisted Miss Jakoba; but
+mamma spoke of being at home by noon.
+
+"Nothing will come of that!" said Jakoba. "I have expected you; and
+we have cooked a dinner, and made preparations, and I will not have
+had all this trouble in vain. There are some especial dishes for
+you, and of these you shall eat." This was all said in such a
+good-humored tone that even a stranger could not have felt himself
+offended. The Kammerjunker was in the fields looking after his
+flax; he would soon be back. Squire Wilhelm could in the mean time
+conduct Mr. Thostrup about the premises: "he would otherwise have
+nothing to do," said she.
+
+No one must remain in the sitting-room; it was so gloomy there!
+The walls were still, as in by-gone days, covered with black
+leather, upon which were impressed gold flowers. No, they should go
+to the hall--that had been modernized since the Baroness was last
+there. The old chimney-piece with carved ornaments was removed, and
+a pretty porcelain stove had taken its place. The walls were
+covered with new paper from Paris. You could there contemplate all
+the public buildings of that city,--Notre Dame, Saint Sulpice, and
+the Tuileries. Long red curtains, thrown over gilt rods, hung above
+the high windows. All this splendor was admired.
+
+"I prefer the antique sitting-room, after all," said Sophie; "the
+old chimney-piece and the leather hangings. One fairly lives again
+in the days of chivalry!"
+
+"Yes, you have always been a little foolish!" said Jakoba, but
+softened her words by a smile and a pressure of the hand. "No, the
+hall is more lively. Ah!" she suddenly exclaimed; "Tine has placed
+her work-box in the window! That is disorder!"
+
+"O, is that the celebrated work-box, with its many fool's tricks?"
+inquired Wilhelm, as he laughingly took it up.
+
+"There are neither fools nor tricks in the box," said Jakoba. "But
+only look in the mirror in the lid, and then you will perhaps see
+one of the two."
+
+"No rude speeches, my young lady!" said Wilhelm; "I am an
+academical burgher!"
+
+The Kammerjunker now entered, attired in the same riding dress in
+which we made his acquaintance. He had visited his hay and oats,
+had seen after the people who were working at the fences, and had
+been also in the plantation. It had been a warm forenoon.
+
+"Now, Miss Sophie," said he, "do you see how I am clearing out the
+court? It costs me above five hundred dollars; and still they are
+the peasants of the estate who clear away the mud. But I shall get
+a delicate manure-heap, so fit and rich that it's quite a pleasure.
+But, Jakoba, where is the coffee?"
+
+"Only let it come in through the door," said Jakoba, somewhat
+angrily. "You certainly ate something before you went from home.
+Let me attend to the affairs of the ladies, and do thou attend to
+the gentlemen, so that they may not stand and get weary."
+
+The Kammerjunker conducted the friends up the winding stone stairs
+into the old tower.
+
+"All solid and good!" said he. "We no longer build in this manner.
+The loop-holes here, close under the roof, were walled up already
+in my father's time. But only notice this timber!"
+
+The whole loft appeared a gigantic skeleton composed of beams, one
+crossing the other. On either side of the loft was a small vaulted
+chamber, with a brick fire-place. Probably these chambers had been
+used as guard-rooms; a kind of warder's walk led from these,
+between the beam-palisade and the broad wall.
+
+"Yes, here," said the Kammerjunker, "they could have had a good
+lookout toward the enemy. Look through my telescope. You have here
+the whole country from Vissenberg to Munkebobanke, the Belt, and
+the heights of Svendborg. Only see! The air is clear. We see both
+Langeland and Zealand. Here one could, in 1807, have well observed
+the English fleet."
+
+The three climbed up the narrow ladder and came past the great
+clock, the leaden weights of which, had they fallen, would have
+dashed through the stone steps, and soon the gentlemen sat on the
+highest point. The Kammerjunker requested the telescope, placed it
+and exclaimed:--
+
+"Did I not think so? If one has not them always under one's eyes
+they begin playing pranks! Yes, I see it very well! There, now, the
+fellows who are working at the fences have begun to romp with the
+girls! they do nothing! Yes, they don't believe that I am sitting
+here in the tower and looking at them!"
+
+"Then a telescope is, after all, a dangerous weapon!" exclaimed
+Wilhelm. "You can look at people when they least expect it.
+Fortunately, our seat lies hidden behind the wood: we are, at all
+events, safe."
+
+"Yes, that it is, my friend," returned the other; "the outer sides
+of the garden are still bare. Did I not, last autumn, see Miss
+Sophie quite distinctly, when she was gathering service-berries in
+her little basket? And then, what tricks did she not play? She
+certainly did not think that I sat here and watched tier pretty
+gambols!"
+
+They quitted the tower, and passed through the so-called Knight's
+Hall, where immense beams, laid one on the other, supported the
+roof. At either end of the hall was a huge fireplace, with armorial
+bearings painted above: the hall was now used as a granary; they
+were obliged to step over a heap of corn before reaching the family
+pew in the little chapel, which was no longer used for divine
+service.
+
+"This might become a pretty little room," said the Kammerjunker,
+"but we have enough, and therefore we let this, for curiosity's
+sake, remain in its old state. The moon is worth its money!" and he
+pointed toward the vaulted ceiling, where the moon was represented
+as a white disk, in which the painter, with much na�vet�, had
+introduced a man bearing a load of coals upon his back; in faithful
+representation of the popular belief regarding the black spot in
+the moon, which supposes this to be a man whom the Lord has sent up
+there because he stole his neighbor's coal. "That great picture on
+the right, there," pursued he, "is Mrs. Ellen Marsviin; I purchased
+it at an auction. One of the peasants put up for it; I asked him
+what he would do with this big piece of furniture--he could never
+get it in through his door. But do you know what a speculation he
+had? It was not such a bad one, after all. See! the rain runs so
+beautifully off the painted canvas, he would have a pair of
+breeches made out of it, to wear in rainy weather behind the
+plough; they would keep the rain off! I thought, however, I ought
+to prevent the portrait of the highly honorable Mrs. Ellen Marsviin
+being so profaned. I bought it: now she hangs there, and looks
+tolerably well pleased. The peasant got a knight instead--perhaps
+one of my own ancestors, who was now cut up into breeches. See,
+that is what one gets by being painted!"
+
+"But the cupboard in the pillar there?" inquired Otto.
+
+"There, certainly, were Bibles and Prayer-books kept. Now I have in
+it what I call sweetmeats for the Chancery-counselor Thomsen: old
+knives of sacrifice, coins and rings, which I have found in the
+horse-pond and up yonder in the cairns: not a quarter of a yard
+below the turf we found one pot upon another; round each a little
+inclosure of stones--a flat stone as covering, and underneath stood
+the pot, with burnt giants' bones, and a little button or the blade
+of a knife. The best things are already gone away to Copenhagen,
+and should the Counselor come, he will, God help me! carry away the
+rest. That may be, then, willingly, for I cannot use the stuff,
+after all."
+
+After coffee, the guests wandered through the old garden: the
+clearing away of the mud was more closely observed, the dairy and
+pig-sty visited, the new threshing-machine inspected. But now the
+Russian bath should be also essayed; "it was heated!" But the end
+of the affair was, that only the Kammerjunker himself made use of
+it. The dinner-table was prepared, and then he returned. "But here
+something is wanting!" exclaimed he; left the room, and returned
+immediately with two large bouquets, which he stuck into an ale-glass
+which he placed upon the table. "Where Miss Sophie dines, the table
+must be ornamented with flowers: certainly we cannot lay garlands,
+as you do!" He seated himself at the end of the table, and wished,
+as he himself said, to represent the President Lars: they had had
+the "Wandsbecker Boten" half a year in the house, and it would
+certainly please Miss Sophie if they betrayed some acquaintance
+ with books. This Lars and the flowers, here, meant quite as much
+as in the south a serenade under the windows of the fair one.
+
+When, toward evening, the carriage for their return drew up before
+the door, Otto still stood contemplating some old inscriptions
+which were built into the tower-wall.
+
+"That you can look at another time," said Jakoba; "now you must be
+of use a little!" And she reached him the ladies' cloaks.
+
+Amidst promises of a return visit and the parting yelping of the
+dogs the carriage rolled away.
+
+"I have fairly fallen in love with the old place!" said Sophie.
+
+"The Kaminerjunker gains much upon nearer acquaintance," said Otto.
+
+They bad now reached the furthest extremity of the garden. A flower-rain
+showered itself over them and the carriage. The Kammerjunker, Jakoba,
+and the Mamsell, had taken a shorter way, and now waved an adieu to
+the travellers, whilst at the same time they scattered hyacinths
+and stocks over them. With a practiced hand Jakoba threw, as a
+mark of friendship, a great pink straight into Otto's face. "Farewell,
+farewell!" sounded from both sides, and, accompanied by the sound
+of the evening-bell from the near village, for it was sunset, the
+carriage rolled away.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+"Dance and stamp
+Till the shoe-soles drop!"
+                 --Danish Popular Song.
+
+On the following day should the much-talked-of mowing-festival take
+place. It was the hay-harvest which occasioned all this merriment.
+[Author's Note: It is true that serfdom is abolished, but the
+peasant is still not quite free; neither can he be so. For his
+house and land he must pay a tribute, and this consists in labor.
+His own work must give way to that of his lord. His wagon, which he
+has had prepared to bring home his own harvest, must, if such be
+commanded, go to the nobleman's land, and there render service.
+This is, therefore, a kind of tax which he pays, and for the
+faithful payment of which he is rewarded by a harvest and mowing-feast;
+at the latter he receives a certain quantity of brandy, and as much
+ale as he can drink. The dance generally takes place in the middle
+of the court-yard, and the dancers themselves must pay their musicians.]
+
+During three afternoons in succession, in the inner court and under
+free heaven, should a ball be held. Along the walls, rough planks,
+laid upon logs of wood, formed a row of benches. At both ends of
+the court lay two barrels of the newly brewed ale, which had
+received more malt than usual, and which, besides, through the
+silver skilling, and the magic dance of the maidens round the tub,
+had acquired extraordinary strength. A large wooden tankard,
+containing several measures of brandy, stood upon a table; the man
+who watched the bleaching-ground was placed as a kind of butler to
+preside at this sideboard. A bread-woman, with new white bread from
+Nyborg upon her barrow, wheeled into the court, and there
+established her stall for every one; for it was only liquors the
+guests received gratis.
+
+The guests now entered the court by pairs; the men, part in
+jackets, part in long coats which hung down to their ankles. Out of
+the waistcoat-pocket protruded a little nosegay of sweet-williams
+and musk. The girls carried their "posies," as they called them, in
+their neatly folded pocket-handkerchiefs. Two musicians--one quite
+a young blade, in a laced coat with a stiff cravat, mid the other
+the well-known Peter Cripple, "Musikanti" as he was called--led the
+procession. They both played one and the same piece, but each
+according to his own manner. It was both good and old.
+
+They now began to draw lots, who should dance before the door of
+the family and who before that of the steward; after which the two
+parties drew lots for the musicians. The girls seated themselves in
+a row upon the bench, from whence they were chosen. The gallantry
+accorded with the ball-room,--the hard stone pavement. Not even had
+the grass been pulled up, but that would be all right after dancing
+there the first day. "Nay, why art thou sitting there?" spoken with
+a kind of morose friendliness, was the invitation to dance; and
+this served for seven dances. "Only don't be melancholy!" resounded
+from the company, and now the greater portion moved phlegmatically
+along, as if in sleep or in a forced dance: the girl with her eyes
+staring at her own feet, her partner with his head bent toward one
+side, and his eyes in a direct line with the girl's head-dress. A
+few of the most active exhibited, it is true, a kind of animation,
+by stamping so lustily upon the stone pavement that the dust
+whirled up around them. That was a joy! a joy which had occupied
+them many weeks, but as yet the joy had not reached its height;
+"but that will soon come!" said Wilhelm, who, with his sister
+and Otto, had taken his place at an open window.
+
+The old people meanwhile kept to the ale-barrels, and the brandy.
+The latter was offered to the girls, and they were obliged, at
+least, to sip. Wilhelm soon discovered the prettiest, and threw
+them roses. The girls immediately sprang to the spot to collect the
+flowers: but the cavaliers also wished to have them, and they were
+the stronger; they, therefore, boldly pushed the ladies aside, so
+that some seated themselves on the stone pavement and got no roses:
+that was a merry bit of fun! "Thou art a foolish thing! It fell
+upon thy shoulder and thou couldst not catch it!" said the first
+lover to his lady, and stuck the rose into his waistcoat-pocket.
+
+All got partners--all the girls; even the children, they leaped
+about to their own singing out upon the bridge. Only ONE stood
+forlorn,--Sidsel, with the grown-together eyebrows; she smiled,
+laughed aloud; no one would become her partner. Peter Cripple
+handed his violin to one of the young men and asked him to play,
+for he himself wished to stretch his legs a little. The girls drew
+back and talked with each other; but Peter Cripple stepped quietly
+forward toward Sidsel, flung his arms around her, and they danced a
+whirling dance. Sophie laughed aloud at it, but Sidsel directed her
+extraordinary glance maliciously and piercingly toward her. Otto
+saw it, and the girl was doubly revolting and frightful in his
+eyes. With the increasing darkness the assembly became more
+animated; the two parties of dancers were resolved into one. At
+length, when it was grown quite dark, the ale barrels become empty,
+the tankard again filled and once more emptied, the company
+withdrew in pairs, singing. Now commenced the first joy, the
+powerful operation of the ale. They now wandered through the wood,
+accompanying each other home, as they termed it; but this was a
+wandering until the bright morning.
+
+Otto and Wilhelm were gone out into the avenue, and the peasants
+shouted to them a grateful "Good night!" for the merry afternoon.
+
+"Now works the witchcraft!" said Wilhelm; "the magical power of
+the ale! Now begins the bacchand! Give your hand to the prettiest
+girl, and she will immediately give you her heart!"
+
+"Pity," answered Otto, "that the Maenades of the north possess only
+that which is brutal in common with those of the south!"
+
+"See, there goes the smith's pretty daughter, to whom I threw the
+best rose!" cried Wilhelm. "She has got two lovers, one under
+either arm!"
+
+"Yes, there she goes!" simpered a female voice close to them. It
+was Sidsel, who sat upon the steps of a stile almost concealed in
+the darkness, which the trees and the hedge increased still more.
+
+"Has Sidsel no lover?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"Hi, hi, hi," simpered she; "the Herr Baron and the other gentleman
+seek, doubtless, for a little bride. Am I beautiful enough? At
+night all cats are gray!"
+
+"Come!" whispered Otto, and drew Wilhelm away from her. "She sits
+like some bird of ill omen there in the hedge."
+
+"What a difference!" exclaimed Wilhelm, as he followed; "yes, what
+a difference between this monster, nay, between the other girls and
+Eva! She was, doubtless, born in the same poverty, in similar
+circumstances, and yet they are like day and night. What a soul has
+been given to Eva! what inborn nobility! It must be, really, more
+than a mere freak of Nature!"
+
+"Only do not let Nature play her freaks with you!" said Otto,
+smiling, and raised his hand. "You speak often of Eva."
+
+"Here it was association of ideas," answered Wilhelm. "The contrast
+awoke remembrance."
+
+Otto entered his chamber--he opened the window; it was a moonlight
+night. From the near wood resounded laughter and song. They came
+from the young men and girls, who, on their wandering, gave
+themselves up to merriment. Otto stood silent and full of thought
+in the open window. Perhaps it was the moon which lent her paleness
+to his countenance. On what did he reflect? Upon his departure,
+perhaps? Only one more day would he remain here, where he felt
+himself so much at home; but then the journey was toward his own
+house, to his grandfather, to Rosalie, and the old preacher, who
+all thought so much of him. Otto stood listening and silent. The
+wind bore the song more distinctly over from the wood.
+
+"That is their joy, their happiness!" said he. "It might have been
+my joy also, my happiness!" lay in the sigh which he heaved. His
+lips did not move, his thoughts alone spoke their silent language.
+"I might have stood on a level with these; my soul might have been
+chained to the dust, and yet it would have been the same which I
+now possess, with which I long to compass all worlds! the same,
+endowed with this sentiment of pride, which drives me on to active
+exertion. My fate wavered whether I should become one such as these
+or whether I should rise into that circle which the world calls the
+higher. The mist-form did not sink down into the mire, but rose
+above into the high refreshing air. And am I become happy through
+this?" His eye stared upon the bright disk of the moon. Two large
+tears rolled over his pale cheeks. "Infinite Omnipotence! I
+acknowledge Thy existence! Thou dost direct all; upon Thee will I
+depend!"
+
+A melancholy smile passed over his lips; he stepped back into the
+chamber, folded his hands, prayed, and felt rest and peace.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+"The travellers roll through the world of men,
+Like rose leaves in a stream.
+The past will ne'er come back again,
+But fade into a dream."--B. S. INGEMANN.
+
+The following day, the last before Otto's departure, whilst he and
+Wilhelm were walking in the garden, Sophie approached them with a
+garland made of oak-leaves: this was intended for Otto; they were
+now really to lose him.
+
+"Sophie will scarcely be up so early to-morrow morning," said
+Louise; "she is, therefore, obliged to present her garland to-day.
+I am never missing at the breakfast-table, as you well know; and I
+shall then bring my bouquet."
+
+"I shall preserve both until we meet again," returned Otto; "they
+are vignettes to my beautiful summer-dream. When I again sit in
+Copenhagen, when the rain patters and the winter approaches with
+cold and a joyless sky, I shall still see before me Funen with its
+green woods, flowers, and sunshine; it will appear to me that it
+must still be so there, and that the garland and bouquet are only
+withered because they are with me in the winter cold."
+
+"In Copenhagen we shall meet again!" said Sophie.
+
+"And I shall see you again with the swallows!" said Louise, "when
+my flowers spring up again, when we have again warm summer days!
+As far as I am concerned, you belong to the summer, and not to the
+cold, calm winter."
+
+Early on the following morning was Sophie, after all, at the
+breakfast table. That was to honor Otto. Mamma showed herself as
+the carriage was at the door. Wilhelm would accompany him as far as
+Odense. It was, therefore, a double leave taking, here and there.
+
+"We will always remain friends, faithful friends!" said Wilhelm,
+when they parted.
+
+"Faithful friends!" repeated Otto, and they rolled away toward
+Middelfart; thus far should mamma's own carriage convey the
+excellent Otto. Wilhelm remained behind in Odense; his coachman
+drove Otto, and they discoursed upon the way. They passed
+Vissenberg: the high, wooded hills there have received the name of
+the Funen Alps. The legend relates of robbers who had here deep
+passages underneath the high-road, where they hung bells which rang
+when any one passed above. The inhabitants are still looked upon
+with suspicion. Vissenberg appears a kind of Itri, between
+Copenhagen and Hamburg. [Author's Note: "Itri," Fra Diavolo's
+birthplace, lies in the Neapolitan States, on the highway between
+Rome and Naples. The inhabitants are not, without reason, suspected
+of carrying on the robber's trade.] Near the church there formerly
+lay a stone, on which Knud, the saint, is said to have rested
+himself when flying from the rebellious Jutlanders. In the stone
+remained the impression of where he had sat; the hard stone had
+been softer than the hearts of the rebellious people.
+
+This, and similar legends, the coachman knew how to relate; he was
+born in this neighborhood, but not in Vissenberg itself, where they
+make the false notes. [Author's Note: A number of years ago a band
+of men were seized in Vissenberg who had forged bank-notes.] Every
+legend gains in interest when one hears it in the place with which
+it is connected. Funen is especially rich in such relations.
+
+"That cairn elevates itself at Christmas upon four red posts, and
+one can then see the dance and merriment of the goblins within.
+Through that peasant's farm there drives every night a glowing
+coach, drawn by four coal-black horses. Where we now see a pond
+overgrown with reeds and roots there once stood a church, but it
+sank as the godless desecrated it; at midnight we still hear their
+sighs, and hymns of repentance."
+
+It is true that the narrator mixed up together certain leg-ends
+which related to other places in the country--that he took little
+springs, and mingled his own thoughts with his relations; but Otto
+listened to him with great interest. The discourse turned also upon
+the family at the hall.
+
+"Yes, they are very much liked!" said the coachman; "the gentleman
+may believe we know how to value them."
+
+"And now, which of the young ladies is the best?" asked Otto.
+
+"Yes, every one is best served by Miss Louise," returned the
+fellow.
+
+"Miss Sophie is the prettiest," said Otto.
+
+"Yes, she is also very good,--she belongs to the learned ones! She
+knows German, that she does! she can act comedy very excellently! I
+once got permission with the rest of the people to be up-stairs in
+the sitting-room--we stood behind the family; she did not manage
+her affairs at all badly."
+
+However much the old legends interested Otto, it seemed as though
+he listened with more pleasure to the simple reasonings of the
+coachman upon the family who were become so dear to him. Words and
+thoughts were busied about the objects there. Wilhelm, however, was
+and still remained the dearest; he recollected with what mildness
+Wilhelm had stretched forth his hand in reconciliation, when he
+himself had thrust him from him. Already the happy summer days
+which he had spent at the country-seat, the whole visit, appeared a
+beautiful but short dream.
+
+Otto felt an inward impulse to express his gratitude; his pride
+even, which was a fundamental feature of his character, commanded
+him to do this. Wilhelm's affection, his desire for a continued
+friendship, Otto thought he must reward; and on this account he
+added the following words to the few lines which he gave the
+coachman before his passage over the Little Belt:--
+
+"Wilhelm, in future we will say thou to each other; that is more
+confidential!" "He is the first to whom I have given my thou," said
+Otto, when the letter was dispatched. "This will rejoice him: now,
+however, I myself have for once made an advance, but he deserves
+it."
+
+A few moments later it troubled him. "I am a fool like the rest!"
+said he, and wished he could annihilate the paper. He was summoned
+on board. The Little Belt is only a river between the two
+countries; he soon found himself upon Jutland ground; the whip
+cracked, the wheels turned round, like the wheels of fortune, up
+and down, yet ever onward.
+
+Late in the evening he arrived at an inn. From his solitary chamber
+his thoughts flew in opposite directions; now toward the solitary
+country-seat of his grandfather, among the sand-hills; now toward
+the animated mansion in Funen, where the new friends resided. He
+had opened his box and taken out what lay quite at the top, the
+garland of oak-leaves and the beautiful bouquet of flowers of this
+morning.
+
+Most people maintain that one dreams at night of that which one has
+thought much about. According to this, Otto must have thought a
+deal about the North Sea, for of it he dreamed the whole night,--
+not of the young ladies.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+"The heat-lark warbles forth his sepulchral melodies."
+                                       S. S. BLICHER.
+
+The peninsula of Jutland possesses nothing of the natural beauty
+which Zealand and Funen present--splendid beeches and odoriferous
+clover-fields in the neighborhood of the salt sea; it possesses at
+once a wild and desolate nature, in the heath-covered expanses and
+the far-stretching moors. East and west are different; like the
+green, sappy leaf, and grayish white sea-weed on the sea shore.
+From the Woods of Marselisborg to the woods south of Coldinger
+Fjord, is the land rich and blooming; it is the Danish Nature in
+her greatness. Here rises the Heaven Mountain, with its wilderness
+of coppice and heather; from here you gaze over the rich landscape,
+with its woods and lakes, as far down as the roaring Cattegat.
+
+The western coast, on the contrary, lies without a tree, without
+bushes, with nothing but white sand-hills stretching along the
+roaring ocean, which scourges the melancholy coast with sand-storms
+and sharp winds. Between these contrasts, which the east and west
+coasts present, the Hesperides and Siberia, lies the vast heath
+which stretches itself from the Lyneborg sand to the Skagen's reef.
+No hedge shows here the limits of possession. Among the crossing
+tracks of carriage wheels must thou seek thy way. Crippled oaks,
+with whitish-green moss overgrown to the outermost branches, twist
+themselves along the ground, as if fearing storms and the sea-mist.
+Here, like a nomadic people, but without flocks, do the so-called
+Tartar bands wander up and down, with their peculiar language and
+peculiar ceremonies. Suddenly there shows itself in the interior of
+the heathy wilderness a colony--another, a strange people, German
+emigrants, who through industry compel the meagre country to
+fruitfulness.
+
+From Veile, Otto wished to take the road through Viborg, as the
+most direct and the shortest to his grandfather's estate, which lay
+between Nisumfjord and Lemvig.
+
+The first heath-bushes accosted him as dear friends of his
+childhood. The beautiful beech-woods lay behind him, the expanse of
+heath began; but the heath was dear to him: it was this landscape
+which formed the basis of many dear recollections.
+
+The country became ever higher with brown heights, beyond which
+nothing was visible; houses and farms became more rare, the cherry
+orchards transformed themselves into cabbage-gardens. Only single
+spots were free from heather, and here grew grass, but short, and
+like moss or duckweed which grows upon ponds: here birds
+congregated by hundreds, and fluttered twittering into the air as
+the carriage drove past.
+
+"You know where to find the green spot in the heath, and how to
+become happy through it," sighed Otto. "Could I only follow your
+example!"
+
+At a greater distance rose bare hills, without ling or ploughed
+land; the prickly heath looked brown and yellow on the sharp
+declivities. A little boy and girl herded sheep by the way-side;
+the boy played the Pandean pipe, the little girl sang a psalm,--it
+was the best song which she knew how to sing to the traveller, in
+order to win a little present from him.
+
+The day was warm and beautiful, but the evening brought the cold
+mist from the sea, which, however, in the interior of the country
+loses something of its power.
+
+"That is a kiss of welcome from my home," said Otto; "the death-kiss
+of the mermaid! In Funen they call it the elf maiden."
+
+Within the last few years a number of children have been sent from
+the Orphan Asylum to the heath, in order that, instead of
+Copenhagen rogues, they may become honest Jutland peasants. Otto
+had a boy of this description for his coachman. The lad was very
+contented, and yet Otto became low-spirited from his relation.
+Recollections from his own life stirred within his breast. "Return
+thanks to God," said he, and gave the lad a considerable present;
+"on the heath thou hast shelter and a home; in Copenhagen, perhaps,
+the sandy beach would have been thy nightly resting-place, hunger
+and cold the gifts which the day would bring thee."
+
+The nearer he approached the west, the more serious became his
+frame of mind; it was as if the desolate scenery and cold sea-mist
+entered his soul. The pictures of the gay country-seat at Funen
+were supplanted by recollections of his home with his grandfather.
+He became more and more low-spirited. It was only when a single
+mile separated him from his home that the thought of surprising his
+dear friends conquered his melancholy.
+
+He caught sight of the red roof of the house, saw the willow
+plantations, and heard the bark of the yard-dog. Upon the hillock
+before the gate stood a group of children. Otto could no longer
+endure the slow driving through the deep ruts. He sprang out of the
+carriage, and ran more than he walked. The children on the hillock
+became aware of him, and all looked toward the side from whence he
+came.
+
+The slow driving, and his being absorbed in melancholy fancies, had
+relaxed his powerful frame; but now in one moment all his
+elasticity returned: his cheeks glowed, and his heart beat loudly.
+
+From the court resounded singing--it was the singing of a psalm. He
+stepped through the gateway. A crowd of peasants stood with bared
+heads: before the door stood a carriage, some peasants were just
+raising a coffin into it. In the doorway stood the old preacher,
+and spoke with a man clad in black.
+
+"Lord Jesus! who is dead?" were Otto's first words, and his
+countenance became pale like that of a corpse.
+
+"Otto!" all exclaimed.
+
+"Otto!" exclaimed also the old preacher, astonished; then seized
+his hand, and said gravely, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken
+away; blessed be the name of the Lord!"
+
+"Let me see the face of the dead!" said Otto. Not a tear came to
+his eye; surprise and sorrow were too great.
+
+"Shall I take out the screws?" inquired the man who had just
+screwed up the coffin.
+
+"Let him sleep the eternal rest!" said the preacher.
+
+Otto stared at the black coffin in which his grandfather lay. The
+carriage drove away with it. Otto followed after with the preacher,
+heard him throw earth upon it, heard words which he did not
+comprehend, saw the last corner of the coffin, and it was then
+removed from his sight. All was as a dream to him.
+
+They returned back to the preacher's abode; a pale figure
+approached him: it was Rosalie--old Rosalie.
+
+"We have here no abiding-place, we all hasten toward futurity!"
+said the old preacher. "Strengthen yourself now with meat and
+drink! The body cannot suffer like the soul. We have accompanied
+him to His sleeping chamber; his bed was well prepared! I have
+prayed the evening prayer; he sleeps in God, and will awaken to
+behold His glory. Amen!"
+
+"Otto! thou dear Otto!" said Rosalie. "The bitterest day brings me
+this joy! How have I thought of thee! Amongst strangers shouldst
+thou receive the tidings of his death! with no one who could feel
+for thy sorrow! where thou shouldst see no eye weep for what thou
+hast lost! Now thou art here! now, when I believed thee so far
+distant--it is a miracle! Thou couldst only have received the
+letter to-day which carried the intelligence of thy grandfather's
+death to thee!"
+
+"I wished to surprise you," said Otto. "A melancholy surprise
+awaited me!"
+
+"Sit down, my child!" said the preacher, and drew him toward the
+covered table. "When the tree falls which gave us shade and fruit,
+from which we, in our own little garden, have planted shoots and
+sown seeds, we may well look on with sadness and feel our loss: but
+we must not forget our own garden, must not forget to cherish that
+which we have won from the fallen tree: we must not cease to live
+for the living! I miss, like you, the proud tree, which rejoiced my
+soul and my heart, but I know that it is planted in a better
+garden, where Christ is the gardener."
+
+The preacher's invitation to remain with him, during his stay, in
+his house, Otto declined. Already this first night he wished to
+establish himself in his own little chamber in the house of
+mourning. Rosalie also would return.
+
+"We have a deal to say to each other," said the old preacher, and
+laid his hand upon Otto's shoulder. "Next summer you will hardly
+press my hand, it will be pressed by the turf."
+
+"To-morrow I will come to you," said Otto, and drove back with the
+old Rosalie to the house.
+
+The domestics kissed the hand and coat of the young master--he
+wished to prevent this; the old woman wept. Otto stepped into the
+room; here had stood the corpse, on account of which the furniture
+had been removed, and the void was all the more affecting. The long
+white mourning curtains fluttered in tire wind before the open
+window. Rosalie led him by the hand into the little sleeping-room
+where the grandfather had died. Here everything yet stood as
+formerly--the large book case, with the glass doors, behind which
+the intellectual treasure was preserved: Wieland and Fielding,
+Millot's "History of the World," and Von der Hagen's "Narrenbuch,"
+occupied the principal place: these books had been those most read
+by the old gentleman. Here was also Otto's earliest intellectual
+food, Albertus Julius, the English "Spectator," and Evald's
+writings. Upon the wall hung pikes and pistols, and a large old
+sabre, which the grandfather had once worn. Upon the table beneath
+the mirror stood an hour-glass; the sand had run out. Rosalie
+pointed toward the bed. "There he died," said she, "between six
+and seven o'clock in the evening. He was only ill three days; the
+two last he passed in delirium: he raised himself in bed, and shook
+the bed posts; I was obliged to let two strong men watch beside
+him. 'To horse! to horse!' said he; 'the cannons forward!' His
+brain dreamed of war and battles. He also spoke of your blessed
+father severely and bitterly! Every word was like the stab of a
+knife; he was as severe toward him as ever!"
+
+"And did the people understand his words?" asked Otto with a
+wrinkled brow.
+
+"No, for the uninitiated they were dark words; and even had they
+possessed any meaning, the men would have believed it was the
+sickness which spoke out of him. 'There stands the mother with the
+two children! The one shall fall upon the flank of the enemy and
+bring me honor and joy. The mother and daughter I know not!' That
+was all which I heard him say about you and your mother and sister.
+By noon on the third day the fever had spent itself; the strong,
+gloomy man was become as weak and gentle as a child; I sat beside
+his bed. 'If I had only Otto here!' said he. 'I have been severely
+attacked, Rosalie, but I am now much better: I will go to sleep;
+that strengthens one.' Smilingly he closed his eyes and lay quite
+still: I read my prayers, withdrew gently so as not to wake him; he
+lay there unchanged when I returned. I sat a little while beside
+his bed; his hands lay upon the coverlid; I touched them, they
+were ice-cold. I was frightened, touched his brow, his face--he was
+dead! he had died without a death-struggle!"
+
+For a long time did they converse about the dead man; it was near
+midnight when Otto ascended the narrow stairs which led to the
+little chamber in the roof, where as child and boy he had slept.
+All stood here as it had done the year before, only in nicer order.
+Upon the wall hung the black painted target, near to the centre of
+which he had once shot. His skates lay upon the chest of drawers,
+near to the nodding plaster figure. The long journey, and the
+overpowering surprise which awaited him on his return, had strongly
+affected him: he opened the window; a large white sand-hill rose
+like a wall straight up before it, and deprived him of all view.
+How often, when a child, had the furrows made by rain in the sand,
+and the detached pieces, presented to him pictures,--towns, towers,
+and whole marching armies. Now it was only a white wall, which
+reminded him of a winding-sheet. A small streak of the blue sky was
+visible between the house and the steep slope of the hill. Never
+before had Otto felt, never before reflected, what it was to stand
+alone in the world, to be lovingly bound to no one with the band of
+consanguinity.
+
+"Solitary, as in this silent night do I stand in the world!
+solitary in the mighty crowd of human beings! Only ONE being can I
+call mine! only ONE being press as kindred to my heart! And I
+shudder at the thought of meeting with this being--I should bless
+the thought that she was dead! Father! thou didst ruin one being
+and make three miserable. I have never loved thee; bitterness
+germinated within my breast when I became acquainted with thee!
+Mother! thy features have died out of my recollection; I revere
+thee! Thou wast all love; to love didst thou offer up thy life--
+more than life! Pray for me with thy God! Pray for me, ye dead! if
+there is immortality; if the flesh is not alone born again in grass
+and the worm; if the soul is not lost in floods of air! We shall be
+unconscious of it: eternally shall we sleep! eternally!" Otto
+supported his forehead upon the window-frame, his arm sank
+languidly, "Mother! poor mother! thou didst gain by death, even if
+it be merely an eternal sleep,--asleep without dreams! We have only
+a short time to live, and yet we divide our days of life with
+sleep! My body yearns after this short death! I will sleep--sleep
+like all my beloved ones! They do not awaken!" He threw himself
+upon the bed. The cold air from the sea blew through the open
+window. The wearied body conquered; he sank into the death-like
+sleep, whilst his doubting soul, ever active, presented him with
+living dreams.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+"Man seems to me a foolish being; he drives along over the waves of
+time, endlessly thrown up and down, and descrying a little verdant
+spot, formed of mud and stagnant moor and of putrid green
+mouldiness, he cries out, Land! He rows thither, ascends--and sinks
+and sinks--and is no more to be seen."--The Golden Fleece of GRILLPARZER.
+
+Old Rosalie was pouring out coffee when Otto came down the next
+morning. Peace and resignation to the will of God lay in her soft
+countenance. Otto was pale, paler than usual, but handsomer than
+Rosalie had seen him before: a year had rendered him older and more
+manly; a handsome, crisp beard curled over his chin; manly gravity
+lay in his eyes, in which, at his departure, she had only remarked
+their inborn melancholy glance. With a kind of satisfaction she
+looked upon this beautiful, melancholy countenance, and with
+cordial affection she stretched forth her hand toward him.
+
+"Here stands thy chair, Otto; and here thy cup. I will drink to thy
+welcome. It seems to me long since I saw thee, and yet it is, now I
+have thee again, only a short time. Were that place only not
+empty!" and she pointed to the place at the table which the
+grandfather had used to occupy.
+
+"If I had only seen him!" said Otto.
+
+"His countenance was so gentle in death," said Rosalie. "The
+severity and gravity which had settled in his eyes were softened
+away. I was myself present when he was dressed. He had his uniform
+on, which he always wore upon occasions of ceremony, the sabre by
+his side and the great hat upon his head. I knew that this was his
+wish!" Quietly she made the sign of the cross.
+
+"Are all my grandfather's papers sealed?" inquired Otto.
+
+"The most important--those which have the greatest interest for
+thee," said Rosalie, "are in the hands of the preacher. Last year,
+the day after thy departure, he gave them to the preacher; thy
+father's last letter I know is amongst them."
+
+"My father!" said Otto, and glanced toward the ground. "Yes,"
+continued he, "there is truth in the words of Scripture,--the sins
+of the fathers are visited upon the children unto the third and
+fourth generation!"
+
+"Otto!" said Rosalie, with a beseeching and reproachful look, "thy
+grandfather was a severe man. Thou last known him, hast seen his
+darkest moments, and yet then age and cares had softened him: his
+love to thee calmed every outbreak. Had he only loved thy father as
+he loved thee, things would, perhaps, have ended better: but we may
+not judge!"
+
+"And what have I done?" said Otto. "Thou, Rosalie, knowest the
+history of my life. Is it not as if a curse rested upon me? I was a
+high-spirited boy, I often occasioned thee tears; yet didst thou
+always place thyself between me and punishment. It was my evil
+blood, the blood of my birth in which the curse lay, that drove me
+on!"
+
+"But thou didst become good and full of love, as thou art now!"
+said Rosalie.
+
+"Only when I became acquainted with myself and my destiny. In the
+thoughtlessness of childhood, unacquainted with myself and the
+world, did I myself have that sign of my misery, which now presses
+down my soul, cut into my flesh. Yes, Rosalie! I remember this very
+well, and have clearly preserved this, my earliest recollection
+before my grandfather took me, and I came here a boy. I remember
+the great building from whence I was brought, the number of people
+who there worked, sang, and laughed, and who told me extraordinary
+stories of how badly people were treated in the beautiful world.
+This was my parents' home, thought I, when I began to ponder upon
+parents and their connection with children. It was a large
+manufactory which they possessed, thought I; I remembered the
+number of work-people. All played and romped with me. I was wild
+and full of boisterous spirits a boy of only six years old, but
+with the perseverance and will of one of ten. Rosalie, thou sawest
+many proofs of the evil which lay in my blood; it bordered upon
+insolence. I remembered well the strong, merry Heinrich, who always
+sang at his loom; he showed me and the others his tattooed breast,
+upon which he had his whole mournful history imprinted. Upon his
+arm were his own and his bride's names. That pleased me; I wished
+to have my name also on my arm. 'It is painful!' said he; 'then
+thou wilt pipe, my lad!' That was spur enough to make me desire it.
+I allowed him to puncture my skin, to puncture an O and a T upon my
+shoulder, and did not cry,--no, not once whilst the powder burnt
+into it; but I was praised, and was proud to bear the initials--
+proud of them until three years ago, when I met Heinrich here. I
+recognized him, but he did not recognize me. I showed him my
+shoulder, and besought him to read the name, this O and T: but he
+did not say Otto Thostrup; he named a name which destroyed the
+happiness of my childhood, and has made me miserable forever!"
+
+"It was a fearful day!" said Rosalie. "Thou didst demand from me an
+explanation, thy grandfather gave it thee, and thou wast no longer
+the Otto thou hadst formerly been. Yet wherefore speak of it? Thou
+art good and wise, noble and innocent. Do not fill thy heart with
+sorrow from a time which is past, and which, for thy sake, shall be
+forgotten."
+
+"But Heinrich still lives!" said Otto; "I have met with him, have
+spoken with him: it was as if all presence of mind forsook me."
+
+"When and where?" asked Rosalie.
+
+Otto related of his walk with Wilhelm in the park, and of the
+juggler, in whom he had recognized Heinrich. "I tore myself from my
+friends, I wandered the whole night alone in the wood. O Rosalie, I
+thought of death! I thought of death as no Christian ought to do. A
+beautiful morning followed, I wandered beside the sea which I love,
+and in which I have so often dived. Since that explanation of the
+initials on my shoulder was suggested, that explanation which
+reminded me of my unhappy birth, I have never uncovered them before
+any one. O, I have rubbed thorn with a stone, until they were
+bloody! The letters are gone, but still I imagine I can read them
+in the deep scar--that in it I see a Cain's mark! That morning the
+desire to bathe came upon me. The fresh current infused life once
+more into my soul. Just then Wilhelm and several acquaintance came
+down; they called to me and carried off my clothes; my blood
+boiled; all my unhappiness, which this night had stirred within my
+soul, again overwhelmed me: it was as though the obliterated
+initials on my shoulder would reveal themselves in the scar and
+betray the secret of my grief. Disgust of life seized upon me. I no
+longer knew what I shouted to them, but it seemed to me as if I
+must swim out into the stream and never return. I swam until it
+became night before my eyes. I sank, and Wilhelm rescued me! Never
+since then have we spoken of this hour! O Rosalie! long is it since
+I have been able to open my heart as before thee at this moment.
+What use is it to have a friend if one cannot lay before him one's
+whole thoughts? To no one have I been able to unfold them but to
+thee, who already knowest them. I suffer, as a criminal and yet am
+I innocent,--just as the misshapen, the deformed man, is innocent
+of his ugliness!"
+
+"I do not possess thy knowledge, Otto," said Rosalie, and pressed
+his hand; "have never rejoiced in such a clear head as thine; but I
+have that which thou canst not as yet possess--experience. In
+trouble, as well as in joy, youth transforms the light cobweb into
+the cable. Self-deception has changed the blood in thy veins, the
+thoughts in thy soul; but do not forever cling to this one black
+spot! Neither wilt thou! it will spur thee on to activity, will
+enervate thy soul, not depress thee! The melancholy surprise of thy
+grandfather's death, whom thou didst believe active and well, has
+now made thee dejected, and thy thoughts so desponding. But there
+will come better days! happy days! Thou art young, and youth brings
+health for the soul and body!"
+
+She led Otto into the garden, where the willow plantations
+protected the other trees from the sharp west wind. The gooseberry-bushes
+bore fruit, but it was not yet ripe: one bush Otto had planted when
+a cutting; it was now large. Rosalie had tied the twigs to a palisade,
+so that, as an espalier, it could thoroughly drink in the sun's rays.
+Otto regarded the fetters more than the good intention.
+
+"Let it grow free!" said he; "if that brittle palisade should
+tumble down, the twigs would be broken." And he cut the bands.
+
+"Thou art still the old Otto," said Rosalie.
+
+They went into her little room, where the crucifix, and before it a
+small vase of flowers, adorned the table. Above the cross hung a
+garland of withered heather.
+
+"Two years ago didst thou give me that, Otto!" said Rosalie. "There
+were no more flowers, there was nothing green but the heath, and
+thou twinedst a garland of it for me. Afterward I would not take it
+down from the crucifix."
+
+They were interrupted by a visit. It was from the old preacher.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+"His coal was coarse, its fashion old;
+  He asked no dress of greater worth
+Than that which kept from storm and cold
+  The Baptist when he preached on earth."
+                          C. J. BORE.
+
+Not alone of Otto's affairs, but also of "the city yonder," as the
+preacher called Copenhagen, would he speak. Only once a week came
+the "Viborg Collector" to hint, and the Copenhagen papers were a
+whole month going their round. "One would willingly advance with
+the time," said he. Yesterday, at the interment, he had not found
+it seemly to gratify his desire of hearing dear Otto talk about the
+city, but to-day he thought it might well be done, and therefore he
+would not await Otto's visit but come over to pay one himself.
+
+"Thou hast certainly seen our good king?" was his first question.
+"Lord help the anointed one! he is then as vigorous and active as
+ever--my good King Frederik!" And now he must relate a trait which
+had touched his heart, and which, in his opinion, deserved a place
+in the annals of history. This event occurred the last time that
+the king was in Jutland; he had visited the interior of the country
+and the western coast also. When he was leaving a public-house the
+old hostess ran after him, and besought that the Father would, as a
+remembrance, write his name with chalk upon a beam. The grand
+gentlemen wished to deter her, but she pulled at the king's coat;
+and when he had learned her wish he nodded in a friendly manner,
+and said, "Very willingly!" and then turned back and wrote his name
+on the beam. Tears came into the old man's eyes; he wept, and
+prayed for his king. He now inquired whether the old tree was still
+standing in the Regent's Court, and then spoke of Nyerup and
+Abrahamson, whom he had known in his student days.
+
+In fact, after all, he was himself the narrator; each of his
+questions related to this or that event in his own life, and he
+always returned to this source--his student-days. There was then
+another life, another activity, he maintained. His royal idea of
+beauty had been Queen Matilda. [Translator's Note: The unhappy wife
+of Christian VII. and daughter of our George III.] "I saw her often
+on horseback," said he. "It was not then the custom in our country
+for ladies to ride. In her country it was the fashion; here it gave
+rise to scandal. God gave her beauty, a king's crown, and a heart
+full of love; the world gave her--what it can give--a grave near to
+the bare heath!"
+
+Whilst he so perpetually returned to his own recollections, his
+share of news was truly not new, but he was satisfied. Copenhagen
+appeared to him a whole world--a royal city; but Sodom and Gomorrah
+had more than one street there.
+
+Otto smiled at the earnestness with which he said this.
+
+"Yes, that I know better than thou, my young friend!" continued the
+old preacher. "True, the devil does not go about like a roaring
+lion, but there he has his greatest works! He is well-dressed, and
+conceals his claws and his tail! Do not rely upon thy strength! He
+goes about, like the cat in the fable, 'pede suspenso,' sneakingly
+and cautiously! It is, after all, with the devil as it is with a
+Jutland peasant. This fellow comes to the city, has nothing, runs
+about, and cleans shoes and boots for the young gentlemen, and by
+this means he wins a small sum of money. He knows how to spare. He
+can now hire the cellar of the house in which thou livest, and
+there commence some small trade. The trade is successful, very
+successful. It goes on so well that he can hire the lower story;
+then he gains more profit, and before thou canst look about thee
+he buys the whole house. See, that is the way with the Jutland
+peasant, and just the same with the devil. At first he gets the
+cellar, then the lower story, and at last the whole house!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+"Sure 'tis fair in foreign land,
+    But not so fair as home;
+
+Let me but see thy mountains grand
+    Glaciers and snowy dome!
+
+Let me but hear the sound that tells
+Of climbing cattle, dressed with bells."
+                          The Switzer's Homesickness.
+
+Not until after breakfast did the preacher pass over to Otto's
+affairs. His grandfather's will made him the sole heir to the large
+property; a man in Copenhagen, the merchant Berger, should be his
+guardian, since the preacher did not wish to undertake the office.
+Rosalie was not forgotten: her devotion and fidelity had won for
+her a relative's right. Her last days should be free from care: she
+had truly striven to remove all care from the dead whilst yet he
+lived. An old age free from care awaited her; but Otto wished that
+she should also have a happy old age. He imparted his plan to the
+preacher; but the latter shook his head, thought it was not
+practicable, and regarded it as a mere fancy--a whim. But such it
+was not.
+
+Some days passed by. One afternoon Rosalie sat upon a small wooden
+bench under the cherry-trees, and was making mourning for the
+winter.
+
+"This is the last summer that we shall sit here," said she; "the
+last summer that this is our home. Now I am become equally rooted
+to this spot; it grieves me that I must leave it."
+
+"Thou wast forced to leave thy dear Switzerland," said Otto; "that
+was still harder!"
+
+"I was then young," answered she. "The young tree may be easily
+transplanted, but the old one has shot forth deeper roots. Denmark
+is a good land--a beautiful land!"
+
+"But not the west coast of Jutland!" exclaimed Otto. "For thy green
+pasture hast thou here heath; for thy mountains, low sand-hills."
+
+"Upon the Jura Mountains there is also heath," said Rosalie. "The
+heath here often reminds me of my home on the Jura. There also is
+it cold, and snow can fall already in August. The fir-trees then
+stand as if powdered over."
+
+"I love Switzerland, which I have never seen," pursued Otto. "Thy
+relation has given me a conception of the picturesque magnificence
+of this mountain-land. I have a plan, Rosalie. I know that in the
+heart of a mountaineer homesickness never dies. I remember well how
+thy eyes sparkled when thou toldest of the walk toward Le Locle and
+Neufch�tel; even as a boy I felt at thy words the light mountain
+air. I rode with thee upon the dizzy height, where the woods lay
+below us like potato fields. What below arose, like the smoke from
+a charcoal-burner's kiln, was a cloud in the air. I saw the Alpine
+chain, like floating cloud mountains; below mist, above dark shapes
+with glancing glaciers."
+
+"Yes, Otto," said Rosalie, and her eyes sparkled with youthful
+fire; "so looks the Alpine chain when one goes from Le Locle to
+Neulfch�tel: so did I see it when I descended the Jura for the list
+time. It was in August. The trees, with their autumnal foliage,
+stood yellow and red between the dark firs; barberries and hips
+grew among the tall fern. The Alps lay in such a beautiful light,
+their feet blue as heaven, their peaks snow-white in the clear
+sunshine. I was in a sorrowful mood; I was leaving my mountains!
+Then I wrote in my book--O, I remember it so well!--The high Alps
+appear to me the folded wings of the earth: how if she should raise
+them! how if the immense wings should unfold, with their gay images
+of dark woods, glaciers, and clouds! What a picture! At the Last
+Judgment will the earth doubtless unfold these pinions, soar up to
+God, and in the rays of His sunlight disappear! I also have been
+young, Otto," pursued she, with a melancholy smile. "Thou wouldst
+have felt still more deeply at the sight of this splendor of
+nature. The lake at the foot of the mountains was smooth as a
+mirror; a little boat with white sails swam, like a swan, upon its
+expanse. On the road along which we drove were the peasants beating
+down chestnuts; the grapes hung in large black bunches. How an
+impression such as this can root itself in the memory! It is five
+and thirty years since, and yet I still see that boat with the
+white sail, the high Alps, and the black grapes."
+
+"Thou shalt see thy Switzerland again, Rosalie," exclaimed Otto;
+"again hear the bells of the cows upon the green pastures! Thou
+shalt go once more to the chapel in Franche Compt�, shalt visit
+thy friends at Le Locle, see the subterranean mill, and the Doub
+fall."
+
+"The mill wheel yet goes round, the water dashes down as in my
+youth; but the friends are gone, my relatives dispersed! I should
+appear a stranger there; and when one has reached my age, nature
+cannot satisfy--one must have people!"
+
+"Thou knowest, Rosalie, my grandfather has settled a sum upon thee
+so long as thou livest. Now I have thought thou couldst spend thy
+latter days with thy beloved ones at home, in the glorious
+Switzerland. In October I take my philosophicum; the following
+summer I would then accompany thee. I must also see that splendid
+mountain-land,--know something more of the world than I have yet
+known. I know how thy thoughts always dwell upon Switzerland.
+Thither will I reconduct thee; thou wilt feel thyself less lonely
+there than here in Denmark."
+
+"Thou art carried away by the thoughts of youth, as thou shouldst
+and must be, thou dear, sweet soul!" said Rosalie, smiling. "At my
+age it is not so easy."
+
+"We will make short days' journeys," said Otto, "go with the
+steamboat up the Rhine--that is not fatiguing; and from Basel one
+is soon in Franche Compt� on the Jura."
+
+"No, upon the heath, near Vestervovov, as it is called here, will
+old Rosalie die; here I have felt myself at home, here I have two
+or three friends. The family at Lemvig have invited me, have for me
+a place at table, a little room, and friendly faces. Switzerland
+would be no longer that Switzerland which I quitted. Nature would
+greet me as an old acquaintance; it would be to me music, once more
+to hear the ringing of the cows' bells; it would affect me deeply,
+once again to kneel in the little chapel on the mountain: but I
+should soon feel myself a greater stranger there than here. Had it
+been fifteen years ago, my sister would still have been living, the
+dear, pious Ad�le! She dwelt with my uncle close on the confines of
+Neufch�tel, as thou knowest, scarcely a quarter of a mile from Le
+Locle--_the town_, as we called it, because it was the largest
+place in the neighborhood. Now there are only distant relations of
+mine living, who have forgotten me. I am a stranger there. Denmark
+gave me bread, it will also give me a grave!"
+
+"I thought of giving thee a pleasure!" said Otto.
+
+"That thou dost by thy love to me!" returned she.
+
+"I thought thou wouldst have shown me thy mountains, thy home, of
+which thou hast so often spoken!"
+
+"That can I still do. I remember every spot, every tree--all
+remains so clear in my recollection. Then we ascend together the
+Jura higher and higher; here are no more vineyards to be found, no
+maize, no chestnuts only dark pines, huge cliffs, here and there a
+beech, as green and large as in Denmark. Now we have the wood
+behind us, we are many feet above the sea; thou canst perceive this
+by the freshness of the air. Everywhere are green meadows;
+uninterruptedly reaches our ear the ringing of the cow-bells. Thou
+as yet seest no town, and yet we are close upon Le Locle. Suddenly
+the road turns; in the midst of the mountain-level we perceive a
+small valley, and in this lies the town, with its red roofs, its
+churches, and large gardens. Close beneath the windows rises the
+mountain-side, with its grass and flowers; it looks as though the
+cattle must be precipitated upon the houses. We go through the long
+street, past the church; the inhabitants are Protestants--it is a
+complete town of watchmakers. My uncle and Ad�le also sat the whole
+day, and worked at wheels and chains. That was for Monsieur
+Houriet, in Le Locle. His daughters I know; one is called Rosalie,
+like myself. Rosalie and Lydia, they will certainly have forgotten
+me! But it is true that we are upon our own journey! Now, thou
+seest, at the end of the town we do not follow the broad road--that
+leads to Besan�on; we remain in the lesser one, here in the valley
+where the town lies. The beautiful valley! The green mountain-sides
+we keep to our right; on it are scattered houses, with large stones
+upon their steep wooden roofs, and with little gardens tilled with
+plum-trees. Steep cliff-walls shut in the valley; there stands up a
+crag; if thou climbest it thou canst look straight into France: one
+sees a plain, flat like the Danish plains. In the valley where we
+are, close under the rock, lies a little house; O, I see it
+distinctly! white-washed and with blue painted window-frames: at
+the gate a great chained dog. I hear him bark! We step into that
+quiet, friendly little house! The children are playing about on the
+ground. O, my little Henry-Numa-Robert! Ah, it is true that now he
+is older and taller than thou! We descend the steps toward the
+cellar. Here stand sacks and chests of flour; under the floor one
+hears a strange roaring; still a few steps lower, and we must light
+the lamp, for here it is dark. We find ourselves in a great water-mill,
+a subterranean mill. Deep below in the earth rushes a river--
+above no one dreams of it; the water dashes down several fathoms
+over the rushing wheel, which threatens to seize our clothes and
+whirl us away into the circle. The steps on which we stand are
+slippery: the stone walls drip with water, and only a step beyond
+the depth appears bottomless! O, thou wilt love this mill as I love
+it! Again having reached the light of day, and under free heaven,
+one only perceives the quiet, friendly little house. Dost thou
+know, Otto, often as thou hast sat quiet and dreaming, silent as a
+statue, have I thought of my mill, and the repose which it
+presented? and yet how wildly the stream roared in its bosom, how
+the wheels rushed round, and how gloomy it was in the depth!"
+
+"We will leave the mill!" said Otto, and sought to lead her from
+her reflections back to her own relation. "We find ourselves in the
+wood, where the ringing of the evening-bell reaches our ear from
+the little chapel in Franche Compt�."
+
+"There stands my father's house!" said Rosalie. "From the corner-window
+one looks over the wood toward Aubernez, [Author's Note: A village
+in the canton Neufch�tel, lying close upon the river Doub, where
+it forms the boundary between Switzerland and France.] where the
+ridge leads over the Doub. The sun shines upon the river, which,
+far below, winds along, gleaming like the clearest silver."
+
+"And the whole of France spreads itself out before us!" said Otto.
+
+"How beautiful! O, how beautiful!" exclaimed Rosalie, and her eyes
+sparkled as she gazed before her; but soon her glance became sad,
+and she pressed Otto's hand. "No one will welcome me to my home! I
+know neither their joys nor their sorrows--they are not my own
+family! In Denmark--I am at home. When the cold sea-mist spreads
+itself over the heath I often fancy I am living among my mountains,
+where the heather grows. The mist seems to me then to be a snow-cloud
+which rests over the mountains, and thus, when other people are
+complaining of the bad weather, I am up among my mountains!"
+
+"Thou wilt then remove to the family at Lemvig?" asked Otto.
+
+"There I am welcome!" returned she.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+"Look at the calming sea. The waves still tremble in the depths,
+and stem to fear the gale.--Over my head is hovering the shadowy
+mist.--My curls are wet with the filling dew."--OSSIAN.
+
+Otto had not as yet visited the sand-hills on the strand, the
+fishermen, or the peasants, among whom formerly he had spent all
+his spare time.
+
+The beautiful summer's day drove him forth, his heart yearned to
+drink in the summer warmth.
+
+Only the roads between the larger towns are here tolerable, or
+rather as tolerable as the country will allow. The by-ways were
+only to be discerned by the traces of cart-wheels, which ran on
+beside each other; at certain places, to prevent the wheels sinking
+into the deep sand, ling had been spread; where this is not the
+case, and the tracks cross each other, a stranger would scarcely
+find the way. Here the landmark places its unseen boundary between
+neighboring possessions.
+
+Every farm, every cottage, every hill, was an old acquaintance to
+Otto. He directed his steps toward Harbooere, a parish which, one
+may say, consists of sand and water, but which, nevertheless, is
+not to be called unfruitful. A few of the inhabitants pursue
+agriculture, but the majority consists of fishermen, who dwell in
+small houses and have no land.
+
+His first encounter upon his wandering was with one of those large
+covered wagons with which the so-called eelmen, between the days of
+St. John and St. Bartholomew, go with eels toward the small towns
+lying to the south and east, and then, laden with apples and garden
+produce, return home--articles which are rapidly consumed by the
+common people. The eelman stopped when he saw and recognized
+Otto.
+
+"Welcome, Mr. Otto!" said he. "Yes, you are come over abut a sad
+affair! That Major Thostrup should have gone off so! But there was
+nothing else to be expected from him he was old enough."
+
+"Death demands his right!" replied Otto, and pressed the man's
+hand. "Things go, doubtless, well with you, Morten Chraenseu?"
+
+"The whole cart full of eels, and some smoked carp! It is also good
+to meet with you, Mr. Otto. Upon the land a preacher is very good,
+but not upon the sea, as they say at home. Yes, you are certainly
+now a preacher, or will become one?"
+
+"No, I am not studying to become a preacher!" answered Otto.
+
+"No! will you then become a lawyer? It strikes me you are clever
+enough--you have no need to study any more! You will just go and
+say a few words to them at home? The grandmother sits and spins
+yarn for eel-nets. She has now the cataract on the other eye, but
+her mouth is as well as ever; she does not let herself grow dumb,
+although she does sit in the dark. Mother provides the baits; she
+has also enough to do with the hooks."
+
+"But Maria, the lively little Maria?" said Otto.
+
+"The girl? She has gone this year with the other fishergirls to
+Ringkjoebing, to be hired for the hay and corn harvest; we thought
+we could do without her at home. But now, God willing! I must
+travel on." Cordially he shook Otto's hand, and pursued his slow
+journey.
+
+The brothers of the eelman were active fishermen, as their father
+had been before them; and although they were all married they lived
+together. The swarm of children was not insignificant; young and
+old formed one family, in which the old grandmother had the first
+voice.
+
+Otto approached the dwelling; before it lay a little plot of land,
+planted with potatoes and carrots, and also beds of onions and
+thyme. Two large bull-dogs, with sharp teeth and wicked eyes,
+rushed toward Otto. "Tyv! Grumsling!" shrieked a voice, and the
+dogs let fall their tails and drew back, with a low growl, toward
+the house. Here at the threshold sat an old woman in a red woolen
+jacket, with a handkerchief of the same material and same color
+about her neck, and upon her head a man's black felt hat. She spun.
+Otto immediately recognized the old blind grandmother.
+
+"God's peace be in the house!" said he.
+
+"That voice I have not heard for a year and a day!" replied the old
+woman, and raised her head, as if she would see him with her dead
+eyes. "Are not you Major Thostrup's Otto? You resemble him in the
+voice. I thought, truly, that if you came here you would pay us a
+visit. Ide shall leave the baits and put on the kettle, that you
+may have a cup of coffee. Formerly you did not use to despise our
+entertainment. You have not grown proud with your journey, have
+you? The coffee-vetch [Author's Note: Astragalus baeticus is used
+as a substitute for coffee, and is principally grown upon the
+sand-hills west of Holmsland. It is first freed from the husk, and then
+dried and roasted a little.] is good; it is from Holmsland, and
+tastes better than the merchant's beans." The dogs still growled at
+Otto. "Cannot you stupid beasts, who have still eyes in your heads
+to see with, recognize that this is the Major's Otto?" cried she
+wrathfully, and gave them several good blows with her hand.
+
+Otto's arrival created a great stir in the little household that he
+was welcome, you might see by every countenance.
+
+"Yes," said the grandmother, "now you are grown much wiser in the
+town, could, very likely, were it needful, write an almanac! You
+will very likely have found for yourself a little bride there, or
+will you fetch one out of Lemvig? for no doubt she must be from a
+town! Yes, I have known him ever since he was a little fellow;
+yonder, on the wall, he made, out of herrings' heads, the living
+devil, just as he lives and breathes. He thrust our sucking-pig
+into the eel-cart, between the casks. We sought a whole day after
+the sucking-pig without finding him, and he was forced to make the
+journey with them to Holstebro. Yes, he was a wild fellow! Later,
+when he was obliged to learn so much, he became sad. Yes, yes,
+within the last years his books have overdone him!"
+
+"Yes, many a time has he put out to sea with my husband!" pursued
+one of the daughters-in-law. "One night he remained out with him.
+How anxious the French Mamsell at the hall was about him!"
+
+"He was never haughtty," said the grandmother. "He nibbled his
+dried fish with the fresh fish, and drank a little cup of water,
+although he was used to better things at home. But to-day we have
+white bread, fresh and good; it came yesterday from Lemvig."
+
+The brandy-glass, with its wooden, red-painted foot, was placed
+before Otto. Under the bed there was an anker of brandy,--"a little
+stock," as all stranded goods are here called.
+
+Otto inquired after the married sons. They were with their men on
+the shore, ready to embark on their fishing expedition, The
+grandmother would accompany him thither; they were not yet
+departed: she should first take them provisions.
+
+The old woman took her stick, the dog sprang forward, and now
+commenced their wandering among the sand-hills, where their huts or
+booths, built with rafters and smeared with earth, stood. Around
+lay the refuse of fish,--heads and entrails, thrown about. The men
+were just then busied in carrying the trough and fishing-tackle
+[Author's Note: A "Bakke" consists of three lines, each of 200
+Danish ells, or about 135 yards, and of 200 fishing-hooks; the
+stretched "Bakke" is thus about 200 yards, with 600 hooks; these
+are attached to the line with strings half an ell long and as thick
+as fine twine. To each "Bakke" belongs a square trough, on which it
+is carried on board. To a larger fishing-boat are reckoned six lots
+of hooks; each lot has eight to nine "Bakkes."] on board.
+
+The open sea lay before them, almost as bright as a mirror, for the
+wind was easterly. Near to them paused a horseman; he was partly
+dressed like a peasant, with riding-breeches on, which were
+buttoned down at the sides.
+
+"Have you heard the news?" he cried to Otto. "I come from
+Ringkjoebing. At Merchant Cohen's I have read the German paper;
+there is a revolution in France! Charles X. is fled with the whole
+royal family. Yes, in Paris, there is fine work!"
+
+"The French are a wild people!" said the grandmother. "A king and a
+queen they have beheaded in my time; now they will do the same with
+these. Will our dear Lord suffer that such things be done to His
+anointed?"
+
+"There will be war again!" said one of the fishermen.
+
+"Then more horses will go out of the country," said the stranger,
+pressed Otto's hand, and vanished behind the sandhills.
+
+"Was not that the horse-dealer from Varde?" inquired Otto.
+
+"Yes, he understands languages," said the fisherman; "and thus he
+is acquainted with foreign affairs sooner than we. Then they are
+now fighting in France! Blood flows in the streets; it will not be
+so in Denmark before the Turk binds his horse to the bush in the
+Viborg Lake. And then, according to the prophecy of the sibyl, it
+will be near the end of the world."
+
+Meanwhile, everything was prepared for their embarkation. If Mr.
+Otto would take the further oar, and was inclined to pass the night
+on the sea, there was a place for him in the boat. But he had
+promised Rosalie to be back before evening. The grandmother now
+prayed, kneeling with the others, and immediately after quick
+strokes of the oars the flat boat rowed away from the shore. The
+fate of France was forgotten; their calling occupied the fishermen.
+
+The old woman seemed to listen to the strokes of the oars; her dead
+eyes rested immovably on the sea. A sea-mew passed close to her in
+its flight. "That was a bird!" said she. "Is there no one here
+beside ourselves?"
+
+"No; no one at all," answered Otto, carelessly.
+
+"Is no one in the hut, no one behind the sand-hills?" again asked
+the grandmother. "It was not on account of the dried meat that I
+came here--it was not to wet my face on the shore; I speak with you
+alone, which I could not do in the house. Give me your hand! Now
+that the old man rests in the grave, you yourself will guide the
+rudder; the estate will be sold, and you will not come again to the
+west coast. Our Lord has made it dark before my eyes before He has
+closed my ears and given me leave to go. I can no longer see you,
+but I have you in my thought as you looked before you left our
+land. That you are handsomer now I can easily imagine; but gayer
+you are not! Talk you certainly can, and I have heard you laugh;
+but that was little better than the two last years you were here.
+Once it was different with you--no fairy could be wilder than you!"
+
+"With years one becomes more quiet," said Otto, and gazed with
+astonishment at the blind woman, who did not leave go his hand. "As
+a boy I was far too merry--that could not continue; and that I
+should now be grave, I have, as you will see, sufficient reason--I
+have lost my last support."
+
+"Yes, truly, truly!" repeated she slowly, and as if pondering; then
+shook her head. "That is not the reason. Do you not believe in the
+power of the devil? our Lord Christ forgive me! do not you believe
+in the power of wicked men? There is no greater difference between
+the human child and the changeling brat which the underground
+spirits lay in his stead in the cradle, than there is between you
+when you were a boy and you as you became during the last year of
+your stay here. 'That comes from books, from so much learning,'
+said I to other people. Could I only have said so to myself! But
+you shall become gay; the trouble of your heart shall wither like a
+poisonous weed. I know whence it sprung, and will, with God's help,
+heal it. Will you solemnly promise, that no soul in the world shall
+learn what we speak of in this hour?"
+
+"What have you to say to me?" asked Otto, affected by the
+extraordinary earnestness of the old woman.
+
+"The German Heinrich, the player! You remember him well? He is to
+blame for your grief! Yes, his name drives the blood more quickly
+through your pulse. I feel it, even if I cannot see your face."
+
+"The German Heinrich!" repeated Otto, and his hand really trembled.
+Had Heinrich, then, when he was here three years ago, told her and
+the fishermen that which no human being must know,--that which had
+destroyed the gayety of his youth? "What have I to do with the
+German Heinrich?"
+
+"Nothing more than a pious Christian has to do with the devil!"
+replied she, and made the sign of the cross. "But Heinrich has
+whispered an evil word in your ear; he has banished your joyous
+humor, as one banishes a serpent."
+
+"Has he told you this?" exclaimed Otto, and breathed more quickly.
+"Tell me all that he has said!"
+
+"You will not make me suffer for it!" said she. "I am innocent, and
+yet I have cooperated in it: it was only a word but a very unseemly
+word, and for it one must account at the day of judgment!"
+
+"I do not understand you!" said Otto, and his eyes glanced around
+to see whether any one heard. They were quite alone. In the far
+distance the boat with the fishermen showed itself like a dark
+speck.
+
+"Do you remember how wild you were as a boy? How you fastened
+bladders to the cat's legs and tail, and flung her out of the
+loft-window that she might fly? I do not say this in anger, for I
+thought a deal of you; but when you became too insolent one might
+wall say, 'Can no one, then, curb this lad?' See, these words I
+said!--that is my whole fault, but since then have lain heavy on my
+heart. Three years ago came the German Heinrich, and stayed two
+nights in our house; God forgive it us! Tricks he could play, and
+he understood more than the Lord's Prayer--more than is useful to a
+man. With one trick you were to assist him, but when he gave you
+the goblet you played your own tricks, and he could make nothing
+succeed. You would also be clever. Then he cast an evil eye upon
+you, although he was still so friendly and submissive, because you
+were a gentleman's child. Do you remember--no, you will certainly
+have forgotten--how you once took the baits of the hooks off and
+hung my wooden shoes on instead? Then I said in anger, and the
+anger of man is never good, 'Can no one, then, tame this boy for
+me? He was making downright fun of you to your own face,' said I to
+the player. 'Do you not know some art by which you can tame this
+wild-cat?' Then he laughed maliciously, but I thought no more of
+the matter. The following day, however, he said, 'Now I have curbed
+the lad! You should only see how tame he is become; and should he
+ever again turn unruly, only ask him what word the German Heinrich
+whispered in his ear, and you shall. Then see how quiet he will
+become. He shall not mock this trick!' My heart was filled with
+horror, but I thought afterward it really meant nothing. Ei! ei!
+from the hour he was here you are no longer the same as formerly;
+that springs from the magical word he whispered in your ear. You
+cannot pronounce the word, he told me; but by it you have been
+enchanted: this, and not book-learning, has worked the change. But
+you shall be delivered! If you have faith, and that you must have,
+you shall again become gay, and I, spite of the evil words which I
+spoke, be able to sleep peacefully in my grave. If you will only
+lay this upon your heart, now that the moon is in its wane, the
+trouble will vanish out of your heart as the disk of the moon
+decreases!" And saying this she drew out of her pocket a little
+leather purse, opened it and took out a piece of folded paper. "In
+this is a bit of the wood out of which our Saviour's cross was
+made. This will draw forth the sorrow from your heart, and bear it,
+as it bore Him who took upon Himself the sorrow of the whole
+world!" She kissed it with pious devotion, and then handed it to
+Otto.
+
+The whole became clear to him. He recollected how in his boyish
+wantonness he had caused Heinrich's tricks to miscarry, which
+occasioned much pleasure to the spectators, but in Heinrich
+displeasure: they soon again became friends, and Otto recognized in
+him the merry weaver of the manufactory, as he called his former
+abode. They were alone, Otto asked whether he did not remember his
+name: Heinrich shook his head. Then Otto uncovered his shoulder,
+bade him read the branded letters, and heard the unhappy
+interpretation which gave the death-blow to his gayety. Heinrich
+must have seen what an impression his words made upon the boy: he
+gained through them an opportunity of avenging himself, and at the
+same time of bringing himself again into repute: as a sorcerer. He
+had tamed him, whispered he to the old woman,--he had tamed the boy
+with a single word. At any future wantonness of Otto's, gravity and
+terror would immediately return should any one ask him, What word
+did the German Heinrich whisper into thy ear? "Only ask him," had
+Heinrich said.
+
+In a perfectly natural manner there lay, truly, enchantment in
+Heinrich's words, even although it were not that enchantment which
+the superstition of the old woman would have signified. A
+revelation of the connection of affairs would have removed her
+doubts, but here an explanation was impossible to Otto. He pressed
+her hand, besought her to be calm; no sorrow lay heavy on his
+heart, except the loss of his dear grandfather.
+
+"Every evening have I named your name it my prayers said the old
+grandmother." Each time when the harbingers of bad weather showed
+themselves, and my sons were on the sea, so that we hung out flags
+or lighted beacons as signals, did I think of the words which had
+escaped my lips, and which the wicked Heinrich had caught up; I
+feared lest our Lord might cause my children to suffer for my
+injustice."
+
+"Be calm, my dear old woman!" said Otto. "Keep for yourself the
+holy cross, on the virtue of which you rely; may it remove each
+sorrow from your own heart!"
+
+"No, I am guilty of my own sorrow! yours has a stranger laid upon
+your heart! Only the sorrow of the guiltless will the cross bear."
+
+The beautiful sentiment which, unconsciously to her, lay in these
+words, affected Otto. He accepted the present, preserved it, sought
+to calm the old woman, and once more at parting glanced toward the
+splendid sea expanse which formed its own boundary.
+
+It was almost evening before he reached the house where Rosalie
+awaited him. His last scene with the blind fisher-woman had again
+thrown him into his gloomy mood. "After all, she really knows
+nothing!" said he to himself. "This Heinrich is my evil angel!
+might he only die soon!" It was in Otto's soul as if he could shoot
+a ball through Heinrich's heart. "Did he only lie buried under the
+heather, and with him my secret! I will have blood! yes, there is
+something devilish in man! Were Heinrich only dead! But others live
+who know my birth,--my sister! my poor, neglected sister, she who
+had the same right to intellectual development as myself! How I
+fear this meeting! it will be bitter! I must away. I will hence--
+here will my life-germ be stifled! I have indeed fortune--I will
+travel! This animated France will drive away these whims, and--I am
+away, far removed from my home. In the coming spring I shall be a
+stranger among strangers!" And his thoughts melted into a quiet
+melancholy. In this manner he reached the hall.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+"L'Angleterre jalouse et la Gr�ce hom�rique,
+Toute l'Europe admire, et la jeune Am�rique
+Se l�ve et bat des mains du bord des oc�ans.
+Trois jours vous ont suffi pour briser vos entraves.
+Vous �tes les a�n�s d'une race de braves,
+Vous �tes les fits des g�ans!"
+                            V. HUGO, Chants du Cr�puscule.
+
+             "Politiken, mine Herrer!"
+                 MORTONS' Lystspil: den Hjemkomne Nabob
+
+"In France there is revolution!" was the first piece of information
+which Otto related. "Charles X. has flown with his family. This,
+they say, is in the German papers."
+
+"Revolution?" repeated Rosalie, and folded her hands. "Unhappy
+France! Blood has flowed there, and it again flows. There I lost my
+father and my brother. I became a refugee--must seek for myself a
+new father-land." She wiped away a tear from her cheek, and sunk
+into deep meditation. She knew the horrors of a revolution, and
+only saw in this new one a repetition of those scenes of terror
+which she had experienced, and which had driven her out into the
+world, up into the north, where she struggled on, until at length
+she found a home with Otto's grandfather--a resting abode.
+
+Everything great and beautiful powerfully affected Otto's soul;
+only in one direction had he shown no interest--in the political
+direction, and it was precisely politics which had most occupied
+the grandfather in his seclusion. But Otto's soul was too
+vivacious, too easily moved, too easily carried away by what lay
+nearest him. "One must first thoroughly enter into life, before the
+affairs of the world can seize upon us!" said he. "With the greater
+number of those who in their early youth occupy themselves with
+politics, it is merely affectation. It is with them like the boy
+who forces himself to smoke tobacco so as to appear older than he
+really is." Beyond his own country, France was the only land which
+really interested Otto. Here Napoleon had ruled, and Napoleon's
+name had reached his heart--he had grown up whilst this name passed
+from mouth to mouth; the name and the deeds of the hero sounded to
+him, yet a boy, like a great world adventure. How often had he
+heard his grandfather, shaking his head, say, "Yes, now newspaper
+writers have little to tell since Napoleon is quiet." And then he
+had related to him of the hero at Arcole and among the Pyramids, of
+the great campaign against Europe, of the conflagration at Moscow,
+and the return from Elba.
+
+Who has not written a play in his childhood? Otto's sole subject
+was Napoleon; the whole history of the hero, from the snow-batteries
+at Brienne to the rocky island in the ocean. True, this poem was
+a wild shoot; but it had sprung from an enthusiastic heart. At
+that time he preserved it as a treasure. A little incident which
+is connected with it, and is characteristic of Otto's wild outbreaks
+of temper when a boy, we will here introduce.
+
+A child of one of the domestics, a little merry boy with whom Otto
+associated a good deal, was playing with him in his garret. Otto
+was then writing his play. The boy bantered him, pulling the paper
+at the same time. Otto forbade him with the threat,--"If thou dost
+that again I will throw thee out of the window!" The boy again
+immediately pulled at the paper. In a moment Otto seized him by the
+waist, swung him toward the open window, and would certainly have
+thrown him out, had not Rosalie fortunately entered the room, and,
+with an exclamation of horror, seized Otto's arm, who now stood
+pale as death and trembling in every limb.
+
+In this manner had Napoleon awoke Otto's interest for France.
+Rosalie also spoke, next to her Switzerland, with most pleasure of
+this country. The Revolution had livingly affected her, and
+therefore her discourse regarding it was living. It even seemed to
+the old preacher as though the Revolution were an event which he
+had witnessed. The Revolution and Napoleon had often fed his
+thoughts and his discourse toward this land. Otto had thus, without
+troubling himself the least about politics, grown up with a kind of
+interest about France. The mere intelligence of this struggle of
+the July days was therefore not indifferent to him. He still only
+knew what the horse-dealer had related; nothing of the congregation,
+or of Polignac's ministry: but France was to him the mighty world-crater,
+which glowed with its splendid eruptions, and which he admired
+from a distance.
+
+The old preacher shook his head when Otto imparted this political
+intelligence to him. A king, so long as he lived, was in his eyes
+holy, let him be whatever sort of a man he might. The actions of a
+king, according to his opinion, resembled the words of the Bible,
+which man ought not to weigh; they should be taken as they were.
+"All authority is from God!" said he. "The anointed one is holy;
+God gives to him wisdom; he is a light to whom we must all look
+up!"
+
+"He is a man like ourselves!" answered Otto. "He is the first
+magistrate of the land, and as such we owe him the highest
+reverence and obedience. Birth, and not worth, gives him the high
+post which he fills. He ought only to will that which is good; to
+exercise justice. His duties are equally great with those of his
+subjects."
+
+"But more difficult, my son!" said the old man. "It is nothing, as
+a flower, to adorn the garland; more difficult is it to be the hand
+which weaves the garland. The ribbon must be tight as well as
+gently tied; it must not cut into the stems, and yet it must not be
+too loose. Yes, you young men talk according to your wisdom! Yes,
+you are wise! quite as wise as the woman who kept a roasted chicken
+for supper. She placed it upon a pewter plate upon the glowing
+coals, and went out to attend to her affairs. When she returned the
+plate was melted, and the chicken lay among the ashes. 'What a wise
+cat I have!' said she; 'she has eaten I the plate and left the
+chicken!' See, you talk just so, and regard things from the same
+foolish point of view. Do not speak like the rest of them in the
+city! 'Fear God, and honor the king!' We have nothing to argue with
+these two; they transact their business between them! The French
+resemble young students; when these have made their examen artium
+they imagine they are equal to the whole world: they grow restive,
+and give student-feasts! The French must have a Napoleon, who can
+give their something to do! If they be left to themselves they will
+play mad pranks!"
+
+"Let us first see what the papers really say," replied Otto.
+
+The following day a large letter arrived; it was from Wilhelm:--
+
+"My excellent Otto,--We have all drunk to Otto Thostrup's health. I
+raised the glass, and drank the health. The friendship's dissonance
+YOU has dissolved itself into a harmonious THOU, and thou thyself
+hast given the accord. All at home speak of thee; even the
+Kammerjunker's Mamsell chose lately thee, and not her work-box, as
+a subject of conversation. The evening as thou drovest over the
+Jutland heaths I seated myself at the piano, and played thy whole
+journey to my sisters. The journey over the heath I gave them in a
+monotonous piece, composed of three tones, quite dissimilar to that
+composed by Rousseau. My sisters were near despair; but I told them
+it was not more uninteresting than the heath. Sometimes I made a
+little flight, a quaver; that was the heath-larks which flew up
+into the air. The introduction to the gypsy-chorus in 'Preciosa'
+signified the German gypsy-flock. Then came the thema out of
+'Jeannot and Collin'--'O, joyous days of childhood!'--and then thou
+wast at home. I thundered powerfully down in the bass; that was the
+North Sea, the chorus in thy present grand' op�ra. Thou canst well
+imagine that it was quite original.
+
+"For the rest, everything at home remains in its old state. I have
+been in Svendborg, and have set to music that sweet poem, 'The
+Wishes,' by Carl Bagger. His verses seem to me a little rough; but
+something will certainly come out of the fellow! Thy own wishes are
+they which he has expressed. Besides this, the astonishing tidings
+out of France have given us, and all good people here, an
+electrical shock. Yes, thou in thy solitude hast certainly heard
+nothing of the brilliant July days. The Parisians have deposed
+Charles X. If the former Revolution was a blood-fruit, this one is
+a true passionflower, suddenly sprung up, exciting astonishment
+through its beauty, and as soon as the work is ended rolling
+together its leaves. My cousin Joachim, who as thou knowest is just
+now at Paris, has lived through these extraordinary days. The day
+before yesterday we received a long, interesting letter from him,
+which gave us--of the particulars as well as of the whole--a more
+complete idea than the papers can give us. People assemble in
+groups round the post-houses to receive the papers as they arrive.
+I have extracted from my cousin's letter what has struck me most,
+and send thee these extracts in a supplement. Thou canst thus in
+thy retirement still live in the world. A thousand greetings from
+all here. Thou hast a place in mamma's heart, but not less so in mine.
+
+          "Thy friend and brother,
+
+                       "WILHELM.
+
+"P. S.--It is true! My sister Sophie begs thee to bring her a stone
+from the North Sea. Perhaps thou wilt bring for me a bucket of
+water; but it must not incommode thee!"
+
+This hearty letter transported Otto into the midst of the friendly
+circle in Funen. The corner of the paper where Wilhelm's name stood
+he pressed to his lips. His heart was full of noble friendship.
+
+The extract which Wilhelm had made from his cousin's letter was
+short and descriptive. It might be compared with a beautiful poem
+translated into good prose.
+
+In the theatre we interest ourselves for struggling innocence; but
+we are still more affected when the destiny of a whole nation is to
+be decided. It is on this account that "Wilhelm Tell" possesses so
+much interest. Not of the single individual is here the question,
+but of all. Here is flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bone.
+Greater than the play created by the poet was the effect which this
+description of the July days produced upon Otto. This was the
+reality itself in which he lived. His heart was filled with
+admiration for France, who fought for Liberty the holy fight, and
+who, with the language of the sword, had pronounced the anathema of
+the age on the enemies of enlightenment and improvement.
+
+The old preacher folded his hands as he heard it; his eyes
+sparkled: but soon he shook his head. "May men so judge the
+anointed ones of God? 'He who taketh the sword shall perish by the
+sword!'"
+
+"The king is for the people," said Otto; "not the people for the
+king!"
+
+"Louis XVIth's unhappy daughter!" sighed Rosalie; "for the third
+time is she driven from her father-land. Her parents and brothers
+killed! her husband dishonored! She herself has a mind and heart.
+'She is the only man among the Bourbons,'" said Napoleon.
+
+The preacher, with his old-fashioned honesty, and a royalist from
+his whole heart, regarded the affair with wavering opinion, and
+with fear for the future. Rosalie thought most of those who were
+made unhappy of the royal ladies and the poor children. Each
+followed the impulse of their own nature, and the instinctive
+feeling of their age; thus did Otto also, and therefore was his
+soul filled with enthusiasm. Enthusiasm belongs to youth. His
+thoughts were busied with dreams of Paris; thither flew his wishes.
+"Yes, I will travel!" exclaimed he; "that will give my whole
+character a more decided bias: I will and must," added he in
+thought. "My sorrow will be extinguished, the recollections of my
+childhood be forgotten. Abroad, no terrific figures, as here, will
+present themselves to me. My father is dead, foreign earth lies
+upon his coffin!"
+
+"But the office--examination!" said the old preacher, "pass that
+first. It is always good to have this in reserve, even if thou dost
+make no use of it. Only make this year thy philosophicum."
+
+"And in the spring I shall travel," said Otto.
+
+"That depends upon thy guardian, my son!" said the preacher.
+
+Several days passed, and Otto began to feel it solitary in his
+home--all moved here in such a confined circle. His mind was
+accustomed to a wider sphere of action. He began to grow weary, and
+then the hours travel with the snail's pace.
+           "...minutterna ligesom r�cka og str�rka sig.
+Man k�nner behof at g�re sa med." [Note: Sketches of Every-day Life.]
+
+He thought of his departure.
+
+"Thou must take the road through Lemvig," said Rosalie. "I will
+then visit the family there for a few days; it will make them quite
+happy to see thee, and I shall then be so much longer with thee.
+That thou wilt do, wilt thou not?"
+
+The day was fixed when they should travel.
+
+The evening previous, Otto paid his last visit to the preacher.
+They spoke together a long time about the deceased grandfather. The
+preacher gave up several papers to Otto; among them also his
+father's last letter.
+
+In honor of Otto, a bottle of wine was placed upon the table.
+
+"To thy health, my son!" said the preacher, raising his glass. "We
+shall hardly spend another evening together. Thou wilt have much to
+learn before thou comest as far as I. The world has more thorn-bushes
+than gold-mountains. The times look unsettled. France commences a new
+description of campaign in Europe, and certainly will draw along with
+it all young men: formerly it was the conquerer Napoleon who led to
+the field; now it is the idea of liberty! May the Lord preserve our
+good king, and then it will remain well with us! Thou, Otto, wilt fly
+out into the wide world--hadst thou only first passed thy examination
+for office! But when and where-ever thou mayest fly, remember on all
+occasions the words of Scripture.
+
+"We all desire to rule. Phaeton wished to drive the chariot of the
+sun, but not understanding how to guide the reins, he set fire to
+the countries, precipitated himself from the chariot, and broke his
+neck. I have no one in the city of Copenhagen whom I can ask thee
+to greet for me. All the friends of my youth are scattered to the
+east and to the west. If any of them still be in the city, they
+will certainly have forgotten me. But shouldst thou ever go to the
+Regent's Court, and smoke with the others a pipe under the tree,
+think of me. I have also sat there when I was young like thee; when
+the French Revolution drove also the blood quicker through my
+veins, and thoughts of freedom caused me to carry my head more
+high. The dear old tree! [Author's Note: At the end of the last
+century it was felled, and two younger ones, which are now in full
+growth, planted in its stead.] Yes, but one does not perceive in
+it, as in me, how many years have passed since then!"
+
+He pressed a kiss on Otto's forehead, gave him his blessing, and
+they parted.
+
+Otto was in a melancholy mood; he felt that he had certainly seen
+the old man for the last time. When he arrived at home he found
+Rosalie busy hacking. The following morning, by earliest dawn, they
+were to travel toward Lemvig. Otto had not been there within these
+two last years. In old times the journey thither had always been to
+him a festival, now it was almost indifferent to him.
+
+He entered his little chamber; for the last time in his life he
+should now sleep there. From the next morning commenced, so it
+seemed to him, a new chapter in his life. Byron's "Farewell"
+sounded in his ears like an old melody:--
+               "Fare thee well, and if forever,
+                Still for ever fare thee well."
+
+At break of day the carriage rolled away with him and old Rosalie.
+Both were silent; the carriage moved slowly along the deep ruts.
+Otto looked back once more. A lark rose, singing above him.
+
+"It will be a beautiful day!" said the coachman; his words and the
+song of the lark Rosalie regarded as a good omen for Otto's whole
+journey.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+"Geske.--Have you put syrup in the coffee?
+Henrich.--Yes, I have.
+Geske.--Be so good, dear madams, be so kind as to be contented."
+                                  HOLBERG'S Political Pewterer.
+
+Lemvig lies, as is well known, on an arm of the Limfjord. The
+legend relates, that in the Swedish war a troop of the enemy's
+cavalry compelled a peasant here to mount his horse and serve as a
+guide. Darkness came on; they found themselves already upon the
+high sand-banks. The peasant guided his horse toward a steep
+precipice; in a farm-house on the other side of the fjord they
+perceived a light. "That is Lemvig," said the peasant; "let us
+hasten!" He set spurs to his horse, the Swedes followed his
+example, and they were precipitated into the depth: the following
+morning their corpses were found. The monument of this bold Lemvig
+peasant consists of this legend and in the songs of the poets; and
+these are the monuments which endure the longest. Through this
+legend the bare precipice receives an intellectual beauty, which
+may truly compare itself with the naturally beautiful view over the
+city and the bay.
+
+Rosalie and Otto drove into the town. It was two years since he had
+been here; everything seemed to him, during this time, to have
+shrunk together: wherever he looked everything was narrow and
+small. In his recollection, Lemvig was very much larger.
+
+They now drew up before the merchant's house. The entrance was
+through the shop, which was decorated with wooden shoes, woolen
+gloves, and iron ware. Close within the door stood two large casks
+of tea. Over the counter hung an extraordinary stuffed fish, and a
+whole bunch of felt hats, for the use of both sexes. It was a
+business en gros and en d�tail, which the son of the house managed.
+The father himself was number one in Lemvig; he had ships at sea,
+and kept open house, as they call it, in the neighborhood.
+
+The sitting-room door opened, and the wife herself, a stout, square
+woman, with an honest, contented countenance, stepped out and
+received the guests with kisses and embraces. Alas! her good
+Jutland pronunciation cannot be given in writing.
+
+"O, how glorious that the Mamsell comes and brings Mr. Thostrup
+with her! How handsome he is become! and how grown! Yes, we have
+his mark still on the door." She drew Otto along with her. "He has
+shot up more than a quarter of a yard!"
+
+He looked at the objects which surrounded him.
+
+"Yes," said she, "that instrument we have had since you were last
+here; it is a present to Maren from her brother. She will now sing;
+you something. It is astonishing what a voice she has! Last
+Whitsuntide she sang in the church with the musical people; she
+sang louder than the organ!"
+
+Otto approached the sofa, over which a large piece of needlework
+hung, in a splendid gold frame. "That is Maren's name-sampler,"
+said the mistress of the house. "It is very pretty. See! there
+stand all our names! Can Mr. Thostrup guess who this is? Here are
+all the figures worked in open stitch. That ship, there, is the
+Mariane, which was called after me. There you see the Lemvig Arms--
+a tower which stands on the waves; and here in the corner, in
+regular and irregular stitches, is her name, 'Maren, October the
+24th, 1828.' Yes, that is now two years since. She has now worked a
+cushion for the sofa, with a Turk upon it. It went the round of the
+city--every one wished to see it; it is astonishing how Maren can
+use her hands!"
+
+Rosalie inquired after the excellent girl.
+
+"She is preparing the table," said the lady. "Some good friends are
+coming to us this evening. The secretary will also come; he will
+then play with Maren. You will doubtless, in Copenhagen, have heard
+much more beautiful music; ours is quite simple, but they sing from
+notes: and I think, most likely the secretary will bring his
+musical-box with him. That is splendid! Only lately he sang a
+little song to the box, that was much better than to the larger
+instrument; for I must say he has not the strong chest which Maren
+has."
+
+The whole family assembled themselves for the first time at the
+dinner-table. The two persons who took the lowest places at table
+appeared the most original; these were the shopman and the aunt.
+Both of them had only at dinner the honor of being with the family;
+they were quite shut out from the evening parties.
+
+The shopman, who in the shop was the first person, and who could
+there speak a few words, sat here like a quiet, constrained
+creature; his hair combed toward one side, and exhibiting two red,
+swollen hands: no sound escaped his lips; kissing the hand of the
+lady of the house, at coming and going, was all he did beside eat.
+
+The aunt, who was not alone called so by the family, but by the
+whole of Lemvig, was equally sparing of her words, but her face was
+constantly laughing. A flowered, red cotton cap fitted close to the
+thin face, giving something characteristic to the high cheek-bones
+and hanging lip. "She assisted in the household, but could take no
+part in genteel company," as the lady expressed herself. She could
+never forget how, at the Reformation Festival, when only the
+singers sang in the church, aunt began singing with them out of her
+book, so that the churchwarden was forced to beg her to be silent;
+but this she took very ill, and declared she had as notch right as
+the others to praise God, and then sang in defiance. Had she not
+been "aunt," and not belonged to the family to which she did, she
+would certainly have been turned out.
+
+She was now the last person who entered and took her place at
+table. Half an hour had she been sought after before she was found.
+She had stood at the end of the garden, before the wooden trellis.
+Grass had been mown in the field behind the garden, and made into a
+rick; to see this she had gone to the trellis, the odor had
+agreeably affected her; she had pressed her face against the
+trellis-work, and from contemplation of it had fallen into thought,
+or rather out of thought. There she was found, and the dreamer was
+shaken into motion. She was again right lively, and laughed each
+time that Otto looked at her. He had his seat between Maren and the
+lady of the house, at the upper end of the table. Maren was a very
+pretty girl--little, somewhat round, white and red, and well-dressed.
+A vast number of bows, and a great variety of colors, were her weak
+side. She was reading at this time "Cabal and Love."
+
+"Thou art reading it in German!" said the mother.
+
+"Yes, it must be a beautiful piece. I speak German very well, but
+when I wish to read it I get on too slowly with it: I like to get
+to the end of a book!"
+
+The husband had his place at the head of the table. A little black
+cap sat smoothly on his gray hair, and a pair of clever eyes
+sparkled in his countenance. With folded hands he prayed a silent
+prayer, and then bowed his head, before he allowed the dinner to be
+served. Rosalie sat beside him. Her neighbor on the right seemed
+very talkative. He was an old soldier, who in his fortieth year had
+gone as lieutenant with the land's troops, and had permission to
+wear the uniform, and therefore sat there in a kind of military
+coat, and with a stiff cravat. He was already deep in Polignac's
+ministry and the triumph of the July days; but he had the
+misfortune to confound Lafitte and Lafayette together. The son of
+the house only spoke of bull-calves. The lady at the table was a
+little mamsell from Holstebro, who sat beside him, dressed like a
+girl for Confirmation, in a black silk dress and long red shawl.
+She was in grand array, for she was on a visit. This young lady
+understood dress-making, and could play upon the flute; which,
+however, she never did without a certain bashfulness: besides this,
+she spoke well, especially upon melancholy events. The bottle of
+wine only circulated at the upper end of the table; the shopman and
+aunt only drank ale, but it foamed gloriously: it had been made
+upon raisin-stalks.
+
+"He is an excellent man, the merchant, whom you have received as
+guardian, Mr. Thostrup," said the master of the house. "I am in
+connection with him."
+
+"But it is strange," interrupted the lady, "that only one out of
+his five daughters is engaged. If the young ladies in Copenhagen do
+not go off better than that, what shall we say here?"
+
+"Now Mr. Thostrup can take one of them," said the husband. "There
+is money, and you have fortune also; if you get an office, you can
+live in floribus!"
+
+Maren colored, although there was no occasion for coloring; she
+even cast down her eyes.
+
+"What should Mr. Thostrup do with one of them?" pursued the wife.
+"He shall have a Jutland maiden! There are pretty young ladies
+enough here in the country-seats," added she, and laid the best
+piece of meat upon his plate.
+
+"Do the royal company give pretty operas?" asked Maren, and gave
+another direction to the conversation.
+
+Otto named several, among others Der Freisch�tz.
+
+"That must be horrible!" said the lieutenant. "They say the wolf-glen
+is so natural, with a waterfall, and an owl which flutters its wings.
+Burgomaster Mimi has had a letter from a young lady in Aarhuus,
+who has been in Copenhagen, and has seen this piece. It was so
+horrible that she held her hand before her face, and almost
+fainted. They have a splendid theatre!"
+
+"Yes, but our little theatre was very pretty!" said the lady of the
+house. "It was quite stupid that the dramatic company should have
+been unlucky. The last piece we gave is still clear in my
+recollection; it was the 'Sandsesl�se.' I was then ill; but
+because I wished so much to see it, the whole company was so
+obliging as to act it once more, and that, too, in our sitting-room,
+where I lay on the sofa and could look on. That was an extraordinary
+mark of attention from them! Only think--the burgomaster himself
+acted with them!"
+
+In honor of the strangers, coffee was taken after dinner in the
+garden, where, under the plum-trees, a swing was fixed. Somewhat
+later a sailing party was arranged. A small yacht belonging to the
+merchant lay, just unladen, near the bridge of boats.
+
+Otto found Maren and the young lady from Holstebro sitting in the
+arbor. Somewhat startled, they concealed something at his entrance.
+
+"The ladies have secrets! May one not be initiated?"
+
+"No, not at all!" replied Maren.
+
+"You have manuscript poems in the little book!" said Otto, and
+boldly approached. "Perhaps of your own composition?"
+
+"O, it is only a memorandum-book," said Maren, blushing. "When I
+read anything pretty I copy it, for we cannot keep the books."
+
+"Then I may see it!" said Otto. His eye fell upon the written
+sheet:--
+             "So fliessen nun zwei Wasser
+              Wohl zwischen mir und Dir
+              Das eine sind die Thr�nen,
+              Das andre ist der See!"
+              [Note: Des Knaben Wunderhorn.]
+he read. "That is very pretty! 'Der verlorne Schwimmer,' the poem
+is called, is it not?"
+
+"Yes, I have copied it out of the secretary's memorandum-book; he
+has so many pretty pieces."
+
+"The secretary has many splendid things!" said Otto, smiling.
+"Memorandum-book, musical snuff-box"--
+
+"And a collection of seals!" added the young lady from Holstebro.
+
+"I must read more!" said Otto; but the ladies fled with glowing
+cheeks.
+
+"Are you already at your tricks, Mr. Thostrup?" said the mother,
+who now entered the garden. "Yes, you do not know how Maren has
+thought of you--how much she has spoken of you. You never wrote to
+us; we never heard anything of you, except when Miss Rosalie
+related us something out of your letters. That was not nice of you!
+You and Maren were always called bride and bridegroom. You were a
+pair of pretty children, and your growth has not been disadvantageous
+to either of you."
+
+At four o'clock the evening party assembled--a whole swarm of young
+ladies, a few old ones, and the secretary, who distinguished
+himself by a collection of seals hanging to a long watch-chain, and
+everlastingly knocking against his body; a white shirt-frill, stiff
+collar, and a cock's comb, in which each hair seemed to take an
+affected position. They all walked down to the bay. Otto had some
+business and came somewhat later. Whilst he was crossing, alone,
+the court-yard, he heard, proceeding from the back of the house, a
+fearful, wild cry, which ended in violent sobbing. Terrified, he
+went nearer, and perceived the aunt sitting in the middle of a
+large heap of turf. The priestess at Delphi could not have looked
+more agitated! Her close cap she had torn from her head; her long,
+gray hair floated over her shoulders; and with her feet she stamped
+upon the turf, like a willful child, until the pieces flew in
+various directions. When she perceived Otto she became calm in a
+moment, but soon she pressed her thin hands before her face and
+sobbed aloud. To learn from her what was the matter was not to be
+thought of.
+
+"O, she is only quarrelsome!" said the girl, to whom Otto had
+turned for an explanation. "Aunt is angry because she was not
+invited to sail with the company. She always does so,--she can be
+quite wicked! Just lately, when she should have helped me to wring
+out the sheets, she always twisted them the same way that I did, so
+that we could never get done, and my hands hurt me very much!"
+
+Otto walked down to the bay. The sail was unfurled, the secretary
+brought out his musical-box, and, accompanied by its tones, they
+glided in the burning sunshine over the water.
+
+On the other side tea was to be drunk, and then Maren was to sing.
+Her mother asked her to sing the song with the strong tones, so
+that Otto might hear what a voice she had.
+
+She sang "Dannevang." Her voice had uncommon power, but no style,
+no grace.
+
+"Such a voice, I fancy, you have not heard in the theatre at
+Copenhagen?" said the secretary, with dogmatical gravity.
+
+"You might wish yourself such a chest!" said the lieutenant.
+
+The secretary should now sing; but he had a little cold, which he
+had always.
+
+"You must sing to the musical-box!" said the lady, and her wish was
+fulfilled. If Maren had only commenced, one might have believed it
+a trial of skill between Boreas and Zephyr.
+
+They now walked about, drank tea, and after this they were to
+return to the house, there to partake of fish and roast meat, a
+piece of boxed ham, and other good things.
+
+Otto could by no means be permitted to think of leaving them the
+following morning; he must remain a few days, and gather strength,
+so that in Copenhagen he might apply himself well to work. But only
+one day would he enjoy all the good things which they heaped upon
+him. He yearned for other people, for a more intellectual circle.
+Two years before he had agreed splendidly with them all, had found
+them interesting and intellectual; now he felt that Lemvig was a
+little town, and that the people were good, excellent people.
+
+The following play again brought capital cookery, good foul, and
+good wine--that was to honor Mr. Thostrup. His health was drunk,
+Maren was more confidential, the aunt had forgotten her trouble,
+and again sat with a laughing face beside the constrained shopman.
+They must, it is true, make a little haste over their dinner, for
+the fire-engine was to be tried; and this splendor, they
+maintained, Otto must see, since he so fortunately chanced to lie
+there.
+
+"How can my mother think that this will give Mr. Thostrup
+pleasure?" said Maren. "There is nothing to see in it."
+
+"That has given him pleasure formerly!" answered the mother. "It
+is, also, laughable when the boys run underneath the engine-rain,
+and the stream comes just in their necks."
+
+She spoke of the former Otto and of the present one--he was become
+so Copenhagenish, so refined and nice, as well in the cut of his
+clothes as in his manners; yet she still found an opportunity of
+giving him a little hint to further refinement. Only think! he took
+the sugar for his coffee with his fingers!
+
+"But where are the sugar-tongs, the massive silver sugar-tongs?"
+asked she. "Maren, dost thou allow him to take the sugar with his
+fingers?"
+
+"That is more convenient!" answered Otto. "I do that always."
+
+"Yes, but if strangers had been here," said the hostess, in a
+friendly but teaching tone, "we must, like that grand lady you know
+of, have thrown the sugar out of the window."
+
+"In the higher circles, where people have clean fingers, they make
+use of them!" said Otto. "There would be no end of it if one were
+to take it with the sugar-tongs."
+
+"They are of massive silver!" said the lady, and weighed them in
+her hand.
+
+Toward evening Rosalie went into the garden under the plum trees.
+
+"These, also, remind me of my mountains," said she; "this is the
+only fruit which will properly flourish there. Lemvig lies, like La
+Locle, in a valley," and she pointed, smiling, to the surrounding
+sand-hills. "How entirely different it is here from what it is at
+home on thy grandfather's estate! There I have been so accustomed
+to solitude, that it is almost too lively for me here. One
+diversion follows another."
+
+It was precisely this which Otto did not like. These amusements of
+the small towns wearied him, and he could not delight himself with
+them, no longer mingle in this life.
+
+He wished to set out early the following morning. It would be too
+exhausting to drive along the dry road in the sun's heat, they all
+declared; he must wait until the afternoon, then it would be
+cooler; it was, also, far pleasanter to travel in the night.
+Rosalie's prayers decided him. Thus, after dinner and coffee, the
+horses should be put into the carriage.
+
+It was the last day. Maren was somewhat in a grave mood. Otto must
+write in her album. "He would never come to Lemvig again," said
+she. As children they had played with each other. Since he went to
+Copenhagen she had, many an evening, seated herself in the swing
+near the summer-house and thought of him. Who knows whether she
+must not have done so when she copied out of the secretary's
+memorandum-book, the verses,--
+             "So fliessen nun zwei Wasser
+              Wohl zwischen mir and Dir?"
+
+The sea certainly flows between Aarhuus and Copenhagen.
+
+"Maren will perhaps go over for the winter," said the mother; "but
+we dare not speak too much about it, for it is not yet quite
+settled. It will really make her gayer! lately she has been very
+much inclined to melancholy, although God knows that we have denied
+her no pleasure!"
+
+There now arrived a quantity of letters from different
+acquaintance, and from their acquaintance: if Mr. Thostrup would
+have the goodness to take care of this to Viborg, these to Aarhuus,
+and the others as far as Copenhagen. It was a complete freight,
+such as one gets in little towns, just as though no post went
+through the country.
+
+The carriage stopped before the door.
+
+Rosalie melted into tears. "Write to me!" said she. "Thee I shall
+never see again! Greet my Switzerland when thou comest there!"
+
+The others were merry. The lady sang,--
+                "O could I, like a cloud, but fly!"
+
+The young lady from Holstebro bowed herself before him with an
+Album-leaf its her hand, upon which she must beg Mr. Thostrup to
+write her something. Maren gave him her hand, blushed and drew
+back: but as the carriage rolled away she waved her while
+handkerchief through the open window: "Farewell! Farewell!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+"Stop! cried Patroclus, with mighty, thundering voice."--WILSTER'S Iliad.
+
+The parting with Rosalie, the hospitality of the family, and their
+sincere sympathy, touched Otto; he thought upon the last days, upon
+his whole sojourn in his home. The death of his grandfather made
+this an important era in his life. The quiet evening and the
+solitary road inclined him still more to meditation.
+
+How cheering and interesting had been a visit to Lemvig in former
+times! Then it furnished matter for conversation with Rosalie for
+many weeks; it now lay before him a subject of indifference. The
+people were certainly the same, therefore the change must have
+taken place in himself. He thought of Copenhagen, which stood so
+high, and of the people there.
+
+"After all, the difference is not so great!" said he. "In
+Copenhagen the social foci are more numerous, the interests more
+varied; each day brings a fresh topic of conversation, and one can
+choose one's society. The multitude, on the contrary, has something
+citizenish; it obtrudes itself even from beneath the ball-dress
+which shows itself at court; it is seen in the rich saloon of the
+wholesale merchant, as well as in the house of the brandy
+distiller, whose possessions give to him and his two brewers the
+right of election. It is the same food which is presented to us; in
+the small towns one has it on earthenware, in Copenhagen on china.
+If one had only the courage, in the so-called higher classes, to
+break through the gloss which life in a greater circle, which
+participation in the customs of the world, has called forth, one
+should soon find in many a lady of rank, in many a nobleman who
+sits not alone in the theatre, on the first bench, merely that
+empty common earthenware; and that, as with the merchant's wife in
+Lemvig, a d�jeuner or a soir�e, like some public event, will
+occupy the mind before and after its occurrence. A court-ball, at
+which either the son or daughter has figured, resembles the most
+brilliant success in an examination for office. We laugh at the
+authorities of Lemvig, and yet with us the crowd runs after nothing
+but authorities and newspapers. This is a certain state of
+innocence. How many a poor officer or student must play the
+subordinate part of the shopman at the table of the rich, and
+gratefully kiss the hand of the lady of the house because she has
+the right of demanding gratitude? And in the theatre, with the
+multitude, what does not 'an astonishing chest' do? A strength of
+voice which can penetrate right through the leather of the mind
+gains stormy applause, whilst taste and execution can only be
+appreciated by the few. The actor can be certain of applause if he
+only thunder forth his parting reply. The comedian is sure of a
+shout of bravo if he puts forth an insipidity, and rubs his legs
+together as if replying with spirit and humor. The massive plate in
+the house gives many a lady the boldness to teach that in which she
+herself might perhaps have been instructed. Many a lady, like the
+Mamsell from Holstebro, dresses always in silk and a long shawl,
+and if one asks after her profession one finds it consists at most
+in dress-making; perhaps she does not even possess the little
+accompanying talent of playing the flute. How many people do not
+copy, like Maren, out of other people's memorandum-books, and do
+not excel musical-boxes! still one hears a deal of musical snuff-box
+music, and is waited upon by voices which are equally as insignificant
+as the secretary's."
+
+These were pretty much Otto's reflections, and certainly it was a
+good feeling which lay at the bottom of them. Let us remember in
+our judgment that he was so young, and that he had only known
+Copenhagen _one_ year; otherwise he would most certainly have
+thought _quite differently_.
+
+Night spread itself over the heath, the heavens were clear. Slowly
+the carriage wound along through the deep sand. The monotonous
+sound, the unchanging motion, all rendered Otto sleepy. A falling
+star shot like a fire column across the sky--this woke him for a
+moment; he soon again bowed his head and slept, fast and deep. It
+was an hour past midnight, when he was awoke by a loud cry. He
+started up--the fire burnt before them; and between it and the
+horse stood two figures, who had taken hold of the leather reins.
+Close beside them was a cart, under which was placed a sort of bed,
+on which slept a woman and some children.
+
+"Will you drive into the soup-kettle?" asked a rough voice, whilst
+another scolded in a gibberish which was unintelligible to Otto.
+
+It had happened to the coachman as to him, only that the coachman
+had fallen asleep somewhat later; the horses had lost their track,
+and uncertain, as they had long been, they were now traversing the
+impassable heath. A troop of the so-called Scavengers, who wander
+through these districts a nomadic race, had here taken up their
+quarters for the night, had made a fire and hung the kettle over
+it, to cook some pieces of a lamb they had stolen on their journey.
+
+"They were about half a mile from the highway," said an elderly
+woman who was laying some bushes of heath under the kettle.
+
+"Half a mile?" replied a voice from the other side of the cart, and
+Otto remarked a man who, wrapped in a large gray riding-cloak, had
+stretched himself out among the heather. "It is not a quarter of a
+mile to the highway if people know how to direct their course
+properly!"
+
+The pronunciation of the man was somewhat foreign, but pure, and
+free from the gibberish which the others employed in their speech.
+The voice seemed familiar to Otto, his ear weighed each syllable,
+and his blood ran quicker through his veins: "It is the German
+Heinrich, the evil angel of my life!" he felt, and wrapt himself
+closer in his mantle, so that his countenance was concealed.
+
+A half-grown lad came forward and offered himself as a guide.
+
+"But the lad must have two marks!" said the woman.
+
+Otto nodded assent, and glanced once more toward the man in whom he
+believed he recognized the German Heinrich; the man had again
+carelessly stretched himself among the heath, and did not seem
+inclined to enter into farther discourse.
+
+The woman desired the payment in advance, and received it. The boy
+led the horses toward one side; at the moment the fire flare up
+between the turf-sods, a great dog, with a loose cord about his
+neck, sprang forward and ran barking after the carriage, which now
+travelled on over the heath in the gloomy night.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+"Poetry does not always express sorrow; the rainbow can also arch
+across a cloudless blue firmament."--JEAN PAUL.
+
+We again find ourselves in Copenhagen, where we meet with Otto, and
+may every day expect Wilhelm, Miss Sophie, and the excellent mamma;
+they would only stay a few weeks. To learn tidings of their
+arrival, Otto determined to pay a visit where they were expected;
+we know the house, we were present at the Christmas festival: it
+was here that Otto received his noble pedigree.
+
+We will now become somewhat better acquainted with the family. The
+husband had a good head, as people sat, had an excellent wine-cellar,
+and was, as one of the friends maintained, a good l'hombre player.
+But the soul of the house, the animating genius, which drew into
+this circle all that possessed life and youth, was the wife.
+Beautiful one could by no means call her, but, enchanted by her
+natural loveliness, her mind, and her unaffectedness, you forgot
+this in a few moments. A rare facility in appreciating the comic of
+every-day life, and a good-humored originality in its representation,
+always afforded her rich material for conversation. It was as if Nature,
+in a moment of thoughtlessness, had formed an insipid countenance, but
+immediately afterward strove to make good her fault by breathing into
+it a soul, which, even through pale blue eyes, pale cheeks, and ordinary
+features, could make her beauty felt.
+
+When Otto entered the room he heard music. He listened: it must be
+either Weyse or Gerson.
+
+"It is the Professor Weyse," said the servant, and Otto opened the
+door softly, without knocking.
+
+The astral-lamp burnt upon the table; upon the sofa sat two young
+ladies. The mistress of the house nodded Otto a friendly welcome,
+but then smiling laid her finger on her lips, as a sign of silence,
+and pointed to a chair, on which he seated himself, and listened to
+the soft tones, which, like spirits, floated from the piano at
+which the musician sat. It was as if the slumbering thoughts and
+feelings of the soul, which in every breast find a response, even
+among the most opposite nations, had found a voice and language.
+The fantasies died away in a soft, spiritual piano. Thus lightly
+has Raphael breathed the Madonna di Foligno upon the clouds; she
+rests there as a soap-bubble rests upon velvet. That dying away of
+the tomes resembled the thoughts of the lover when his eye closes,
+and the living dream of his heart imperceptibly merges and vanishes
+in sleep. Reality is over.
+
+Here also the tones ceased.
+
+            "Der Bettelvogt von Ninive
+             Zog hinab zum Genfersee,
+                  Hm, hm!"
+             [Author's Note: An old popular German song.]
+commenced the musician once more, with an originality and spirit
+which influenced the whole company. Far too soon did he again break
+off, after he had enchanted all ears by his own treasures, as well
+as by the curiosities of the people's life in the world of sound.
+Only when he was gone did admiration find words; the fantasies
+still echoed in every heart.
+
+"His name deserves to be known throughout Europe!" said the
+gracious lady; "how few people in the world know Weyse and Kuhlau!"
+
+"That is the misfortune of a musician being born in a small
+country," said Otto. "His works become only manuscript for friends;
+his auditory extends only from Skagen to Kiel: there the door is
+closed."
+
+"One must console one's self that everything great and good becomes
+at length known," said the cousin of the family, who is known to us
+by his verses for the Christmas-tree. "The nations will become
+acquainted with everything splendid in the kingdom of mind, let it
+bloom in a small or in a large country. Certainly during this time
+the artist may have died, but then he must receive compensation in
+another world."
+
+"I truly believe," returned the gracious lady, "that he would wish
+a little in advance here below, where it is so ordered that the
+immortal must bow himself before the mortal."
+
+"Certainly," replied Otto; "the great men of the age are like
+mountains; they it is which cause the land to be seen from afar,
+and give it importance, but in themselves they are bare and cold;
+their heights are never properly known."
+
+"Very beautiful," said the lady; "you speak like a Jean Paul."
+
+At this moment the door opened, and all were surprised by the
+entrance of Miss Sophie, Wilhelm, and the dear mamma. They were
+not expected before the following evening. They had travelled the
+whole day through Zealand.
+
+"We should have been here to dinner," said Sophie, "but my brother
+could not get his business finished in Roeskelde; then he had
+forgotten to order horses, and other little misadventures occurred:
+six whole hours we remained there. Mamma contracted quite a passion
+there--she fell fairly in love with a young girl, the pretty Eva."
+
+"Yes, she is a nice creature!" said the old lady. "Had I not
+reason, Mr. Thostrup? You and my Wilhelm had already made her
+interesting to me. She has something so noble, so refined, which
+one so rarely meets with in the lower class; she deserves to come
+among educated people."
+
+"Otto, what shall our hearts say," exclaimed Wilhelm, "when my good
+mother is thus affected?"
+
+They assembled round the tea-table. Wilhelm addressed Otto with the
+confidential "thou" which Otto himself had requested.
+
+"We will drink together in tea and renew our brotherhood."
+
+Otto smiled, but with such a strangely melancholy air, and spoke
+not a word.
+
+"He's thinking about the old grandfather," thought Wilhelm, and
+laid his hand upon his friend's shoulder. "The Kammerjunker and his
+ladies greet thee!" said he. "I believe the Mamsell would willingly
+lay thee in her own work-box, were that to be done."
+
+Otto remained quiet, but in his soul there was a strange commotion.
+It would be a difficult thing to explain this motive, which
+belonged to his peculiarity of mind; it entered among the mysteries
+of the soul. The multitude call it in individuals singularity, the
+psychologist finds a deeper meaning in it, which the understanding
+is unable to fathom. We have examples of men, whose strength of
+mind and body were well known, feeling faint at the scent of a
+rose; others have been thrown into a convulsive state by touching
+gray paper. This cannot be explained; it is one of the riddles of
+Nature. A similar relaxing sensation Otto experienced when he, for
+the first time, heard himself addressed as "thou" by Wilhelm. It
+seemed to him as though the spiritual band which encircled them
+loosened itself, and Wilhelm became a stranger. It was impossible
+for Otto to return the "thou," yet, at the same time, he felt the
+injustice of his behavior and the singularity, and wished to
+struggle against it; he mastered himself, attained a kind of
+eloquence, but no "thou" would pass his lips.
+
+"To thy health, Otto," said Wilhelm, and pushed his cup against
+Otto's.
+
+"Health!" said Otto, with a smile.
+
+"It is true," began the cousin, "I promised you the other day to
+bring my advertisements with me; the first volume is closed." And
+he drew from his pocket a book in which a collection of the most
+original Address-Gazette advertisements, such as one sees daily,
+was pasted.
+
+"I have one for you," said the lady; "I found it a little time
+since. 'A woman wishes for a little child to bottle.' Is not that
+capital?"
+
+"Here is also a good one," said Wilhelm, who had turned over the
+leaves of the book: "'A boy of the Mosaic belief may be apprenticed
+to a cabinet-maker, but he need not apply unless he will eat
+everything that happens to be in the house.' That is truly a hard
+condition for the poor lad."
+
+"Almost every day," said the cousin, "one may read, 'For the play
+of to-day or to-morrow is a good place to be had in the third story
+in the Christenbernikov Street.' The place is a considerable
+distance from the theatre."
+
+"Theatre!" exclaimed the master of the house, who now entered to
+take his place at the tea-table, "one can soon hear who has that
+word in his mouth; now is he again at the theatre! The man can
+speak of nothing else. There ought, ready, to be a fine imposed,
+which he should pay each time he pronounces the word theatre. I
+would only make it a fine of two skillings, and yet I dare promise
+that before a month was over he would be found to pay in fines his
+whole pocket-money, and his coat and boots besides. It is a real
+mania with the man! I know no one among my young friends," added
+he, with an ironical smile at Wilhelm,--"no, not one, who has such
+a hobby-horse as our good cousin."
+
+"Here thou art unjust to him!" interrupted his wife; "do not place
+a fine upon him, else I will place thee in a vaudeville! Thy life
+is in politics; our cousin's in theatrical life; Wilhelm's in
+thorough-bass; and Mr. Thostrup's in learned subjects. Each of you
+is thus a little nail in the different world-wheels; whoever
+despises others shows that he considers his wheel the first, or
+imagines that the world is a wheelbarrow, which goes upon one
+wheel! No, it is a more complicated machine."
+
+Later in the evening, when the company broke up, Otto and Wilhelm
+went together.
+
+"I do not think," said Wilhelm, "that thou hast yet said thou to
+me. Is it not agreeable to thee?"
+
+"It was my own wish, my own request," replied Otto. "I have not
+remarked what expressions I have employed." He remained silent.
+Wilhelm himself seemed occupied with unusual thoughts, when he
+suddenly exclaimed: "Life is, after all, a gift of blessings! One
+should never make one's self sorrows which do not really exist!
+'Carpe diem,' said old Horace."
+
+"That will we!" replied Otto; "but now we must first think of our
+examination."
+
+They pressed each other's hands and parted.
+
+"But I have heard no thou!" said Wilhelm to himself "He is an
+oddity, and yet I love him! In this consists, perhaps, my own
+originality."
+
+He entered his room, where the hostess had been cleaning,
+and had arranged the books and papers in the nicest order. Wilhelm
+truly called it disorder; the papers in confusion and the books in
+a row. The lamp even had a new place; and this was called order!
+
+Smiling, he seated himself at the piano; it was so long since they
+had said "Good day" to each other! He ran over the keys several
+times, then lost himself in fantasies. "That is lovely!" he
+exclaimed. "But it is not my property! What does it belong to? It
+melts into my own feelings!" He played it again. It was a thema out
+of "Tancredi," therefore from Rossini, even the very composer whom
+our musical friends most looked down upon; how could he then guess
+who had created those tones which now spoke to his heart? His whole
+being he felt penetrated by a happiness, a love of life, the cause
+of which he knew not. He thought of Otto with a warmth which the
+latter's strange behavior did not deserve. All beloved beings
+floated so sweetly before his mind. This was one of those moments
+which all good people know; one feels one's self a member of the
+great chain of love which binds creation together.
+
+So long as the rose-bud remains folded together it seems to be
+without fragrance; yet only one morning is required, and the fine
+breath streams from the crimson mouth. It is only one moment; it is
+the commencement of a new existence, which already has lain long
+concealed in the bud: but one does not see the magic wand which
+works the change. This spiritual contrast, perhaps, took place in
+the past hour; perhaps the last evening rays which fell upon the
+leaves concealed this power! The roses of the garden must open;
+those of the heart follow the same laws. Was this love? Love is, as
+poets say, a pain; it resembles the disease of the mussel, through
+which pearls are formed. But Wilhelm was not sick; he felt himself
+particularly full of strength and enjoyment of life. The poet's
+simile of the mussel and the pearl sounds well, but it is false.
+Most poets are not very learned in natural history; and, therefore,
+they are guilty of many errors with regard to it. The pearl is
+formed on the mussel not through disease; when an enemy attacks her
+she sends forth drops in her defense, and these change into pearls.
+It is thus strength, and not weakness, which creates the beautiful.
+It would be unjust to call love a pain, a sickness; it is an energy
+of life which God has planted in the human breast; it fills our
+whole being like the fragrance which fills each leaf of the rose,
+and then reveals itself among the struggles of life as a pearl of
+worth.
+
+These were Wilhelm's thoughts; and yet it was not perfectly clear
+to him that he loved with his whole soul, as one can only love
+once.
+
+The following forenoon he paid a visit to Professor Weyse.
+
+"You are going to Roeskelde, are you not?" asked Wilhelm. "I have
+heard you so often play the organ here in Our Lady's church, I
+should very much like to hear you there, in the cathedral. If I
+were to make the journey, would you then play a voluntary for me?"
+
+"You will not come!" said the musician.
+
+"I shall come!" answered Wilhelm, and kept his word. Two days after
+this conversation he rolled through the streets of Roeskelde.
+
+"I am come for a wager! I shall hear Weyse play the organ!" said he
+to the host, although there was no need for an apology.
+
+Bulwer in his romance, "The Pilgrims of the Rhine," has with
+endless grace and tenderness called forth a fairy world. The little
+spirits float there as the breath of air floats around the material
+reality; one is forced to believe in their existence. With a genius
+powerful as that which inspired Bulwer, glorious as that which
+infused into Shakespeare the fragrance we find breathed over the
+"Midsummer-night's Dream," did Weyse's tones fill Wilhelm; the deep
+melodies of the organ in the old cathedral had indeed attracted him
+to the quiet little town! The powerful tones of the heart summoned
+him! Through them even every day things assumed a coloring, an
+expression of beauty, such as Byron shows us in words, Thorwaldsen
+in the hard stone, Correggio in colors.
+
+We have by Goethe a glorious poem, "Love a Landscape-painter." The
+poet sits upon a peak and gazes before him into the mist, which,
+like canvas spread upon the easel, conceals all heights and
+expanses; then comes the God of Love and teaches him how to paint a
+picture on the mist. The little one now sketches with his rosy
+fingers a picture such as only Nature and Goethe give us. Were the
+poet here, we could offer him no rock on which he might seat
+himself, but something, through legends and songs, equally
+beautiful. He would then sing,--I seated myself upon the mossy
+stone above the cairn; the mist resembled outstretched canvas. The
+God of Love commenced on this his sketch. High up he painted a
+glorious still, whose rays were dazzling! The edges of the clouds
+he made as of gold, and let the rays penetrate through them; then
+painted he the fine light boughs of fresh, fragrant trees; brought
+forth one hill after the other. Behind these, half-concealed, lay a
+little town, above which rose a mighty church; two tall towers with
+high spires rose into the air; and below the church, far out, where
+woods formed the horizon, drew he a bay so naturally! it seemed to
+play with the sunbeams as if the waves splashed up against the
+coast. Now appeared flowers; to the fields and meadows he gave the
+coloring of velvet and precious stones; and on the other side of
+the bay the dark woods melted away into a bluish mist. "I can
+paint!" said the little one; "but the most difficult still remains
+to do." And he drew with his delicate finger, just where the rays
+of the sun fell most glowingly, a maiden so gentle, so sweet, with
+dark blue eyes and cheeks as blooming as the rosy fingers which
+formed the picture. And see! a breeze arose; the leaves of the
+trees quivered; the expanse of water ruffled itself; the dress of
+the maiden was gently stirred; the maiden herself approached: the
+picture itself was a reality! And thus did the old royal city
+present itself before Wilhelm's eyes, the towers of the cathedral,
+she tay, the far woods, and--Eva!
+
+The first love of a pure heart is holy! This holiness may be
+indicated, but not described! We return to Otto.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+"A man only gains importance by a poet's fancy, when his genius
+vividly represents to our imagination a clearer, but not an
+ennobled image of men and objects which have an existence; then
+alone he understands how to idealize."--H. HERTZ.
+
+We pass on several weeks. It was toward the end of September, the
+examen philosophicum was near. Preparations for this had been
+Otto's excuse for not yet having visited the family circle of his
+guardian, the merchant Berger. This was, however, brought about by
+Otto's finding one day, when he went to speak with his guardian,
+the mistress of the house in the same room. We know that there are
+five daughters in the house, and that only one is engaged, yet they
+are all well-educated girls--domestic girls, as their mother
+assured her friend upon more than one occasion.
+
+"So, then, I have at length the honor of making your acquaintance,"
+said Mrs. Berger. "this visit, truly, is not intended either for me
+or the children, but still you must now drink a cup of coffee with
+us. Within it certainly looks rather disorderly; the girls are
+making cloaks for the winter. We will not put ourselves out of the
+way for you: you shall be regarded as a member of the family: but
+then you must come to us in a friendly way. Every Thursday our
+son-in-law dines with us, will you then be contented with our dinner?
+Now you shall become acquainted with my daughters."
+
+"And I must to my office," said the husband; "therefore let us
+consider Thursday as an appointment. We dine at three o'clock, and
+after coffee Laide gives us music."
+
+The lady now conducted Otto into the sitting-room, where he found
+the four daughters in full activity with a workwoman. The fifth
+daughter, Julle, was, as they had told him, gone to the shops for
+patterns: yesterday she had run all over the town, but the patterns
+she received were not good.
+
+The lady told him the name of each daughter; their characteristics
+he naturally learnt later.
+
+All the five sisters had the idea that they were so extremely
+different, and yet they resembled each other to a hair. Adelaide,
+or Laide, as she was also called, was certainly the prettiest; that
+she well knew also, therefore she would have a fur cape, and no
+cloak; her figure should be seen. Christiane was what one might
+call a practical girl; she knew how to make use of everything.
+Alvilde had always a little attack of the tooth-ache; Julle went
+shopping, and Miss Grethe was the bride. She was also musical, and
+was considered witty. Thus she said one evening when the house-door
+was closed, and groaned dreadfully on its hinges, "See now, we have
+port wine after dinner." [Translator's Note: A pun which it is
+impossible to translate. The Danish word Portviin according to
+sound, may mean either port wine or the creaking of a door.] The
+brother, the only son of the house, with whom we shall become
+better acquainted, had written down this conceit; "but that was
+only to be rude toward her," said Miss Grethe. "Such good ideas as
+this I have every hour of the day!"
+
+We ought really to accuse these excellent girls of nothing foolish;
+they were very good and wise. The lover, Mr. Svane, was also a
+zealous wit; he was so lively, they said. Every one with whom he
+became a little familiar he called immediately Mr. Petersen, and
+that was so droll!
+
+"Now the father has invited Mr. Thostrup to come on Thursday!" said
+the lady. "I also think, if we were to squeeze ourselves a little
+together, he might find a place with us in the box; the room is,
+truly, very confined."
+
+Otto besought them not to incommode themselves.
+
+"O, it is a large box!" said the lady, but she did not say how many
+of them were already in it. Only eleven ladies went from the family
+itself. They were obliged to go to the theatre in three parties, so
+that people might not think; if they all went together, there was a
+mob. One evening, when the box had been occupied by eighteen
+persons, beside several twelve-year old children, who had sat in
+people's laps, or stood before them, and the whole party had
+returned home in one procession, and were standing before the house
+door to go in, people streamed together, imagining there was some
+alarm, or that some one had fallen into convulsions. "What is the
+matter?" they asked, and Miss Grethe immediately replied, "It is a
+select company!" [Translator's Note: A select or shut-out company.
+We regret that this pun, like the foregoing one, is untransferable
+into English.] Since that evening they returned home in separate
+divisions.
+
+"It is really a good box!" said Alvilde; "if we had only other
+neighbors! The doors are opening and shutting eternally, and make a
+draught which is not bearable for the teeth. And then they speak so
+loud! the other night I did not hear a single word of the pretty
+song about Denmark."
+
+"But did you lose much through that?" asked Otto, smiling, and soon
+they found themselves very much at variance, just as if they had
+been old acquaintances. "I do not think much of these patriotic
+scraps, where the poet, in his weakness, supports himself by this
+beautiful sentiment of patriotism in the people. You will certainly
+grant that here the multitude always applauds when it only hears
+the word 'Father-land,' or the name of 'Christian IV.' The poet
+must give something more; this is a left-handed kind of patriotism.
+One would really believe that Denmark were the only country in the
+world!"
+
+"Fie, Mr. Thostrup!" said the lady: "do you not then love your
+father-land?"
+
+"I believe I love it properly!" returned he: "and because it really
+possesses so much that is excellent do I desire that only what is
+genuine should be esteemed, only what is genuine be prized."
+
+"I agree in the main with Mr. Thostrup," said Miss Grethe, who was
+busied in unpicking and turning her cloak, in order, as she herself
+said, to spoil it on the other side. "I think he is right! If a
+poem is well spoken on the stage, it has always a kind of effect.
+It is just the same as with stuffs--they may be of a middling
+quality and may have an unfavorable pattern, but if they are worn
+by a pretty figure they look well after all!"
+
+"I am often vexed with the public!" said Otto. "It applauds at
+improper places, and sometimes exhibits an extraordinary
+innocence."
+
+"Those are 'the lords of the kingdom of mind,'" said Miss Grethe, smiling.
+[Note:  "We are the lords of the kingdom of mind!
+         We are the stem which can never decay!"
+         --Students' Song, by CHRISTIAN WINTHER.]
+
+"No, the _neighbors_!" replied Otto quickly.
+
+At this moment Miss Julle entered. She had been wandering from shop
+to shop, she said, until she could bear it no longer! She had had
+the stuffs down from all the shelves, and at length had succeeded
+so far as to become possessed of eight small pieces--beautiful
+patterns, she maintained. And now she knew very well where the
+different stuffs were to be had, how wide they were, and how much
+the yard. "And whom did I meet?" said she; "only think! down the
+middle of East Street came the actor--you know well! Our little
+passion! He is really charming off the stage."
+
+"Did you meet him?" said Laide. "That girl is always lucky!"
+
+"Mr. Thostrup," said the mother, presenting him, for the young lady
+seemed to forget him entirely, so much was she occupied with this
+encounter and her patterns.
+
+Julle bowed, and said she had seen him before: he had heard
+Mynster, and had stood near the chair where she sat; he was dressed
+in an olive-green coat.
+
+"Then you are acquainted with each other!" said the lady. "She is
+the most pious of all the children. When the others rave about
+Spindler and Johanne Schoppenhauer, she raves about the clergyman
+who confirmed her. You know my son? He became a student a year
+before you. He sees you in the club sometimes."
+
+"There you will have seen him more amiable than you will find him
+at home," said Adelaide. "Heaven knows he is not gallant toward his
+sisters!"
+
+"Sweet Laide, how can you say so!" cried the mother. "You are
+always so unjust toward Hans Peter! When you become better
+acquainted with him, Mr. Thostrup, you will like him; he is a
+really serious young man, of uncorrupted manners. Do you remember,
+Laide, how he hissed that evening in the theatre when they gave
+that immoral piece? And how angry he is with that 'Red Riding
+Hood?' O, the good youth! Besides, in our family, you will soon
+meet with an old acquaintance--in a fortnight a lady out of Jutland
+will come here. She remains the winter here. Do you not guess who
+it is? A little lady from Lemvig!"
+
+"Maren!" exclaimed Otto.
+
+"Yes, truly!" said the lady. "She is said to have such a beautiful
+voice!"
+
+"Yes, in Lemvig," remarked Adelaide. "And what a horrible name she
+has! We must christen her again, when she comes. She must be called
+Mara, or Massa."
+
+"We could call her Massa Carara!" said Grethe.
+
+"No; she shall be called Maja, as in the 'Every-day Tales,'" said
+Christiane.
+
+"I am of Jane's opinion!" said the mother. "We will christen her
+again, and call her Maja."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+Men are not always what they seem.--LESSING.
+
+Our tale is no creation of fancy; it is the reality in which we
+live; bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh. Our own time and
+the men of our own age we shall see. But not alone will we occupy
+ourselves with every-day life, with the moss on the surface; the
+whole tree, from the roots to the fragrant leaves, will we observe.
+The heavy earth shall press the roots, the moss and bark of every-day
+life adhere to the stern, the strong boughs with flowers and leaves
+spread themselves out, whilst the sun of poetry shall shine among
+them, and show the colors, odor, and singing-birds. But the tree of
+reality cannot shoot up so soon as that of fancy, like the enchantment
+in Tieck's "Elves." We must seek our type in nature. Often may
+there be an appearance of cessation; but that is not the case. It
+is even so with our story; whilst our characters, by mutual discourse,
+make themselves worthy of contemplation, there arises, as with the
+individual branches of the tree, an unseen connection. The branch
+which shoots high up in the air, as though it would separate itself
+from the mother-stem, only presses forward to form the crown, to lend
+uniformity to the whole tree. The lines which diverge from the general
+centre are precisely those which produce the harmony.
+
+We shall, therefore, soon see, though these scenes out of every-day
+life are no digression from the principal events, nothing
+episodical which one may pass over. In order still sooner to arrive
+at a clear perception of this assertion, we will yet tarry a few
+moments in the house of Mr. Berger, the merchant; but in the mean
+time we have advanced three weeks. Wilhelm and Otto had happily
+passed their examen philosophicum. The latter had paid several
+visits, and was already regarded as an old friend of the family.
+The lover already addressed him with his droll "Good day, Mr.
+Petersen;" and Grethe was witty about his melancholy glance, which
+he was not always able to conquer. She called it "making faces,"
+and besought him to appear so on the day of her funeral.
+
+The object of the five sisters' first Platonic love had been their
+brother. They had overwhelmed him with caresses and tenderness, had
+admired and worshipped him. "The dear little man!" they called him;
+they had no other. But Hans Peter was so impolite and teasing
+toward the dear sisters, that they were found to resign him so soon
+as one of them had a lover. Upon this lover they all clung. Each
+one seemed to have a piece of him. He was Grethe's bridegroom,
+would be their brother-in-law. They might address him with the
+confidential thou, and even give him a little kiss.
+
+Otto's appearance in the family caused these rays to change their
+direction. Otto was handsome, and possessed of fortune; either of
+which often suffices to bow a female heart. Beauty bribes the
+thoughtless; riches, the prudent.
+
+Maren, or as she was here called, Maja, had arrived. The young
+ladies had already pulled off some of her bows, arranged her hair
+differently, and made one of her silk handkerchiefs into an apron;
+but, spite of all this finesse, she still remained the lady from
+Lemvig. They could remove no bows from her pronunciation. She had
+been the first at home; here she could not take that rank. This
+evening she was to see in the theatre, for the first time, the
+ballet of the "Somnambule."
+
+"It is French!" said Hans Peter; "and frivolous, like everything
+that we have from them."
+
+"Yes, the scene in the second act, where she steps out of the
+window," said the merchant; "that is very instructive for youth!"
+
+"But the last act is sweet!" cried the lady. "The second act is
+certainly, as Hans Peter very justly observed, somewhat French.
+Good heavens! he gets quite red, the sweet lad!" She extended her
+hand to him, and nodded, smiling, whereupon Hans Peter spoke very
+prettily about the immorality on the stage. The father also made
+some striking observation.
+
+"Yes," said the lady, "were all husbands like thee, and all young
+men like Hans Peter, they would speak in another tone on the stage,
+and dress in another manner. In dancing it is abominable; the
+dresses are so short and indecent, just as though they had nothing
+on! Yet, after all, we must say that the 'Somnambule' is beautiful.
+And, really, it is quite innocent!"
+
+They now entered still deeper into the moral: the conversation
+lasted till coffee came.
+
+Maren's heart beat even quicker, partly in expectation of the play,
+through hearing of the corruptions of this Copenhagen Sodom. She
+heard Otto defend this French piece; heard him speak of
+affectation. Was he then corrupted? How gladly would she have heard
+him discourse upon propriety, as Hans Peter had done. "Poor Otto!"
+thought she; "this is having no relations, but being forced to
+struggle on in the world alone."
+
+The merchant now rose. He could not go to the theatre. First, he
+had business to attend to; and then he must go to his club, where
+he had yesterday changed his hat.
+
+"Nay, then, it has happened to thee as to Hans Peter!" said the
+lady. "Yesterday, in the lecture-room, he also got a strange hat.
+But, there, thou hast his hat!" she suddenly exclaimed, as her eye
+fell upon the hat which her husband held in his hand. "That is Hans
+Peter's hat! Now, we shall certainly find that he has thine! You
+have exchanged them here at home. You do not know each other's
+hats, and therefore you fancy this occurred from home."
+
+One of the sisters now brought the hat which Hans Peter had got in
+mistake. Yes, it was certainly the father's. Thus an exchange in
+the house, a little intermezzo, which naturally, from its
+insignificance, was momentarily forgotten by all except the parties
+concerned, for to them it was an important moment in their lives;
+and to us also, as we shall see, an event of importance, which has
+occasioned us to linger thus long in this circle. In an adjoining
+room will we, unseen spirits, watch the father and son. They are
+alone; the family is already in the theatre. We may, indeed, watch
+them--they are true moralists. It is only a moral drawn from a hat.
+
+But the father's eyes rolled, his cheeks glowed, his words were
+sword-strokes, and must make an impression on any disposition as
+gentle as his son's; but the son stood quiet, with a firm look and
+with a smile on his lips, such as the moral bestows. "You were in
+the adjoining room!" said he. "Where it is proper for you to be
+there may I also come."
+
+"Boy!" cried the father, and named the place, but we know it not;
+neither know we its inhabitants. Victor Hugo includes them in his
+"Children's Prayer," in his beautiful poem, "La Pri�re pour Tous."
+The child prays for all, even "for those who sell the sweet name of
+love." [Note: "Prie! ...
+Pour les femmes �chevel�es
+Qui vendent le doux nom d'amour!"]
+
+"Let us be silent with each other!" said the son. "I am acquainted
+with many histories. I know another of the pretty Eva!"--
+
+"Eva!" repeated the father.
+
+We will hear no more! It is not proper to listen. We see the father
+and son extend their hands. It appeared a scene of reconciliation.
+They parted: the father goes to his business, and Hans Peter to the
+theatre, to anger himself over the immorality in the second act of
+the "Somnambule."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+"L'amour est pour les coeurs,
+Ce que l'aurore est pour les fleurs,
+Et le printemps pour la nature."--VIGUE.
+
+"Love is a childish disease and like the small-pox. Some die, some
+become deformed, others are more or less scarred, while upon others
+the disease does not leave any visible trace."--The Alchemist, by
+C. HAUCH.
+
+"Be candid, Otto!" said Wilhelm, as he one day visited his friend.
+"You cannot make up your mind to say thou to me; therefore let it
+be. We are, after all, good friends. It is only a form; although
+you must grant that in this respect you are really a great fool."
+
+Otto now explained what an extraordinary aversion he had felt, what
+a painful feeling had seized upon him, and made it impossible to
+him.
+
+"There you were playing the martyr!" said Wilhelm, laughing. "Could
+you not immediately tell me how you were constituted? So are most
+men. When they have no trouble, they generally hatch one
+themselves; they will rather stand in the cold shadow than in the
+warm sunshine, and yet the choice stands open to us. Dear friend,
+reflect; now we are both of us on the stream: we shall soon be put
+into the great business-bottles, where we shall, like little
+devils, stretch and strain ourselves without ever getting out,
+until life withdraws from us!" He laid his arm confidentially upon
+Otto's shoulder. "Often have I wished to speak with you upon one
+point! Yes, I do not desire that you should confess every word,
+every thought to me. I already know that I shall be able to prove
+to you that the thing lies in a region where it cannot have the
+power which you ascribe to it. In the cold zones a venomous bite
+does not operate as dangerously as in warmer ones; a sorrow
+in childhood cannot overpower us as it does in riper age. Whatever
+misfortune may have happened to you when a child, if in your
+wildness--you yourself say that you were wild--whatsoever you may
+have then done, it cannot, it ought not to influence your whole
+life: your understanding could tell you this better than I. At our
+age we find ourselves in the land of joy, or we never enter it!"
+
+"You are a happy man!" exclaimed Otto, and gazed sorrowfully
+before him. "Your childhood afforded you only joy and hope! Only
+think of the solitude in which mine was passed. Among the sand-hills
+of the west coast my days glided away: my grandfather was gloomy
+and passionate; our old preacher lived only in a past time which
+I knew not, and Rosalie regarded the world through the spectacles
+of sorrow. Such an environment might well cast a shadow upon my
+life-joy. Even in dress, one is strangely remarkable when one comes
+from afar province to the capital; first this receives another cut,
+and one gradually becomes like those around one. The same thing
+happens in a spiritual relation, but one's being and ideas one does
+not change so quickly as one's clothes. I have only been a short
+time among strangers, and who knows?" added he, with a melancholy
+smile, "perhaps I shall come into equilibrium when some really
+great misfortune happens to me and very much overpowers me, and
+then I may show the same carelessness, the same phlegm as the
+multitude."
+
+"A really great misfortune!" repeated Wilhelm. "You do, indeed, say
+something. That would be a very original means of cure, but you are
+an original being. Perhaps lay this means you might really be
+healed. 'Make no cable out of cobweb!' said a celebrated poet whose
+name does not occur to me at this moment. But the thought is good,
+you should have it embroidered upon your waistcoat, so that you
+might have it before your eyes when you droop your head. Do not
+look so grave; we are friends, are we not? Among all my young
+acquaintance you are the dearest to me, although there are moments
+when I know not how it stands with us. I could confide every secret
+to you, but I am not sure that you would be equally open with me.
+Do not be angry, my dear friend! There are secrets of so delicate a
+nature, that one may not confide them even to the dearest friend.
+So long as we preserve _our_ secret it is our prisoner; it is quite
+the contrary, however, so soon as we have let it escape us. And
+yet, Otto, you are so dear to me, that I believe in you as in my
+own heart. This, even now, bears a secret which penetrates me with
+joy and love of life! I must speak cut. But you must enter into my
+joy, partake in it, or say nothing about it; you have then heard
+nothing--nothing! Otto, I love! therefore am I happy, therefore is
+there sunshine in my heart, life joy in my veins! I love Eva, the
+beautiful lovely Eva!"
+
+Otto pressed his hand, but preserved silence.
+
+"No, not so!" cried Wilhelm. "Only speak a word! Do you I'm in a
+conception of the world which has opened before me?"
+
+"Eva is beautiful! very beautiful!" said Otto, slowly. "She is
+innocent and good. What can one wish for more? I can imagine how
+she fills your whole heart! But will she do so always? She will not
+always remain young, always lovely! Has she, then, mind sufficient
+to be everything to you? Will this momentary happiness which you
+prepare for her and yourself be great enough to outweigh--I will
+not say the sorrow, but the discontent which this union will bring
+forth in your family? For God's sake, think of everything!"
+
+"My dear fellow!" said Wilhelm, "your old preacher now really
+speaks out of you! But enough: I can bear the confession. I answer,
+'Yes, yes!' with all my heart, 'yes!' Wherefore will you now bring
+me out of my sunshine into shade? Wherefore, in my joy over the
+beauty of the rose should I be reminded that the perfume and color
+will vanish, that the leaves will fall? It is the course of life!
+but must one, therefore, think of the grave, of the finale, when
+the act begins?"
+
+"Love is a kind of monomania," said Otto; "it may be combated: it
+depends merely upon our own will."
+
+"Ah, you know this not at all!" said Wilhelm. "But it will come in
+due time, and then you will be far more violent than others! Who
+knows? perhaps this is the sorrow of which you spoke, the
+misfortune which should bring your whole being into equipoise! That
+was also a kind of search after the sorrowful. I will sincerely
+wish that your heart may be filled with love as mine is; then will
+the influence of the sand-hills vanish, and you will speak with me
+as you ought to do, and as my confidence deserves!"
+
+"That will I!" replied Otto. "You make the poor girl miserable! Now
+you love Eva, but then you will no longer be able. The distance
+between you and her is too great, and I cannot conceive how the
+beauty of her countenance can thus fill your whole being. A
+waiting-girl! yes, I repeat the name which offends your ear: a
+waiting-girl! Everywhere will it be repeated. And you? No one can
+respect nobility less than I do--that nobility which is only
+conferred by birth; it is nothing, and a time will come when this
+will not be prized at all, when the nobility of the soul will be
+the only nobility. I openly say this to you, who are a nobleman
+yourself. The more development of mind, the more ancestors! But Eva
+has nothing, can have nothing, except a pretty face, and this is
+what has enchained you; you are become the servant of a servant,
+and that is degrading yourself and your nobility of mind!"
+
+"Mr. Thostrup!" exclaimed Wilhelm, "you wound me! This is truly
+not the first time, but now I am weary of it. I have shown too much
+good nature, and that is the most unfortunate failing a man can be
+cursed with!"
+
+He seated himself at the piano, and hammered away.
+
+Otto was silent a moment, his checks glowed, but he was soon again
+calm, and in a joking tone said: "Do not expend your anger upon
+that poor instrument because we disagree in our views. You are
+playing only dissonances, which offend my ear more than your
+anger!"
+
+"Dissonances!" repeated Wilhelm. "Cannot you hear that they are
+harmonies? There are many things for which you have a bad ear!"
+
+Otto knew how to lead his anger to different points regarding which
+they had formerly been at variance, but he spoke with such mildness
+that Wilhelm's anger rather abated than increased.
+
+They were again friends, but regarding Eva not one word more was
+said.
+
+"I should not be an honest and true friend to him, were I to let
+him be swallowed up by this whirlpool!" said Otto to himself, when
+he was alone. "At present he is innocent and good but at his age,
+with his gay disposition!--I must warn Eva! soon! soon! The snow
+which has once been trodden is no longer pure! Wilhelm will
+scarcely forgive me! But I must!"
+
+On the morrow it was impossible for him to travel to Roeskelde, but
+the following day he really would and must hasten thither.
+
+Still, in the early morning hour, Eva occupied his thoughts; she
+busied Wilhelm's also, but in a different way: but they agreed in
+the purity of their intentions. There was still a third, whose
+blood was put in motion at the mention of her name, who said: "The
+pretty Eva is a servant there! One must speak with her. The family
+can make an excursion there!"
+
+"You sweet children!" said the merchant's wife, "the autumn is
+charming, far pleasanter than the whole summer! The father, should
+the weather remain good, will make an excursion with us to
+Lethraborg the day after to-morrow. We will then walk in the
+beautiful valley of the Hertha, and pass the night at Roeskelde.
+Those will be two delightful days! What an excellent father you
+have! But shall we not invite Mr. Thostrup to go with us? We are so
+many ladies, and it looks well to have a few young gentlemen with
+us. Grethe, thou must write an invitation; thou canst write thy
+father's name underneath."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+"These poetical letters are so similar to those of Baggesen, that
+we could be almost tempted to consider the news of his death as
+false, although so well affirmed that we must acknowledge it."
+--Monthly Journal of Literature.
+
+"She is as slender as the poplar-willow, as fleet as the hastening
+waters. A Mayflower odorous and sweet."--H. P. HOLST.
+
+"Ah, where is the rose?"--Lulu, by GUNTELBURG.
+
+The evening before Otto was to travel with the merchant's family to
+Roeskelde he called upon the family where Miss Sophie was staying.
+Her dear mamma had left three days before. Wilhelm had wished to
+accompany him to Roeskelde, but the mother did not desire it.
+
+"We have had a pleasure to-day," said Sophie, "a pleasure from
+which we shall long have enjoyment. Have you seen the new book, the
+'Letters of a Wandering Ghost?' It is Baggesen himself in his most
+perfect beauty, a music which I never believed could have been
+given in words. This is a poet! He has made July days in the poetry
+of Denmark. Natural thoughts are so strikingly, and yet so simply
+expressed; one has the idea that one could write such verses one's
+self, they fall so lightly."
+
+"They are like prose," said the lady, "and yet the most beautifully
+perfect verse I know. You must read the book, Mr. Thostrup!"
+
+"Perhaps you will read to us this evening?" said Sophie. "I should
+very much like to hear it again."
+
+"In a second reading one shall enter better into the individual
+beauties," said the lady of the house.
+
+"I will remain and listen," said the host.
+
+"This must be a masterpiece!" exclaimed Otto,"--a true masterpiece,
+since all are so delighted with it."
+
+"It is Baggesen himself; and truly as he must sing in that world
+where everything mortal is ennobled."
+
+"'Meadows all fragrance, the strongholds of pleasure,
+        Heaven blue streamlets,
+That speed through the green woods in musical measure,'"
+began Otto, and the spiritual battle-piece with beauty and tone
+developed itself more and more; they found themselves in the
+midst of the winter camp of the Muses, where the poet with
+        ..."lyre on his shoulder and sword at his side,
+Hastened to fight with the foes of the Muses."
+Otto's gloomy look won during the perusal a more animated
+expression. "Excellent!" exclaimed he; "this is what I myself have
+thought and felt, but, alas! have been unable to express."
+
+"I am a strange girl," said Sophie; "whenever I read a new poet of
+distinguished talent, I consider that he is the greatest. It was so
+with Byron and Victor Hugo. 'Cain' overwhelmed me, 'Notre Dame'
+carried me away with it. Once I could imagine no greater poet than
+Walter Scott, and yet I forget him over Oehlenschl�ger; yes, I
+remember a time when Heiberg's vaudevilles took almost the first
+place among my chosen favorites. Thus I know myself and my
+changeable disposition, and yet I firmly believe that I shall make
+an exception with this work. Other poets showed me the objects of
+the outer world, this one shows me my own mind: my own thoughts, my
+own being he presents before me, and therefore I shall always take
+the same interest in the Ghost's Letters."
+
+"They are true food for the mind," said Otto; "they are as words in
+season; there must be movement in the lake, otherwise it will
+become a bog."
+
+"The author is severe toward those whom he has introduced," said
+the lady; "but he carries, so to say, a sweet knife. A wound from a
+sharp sword-blade is not so painful as that from a rusty, notched
+knife."
+
+"But who may the author be?" said Sophie.
+
+"May we never learn!" replied Otto. "Uncertainty gives the book
+something piquant. In such a small country as ours it is good for
+the author to be unknown. Here we almost tread upon each other, and
+look into each other's garments. Here the personal conditions of
+the author have much to do with success; and then there are the
+newspapers, where either friend or enemy has an assistant, whereas
+the being anonymous gives it the patent of nobility. It is well
+never to know an author. What does his person matter to us, if his
+book is only good?
+
+"'Crush and confound the rabble dissolute
+That desecrate thy poet's grave?'"
+read Otto, and the musical poem was at an end. All were enchanted
+with it. Otto alone made some small objections: "The Muses ought not
+to come with 'trumpets and drums,' and so many expressions similar
+to 'give a blow on the chaps,' etc., ought not to appear."
+
+"But if the poet will attack what is coarse," said Sophie, "he must
+call things by their proper names. He presents us with a specimen
+of the prosaic filth, but in a soap-bubble. We may see it, but not
+seize upon it. I consider that you are wrong!"
+
+"The conception of idea and form," said Otto, "does not seem to be
+sufficiently presented to one; both dissolve into one. Even prose is a
+form."
+
+"But the form itself is the most important," said the lady of the
+house; "with poetry as with sculpture, it is the form which gives
+the meaning."
+
+"No, pardon me!" said Otto; "poetry is like the tree which God
+allows to grow. The inward power expresses itself in the form; both
+are equally important, but I consider the internal as the most
+holy. This is here the poet's thought. The opinion which he
+expresses affects us as much as the beautiful dress in which he has
+presented it."
+
+Now commenced a contest upon form and material, such as was
+afterward maintained throughout the whole of Copenhagen.
+
+"I shall always admire the 'Letters of a Wandering Ghost,'" said
+Sophie,--"always rave about these poems. To-night I shall dream of
+nothing but this work of art."
+
+How little men can do that which they desire, did this very moment
+teach.
+
+When we regard the fixed star through a telescope and lose
+ourselves in contemplation, a little hair can conceal the mighty
+body, a grain of dust lead us from these sublime thoughts. A letter
+came for Miss Sophie; a traveller brought it from her mother: she
+was already in Funen, and announced her safe arrival.
+
+"And the news?" said the hostess.
+
+"Mamma has hired a new maid, or, rather, she has taken to be with
+her an amiable young girl--the pretty Eva in Roeskelde. Mr.
+Thostrup and Wilhelm related to us this summer several things about
+her which make her interesting. We saw her on our journey hither,
+when mamma was prepossessed by her well-bred appearance. Upon her
+return, the young girl has quite won her heart. It really were a
+pity if such a pretty, respectable girl remained in a public-house.
+She is very pretty; is she not, Mr. Thostrup?"
+
+"Very pretty!" answered Otto, becoming crimson, for Sophie said
+this with an emphasis which was not without meaning.
+
+The following day, at an early hour, Otto found himself at the
+merchant's.
+
+Spite of the changeable weather of our climate, all the ladies were
+in their best dresses. Three persons must sit upon each seat. Hans
+Peter and the lover had their place beside the coachman. It was a
+long time before the cold meat, the provision for several days, was
+packed up, and the whole company were seated. At length, when they
+had got out of the city, Christiane recollected that they had
+forgotten the umbrellas, and that, after all, it would be good to
+have them. The coachman must go back for them, and meantime the
+carriage drew up before the Column of Liberty. The poor sentinel
+must now become an object of Miss Grethe's interest. Several times
+the soldier glanced down upon his regimentals. He was a
+Kr�hwinkler, who had an eye to his own advantage. A man who rode
+past upon a load of straw occupied a high position. That was very
+interesting.
+
+Otto endeavored to give the conversation another direction. "Have
+not you seen the new poem which has just appeared, the 'Letters of
+a Wandering Ghost?'" asked he, and sketched out their beauty and
+tendency.
+
+"Doubtless, very heavy blows are dealt!" said Mr. Berger, "the man
+must be witty--Baggesen to the very letter."
+
+"The 'Copenhagen Post' is called the pump!" said Hans Peter.
+
+"That is superb!" cried Grethe. "Who does it attack besides?"
+
+"Folks in Soroe, and this 'Holy Andersen,' as they call him."
+
+"Does he get something?" said Laide. "That I will grant him for his
+milk and water. He was so impolite toward the ladies!"
+
+"I like them to quarrel in this way!" said the merchant's lady.
+"Heiberg will doubtless get his share also, and then he will reply
+in something merry."
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Berger, "he always knows how to twist things in
+such a manner that one must laugh, and then it is all one to us
+whether he is right or not."
+
+"This book is entirely for Heiberg," said Otto. "The author is
+anonymous, and a clever man."
+
+"Good Heavens! you are not the author, Mr. Thostrup?" cried Julle,
+and looked at him with a penetrating gaze. "You can manage such
+things so secretly! You think so highly of Heiberg: I remember well
+all the beautiful things you said of his 'Walter the Potter' and
+his 'Psyche.'"
+
+Otto assured her that he could not confess to this honor.
+
+They reached Roeskelde in the forenoon, but Eva did not receive
+them. The excursion to Lethraborg was arranged; toward evening they
+should again return to the inn, and then Eva would certainly
+appear.
+
+The company walked in the garden at Lethraborg: the prospect from
+the terrace was beautiful; they looked through the windows of the
+castle, and at length came to the conclusion that it would be best
+to go in.
+
+"There are such beautiful paintings, people say!" remarked the
+lover.
+
+"We must see them," cried all the ladies.
+
+"Do you often visit the picture-gallery of the Christiansborg?"
+inquired Otto.
+
+"I cannot say that we do!" returned Mrs. Berger. "You well know
+that what is near one seldom sees, unless one makes a downright
+earnest attempt, and that we have not yet done. Besides, not many
+people go up: that wandering about the great halls is so wearying."
+
+"There are splendid pieces by Ruysdal!" said Otto.
+
+"Salvator Rosa's glorious 'Jonas" is well worth looking at!"
+
+"Yes, we really must go at once, whilst our little Maja is here. It
+does not cost more than the Exhibition, and we were there three
+times last year. The view from the castle windows toward the canal,
+as well as toward the ramparts, is so beautiful, they say."
+
+The company now viewed the interior of Lethraborg, and then
+wandered through the garden and in the wood. The trees had their
+autumnal coloring, but the whole presented a variety of tints far
+richer than one finds in summer. The dark fir-trees, the yellow
+beeches and oaks, whose outermost branches had sent forth light
+green shoots, presented a most picturesque effect, and formed a
+splendid foreground to the view over old Leire, the royal city, now
+a small village, and across the bay to the splendid cathedral.
+
+"That resembles a scene in a theatre!" cried Mrs. Berger, and
+immediately the company were deep in dramatic affairs.
+
+"Such a decoration they should have in the royal theatre!" said
+Hans Peter.
+
+"Yes, they should have many such!" said Grethe. "They should have
+some other pieces than those they have. I know not how it is with
+our poets; they have no inventive power. Relate the droll idea
+which thou hadst the other day for a new piece!" said she to her
+lover, and stroked his cheeks.
+
+"O," said he, and affected a kind of indifference, "that was only
+an idea such as one has very often. But it might become a very nice
+piece. When the curtain is drawn up, one should see close upon the
+lamps the gable-ends of two houses. The steep roofs must go down to
+the stage, so that it is only half a yard wide, and this is to
+represent a watercourse between the two houses. In each garret a
+poor but interesting family should dwell, and these should step
+forth into the watercourse, and there the whole piece should be
+played."
+
+"But what should then happen?" asked Otto.
+
+"Yes," said the lover, "I have not thought about that; but see,
+there is the idea! I am no poet, and have too much to do at the
+counting-house, otherwise one might write a little piece."
+
+"Heavens! Heiberg ought to have the idea!" said Grethe.
+
+"No, then it would be a vaudeville," said the lover, "and I cannot
+bear them."
+
+"O, it might be made charming!" cried Grethe. "I see the whole
+piece! how they clamber about the roofs! The idea is original, thou
+sweet friend!"
+
+By evening the family were again in Roeskelde.
+
+The merchant sought for Eva. Otto inquired after her, so did Hans
+Peter also, and all three received the same answer.
+
+"She is no longer here."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+"I wish I was air, that I could beat my wings, could chase the
+clouds, and try to fly over the mountain summits: that would be
+life."--F. R�CKERT.
+
+The first evening after Otto's return to Copenhagen he spent with
+Sophie, and the conversation turned upon his little journey. "The
+pretty Eva has vanished!" said he.
+
+"You had rejoiced in the prospect of this meeting, had you not?"
+asked Sophie.
+
+"No, not in the least!" answered Otto.
+
+"And you wish to make me believe that? She is really pretty, and
+has something so unspeakably refined, that a young gentleman might
+well be attracted by her. With my brother it is not all quite right
+in this respect; but, candidly speaking, I am in great fear on your
+account, Mr. Thostrup. Still waters--you know the proverb? I might
+have spared you the trouble. The letter which I received a few
+evenings ago informed me of her departure. Mamma has taken her with
+her. It seemed to her a sin to leave that sweet, innocent girl in a
+public-house. The host and hostess were born upon our estate, and
+look very much up to my mother; and as Eva will certainly gain by
+the change, the whole affair was soon settled. It is well that she
+is come under mamma's oversight."
+
+"The girl is almost indifferent to me!" said Otto.
+
+"Almost!" repeated Sophie. "But this almost, how many degrees of
+warmth does it contain? 'O V�rit�! O� sont les autels et tes
+pr�tres?'" added she, and smiling raised her finger.
+
+"Time will show how much you are in error!" answered Otto with much
+calmness.
+
+The lady of the house now entered, she had made various calls;
+everywhere the Ghost's Letters were the subject of conversation,
+and now the conversation took the same direction.
+
+It was often renewed. Otto was a very frequent guest at the house.
+The ladies sat at their embroidery frames and embroidered splendid
+pieces of work, and Otto must again read the "Letters of the
+Wandering Ghost;" after this they began "Calderon," in whom Sophie
+found something resembling the anonymous author. The world of
+poetry afforded subjects for discourse, and every-day life
+intermingled its light, gay scenes; if Wilhelm joined them, he must
+give them music, and all remarked that his fantasies were become
+far richer, far softer. He had gained his touch from Weyse, said
+they. No one thought how much one may learn from one's own heart.
+With this exception he was the same joyous youth as ever. No one
+thought of him and Eva together. Since that evening when the
+friends had almost quarreled, he had never mentioned her name; but
+Otto had remarked how when any female figure met them, Wilhelm's
+eyes flashed, and how, in society, he singled out the most
+beautiful. Otto said jokingly to him, that he was getting oriental
+thoughts. Oehlenschl�ger's "Helge," and Goethe's Italian sonnets
+were now Wilhelm's favorite reading. The voluptuous spirit of these
+poems agreed with the dreams which his warm feelings engendered. It
+was Eva's beauty--her beauty alone which had awoke this feeling in
+him; the modesty and poverty of the poor girl had captivated him
+still more, and caused him to forget rank and condition. At the
+moment when he would approach her, she was gone. The poison was now
+in his blood. If is gay and happy spirit did not meanwhile let him
+sink into melancholy and meditation; his feeling for beauty was
+excited, as he himself expressed it. In thought he pressed beauty
+to his heart, but only in thought--but even this is sin, says the
+Gospel.
+
+Otto, on the contrary, moved in the lists of philosophy and poetry.
+Here his soul conceived beauty--inspired, he expressed it; and
+Sophie's eyes flashed, and rested with pleasure on him. This
+flattered him and increased his inspirations. For many years no
+winter had been to him so pleasant, had passed away so rich in
+change as this; he caught at the fluttering joy and yet there were
+moments when the though pressed upon him--"Life is hastening away,
+and I do not enjoy it." In the midst of his greatest happiness he
+experienced a strange yearning after the changing life of travel.
+Paris glanced before his eyes like a star of fortune.
+
+"Out into the bustling world!" said he so often to Wilhelm, that
+the same thought was excited in him. "In the spring we will
+travel!" Now were plans formed; circumstances were favorable. Thus
+in the coming spring, in April, the still happier days should
+begin.
+
+"We will fly to Paris!" said Wilhelm; "to joy and pleasure!"
+
+Joy and pleasure were to be found at home, and were found: we will
+introduce the evening which brought them; perhaps we shall also
+find something more than joy and pleasure.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+"A midsummer day's entertainment--but how? In February? Yea, some
+here and behold it!"--DR. BALFUNGO.
+
+With us the students form no Burschenschafts, have no colors. The
+professors do not alone in the chair come into connection with
+them; the only difference is that which exists between young and
+old scholars. Thus they come in contact with each other, thus they
+participate in their mutual pleasures. We will spend an evening of
+this kind in the Students' Club, and then see for ourselves whether
+Miss Sophie were right when she wished she were a man, merely that
+she might be a student and member of this club. We choose one
+evening in particular, not only that we may seek a brilliant
+moment, but because this evening can afford us more than a
+description.
+
+An excursion to the park had often been discussed in the club. They
+wished to hire the Caledonia steam-packet. But during the summer
+months the number of members is less; the majority are gone to the
+provinces to visit their relations. Winter, on the contrary,
+assembles them all. This time, also, is the best for great
+undertakings. The long talked of excursion to the park was
+therefore fixed for Carnival Monday, the 14th of February, 1831.
+Thus ran the invitations to the professors and older members. "It
+will be too cold for me," replied one. "Must one take a carriage
+for one's self?" asked mother. No, the park was removed to
+Copenhagen. In the Students' Club itself, in the Boldhuus Street,
+No. 225, was the park-hill with its green trees, its swings,
+and amusements. See, only the scholars of the Black School could
+have such ideas!
+
+The evening of the 114th of February drew near. The guests
+assembled in the rooms on the first floor. Meanwhile all was
+arranged in the second story. Those who represented jugglers were
+in their places. A thundering cracker was the steamboat signal, and
+now people hastened to the park, rushing up-stairs, where two large
+rooms had, with great taste and humor, been converted into the
+park-hill. Large fir-trees concealed the walls--you found yourself
+in a complete wood. The doors which connected the two rooms were
+decorated with sheets, so that it looked as if you were going
+through a tent. Hand-organs played, drums and trumpets roared, and
+from tents and stages the hawkers shouted one against the other.
+It was a noise such as is heard in the real park when the hubbub
+has reached its height. The most brilliant requisites of the real
+park were found here, and they were not imitated; they were the
+things themselves. Master Jakel's own puppets had been hired; a
+student, distinguished by his complete imitation of the first
+actors, represented them by the puppets. The fortress of
+Frederiksteen was the same which we have already seen in the park.
+"The whole cavalry and infantry,--here a fellow without a bayonet,
+there a bayonet without a fellow!" The old Jew sat under his tree
+where he announced his fiftieth park jubilee: here a student ate
+flax, there another exhibited a bear; Polignac stood as a wax
+figure outside a cabinet. The Magdalene convent exhibited its
+little boxes, the drum-major beat most lustily, and from a near
+booth came the real odor of warm wafer-cakes. The spring even,
+which presented itself in the outer room, was full of significance.
+Certainly it was only represented by a tea-urn concealed between
+moss and stones, but the water was real water, brought from the
+well in Christiansborg. Astounding and full of effect was the
+multitude of sweet young girls who showed themselves. Many of the
+youngest students who had feminine features were dressed as ladies;
+some of them might even be called pretty. Who that then saw the
+fair one with the tambourine can have forgotten her? The company
+crowded round the ladies. The professors paid court to them with
+all propriety, and, what was best of all, some ladies who were less
+successful became jealous of the others. Otto was much excited; the
+noise, the bustle, the variety of people, were almost strikingly
+given. Then came the master of the fire-engines, with his wife and
+little granddaughter; then three pretty peasant girls; then the
+whole Botanical Society, with their real professor at their head.
+Otto seated himself in a swing; an itinerant flute-player and a
+drummer deafened him with dissonances. A young lady, one of the
+beauties, in a white dress, and with a thin handkerchief over her
+shoulders, approached and threw herself into his arms. It was
+Wilhelm! but Otto found his likeness to Sophie stronger than he had
+ever before noticed it to be; and therefore the blood rushed to his
+cheeks when the fair one threw her arms around him, and laid her
+cheek upon his: he perceived more of Sophie than of Wilhelm in this
+form. Certainly Wilhelm's features were coarser--his whole figure
+larger than Sophie's; but still Otto fancied he saw Sophie, and
+therefore these marked gestures, this reeling about with the other
+students, offended his eyes. When Wilhelm seated himself on his
+knee, and pressed his cheek to his, Otto felt his heart beat as in
+fever; it sent a stream of fire through his blood: he thrust him
+away, but the fair one continued to overwhelm him with caresses.
+
+There now commenced, in a so-called Kr�hwinkel theatre, the comedy,
+in which were given the then popular witticisms of Kellerman.
+
+The lady clung fast to Otto, and flew dancing with him through the
+crowd. The heat, the noise, and, above all, the exaggerated lacing,
+affected Wilhelm; he felt unwell. Otto led him to a bench and would
+have unfastened his dress, but all the young ladies, true to their
+part, sprang forward, pushed Otto aside, surrounded their sick
+companion and concealed her, whilst they tore up the dress behind
+so that she might have air: but, God forbid! no gentleman might see
+it.
+
+Toward evening a song was commenced, a shot was heard, and the last
+verse announced:--
+
+"The gun has been fired, the vessel must fly
+  To the town from the green wood shady.
+Come, friends, now we to the table will hie,
+  A gentleman and a fair lady."
+
+And now all rushed with the speed of a steamboat downstairs, and
+soon sat in gay rows around the covered tables.
+
+Wilhelm was Otto's lady--the Baron was called the Baroness; the
+glasses resounded, and the song commenced:--
+
+"These will drink our good king's health,
+  Will drink it here, his loyal students."
+
+And that patriotic song:--
+
+"I know a land up in the North
+  Where it is good to be."
+
+It concluded with--
+
+                        "An hurrah
+For the king and the rescript!"
+
+In joy one must embrace everything joyful, and that they
+did. Here was the joy of youth in youthful hearts.
+
+"No condition's like the student's;
+  He has chosen the better way!"
+
+so ran the concluding verse of the following song, which ended with
+the toast,--
+
+"For her of whom the heart dreams ever,
+  But whom the lips must never name!"
+
+It was then that Wilhelm seemed to glow with inward fire; he struck
+his glass so violently against Otto's that it broke, and the wine
+was spilt.
+
+"A health to the ladies!" cried one of the signors.
+
+"A health to the ladies!" resounded from the different rooms, which
+were all converted into the banquet-hall.
+
+The ladies rose, stood upon their chairs, some even upon the table,
+bowed, and returned thanks for the toast.
+
+"No, no," whispered Otto to Wilhelm, at the same time pulling him
+down. "In this dress you resemble your sister so much, that it is
+quite horrible to me to see you act a part so opposed to her
+character!"
+
+"And your eyes," Said Wilhelm, smiling, "resemble two eyes which
+have touched my heart. A health to first love!" cried he, and
+struck his glass against Otto's so that the half of his wine was
+again lost.
+
+The champagne foamed, and amidst noise and laughter, as during the
+carnival joy, a new song refreshed the image of the nark which they
+had just left:--
+
+"Here if green trees were not growing
+  Fresh as on yon little hill,
+Heard we not the fountains flowing,
+  We in sooth should see them still!
+Tents were filled below, above,
+Filled with everything but love!
+***
+Here went gratis brushing-boys--
+Graduated have they all!
+Here stood, who would think it, sir?
+A student as a trumpeter!"
+
+"A health to the one whose eyes mine resemble!" whispered Otto,
+carried along with the merriment.
+
+"That health we have already drunk!" answered Wilhelm, "but we
+cannot do a good thing too often."
+
+"Then you still think of Eva?"
+
+"She was beautiful! sweet! who knows what might have happened had
+she remained here? Her fate has fallen into mamma's hands, and she
+and the other exalted Nemesis must now conduct the affair: I wash
+my hands of it."
+
+"Are you recovered?" asked Otto. "But when you see Eva again in the
+summer?"
+
+"I hope that I shall not fall sick," replied Wilhelm; "I have a
+strong constitution. But we must now hasten up to the dance."
+
+All rushed from the tables, and up-stairs, where the park was
+arranged. There was now only the green wood to be seen. Theatres
+and booths had been removed. Gay paper-lamps hung among the branches,
+a large orchestra played, and a half-bacchanalian wood-ball commenced.
+Wilhelm was Otto's partner, but after the first dance the lady sought
+out for herself a more lively cavalier.
+
+Otto drew back toward the wall where the windows were concealed by
+the boughs of Fir-tree. His eye followed Wilhelm, whose great
+resemblance to Sophie made him melancholy; his hand accidentally
+glided through the branches and touched the window-seat; there lay
+a little bird--it was dead!
+
+To increase the illusion they had bought a number of birds, which
+should fly about during the park-scene, but the poor little
+creatures had died from fright at the wild uproar. In the windows
+and corners they lay dead. It was one of these birds that Otto
+found.
+
+"It is dead!" said he to Wilhelm, who approached him.
+
+"Now, that is capital!" returned the friend; "here you have
+something over which you may be sentimental!"
+
+Otto would not reply.
+
+"Shall we dance a Scotch waltz?" asked Wilhelm laughing, and the
+wine and his youthful blood glowed in his cheeks.
+
+"I wish you would put on your own dress!" said Otto. "You resemble,
+as I said before, your sister"--
+
+"And I am my sister," interrupted Wilhelm, in his wantonness. "And
+as a reward for your charming readings aloud, for your excellent
+conversation, and the whole of your piquant amiability, you shall
+now be paid with a little kiss!" He pressed his lips to Otto's
+forehead; Otto thrust him back and left the company.
+
+Several hours passed before he could sleep; at length he was forced
+to laugh over his anger: what mattered it if Wilhelm resembled his
+sister?
+
+The following morning Otto paid her a visit. All listened with
+lively interest to his description of the merry St. John's day in
+February. He also related how much Wilhelm had resembled his
+sister, and how unpleasant this had been to him; and they laughed.
+During the relation, however, Otto could not forbear drawing a
+comparison. How great a difference did he now find! Sophie's beauty
+was of quite another kind! Never before had he regarded her in this
+light. Of the kisses which Wilhelm had given him, of course, they
+did not speak; but Otto thought of them, thought of them quite
+differently to what he had done before, and--the ways of Cupid are
+strange! We will now see how affairs stand after advancing fourteen
+days.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+"Huzza for Copenhagen and for Paris! may they both flourish!"
+                                 The Danes in Paris by HEIBERG.
+
+Wilhelm's cousin, Joachim, had arrived from Paris. We remember the
+young officer, out of whose letters Wilhelm had sent Otto a
+description of the struggle of the July days. As an inspired hero
+of liberty had he returned; struggling Poland had excited his
+lively interest, and he would willingly have combated in Warsaw's
+ranks. His mind and his eloquence made him doubly interesting. The
+combat of the July days, of which he had been an eye-witness, he
+described to them. Joachim was handsome; he had an elegant
+countenance with sharp features, and was certainly rather pale--one
+might perhaps have called him worn with dissipation, had it not
+been for the brightness of his eyes, which increased in
+conversation. The fine dark eyebrow, and even the little mustache,
+gave the countenance all expression which reminded one of fine
+English steel-engravings. His figure was small, almost slender, but
+the proportions were beautiful. The animation of the Frenchman
+expressed itself in every motion, but at the same time there was in
+him a certain determination which seemed to say: "I am aware of
+my own intellectual superiority!"
+
+He interested every one: Otto also listened with pleasure when
+Cousin Joachim related his experiences, but when all eyes were
+turned toward the narrator, Otto fixed his suddenly upon Sophie,
+and found that she could moderate his attentions. Joachim addressed
+his discourse to all, but at the points of interest his glance
+rested alone on the pretty cousin! "She interests him!" said Otto
+to himself. "And Cousin Joachim?" Yes, he relates well; but had we
+only traveled we should not be inferior to him!"
+
+"Charles X. was a Jesuit!" said Joachim; "he strove after an
+unrestrained despotism, and laid violent hands on the Charter. The
+expedition against Algiers was only a glittering fire-work arranged
+to flatter the national pride--all glitter and falseness! Like
+Peirronnet, through an embrace he would annihilate the Charter."
+
+The conversation now turned from the Jesuits to the Charter and
+Polignac. The minute particulars, which only an eyewitness can
+relate, brought the struggle livingly before their eyes. They saw
+the last night, the extraordinary activity in the squares where the
+balls were showered, and in the streets where the barricades were
+erected. Overturned wagons and carts, barrels and stones, were
+heaped upon each other--even the hundred year-old trees of the
+Boulevards were cut down to form barricades: the struggle began,
+Frenchman fought against Frenchman--for liberty and country they
+sacrificed their life. [Note:
+"Ceux qui pieusement sont morts pour la patrie
+Ont droit qu'� leur cerceuil la foule vienne et prie:
+Entre le plus beaux noms, leur nom est le plus beau.
+Toute gloire, pr�s d'eux, passe et tombe �ph�mere
+Et, comme ferait une m�re,
+La voix d'un peuple entier les berce en leur tombeau!"
+--VICTOR HUGO.]
+And he described the victory and Louis Philippe, whom he admired
+and loved.
+
+"That was a world event," said the man of business. "It electrified
+both king and people. They still feel the movement. Last year was
+an extraordinary year!"
+
+"For the Copenhageners also," said Otto, "there were three colors.
+These things occupied the multitude with equal interest: the July
+Revolution, the 'Letters of a Wandering Ghost,' and Kellermann's
+'Berlin Wit.'"
+
+"Now you are bitter, Mr. Thostrup," said the lady of the house.
+"The really educated did not occupy themselves with these Berlin
+'Eckensteher' which the multitude have rendered national!"
+
+"But they hit the right mark!" said Otto; "they met with a
+reception from the citizens and people in office."
+
+"That I can easily believe," remarked Joachim; "that is like the
+people here!"
+
+"That is like the people abroad!" said the hostess. "In Paris they
+pass over still more easily from a revolution, in which they
+themselves have taken part, to a review by Jules Janin, or to a new
+step of Taglioni's, and from that to 'une histoire scandaleuse!'"
+
+"No, my gracious lady, of the last no one takes any notice--it
+belongs to the order of the day!"
+
+"That I can easily believe!" said Miss Sophie.
+
+The man of business now inquired after the Chamber. The cousin's
+answer was quite satisfactory. The lady of the house wished to hear
+of the flower-markets, and of the sweet little inclosed gardens in
+the Places. Sophie wished to hear of Victor Hugo. She received a
+description of him, of his abode in the Place Royale, and of the
+whole Europe litt�raire beside. Cousin Joachim was extremely
+interesting.
+
+Otto did not pay another visit for two days.
+
+"Where have you been for so long?" asked Sophie, when he came
+again.
+
+"With my books!" replied he: there lay a gloomy expression in his
+eyes.
+
+"O, you should have come half an hour earlier--our cousin was here!
+He was describing to me the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. O, quite
+excellently!"
+
+"He is an interesting young man!" said Otto.
+
+"The glorious garden!" pursued Sophie, without remarking the
+emphasis with which Otto had replied. "Do you not remember, Mr.
+Thostrup, how Barth�lemi has spoken of it?
+'O� tout homme, qui r�ve � son pays absent,
+Retrouve ses parfums et son air caressant.'
+In it there is a whole avenue with cages, in which are wild
+beasts,--lions and tigers! In small court-yards, elephants and
+buffaloes wander about at liberty! Giraffes nibble the branches of
+high trees! In the middle of the garden are the courts for bears,
+only there is a sort of well in which the bears walk about; it is
+surrounded by no palisades, and you stand upon the precipitous
+edge! There our cousin stood!"
+
+"But he did not precipitate himself down!" said Otto, with
+indifference.
+
+"What is the matter?" asked Sophie. "Are you in your elegiac mood?
+You look as I imagine Victor Hugo when he has not made up his mind
+about the management of his tragic catastrophe!"
+
+"That is my innate singularity!" replied Otto. "I should have
+pleasure in springing down among the bears of which you relate!"
+
+"And in dying?" asked Sophie. "No, you must live.
+'C'est le bonheur de vivre
+Qui fait la gloire de mourir.'"
+
+"You speak a deal of French to-day," said Otto, with a friendliness
+of manner intended to soften the bitterness of the tone. "Perhaps
+your conversation with the lieutenant was in that language?"
+
+"French interests me the most!" replied she. "I will ask our cousin
+to speak it often with me. His accent is excellent, and he is
+himself a very interesting man!"
+
+"No doubt of it!" answered Otto.
+
+"You will remain and dine with us?" said the lady of the house, who
+now entered.
+
+Otto did not feel well.
+
+"These are only whims," said Sophie.
+
+The ladies made merry, and Otto remained. Cousin Joachim came and
+was interesting--very interesting, said all. He related of Paris,
+spoke also of Copenhagen, and drew comparisons. The quietness of
+home had made an especial impression on him.
+
+"People here," said he, "go about as if they bore some heavy grief,
+or some joy, which they might not express. If one goes into a
+coffee-house, it is just as if one entered a house of mourning.
+Each one seats himself, a newspaper in his hand, in a corner. That
+strikes one when one comes from Paris! One naturally has the
+thought,--Can these few degrees further north bring so much cold
+into the blood? There is the same quiet in our theatre. Now I love
+this active life. The only boldness the public permits itself is
+hissing a poor author; but a wretched singer, who has neither tone
+nor manner, a miserable actress, will be endured, nay, applauded by
+good friends--an act of compassion. She is so fearful! she is so
+good! In Paris people hiss. The decoration master, the manager,
+every one there receives his share of applause or blame. Even the
+directors are there hissed, if they manage badly."
+
+"You are preaching a complete revolution in our theatrical
+kingdom!" said the lady of the house. "The Copenhageners cannot
+ever become Parisians, and neither should they."
+
+"The theatre is here, as well as there, the most powerful organ of
+the people's life. It has the greatest influence, and ours stands
+high, very high, when one reflects in what different directions it
+must extend its influence. Our only theatre must accommodate
+itself, and represent, at the same time, the Theatre Fran�ais, the
+grand Opera, the Vaudeville, and Saint-Martin; it must comprehend
+all kinds of theatrical entertainments. The same actors who to-day
+appear in tragedy, must to-morrow show themselves in a comedy or
+vaudeville. We have actors who might compare themselves with the
+best in Paris--only _one_ is above all ours, but, also, above all
+whom I have seen in Europe, and this one is Mademoiselle Mars. You
+will, doubtless, consider the reason extraordinary which gives this
+one, in my opinion, the first place. This is her age, which she so
+completely compels you to forget. She is still pretty; round,
+without being called fat. It is not through rouge, false hair, or
+false teeth, that she procures herself youth; it lies in her soul,
+and from thence it flows into every limb--every motion becomes
+charming! She fills you with astonishment! her eyes are full of
+expression, and her voice is the most sonorous which I know! It is
+indeed music! How can one think of age when one is affected by an
+immortal soul? I rave about L�ontine Fay, but the old Mars has my
+heart. There is also a third who stands high with the Parisians--
+Jenny Vertpr�, at the Gymnase Dramatique, but she would be soon
+eclipsed were the Parisians to see our Demoiselle P�tges. She
+possesses talent which will shine in every scene. Vertpr� has her
+loveliness, her whims, but not her Proteus-genius, her nobility. I
+saw Vertpr� in 'La Reine de Seize Ans,'--a piece which we have not
+yet; but she was only a saucy soubrette in royal splendor--a
+Pernille of Holberg's, as represented by a Parisian. We have Madame
+Wexschall, and we have Frydendal! Were Denmark only a larger
+country, these names would sound throughout Europe!"
+
+He now described the decorations in the "Sylphide," in "Natalia,"
+and in various other ballets, the whole splendor, the whole
+magnificence.
+
+"But our orchestra is excellent!" said Miss Sophie.
+
+"It certainly contains several distinguished men," answered
+Joachim; "but must one speak of the whole? Yes, you know I am not
+musical, and cannot therefore express myself in an artistical
+manner about music, but certain it is that something lay in my ear,
+in my feeling, which, in Paris, whispered to me, 'That is
+excellent!' Here, on the contrary, it cries, 'With moderation! with
+moderation!' The voice is the first; she is the lady; the
+instruments, on the contrary, are the cavaliers who shall conduct
+the former before the public. Gently they should take her by the
+hand; she must stand quite foremost; but here the instruments
+thrust her aside, and it is to me as if each instrument would have
+the first place, and constantly shouted, 'Here am I! here am I!"
+
+"That sounds very well!" said Sophie; "but one may not believe you!
+You have fallen in love with foreign countries, and, therefore, at
+home everything must be slighted."
+
+"By no means! The Danish ladies, for instance, appear the
+prettiest, the most modest whom I have known."
+
+"Appear?" repeated Otto.
+
+"Joachim possesses eloquence," said the lady of the house.
+
+"That has developed itself abroad!" answered he: "here at home
+there are only two ways in which it can publicly develop itself--in
+the pulpit, and at a meeting in the shooting-house. Yet it is true
+that now we are going to have a Diet and a more political life. I
+feel already, in anticipation, the effect; we shall only live for
+this life, the newspapers will become merely political, the poets
+sing politics the painters choose scenes from political life.
+'C'est un Uebergang!' as Madame La Fl�che says. [Author's Note:
+Holberg's Jean de France.] Copenhagen is too small to be a great,
+and too great to be a small city. See, there lies the fault!"
+
+Otto felt an irresistible desire to contradict him in most things
+which he said about home. But the cousin parried every bold blow
+with a joke.
+
+"Copenhagen must be the Paris of the North," said he, "and that it
+certainly would become in fifty, or twice that number of years. The
+situation was far more beautiful than that of the city of the
+Seine. The marble church must be elevated, and become a Pantheon,
+adorned with the works of Thorwaldsen and other artists;
+Christiansborg, a Louvre, whose gallery you visit; �ster Street and
+Pedermadsen's passage, arcades such as are in Paris, covered with
+glass roofs and flagged, shops on both sides, and in the evening,
+when thousands of gas-lamps burnt, here should be the promenade;
+the esplanades would be the Champs Elys�es, with swings and slides,
+music, and m�ts de cocagne. [Author's Note: High smooth poles, to
+the top of which victuals, clothes, or money are attached. People
+of the lower classes then try to climb up and seize the prizes. The
+best things are placed at the very top of the pole.] On the
+Peblinger Lake, as on the Seine, there should be festive water
+excursions made. Voil�!" exclaimed he, "that would be splendid!"
+
+"That might be divine!" said Sophie.
+
+Animation and thought lay in the cousin's countenance; his fine
+features became striking from their expression. Thus did his image
+stamp itself in Otto's soul, thus did it place itself beside
+Sophie's image as she stood there, with her large brown eyes, round
+which played thought and smiles, whilst they rested on the cousin.
+The beautifully formed white hand, with its taper fingers, played
+with the curls which fell over her cheeks. Otto would not think of
+it.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+"And if I have wept alone, it is my own sorrow."--GOETHE
+
+Latterly Otto had been but seldom at Mr. Berger's. He had no
+interest about the merchant's home. The family showed him every
+politeness and mark of confidence; but his visits became every week
+more rare. Business matters, however, led him one day there.
+
+Chance or fate, as we call it, if the shadow of a consequence shows
+itself, caused Maren to pass through the anteroom when Otto was
+about taking his departure. She was the only one of the ladies at
+home. In three weeks she would return to Lemvig. She said that she
+could not boast of having enjoyed Mr. Thostrup's society too often.
+
+"Your old friends interest you no longer!" added she, somewhat
+gravely. With this exception she had amused herself very well in
+the city, had seen everything but the stuffed birds, and these she
+should see to-morrow. She had been seven times in the theatre, and
+had seen the "Somnambule" twice. However, she had not seen "Der
+Friesch�tz," and she had an especial desire to see this on account
+of the wolf-glen. At Aarhuus there was a place in the wood, said
+she, called the wolf-glen; this she knew, and now wished to see
+whether it resembled the one on the stage.
+
+"May I then greet Rosalie from you?" she asked at length.
+
+"You will still remain three weeks here," said Otto: "it is too
+soon to speak of leave-taking."
+
+"But you scarcely ever come here," returned she. "You have better
+places to go to! The Baron's sister certainly sees you oftener; she
+is said to be a pretty and very clever girl: perhaps one may soon
+offer one's congratulations?"
+
+Otto became crimson.
+
+"In spring you will travel abroad," pursued she; "we shall not then
+see you in Jutland: yes, perhaps yon will never go there again!
+That will make old Rosalie sad: she thinks so incredibly much of
+you. In all the letters which I have received here there were
+greetings to Mr. Thostrup. Yes, I have quite a multitude of them
+for you; but you do not come to receive them, and I dare not pay a
+visit to such a young gentleman. For the sake of old friendship let
+me, at least, be the first who can relate at home of the
+betrothal!"
+
+"How can you have got such a thought?" replied Otto. "I go to so
+many houses where there are young ladies; if my heart had anything
+to do with it, I should have a bad prospect. I have great esteem
+for Miss Sophie; I speak with her as with you, that is all. I
+perceive that the air of Copenhagen has affected you; here in the
+city they are always betrothing people. This comes from the ladies
+in the house here. How could you believe such stories?"
+
+Maren also joked about it, but after they had parted she seated
+herself in a corner, drew her little apron over her head and wept;
+perhaps because she should soon leave the lively city, where she had
+been seven times to the theatre, and yet had not seen the wolf-glen.
+
+"Betrothed!" repeated Otto to himself, and thought of Sophie, of
+the cousin, and of his own childhood, which hung like a storm-cloud
+in his heaven. Many thoughts passed through his mind: he
+recollected the Christmas Eve on which he had seen Sophie for the
+first time, when she, as one of the Fates, gave him the number. He
+had 33, she 34; they were united by the numbers following each
+other. He received the pedigree, and was raised to her nobility.
+The whole joke had for him a signification. He read the verse again
+which had accompanied it. The conclusion sounded again and again in
+his ears:--
+"From this hour forth thy soul high rank hath won her,
+Nor will forget thy knighthood and thy honor!"
+
+"O Sophie!" he exclaimed aloud, and the fire which had long
+smouldered in his blood now burst forth in flames. "Sophie! thee
+must I press to my heart!" He lost himself in dreams. Dark shapes
+disturbed them. "Can she then be happy? Can I? The picture which
+she received where the covering of ice was broken and the faithful
+dog watched in vain, is also significant. That is the fulfillment
+of hopes. I sink, and shall never return!"
+
+The image of the cousin mingled in his dreams. That refined
+countenance with the little mustache looked forth saucily and
+loquaciously; and Sophie's eyes he saw rest upon the cousin, whilst
+her white hand played with the brown curls which fell over her
+cheek.
+
+"O Sophie!" sighed Otto, and fell asleep.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+         ... "We live through others,
+We think we are others; we seem
+Others to be ... And so think others of us."
+                                 SCHEFER.
+
+When the buds burst forth we will burst forth also! had Otto and
+Wilhelm often said. Their plan was, in the spring to travel
+immediately to Paris, but on their way to visit the Rhine, and to
+sail from Cologne to Strasburg.
+
+"Yes, one must see the Rhine first!" said Cousin Joachim; "when one
+has seen Switzerland and Italy, it does not strike one nearly as
+much. That must be your first sight; but you should not see it in
+spring, but toward autumn. When the vines have their full variety
+of tint, and the heavy grapes hang from the stems, see, it is then
+the old ruins stand forth. These are the gardens of the Rhine!
+Another advantage which you have in going there in autumn is that
+you then enter Paris in winter, and that one must do; then one does
+not come post festum; then is the heyday of gayety--the theatre,
+the soir�es, and everything which can interest the beau monde."
+
+Although Otto did not generally consider the cousin's words of much
+weight, he this time entered wonderfully into his views. "It would
+certainly be the most prudent to commence their journey toward
+autumn," he thought: "there could be no harm in preparing
+themselves a little more for it!"
+
+"That is always good!" said Joachim; "but, what is far more
+advantageous abroad than all the preparations you can make at home,
+is said in a few words--give up all intercourse with your own
+country-people! Nowadays every one travels! Paris is not now
+further from us than Hamburg was some thirty years ago. When I was
+in Paris I found there sixteen or seventeen of my countrymen. O,
+how they kept together! Eleven of them dwelt in the same h�tel:
+they drank coffee together, walked out together, went to the
+restaurateur's together, and took together half a bench in the
+theatre. That is the most foolish thing a person can do! I consider
+travelling useful for every one, from the prince to the travelling
+journeyman. But we allow too many people to travel! We are not
+rich, therefore restrictions should be made. The creative artist,
+the poet, the engineer, and the physician must travel; but God
+knows why theologians should go forth. They can become mad enough
+at home! They come into Catholic countries, and then there is an
+end of them! Wherefore should book-worms go forth? They shut
+themselves up in the diligence and in their chambers, rummage a
+little in the libraries, but not so much as a pinch of snuff do
+they do us any good when they return! Those who cost the most
+generally are of the least use, and bring the country the least
+honor! I, thank God! paid for my journey myself, and am therefore
+free to speak my opinion!"
+
+We will now hear what Miss Sophie said, and therefore advance a few
+days.
+
+"We keep you then with us till August!" said she, once when she was
+alone with Otto. "That is wise! You can spend some time with us in
+Funen, and gather strength for your journey. Yes, the journey will
+do you good!"
+
+"I hope so!" answered Otto. "I am perhaps able to become as
+interesting as your cousin, as amiable!"
+
+"That would be requiring too much from you!" said Sophie, bantering
+him. "You will never have his humor, his facility in catching up
+character. You will only preach against the depravity of the
+Parisians; you will only be able to appreciate the melancholy
+grandeur of Switzerland and the solitude of the Hungarian forests."
+
+"You would make a misanthrope of me, which I by no means am."
+
+"But you have an innate talent for this character!" answered
+Sophie. "Something will certainly be polished away by this journey,
+and it is on account of this change that I rejoice."
+
+"Must one, then, have a light, fickle mood to please you?" asked
+Otto.
+
+"Yes, certainly!" answered Sophie, ironically.
+
+"Then it is true what your cousin told me!" said Otto. "If one will
+be fortunate with the ladies, one must at least be somewhat
+frivolous, fond of pleasure, and fickle,--that makes one
+interesting. Yes, he has made himself acquainted with the world, he
+has experience in everything!"
+
+"Yes, perfectly!" said Sophie, and laughed aloud.
+
+Otto was silent, with contracted brow.
+
+"I wish you sunshine!" said Sophie, and smiling raised her finger.
+Otto remained unchanged--he wrinkled his brow.
+
+"You must change very much!" said she, half gravely; and danced out
+of the room.
+
+Three weeks passed by, rich in great events in the kingdom of the
+heart; it was still a diplomatic secret: the eyes betrayed it by
+their pantomimic language, the mouth alone was silent, and it is
+after all the deciding power.
+
+Otto visited the merchant's family. Maren had departed just the day
+before. In vain had she awaited his visit throughout the three
+weeks.
+
+"You quite forget your true friends!" said the ladies. "Believe us,
+Maja was a little angry with you, and yet we have messages. Now she
+is sailing over the salt sea."
+
+This was not precisely the case; she was already on land, and just
+at this moment was driving over the brown heath, thinking of
+Copenhagen and the pleasures there, and of the sorrow also--it is
+so sad to be forgotten by a friend of childhood! Otto was so
+handsome, so clever--she did not dream at all how handsome and
+clever she herself would appear at home. Beauty and cleverness they
+had discovered in her before she left; now she had been in the
+capital, and that gives relief.
+
+The little birds fluttered round the carriage; perhaps they sang to
+her what should happen in two years: "Thou wilt be a bride, the
+secretary's lovely little bride; thou shalt have both him and the
+musical-box! Thou wilt be the grandest lady in the town, and yet
+the most excellent mother. Thy first daughter shall be called Maja
+--that is a pretty name, and reminds thee of past days!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+"The monastery is still called 'Andersskov' (the wood of Anders) in
+memory of its being the habitation of the pious Anders.
+
+"The hill on which he awoke, comforted by sleep, is still called
+'Hvile h�i' (the hill of rest). A cross having a Latin inscription,
+half-effaced, marks the spot."--J. L. HEIBERG.
+
+It was spring, fresh, life-bearing spring! Only one day and one
+night, and the birds of passage were back again; the woods made
+themselves once more young with green, odorous leaves; the Sound
+had its swimming Venice of richly laden vessels; only one day and
+one night, and Sophie was removed from Otto--they were divided by
+the salt sea; but it was spring in his heart; from it flew his
+thoughts, like birds of passage, to the island of Funen, and there
+sang of summer. Hope gave him more "gold and green woods" than the
+ships bear through the Sound, more than Zealand's bays can show.
+Sophie at parting pressed his hand. In her eyes lay what his heart
+might hope and dream.
+
+He forgot that hope and dreams were the opposites of reality.
+
+Cousin Joachim had gone to Stockholm, and would not return either
+in the spring or summer to Funen. On the contrary, Otto intended to
+spend a few weeks at the country-seat; not before August would he
+and Wilhelm travel. There would at least be one happy moment, and
+many perhaps almost as happy. In his room stood a rose-bush, the
+first buds formed themselves, and opened their red lips--as pure
+and tender as these leaves was Sophie's cheek: he bent over the
+flower, smiled and read there sweet thoughts which were related to
+his love. A rose-bud is a sweet mystery.
+
+                   "The myriad leaves enmaze
+                    Small labyrinthine ways
+                    Where spicy odor flows,
+                    Thou lovelv bud o' the rose!"
+
+The day came on which Otto, after he had comfortably terminated his
+visits of leave-taking, at midday, in the company of three young
+students travelled away through Zealand. They had taken a carriage
+together as far as Slagelse, where, like Abraham's and Lot's
+shepherds, they should separate to the right and left. Otto
+remained alone, in order to travel post that night to Nyborg. It
+was only four o'clock in the afternoon, Otto had no acquaintance
+here, therefore it was but to take a walk.
+
+"There still exist remains of the old Antvorskov convent, [Author's
+Note: The convent was founded by Waldemar I., 1177.] do there not?"
+asked he.
+
+"Yes, but very little!" answered the host. "The convent became a
+castle, the castle a private house, and now within the last few
+years, on account of the stones, it has been still more pulled
+down. You will find nothing old remaining, except here and there in
+the garden a piece of a red wall standing out. But the situation is
+beautiful! If you will only take the road toward the large village
+called Landsgrav, you are on the way to Kors�er, and close to the
+cross of the holy Anders. It is a right pleasant excursion!"
+
+"Convent ruins and the holy cross!" said Otto; "that sounds quite
+romantic!" And he commenced his wanderings.
+
+A few scholars from the Latin school, with their books held
+together by a strait, and then a square built lancer, who greeted
+in military style an elderly-young lady, who was seated behind a
+barricade of geraniums and wall flowers, were the only individuals
+he met with on his way. Yet Otto remarked that the windows were
+opened as he passed; people wanted to see who the stranger might be
+who was going up the street.
+
+A long avenue led from the town to the castle. On either side the
+way lay detached houses, with little gardens. Otto soon reached the
+remains of old Antvorskov. The way was red from the stones which
+were flung about, and were now ground to dust. Huge pieces of wall,
+where the mortar and stone were united in one piece, lay almost
+concealed among the high nettles. Rather more distant stood a
+solitary house of two stories. It was narrow, and whitewashed. A
+thick pilaster, such as one sees in churches, supported the strong
+wall. This was half of the last wing of the castle,--a mingling of
+the ancient and incident, of ruin and dwelling-house.
+
+Otto went into the garden, which was laid out upon the hill itself,
+and its terraces. Here were only young trees; but the walks were
+everywhere overgrown. The view stretched itself far over the plain,
+toward the Belt and Funen. He descended from the terrace down to
+the lowest wall. In this there yet remained a piece of an old
+tombstone, of the age of the convent, on which you perceived the
+trace of a female form; and near to this the figure of a skeleton,
+round which was twined a snake. Otto stood sunk in contemplation,
+when an old man, with two water-buckets suspended from a yoke on
+his shoulders, approached a near well.
+
+The old man was very ready to commence a conversation. He told of
+excavations, and of an underground passage which had not been
+discovered, but which, according to his opinion, was certainly in
+existence. So far they had only found a few walled-round spaces,
+which had most probably been prisons. In one of these was an iron
+chain fastened into the wall. But with regard to the underground
+passage, they had only not yet discovered the right place, for it
+must exist. It led from here, deep under the lake and forest,
+toward Sor�e. There were large iron gates below. At Christmas one
+could hear how they were swung to and fro. "Whoever should have
+that which is concealed there," said the old man, "would be a made
+man, and need not neither slip nor slide."
+
+Otto looked at the solitary wing which rose up over the terrace.
+How splendid it had been here in former times!
+
+Close to the large wood, several miles in extent, which stretches
+itself on the other side of Sor�e, down to the shore of the King's
+Brook, lay the rich convent where Hans Tausen spoke what the Spirit
+inspired him with. Times changed; the convent vanished;
+                 "Halls of state
+      Tower upon that spot elate;
+      Where the narrow cell once stood;"
+[Author's Note: Anders-skov, by Oehlenschl�ger.]
+where the monks sang psalms, knights and ladies danced to the sound
+of beating drums: but these tone's ceased; the blooming cheeks
+became dust. It was again quiet. Many a pleasant time did Holberg
+ride over from Sor�e, through the green wood, to visit the steward
+of Antvorskov. Otto recollected what one of his daughters, when an
+old woman, had related to a friend of his. She was a child, and lay
+in the cradle, when old Holberg came riding there, with a little
+wheaten loaf and a small pot of preserve in his pocket--his usual
+provision on such little excursions. The steward's young wife sat
+at her spinning-wheel. Holberg paced up and down the room with the
+husband; they were discussing politics. This interested the wife,
+and she joined in the conversation. Holberg turned round to her,--
+"I fancy the distaff speaks!" said he. This the wife could never
+forget. [Translator's Note: Rokkehoved, distaff, means also dunce
+in Danish.]
+
+Otto smiled at this recollection of the witty but ungallant poet,
+quitted the garden, and went through a winding hollow way, where
+the luxuriant briers hung in rich masses over the stone fence.
+Slagelse, with its high hills in the background, looked
+picturesque. He soon reached Landsgrav. The sun went down as he
+walked over the field where the wooden cross stands, with its
+figure of the Redeemer, in memory of the holy Anders. Near it he
+perceived a man, who appeared to kneel. One hand held fast by the
+cross; in the other was a sharp knife, with which he was probably
+cutting out his name. He did not observe Otto. Near the man lay a
+box covered with green oil-cloth; and in the grass lay a knapsack,
+a pair of boots, and a knotty stick. It must be a wandering
+journeyman, or else a pedlar.
+
+Otto was about to return, when the stranger rose and perceived him.
+Otto stood as if nailed to the earth. It was the German Heinrich
+whom he saw before him.
+
+"Is not that Mr. Thostrup?" said the man and that horrible grinning
+smile played around his mouth. "No, that I did not expect!"
+
+"Does it go well with you, Heinrich?" asked Otto.
+
+"There's room for things to mend!" replied Heinrich "It goes better
+with you! Good Lord, that you should become such a grand gentleman!
+Who would have thought it, when you rode on my knee, and I pricked
+you in the arm? Things go on strangely in this world! Have you
+heard of your sister? She was not so much spoiled as you! But she
+was a beautiful child!"
+
+"I have neither seen her nor my parents!" replied he, with a
+trembling which he strove to conquer. "Do you know where she is?"
+
+"I am always travelling!" said Heinrich; "but thus much I know,
+that she is still in Funen. Yes, she must take one of us, an
+unpretending husband! You can choose a genteel young lady for
+yourself. That's the way when people are lucky. You will become a
+landed proprietor. Old Heinrich will then no doubt obtain
+permission to exhibit his tricks on your estate? But none of its
+will speak of former times!--of the red house on the Odense water!"
+This last he whispered quite low. "I shall receive a few shillings
+from you?" he asked.
+
+"You shall have more!" said Otto, and gave to him. "But I wish us
+to remain strangers to each other, as we are!"
+
+"Yes, certainly, certainly!" said Heinrich, and nodded
+affirmatively with his head, whilst his eyes rested on the gift
+Otto had presented him with. "Then you are no longer angry with my
+joke in Jutland?" asked he with a simpering smile, and kissed
+Otto's hand. "I should not have known you then. Had you not shown
+me your shoulder, on which I saw the letters O and T which I myself
+had etched, it would never have occurred to me that we knew each
+other! But a light suddenly flashed across me. I should have said
+Otto Thostrup; but I said 'Odense Tugt-huus.' [Note: Odense house
+of correction.] That was not handsome of me, seeing you are such a
+good gentleman!"
+
+"Yes, now adieu!" said Otto, and extended to him unwillingly his
+hand.
+
+"There, our Saviour looks down upon us!" said the German Heinrich,
+and fixed his eyes upon the figure on the cross. "As certainly as
+He lives may you rely upon the silence of my mouth. He is my
+Redeemer, who hangs there on the cross, just as he is etched upon
+my skin, and as he stands along the high-roads in my father-land.
+Here is the only place in the whole country where the sign of the
+cross stands under the free heaven; here I worship: for you must
+know, Mr. Thostrup, I am not of your faith, but of the faith of the
+Virgin Mary. Here I have cut into the wood the holy sign, such as
+is placed over every door in my father-land,--an I, an H, and this
+S. In this is contained my own name; for H stands for Heinrich; I,
+for I myself; and S means Sinner; that is, I, Heinrich, Sinner. Now
+I have completed my worship, and you have given me a handsome
+skilling, I shall now go to my bed at the public-house; and if the
+girl is pretty, and lets one flatter her, I am still young enough,
+and shall fancy that I am Mr. Thostrup, and have won that most
+glorious, elegant young lady! Hurrah! it is a player's life which
+we lead!"
+
+Otto left him, but heard how Heinrich sang:
+           "Tri, ri, ro,
+   The summer comes once mo!
+     To beer, boys! to beer
+   The winter lies in bands, O!
+     And he who won't come here,
+   We'll trounce him with our wands, O!
+            Yo, yo, yo,
+   The summer comes once mo!"
+
+As, suddenly on a clear sunny day, a cloud can appear, extinguish
+the warm sunshine, conceal the green coast, and change everything
+into gray mist forms, so was it now with Otto, who had but just
+before felt himself so happy and full of youthful joy.
+
+"You can sleep quietly!" said the host, when Otto returned to
+Slagelse; "you shall be wakened early enough to leave with the
+mail."
+
+But his rest was like a delirium.
+
+The post-horn sounded in the empty street; they rolled away--it was
+at daybreak.
+
+"Is that a gallows?" inquired one of the travellers, and pointed toward
+the hill, where at this distance the cross looked like a stake.
+
+"That is the cross of the holy Anders!" replied Otto; and livingly
+stood before him the recollections of the evening before.
+
+"Does that really exist?" said the stranger. "I have read of it in
+the 'Letters of a Wandering Ghost.'"
+
+This was a beautiful morning, the sun shone warmly, the sea was
+smooth as a mirror, and so much the faster did the steamboat glide
+away. The vessel with the mail, which had set sail two hours
+earlier, still lay not far from land. The sails hung down loosely;
+not a breeze stirred them.
+
+The steamboat glided close past her; the passengers in the mail-vessel,
+the greater portion coachmen, travelling journeymen, and peasants,
+stood on the deck to see it. They waved greetings. One of the
+foremost leaned on his knotty stick, pulled off his hat, and
+shouted, "Good morning, my noble gentlefolk!" It was the German
+Heinrich; he then was going to Funen. Otto's heart beat faster, he
+gazed down among the rushing waves which foamed round the paddle,
+where the sunbeams painted a glorious rainbow.
+
+"That is lovely!" said one of the strangers, close to him.
+
+"Very lovely!" returned Otto, and stilled the sigh which would
+burst forth from his breast.
+
+Scarcely two hours were fled--the cables were flung upon the Nyborg
+bridge of boats, and the steamboat made fast to the island of Funen.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+"It is so sweet when friendly hands bid you a hearty welcome, so
+dear to behold well-known features, wherever you turn your eyes.
+Everything seems so home-like and quiet about you and in your own
+breast."   HENRIETTE HAUCK.
+
+Otto immediately hired a carriage, and reached the hall just about
+dinner-time. In the interior court-yard stood two calashes and an
+Holstein carriage; two strange coachmen, with lace round their
+hats, stood in animated discourse when Otto drove in through the
+gate. The postilion blew his horn.
+
+"Be quiet there!" cried Otto.
+
+"There are strangers at the hall!" said the postilion; "I will only
+let them know that another is coming."
+
+Otto gazed at the garden, glanced up toward the windows, where mine
+of the ladies showed themselves only out of a side building a
+female head was stretched out, whose hair was put back underneath a
+cap. Otto recognized the grown-together eyebrows. "Is she the first
+person I am to see here?" sighed he; and the carriage rolled into
+the inner court. The dogs barked, the turkey-cocks gobbled, but not
+Wilhelm showed himself. The Kammerjunker came--the excellent
+neighbor! and immediately afterward Sophie; both exclaimed with
+smiles, "Welcome!"
+
+"See, here we have our man!" said the Kammerjunker; "we can make
+use of him in the play!"
+
+"It is glorious you are come!" cried Sophie. "We shall immediately
+put you under arrest." She extended her hand to him--he pressed it
+to his lips. "We will have tableaux vivants this evening!" said
+she: "the pastor has never seen any. We have no service from
+Wilhelm; he is in Svendborg, and will not return for two days. You
+must be the officer; the Kammerjunker will represent the
+Somnambulist, who comes with her light through the window. Will
+you?"
+
+"Everything you desire!" said Otto.
+
+"Do not speak of it!" returned Sophie, and laid her finger on her
+lips. The mother descended the steps.
+
+"Dear Thostrup!" said she, and pressed, with warm cordiality, both
+his hands. "I have really quite yearned after you. Now Wilhelm is
+away, you must for two whole days put up with us alone."
+
+Otto went through the long passage where hung the old portraits; it
+was as if these also wished welcome. It only seemed a night full of
+many dreams which had passed since he was here; a year in the lapse
+of time is also not so long as a winter's night in the life of man.
+
+Here it was so agreeable, so home-like; no one could have seen by
+the trees that since then they had stood stripped of leaves and
+covered with snow; luxuriantly green they waved themselves in the
+sun's warmth, just as when Otto last gazed out of this window.
+
+He had the red room as before. The dinner-bell rang.
+
+Louise met him in the passage.
+
+"Thostrup!" exclaimed she, with delight, and seized his hand. "Now,
+it is almost a year and a day since I saw you!"
+
+"Yes much has happened in this year!" said the Kammerjunker. "Come
+soon to me, and you shall see what I have had made for pastime--a
+bowling-green! Miss Sophie has tried her skill upon it."
+
+The Kammerjunker took the mother to dinner. Otto approached Sophie.
+
+"Will you not take the Kammerjunker's sister?" whispered she.
+
+Mechanically, Otto made his bow before Miss Jakoba.
+
+"Take one of the young ladies!" said she; "you would rather do
+that?"
+
+Otto bowed, cast a glance toward Sophie; she had the old pastor.
+Otto smiled, and conducted Jakoba to table.
+
+The Mamsell, renowned through her work-box, sat on his left hand.
+He observed the company who, beside those we have already
+mentioned, consisted of several ladies and gentlemen whom he did
+not know. One chair was empty, but it was soon occupied; a young
+girl, quiet in her attire, and dressed like Louise, entered.
+
+"Why do you come so late?" asked Sophie, smiling.
+
+"That is only known to Eva and me!" said Louise, and smiled at the
+young girl.
+
+Eva seated herself. It was, perhaps, the complete resemblance of
+their dress which induced Otto to observe both her and Louise so
+closely, and even against his own will to draw comparisons. Both
+wore a simple dark brown dress, a small sea-green handkerchief
+round the neck. Louise seemed to him enchanting--pretty one could
+not call her: Eva, on the contrary, was ideal; there lay something
+in her appearance which made him think of the pale pink hyacinth.
+Every human being has his invisible angel, says the mythos; both
+are different and yet resemble each other. Eva was the angel;
+Louise, on the contrary, the human being in all its purity. Otto's
+eyes encountered those of Sophie--they were both directed to the
+same point. "What power! what beauty!" thought he. Her mind is far
+above that of Louise, and in beauty she is a gorgeous flower, and
+not, like Eva, a fine, delicate hyacinth. He drew eloquence from
+these eyes, and became interesting like the cousin, although he had
+not been in Paris.
+
+The Kammerjunker spoke of sucking-pigs, but that also was
+interesting; perhaps be drew his inspiration out of the same source
+as Otto. He spoke of the power of green buckwheat, and how the
+swine which eat it become mad. From this doubtless originated the
+legend of the devil entering into the swine. It is only coal-black
+pigs which can digest green buckwheat; if they have a single white
+speck upon them, they become ill at eating. "This is extraordinary,"
+exclaimed he.
+
+In his enthusiasm his discourse became almost a cry, which caused
+Miss Jakoba to say that one might almost think that he himself had
+eaten green buckwheat.
+
+Otto meantime cut out of the green melon-peel a man, and made him
+ride on the edge of his glass; that withdrew Sophie's attention
+from the Kammerjunker. The whole company found that this little
+cut-out figure was very pretty; and the Mamsell begged that she
+might have it--it should lie in her work-box.
+
+Toward evening all were in preparation for the approaching tableaux.
+
+Eva must represent Hero. With a torch in her hand she must kneel on
+a table, which was to be draped so as to represent a balcony. The
+poor girl felt quite unhappy at having to appear in this manner.
+Sophie laughed at her fear, and assured her that she would be
+admired, and that therefore she must and should.
+
+"Give way to my sister," said Louise, in a beseeching voice; and
+Eva was ready, let down her long brown hair, and allowed Sophie to
+arrange the drapery.
+
+Otto must put on an officer's uniform. He presented himself to the
+sisters.
+
+"That gold is not sewn fast on the collar," said Sophie, and
+undertook to rectify it. He could easily keep the uniform on whilst
+she did this, said she. Her soft hand touched Otto's cheek, it was
+like an electric shock to him; his blood burned; how much he longed
+to press the hand to his lips!
+
+They all burst out laughing when the Kammerjunker appeared in a
+white petticoat which only reached a little below the knee, and in
+a large white lady's dressing-jacket. Miss Sophie must arrange his
+hair. She did it charmingly; her hand stroked the hair away from
+his brow, and glided over his cheeks: he kissed it; she struck him
+in the face, and begged him not to forget himself! "We are ladies,"
+said he, and rose in his full splendor. They all laughed except
+Otto; he could not--he felt a desire to beat him. The spectators
+arranged themselves in a dark room, the folding doors were opened.
+
+Eva as Hero, in a white linen robe, her hair hanging down on her
+shoulders, and a torch in her hand, gazed out over the sea. No
+painter could have imagined anything more beautiful; the large
+dark-blue eyes expressed tenderness and melancholy; it was Eva's
+natural glance, but here you saw her quiet. The fine black eyebrows
+increased the expression, the whole figure was as if breathed into
+the picture.
+
+Now followed a new picture--Faust and Margaret in the arbor; behind
+stood Mephistophiles, with his devilish smile. The Kammerjunker's
+Mamsell was Margaret. When the doors were opened she sent forth
+aloud cry, and ran away; she would not stay, she was so afraid. The
+group was disarranged, people laughed and found it amusing, but the
+Kammerjunker scolded aloud, and swore that she should come in
+again; at that the laughter of the spectators increased, and was
+not lessened when the Kammerjunker, forgetting his costume as the
+Somnambule, half stepped into the frame in which the pictures were
+represented, and seated the Mamsell on the bench. This group was
+only seen for one moment: the dorors were again closed; the
+spectators applauded, but a whistle was heard. Laughter, and the
+hum of conversation, resounded through the room; and it was
+impossible to obtain perfect quiet, although a new picture already
+shone in the frame. It was Sophie as Correggio's "Magdalene": her
+rich hair fell in waves over her shoulders and round arms; before
+her lay the skull and the holy book.
+
+Otto's blood flowed faster; never had he seen Sophie more
+beautiful. The audience, however, could not entirely forget the
+comic scene which they had just witnessed; there was heard a faint
+suppressed laughter.
+
+This at length was able to take its free course when the following
+picture presented itself, where the Kammerjunker, as the Somnambule,
+his hand half-concealing the extinguished light, showed himself at
+the open window.
+
+A most stormy burst of applause was awarded to the actors.
+
+"Miss Sophie has arranged the whole!" cried the Kammerjunker, and
+now her name sounded from the lips of all the audience.
+
+Not before two days did Wilhelm return. He and Otto slept in the
+same apartment. Otto told of the tableaux, and said how lovely Eva
+had been as Hero.
+
+"That I can well believe," replied Wilhelm, but did not enter
+further into the subject; he laughed about the Kammerjunker and the
+disarranged group.
+
+Otto again named Eva, but Wilhelm lightly passed over this subject
+in his replies. Otto could not fathom their connection.
+
+"Shall we not go to sleep?" said Wilhelm; they wished each other
+good-night, and it was quiet.
+
+The old man Sleep, as Tieck has described him, with the box out of
+which he brings his dream-puppets, now commenced his nightly
+dramatic adventures, which lasted until the sun shone in through
+the window.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+"He draws nearer and nearer to her.
+'O, give my hope an answer by this pink-flower.'
+She sighs: 'O, I will--no--I will not.'"
+                        The Dancer, by PALUDAN-M�LLER
+
+"I shall get to know!" thought Otto. "This violent love cannot be
+evaporated." He paid attention to every little occurrence. Eva was
+the same quiet, modest creature as formerly--a house-fairy who
+exercised a friendly influence over all. Wilhelm spoke with her,
+but not with passion, neither with affected indifference. However,
+we cannot entirely rely upon Otto's power of observation: his
+glance was directed too often toward a dearer object--his attention
+was really directed to Sophie.
+
+They walked in the garden.
+
+"Once as you certainly know," said Otto, "your brother had a fancy
+for the pretty Eva. Is it not, therefore, somewhat dangerous her
+living here? Has your mother been prudent?"
+
+"For Wilhelm I am quite unconcerned!" answered Sophie. "Only take
+care of yourself! Eva is very amiable, and has very much changed
+for the better since she came here. My sister Louise quite raves
+about her, and my mother regards her almost as an adopted daughter.
+You have certainly remarked that she is not kept in the background.
+Yet she is weak; she resembles the tender mountain-flowers which
+grow in ice and snow, but which bow their heads in the soft
+mountain air, when it is warmed by the sun. It really seems to me
+that she is become weaker since she has enjoyed our care and happy
+days. When I saw her at Roeskelde she was far more blooming."
+
+"Perhaps she thinks of your brother--thinks of him with quiet sorrow?"
+
+"That I do not think is the case," replied Sophie; "otherwise
+Louise would have heard something of it. She possesses Eva's entire
+confidence. You may make yourself easy, if you are jealous!"
+
+"What make you conjecture this? My thoughts are directed above, and
+not beneath me!" said he, with a kind of pride, "I feel that I
+could never fall in love with Eva. Feel love toward her? no! Even
+when I think of it, I feel almost as though I had some prejudice
+against her. But you joke; you will rally me, as you have so often
+done. We shall soon part! Only two months longer shall I remain in
+Denmark! Two long years abroad! How much may occur in that time!
+Will you think of me--really think of me, Miss Sophie?" He bent,
+and kissed her hand.
+
+Sophie became crimson. Both were silent.
+
+"Are you here!" said the mother, who came out of a side walk.
+
+Otto stooped lower, and broke one of the beautiful stocks which
+hung over the border.
+
+"Are you taking Louise's favorite flowers?" said she, smiling.
+"This bed is declared to be inviolable."
+
+"I was so unfortunate as to break it!" said Otto, confused.
+
+"He wished to gather the dark-red pink for my table-garland!" said
+Sophie. "If he took it, my conscience would be clear!"
+
+And they all three walked along speaking of cherries, gooseberries,
+of the linen on the bleaching-ground, and of the warm summer's day.
+
+In the evening Eva and the two sisters sat at their work, Otto and
+Wilhelm had taken their seats beside them. They spoke of Copenhagen.
+
+Sophie knew how to introduce a number of little anecdotes, which
+she had gathered among the young ladies there. Otto entered into
+her ideas, and knew cleverly how to support what she said. What in
+reality interested young ladies was discussed.
+
+"When a girl is confirmed, all manner of fancies awake!" said Otto.
+"She experiences a kind of inclination for the heart of man; but
+this may not be acknowledged, except for two friends to the
+clergyman and the physician. For these she has quite a passion,
+especially for the former; she stands in a kind of spiritual
+rapport with him. His physical amiability melts into the spiritual.
+Thus her first love one may designate clergyman-love."
+
+"That is well said!" exclaimed Sophie.
+
+"He preaches himself so deeply into her heart!" pursued Otto. "She
+melts into tears, kisses his hand, and goes to church; but not for
+the sake of God, but on account of the sweet clergyman!"
+
+"O, I know that so well!" said Sophie, and laughed.
+
+"Fie! you do not mean so!" said Louise; "and I do not know how you
+can say such a thing Mr. Thostrup! That is frightful! You do not in
+the least know a young girl's soul! do not know the pure feeling
+with which she inclines herself to the man who has laid open before
+her the holy things of religion! Do not make sport of the innocent,
+the pure, which is so far removed from every earthly impression!"
+
+"I assure you," said Otto, smiling, "were I a poet, I would make
+the clergyman-love ridiculous in a hundred witty epigrams; and were
+I a teacher, I would protest against it from the chair."
+
+"That would be scattering poison into a well!" said Louise. "You,
+as a man, do not know the pure, the holy sentiment which exists in
+a young girl's bosom. Eva, thou art certainly of my opinion?"
+
+"Neither is this Mr. Thostrup's opinion?" answered she, and looked
+at him with a mild gravity.
+
+Wilhelm laughed aloud.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+
+"Alas, I am no sturdy oak!
+Alas, I'm but the flower
+  That wakes the kiss of May!
+And when has fled its little hour,
+  Will voice of Death obey."--RUCKERT.
+
+The following afternoon came visitors--two young ladies from
+Nyborg, friends of Sophie and Louise. Before dinner they would take
+a walk through the wood to an inclosure where the flax was in bloom.
+Otto was to accompany them.
+
+"I am also of the party!" said the Kammerjunker, who just galloped
+into the court-yard as the ladies, with Otto, were about setting
+out on their excursion. Thus the whole company consisted of five
+ladies and two gentlemen.
+
+"The cows are not in the field over which we must go, are they?"
+asked Eva.
+
+"No, my good girl!" returned Sophie; "you may be quite easy!
+Besides, we have two gentlemen with us."
+
+"Yes; but they would not be able to protect us from the unruly
+bullocks!" said Louise. "But we have nothing to fear. Where we are
+going the cows do not go until after they are milked. I am no
+heroine! Besides, it is not long since one bullock nearly gored the
+cowherd to death. He also gored Sidsel a great hole in her arm just
+lately: you remember the girl with her eyebrows grown together?"
+
+"There is also in the wood a wild sow, with eleven sucking pigs!"
+said Sophie, in ironical gravity; "it would not be agree able to
+meet with her!"
+
+"She is almost as dangerous as the bullocks!" said the Kammerjunker,
+ and laughed at Eva.
+
+The conversation took another turn.
+
+"Shall we not visit Peter Cripple?" asked Sophie. "The gentlemen
+can then see the smith's pretty daughter; she is really too
+beautiful to be his wife!"
+
+"Is Peter Cripple married?" inquired Otto.
+
+"No, the wedding will be held on Sunday!" replied the Kammerjunker;
+"but the bride is already in the house. The bans were published
+last Sunday, and they immediately commenced housekeeping together.
+This often takes place even earlier, when a man cannot do without a
+wife. She has taken him on account of his full money-bags!"
+
+"Yes, with the peasant it is seldom love which brings about the
+affair!" said Louise. "Last year there was quite a young girl who
+married a man who might have been her grandfather. She took him
+only, she said, because he had such a good set of earthenware."
+
+"These were very brittle things to marry upon!" remarked Otto.
+
+Meantime they were nearly come to the edge of the wood. Here stood
+a little house; hops hung luxuriantly over the hedge, the cat stood
+with bent back upon the crumbling edge of the well.
+
+Sophie, at the head of the whole company, stepped into the room,
+where Peter Cripple sat on the table sewing; but, light and active
+as an elf, he sprang down from the table to kiss her hand. The
+smith's pretty daughter was stirring something in an iron pot in
+the hearth. St. John's wort, stuck between the beams and the
+ceiling, shot forth in luxuriant growth, prophesying long life to
+the inhabitants of the house. On the sooty ceiling glittered
+herrings' souls, as a certain portion of the herring's entrails is
+called, and which Peter Cripple, following the popular belief, had
+flung up to the ceiling, convinced that so long as they hung there
+he should be freed from the ague.
+
+Otto took no part in the conversation, but turned over a quantity
+of songs which he found; they were stitched together in a piece of
+blue tobacco-paper. The principal contents were, "New, Melancholy
+Songs," "Of the Horrible Murder," "The Audacious Criminal," "The
+Devil in Salmon Lane," "Boat's Fall," and such things; which have
+now supplanted, among the peasants, the better old popular songs.
+
+With Louise, Eva, and one of the ladies from Nyborg, Otto slowly
+preceded the others, who had still some pleasantries to say before
+leaving Peter Cripple and his bride.
+
+"Shall we not go over the inclosure to the cairn?" said Louise. "It
+is clear to-day; we shall see Zealand. The others will follow us;
+here, from the foot-path, they will immediately discover us."
+
+Otto opened the gate and they went through the inclosure. They had
+already advanced a considerable way, when the Kammerjunker and his
+ladies reached the foot-path from which they could see the others.
+
+"They are going to the cairn," said he.
+
+"Then they will have a little fright!" said Sophie. "Down in the
+corner of the inclosure lie the young cattle. They may easily
+mistake them for cows, and the wild bullocks!"
+
+"Had we not better call them back?" asked the other lady.
+
+"But we must frighten them a little," said Sophie. "Shout to them
+that there are the cows!"
+
+"Yes, that I can do with a clear conscience!" said the Kammerjunker;
+and he shouted as loud as he could, "There are the cows! Turn back!
+turn back!"
+
+Eva heard it the first. "O God!" said she, "hear what they are
+calling to us!"
+
+Otto glanced around, but saw no cows.
+
+"They are standing still!" said Sophie; "call once again!"
+
+The Kammerjunker shouted as before, and Sophie imitated the lowing
+of the cows. At this noise the young cattle arose.
+
+Louise now became aware of them. "O heavens!" exclaimed she;
+"there, down in the corner of the inclosure, are all the cows!"
+
+"Let us run!" cried Eva, and took to flight.
+
+"For God's sake, do not run!" cried Otto; "walk slowly and quietly,
+otherwise they may come!"
+
+"Come away, away!" resounded from the wood.
+
+"O Lord!" shrieked Eva, when she saw the creatures raise their
+tails in the air as soon as they perceived the fugitives.
+
+"Now they are coming!" cried the lady who accompanied them, and
+sent forth a loud scream.
+
+Eva fled first, as if borne by the wind; the lady followed her, and
+Louise ran on after them.
+
+Otto now really saw all the cattle, which, upon the ladies flight,
+had instinctively followed, chasing over the field after them in
+the same direction.
+
+Nothing now remained for him but, like the others, to reach the
+gate. This he opened, and had just closed again, when the cattle
+were close upon them, but no one had eyes to see whether the cattle
+were little or big.
+
+"Now there is no more danger!" cried Otto, as soon as he had well
+closed the gate; but the ladies still fled on, passing among the
+trees until they reached the spot where the Kammerjunker and his
+two ladies awaited them with ringing laughter.
+
+Sophie was obliged to support herself against a tree through all
+the amusement. It had been a most remarkable spectacle, this
+flight; Eva at the head, and Mr. Thostrup rushing past them to open
+the gate. Louise was pale as death, and her whole body trembled; the
+friend supported her arm and forehead on a tree, and drew a long
+breath.
+
+"Bah!" again cried Sophie, and laughed.
+
+"But where is Eva?" asked Otto, and shouted her name.
+
+"She ran here before me!" said Louise; "she is doubtless leaning
+against a tree, and recovering her strength."
+
+"Eva!" cried Sophie. "Where is my hero: 'I want a hero!'"
+[Author's Note: Byron's Don Juan.]
+
+Otto returned to seek her. At this moment Wilhelm arrived.
+
+The Kammerjunker regretted that he had not seen the race with them,
+and related the whole history to him.
+
+"O come! come!" they heard Otto shout. They found him kneeling in
+the high grass. Eva lay stretched out on the ground; she was as
+pale as death; her head rested in Otto's lap.
+
+"God in heaven!" cried Wilhelm, and flung himself down before her.
+"Eva! Eva! O, she is dead! and thou art to blame for it, Sophie!
+Thou hast killed her!" Reproachfully he fixed his eyes on his
+sister. She burst into tears, and concealed her face in her hands.
+
+Otto ran to the peasant's cottage and brought water. Peter Cripple
+himself hopped like a mountain-elf behind him through the high
+nettles and burdocks, which closed above and behind him again.
+
+The Kammerjunker took Eva in his strong arms and carried her to the
+cottage. Wilhelm did not leave hold of her hand. The others
+followed in silence.
+
+"Try and get her home," said Wilhelm; "I myself will fetch the
+physician!" He rushed forth, and hastened through the wood to the
+ball, where he ordered the men to bring out a sedan-chair for the
+invalid; then had horses put into one of the lightest carriages,
+seated himself in it as coachman, and drove away to Nyborg, the
+nearest town, which, however, was distant almost twenty miles.
+
+Sophie was inconsolable. "It is my fault!" she said, and wept.
+
+Otto found her sitting before the house, under an elder-tree. She
+could not endure to see Eva's paleness.
+
+"You are innocent," said Otto. "Believe me, to-morrow Eva will be
+completely restored! She herself," added he, in an assuaging tone,
+"behaved in an imprudent manner. I warned her not to run. Her own
+terror is to blame for all."
+
+"No, no," returned Sophie; "my folly, my extravagance, has caused
+the whole misfortune!"
+
+"Now it is much better," said the Kammerjunker, coming out of the
+house. "She must be devilish tender to fly before a few calves! I
+really must laugh when I think of it, although it did come to such
+an end!"
+
+The men now arrived whom Wilhelm had sent with the sedan-chair.
+
+Eva thought she could walk, if she might lean upon some one; but it
+would be better, her friends thought, if she were carried.
+
+"Dost thou feel any pain?" asked Louise, and gave her a sisterly
+kiss on the brow.
+
+"No, none at all," replied Eva. "Do not scold me for having
+frightened you so. I am so fearful, and the bullock were close
+behind us."
+
+"They were, God help me, only calves!" answered the Kammerjunker;
+"they wished to play, and only ran because you ran!"
+
+"It was a foolish joke of mine!" said Sophie, and seized Eva's
+hand. "I am very unhappy about it!"
+
+"O no!" said Eva, and smiled so pensively, yet happily. "To-morrow
+I shall be quite well again!" Her eye seemed to seek some one.
+
+Otto understood the glance. "The physician is sent for. Wilhelm has
+himself driven over for him."
+
+Toward the middle of the wood the mother herself approached them;
+she was almost as pale as Eva.
+
+All sought to calm her; Eva bowed her head to kiss the good lady's
+hand. The Kammerjunker told the story to her, and she shook her
+head. "What an imprudent, foolish joke!" said she; "here you see
+the consequences!"
+
+Not before late in the afternoon did Wilhelm return with the
+physician; he found his patient out of all danger, but prescribed
+what should still be done. Quiet and the warm summer air would do
+the most for her.
+
+"See," said Otto, when, toward evening he met Sophie in the garden,
+"to-day Wilhelm did not conceal his feelings!"
+
+"I fear that you are right!" returned Sophie. "He loves Eva, and
+that is very unfortunate. Tell me what you know about it."
+
+"I know almost nothing!" said Otto, and told about little Jonas and
+the first meeting with Eva.
+
+"Yes, that he has told us already himself! But do you know nothing
+more?" Her voice became soft, and her eyes gazed full of confidence
+into Otto's.
+
+He related to her the short conversation which he had had last
+autumn with Wilhelm, how angry he had been with his candid warning,
+and how since then they had never spoken about Eva.
+
+"I must confide my fear to our mother!" said Sophie. "I almost now
+am glad that he will travel in two months, although we shall then
+lose you also!"
+
+And Otto's heart beat; the secret of his heart pressed to his lips;
+every moment he would speak it. But Sophie had always still another
+question about her brother; they were already out of the garden,
+already in the court-yard, and yet Otto had said nothing.
+
+Therefore was he so quiet when, late in the evening, he and Wilhelm
+entered their chamber. Wilhelm also spoke no word, but his eye
+repeatedly rested expectantly on Otto, as if waiting for him to
+break the silence. Wilhelm stepped to the open window and drank in
+the fresh air, suddenly he turned round, flung his arms round Otto,
+and exclaimed, "I can no longer endure it! I must say it to some
+one! I love her, and will never give her up, let every one be
+opposed! I have now silently concealed my feelings for some months;
+I can do so no longer, or I shall become ill, and for that I am not
+made!"
+
+"Does she know this?" asked Otto.
+
+"No, and yes! I do not know what I should answer! Here at home I
+have never spoken alone with her. The last time when Weyse played
+on the organ at Roeskelde I had bought a pretty silk handkerchief,
+and this I took with me for her; I know not, but I wished to give
+her pleasure. There came a woman past with lovely stocks; I stood
+at the open window; she offered me a bouquet, and I bought it.
+'Those are lovely flowers!' said Eva, when she entered. 'They will
+fade with me!' said I; 'put them in water and keep there for
+yourself!' She wished only to have a few, but I obliged her to take
+them all: she blushed, and her eyes gazed strangely down into my
+soul. I know not what sort of a creature I became, but it was
+impossible for me to give her the handkerchief; it seemed to me
+that this would almost be an offense. Eva went away with the
+flowers, but the next morning it seemed to me that she was uneasy;
+I fancied I saw her color come and go when I bade her adieu! She
+must have read the thoughts in my soul!"
+
+"And the handkerchief?" interrupted Otto.
+
+"I gave it to my sister Sophie," said Wilhelm.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV
+
+        "Tell me
+What would my heart?
+  My heart's with thee,
+With thee would have a part."
+          GOETHE'S West-�stlicher Divan.
+
+"There stands the man again--
+The man with gloomy mien."
+        Memories of Travel, by B. C. INGEMANN.
+
+Several days passed; the fine crimson again returned to Eva's
+cheeks. The first occasion of her going out with the others was to
+see the rape-stalks burned. These were piled together in two
+immense stacks. In the morning, at the appointed hour, which had
+been announced through the neighborhood that no one might mistake
+it for a conflagration, the stalks were set fire to. This took
+place in the nearest field, close beside the hall, where the
+rape-seed was threshed upon an out-spread sail.
+
+The landscape-painter, Dahl, has given us a picture of the burning
+Vesuvius, where the red lava pours down the side of the mountain;
+in the background one sees across the bay as far as Naples and
+Ischia: it is a piece full of great effect. Such a splendid
+landscape is not to be found in flat Denmark, where there are no
+great natural scenes, and yet this morning presented even there a
+picture with the same brilliant coloring. We will study it. In the
+foreground there is a hedge of hazels, the nuts hang in great
+clusters, and contrast strongly with their bright green against the
+dark leaves; the blue chicory-flower and the blood-red poppy grew
+on the side of the ditch, upon which are some tall rails, over
+which the ladies have to climb: the delicate sylph-like figure is
+Eva. In the field, where nothing remains but the yellow stubble,
+stand Otto and Wilhelm; two magnificent hounds wag their tails
+beside them. To the left is a little lake, thickly overgrown with
+reeds and water-lilies, with the yellow trollius for its border. In
+the front, where the wood retreats, lie, like a great stack, the
+piled-together rape-stalks: the man has struck fire, has kindled
+the outer side of them, and with a rapidity like that of the
+descending lava the red fire flashes up the gigantic pile. It
+crackles and roars within it. In a moment it is all a burning
+mound; the red flames flash aloft into the blue air, high above
+the wood which is now no longer visible. A thick black smoke
+ascends up into the clear air, where it rests like a cloud. Out of
+the flames, and even out of the smoke, the wind carries away large
+masses of fire, which, crackling and cracking, are borne on to the
+wood, and which fill the spectator with apprehension of their
+falling upon the nearest trees and burning up leaf and branch.
+
+"Let us go further off," said Sophie; "the heat is too great here."
+
+They withdrew to the ditch.
+
+"O, how many nuts!" exclaimed Wilhelm; "and I do not get one of
+them! I shall go after them if they be ripe."
+
+"But you have grapes and other beautiful fruit!" said Eva smiling.
+"We have our beautiful things at home!"
+
+"Yes, it is beautiful, very beautiful at home!" exclaimed Wilhelm;
+"glorious flowers, wild nuts; and there we have Vesuvius before
+us!" He pointed to the burning pile.
+
+"No," said Sophie; "it seems to me much more like the pile upon
+which the Hindoo widow lays herself alive to be burned! That must
+be horrible!"
+
+"One should certainly be very quickly dead!" said Eva.
+
+"Would you actually allow yourself to be burned to death, if you
+were a Hindoo widow--after, for instance, Mr. Thostrup, or after
+Wilhelm," said she, with a slight embarrassment, "if he lay dead in
+the fire?"
+
+"If it were the custom of the country, and I really had lost the
+only support which I had in the world--yes, so I would!"
+
+"O, no, no!" said Louise.
+
+"In fact it is brilliant!" exclaimed Sophie.
+
+"Burning is not, perhaps, the most painful of deaths!" said Otto,
+and plucked in an absent manner the nuts from the hedge. "I know a
+story about a true conflagration."
+
+"What is it like?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"Yet it is not a story to tell in a large company; it can only be
+heard when two and two are together. When I have an opportunity, I
+shall tell it!"
+
+"O, I know it!" said Wilhelm. "You can relate it to one of my
+sisters there, whichever you like best! Then I shall--yes, I must
+relate it to Eva!"
+
+"It is too early in the day to hear stories told!" said Louise;
+"let us rather sing a song!"
+
+"No, then we shall have to weep in the evening," replied Wilhelm.
+And they had neither the song nor the story.
+
+Mamma came wandering with Vasserine, the old, faithful hound: they
+two also wished to see how beautiful the burning looked. It
+succeeded excellently with the rape-stalks; but the other burning,
+of which the story was to be told, it did not yet arrive at an
+outbreak! It might be expected, however, any hour in the day.
+
+In the evening Otto walked alone through the great chestnut avenue.
+The moon shone brightly between the tree-branches. When he entered
+the interior court Wilhelm and Sophie skipped toward him, but
+softly, very softly. They lifted their hands as if to impress
+silence.
+
+"Come and see!" said Sophie; "it is a scene which might be painted!
+it goes on merrily in the servants' hall; one can see charmingly
+through the window!"
+
+"Yes, come!" said Wilhelm.
+
+Otto stole softly forward. The lights shone forth.
+
+Within there was laughter and loud talking; one struck upon the
+table, another sung,--
+        "And I will away to Prussia land,
+             Hurrah!
+         And when I am come to Prussia land,
+             Hurrah!"  [Note: People's song.]
+
+Otto looked in through the window.
+
+Several men and maids sat within at the long wooden table at the
+end of this stood Sidsel in a bent attitude, her countenance was of
+a deep crimson; she spoke a loud oath and laughed--no one imagined
+that they were observed. All eyes were riveted upon a great fellow
+who, with his shirt-sleeves rolled up, and a pewter tankard in his
+hand, was standing there. It was the German Heinrich, who was
+exhibiting to them his conjuring tricks. Otto turned pale; had the
+dead arisen from the bier before him it could not have shocked him
+more.
+
+"Hocus-pocus Larifari!" cried Heinrich within, and gave the tankard
+to a half-grown fellow, of the age between boy and man.
+
+"If thou hast already a sweetheart," said he; "then the corn which
+is within it will be turned to flour; but if thou art still only a
+young cuckoo, then it will remain only groats."
+
+"Nay, Anders Peersen!" said all the girls laughing, "now we shall
+see whether thou art a regular fellow!"
+
+Sophie stole away.
+
+The echoing laughter and clapping of hands announced the result.
+
+"Is it not the same person who was playing conjuring tricks in the
+park?" inquired Wilhelm.
+
+"Yes, certainly," replied Otto; "he is to me quite repulsive!" And
+so saying, he followed Sophie.
+
+Late in the evening, when all had betaken themselves to rest,
+Wilhelm proposed to Otto that they should make a little tour, as he
+called it.
+
+"I fancy Meg Merrilies, as my sister calls Sidsel," said he, "has
+made a conquest of the conjuror, although he might be her father.
+They have been walking together down the avenue; they have been
+whispering a deal together; probably he will to-night sleep in one
+of the barns. I must go and look after him; he will be lying there
+and smoking his pipe, and may set our whole place on fire. Shall we
+go down together? We can take Vasserine and Fingel with us."
+
+"Let him sleep!" said Otto; "he will not be so mad as to smoke
+tobacco in the straw! To speak candidly, I do not wish to be seen
+by him. He was several times at my grandfather's house. I have
+spoken with him, and now that I dislike him I do not wish to see
+him!"
+
+"Then I will go alone!" said Wilhelm.
+
+Otto's heart beat violently; he stood at the open window and looked
+out over the dark wood, which was lit up by the moon. Below in the
+court he heard Wilhelm enticing the dogs out. He heard yet another
+voice, it was that of the steward, and then all was again silent.
+Otto thought upon the German Heinrich and upon Sophie, his life's
+good and bad angels; and he pictured to himself how it would be if
+she extended to him her hand--was his bride! and Heinrich called
+forth before her the recollections which made his blood curdle.
+
+It seemed to him as if something evil impended over him this night.
+"I feel a forewarning of it!" said he aloud.
+
+Wilhelm came not yet back.
+
+Almost an hour passed thus. Wilhelm entered, both dogs were with
+him; they were miry to their very sides.
+
+"Did you meet any one?" inquired Otto.
+
+
+"Yes, there was some one," said Wilhelm, "but not in the barn. The
+stupid dogs seemed to lose their nature; it was as if there was a
+somebody stealing along the wall, and through the reeds in the
+moat. The hounds followed in there; you can see how they look!--but
+they came the next moment back again, whined, and hung down their
+ears and tails. I could not make them go in again. Then the steward
+was superstitious! But, however, it could only be either the
+juggler, or one of the servant-men who had stilts. How otherwise
+any one could go in among the reeds without getting up to their
+necks, I cannot conceive!"
+
+All was again perfectly still without. The two friends went to the
+open window, threw their arms over each other's shoulders, and
+looked out into the silent night.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+"Bring' h�usliche H�lfe
+Incubus! incubus.
+Tritt herhor und mache den Schluss."
+                       GOETHE's Faust.
+
+"Es giebt so bange Zeiten,
+Es giebt so tr�ben Muth!"--NOVALIS.
+
+The next morning Wilhelm related his evening adventure at the
+breakfast-table; the sisters laughed at it. The mother, on the
+contrary, was silent, left the room, and after some time returned.
+
+"There have been thieves here!" said she, "and one might almost
+imagine that they were persons in the household itself. They have
+been at the press where the table-linen is kept, and have not been
+sparing in their levies. The beautiful old silver tankard, which I
+inherited from my grandmother, is also missing. I would much sooner
+have given the value of the silver than have lost that piece!"
+
+"Will not the lady let it be tried by the sieve?" asked the old
+servant: "that is a pretty sure way!"
+
+"That is nothing but superstition," answered she; "in that way the
+innocent may so easily be suspected."
+
+"As the lady pleases!" said the servant, and shook his head.
+
+In the mean time a search through the house was instituted. The
+boxes of the domestics were examined, but nothing was discovered.
+
+"If you would only let the sieve be tried!" said the old servant.
+
+In the afternoon Otto went into the garden; he fell into discourse
+with the gardener, and they spoke of the theft which had occurred.
+
+"It vexes every one of us," said he, "because we think much of the lady,
+and of the whole family. And some one must, nevertheless, be suspected.
+We believe that it was Sidsel, for she was a good-for-nothing person!
+We folks tried among ourselves with the sieve, but however, at the
+mention of her name, if it did not move out of its place. We had set
+it upon the point of a knife, and mentioned the name of every person
+about the place, but it stood as if it were nailed quite fast. But
+there was really something to see, which not one of us would have
+believed. I'll say no more about it, although we had every one of
+us our own thoughts. I would have taken my oath of it."
+
+Otto pressed him to mention the person who was suspected.
+
+"Yes, to you perhaps, I may mention it," replied he; "but you will
+not say anything about it? As we were standing today, at noon,
+around the sieve, and it did not move at Sidsel's name, she became
+angry, because a word bad been let fall which could not be
+agreeable to her if she were innocent. She drew herself up as if in
+a passion, and said to us, 'But there are also in the hall a many
+people besides us, who may slip and slide! There are strangers
+here, and the fine Mamsell, and the farmers. Yes, I suspect no one,
+but every one ought to be named!'
+
+"And so we did it. Yes, we mentioned even your name, Mr. Thostrup,
+although we knew very well that you were guiltless of the charge;
+but we would not excuse any one. The sieve stood quite entirely
+still until we mentioned Eva's name, and then it moved. Not one of
+us actually could believe it, and the servant Peter said also that
+it was because of the draught from the chimney. We mentioned yet
+once more all the names, and the sieve stood still until we came to
+Eva's, and then we perceived very plainly a movement. The servant
+Peter at the same moment gave a great blow to the sieve, so that it
+fell to the ground, and be swore that it was a lie, and that he
+would answer for Eva. I would have done so too; but yet it was very
+extraordinary with the sieve! Most of the folks, however, have
+their own thoughts, but no one venture to express them to the
+gentry who think so much of her. I cannot, however, rightly
+reconcile it to myself!"
+
+"She is innocent!" said Otto; and it amazed him that any one should
+cast the slightest suspicion on Eva. He thought of German Heinrich
+and Sidsel, who alone appeared to him suspicious. There then
+occurred to him an experiment of which he had heard from Rosalie.
+It now seemed to him available, and, physiologically considered,
+much more certain than that with the sieve.
+
+"Probably it may lead to a discovery," said he, after he had
+communicated his whole plan to Sophie and the steward.
+
+"Yes, we mast try it!" said she; "it is excellent! I also will be
+put to the proof, although I am initiated into the mystery."
+
+"Yes, you, your sister, Wilhelm, Eva, we all of us must," said
+Otto. "Only I will not do the speaking: that the steward must do."
+
+"That is proper, very proper!" replied she: "it shall be tried this
+evening when it is dark."
+
+The time came; the steward assembled the people.
+
+"Now I know," said he, "how we shall find the thief!"
+
+All were to remain in the first room: within a side-room, which was
+quite dark, there stood in a corner on the right hand a copper
+kettle; to this every person as they came in, one by one, were to
+go and lay their hand down on the flat bottom of the kettle. The
+hand of every one who was innocent would be brought out again white
+and pure, but the hand of the criminal would be severely burned,
+and would become black as a coal.
+
+"He who now," said the steward, addressing them, "has a good
+conscience, may go with this and our Lord into the innermost room,
+lay his hand upon the bottom of the kettle, and show it to me. Now
+I go to receive you all!"
+
+The daughters went, the friends, Eva, and all the household. The
+steward questioned them as they came in: "Answer me, upon thy
+conscience, did thy hand touch the flat bottom of the kettle?"
+
+All replied, "Yes!"
+
+"Then show me your hand!" said he; and they showed them, and all
+were black: Sidsel's alone was white.
+
+"Thou art the thief!" said the steward. "Thy evil conscience has
+condemned thee. Thou hast not touched the kettle; hast not laid thy
+hand upon it, or it would have become as black as that of the
+others. The kettle was blackened inside with turpentine smoke; they
+who came with a good conscience, knowing that their hands would
+remain pure like their consciences, touched the kettle fearlessly
+and their hands became black! Thou hast condemned thyself! Confess,
+or it will go worse with thee!"
+
+Sidsel, uttered a horrible cry and fell down upon her knees.
+
+"O God, help me!" said she, and confessed that she was the thief.
+
+A chamber high up in the roof was prepared as a prison; here the
+delinquent was secured until the affair, on the following day,
+should be announced to the magistrate.
+
+"Thou shalt be sent to Odense, and work upon the treadmill!" said
+Wilhelm: "to that thou belongest!"
+
+The family assembled at the tea-table. Sophie joked about the day's
+adventure.
+
+"Poor Sidsel!" said Eva.
+
+"In England she would be hanged," said Wilhelm; "that would be a
+fine thing to see!"
+
+"Horrible!" replied Louise; "they must die of terror in going to
+the gallows."
+
+"Nay, it is very merry," said Wilhelm. "Now you shall hear what
+glorious music has been set to it by Rossini!" And he played the
+march from "Gazza Ladra," where a young girl is led to the gallows.
+
+"Is it not merry?" asked he. "Yes, he is a composer!"
+
+"To me it seems precisely characteristic," answered Otto. "They are
+not the feelings of the girl which the composer wished to express;
+it is the joy of the rude rabble in witnessing an execution--to
+them a charming spectacle, which is expressed in these joyous
+tones: it is a tragic opera, and therefore he chose exactly this
+character of expression!"
+
+"It is difficult to say anything against that," replied Wilhelm;
+"yet what you assert I have not heard from any other person."
+
+"When a soldier is executed they play some lively air," said Otto;
+"the contrast in this case brings forth the strongest effect!"
+
+The servant now entered, and said with a smile that Peter Cripple,
+the "new-married man," as he called him, was without and wished to
+speak to the Baron Wilhelm.
+
+"It is about a waltz," said he, "which the Baron had promised to
+him!"
+
+"It is late for him to come into the court!" said Sophie "the
+peasants generally go to bed with the sun."
+
+In the lobby stood the announced Peter in his stocking-feet, with
+his hat in one hand and a great stick in the other. He knew, he
+said, that it was still daytime with the gentlefolks; he was just
+coming past the hall and thought that he could, perhaps, have that
+Copenhagen Waltz which the Baron had promised him: he should want
+it to-morrow night to play at a wedding, and, therefore, he wished
+to have it now that he might practice it first of all.
+
+Sophie inquired after his young wife, and said something merry.
+Louise gave him a cup of tea, which he drank in the lobby. Otto
+looked at him through the open door; he made comical grimaces, and
+looked almost as if he wished to speak with him. Otto approached
+him, and Peter thrust a piece of paper into his hand, making at the
+same time a significant gesture indicative of silence.
+
+Otto stepped aside and examined the dirty piece of paper, which was
+folded together like a powder and sealed with a lump of wax. On the
+outside stood, in scarcely legible characters,
+           "TotH' WeL-borne,
+               Mr. Odto Tustraab."
+
+He endeavored, in the first place, to read it in the moonlight; but
+that was scarcely possible.
+
+After considerable labor he made out the meaning of this letter,
+written, as it was in a half-German, half-Danish gibberish, of the
+orthography of which we have given a specimen in the direction. The
+letter was from the German Heinrich. He besought Otto to meet him
+this evening in the wood near Peter Cripple's house, and he would
+give to him an explanation which should be worth the trouble of the
+walk. It would occasion, he said, much trouble and much misery to
+Mr Thostrup if he did not go.
+
+A strange anxiety penetrated Otto. How could he steal away without
+being missed? and yet go he both must and should. An extraordinary
+anxiety drove him forth.
+
+"Yes, the sooner the better!" said he, hastening down the steps and
+leaping in haste over the low garden-fence lest the gate should,
+perhaps, make a noise. He was very soon in the wood: he heard the
+beating of his own heart.
+
+"Eternal Father!" said he, "strengthen my soul! Release me from
+this anxiety which overpowers me! Let all be for the best!"
+
+He had now reached Peter Cripple's house. A figure leaned against
+the wall; Otto paused, measured it with his eye to ascertain who it
+was, and recognized German Heinrich.
+
+"What do you want with me?" inquired Otto.
+
+Heinrich raised his hand in token of silence, beckoned him forward,
+and opened a little gate which led to the back of the house. Otto
+mechanically followed him.
+
+"It goes on badly at the hall," said Heinrich. "Sidsel is really
+put in prison, and will be taken to-morrow to Odense, to the red
+house by the river."
+
+"It is what she has deserved!" said Otto. "I did not bring it
+about."
+
+"O no!" answered Heinrich; "in a certain way we bring nothing
+about; but you can put in a good word for her. You must see that
+this punishment does not befall her."
+
+"But the punishment is merited!" replied Otto; "and how can I mix
+myself up in the affair? What is it that you have to say to me?"
+
+"Yet, the good gentleman must not get angry!" began Heinrich again;
+"but I am grieved about the girl. I can very well believe that he
+does not know her, and therefore it gives him no trouble; but if I
+were now to whisper a little word in his ear? She is your own
+sister, Mr. Thostrup!"
+
+All grew dark before Otto's eyes; a chill as of death went through
+his blood; his hands held firmly by the cold wall, or he must have
+sunk to the earth; not a sound escaped his lips.
+
+German Heinrich laid his hand in a confidential manner upon his
+shoulder, and continued in a jeering, agitated tone, "Yes, it is
+hard for you to hear! I also struggled a long time with myself
+before I could make up my mind to tell you. But a little trouble is
+preferable to a great one. I had some talk with her yesterday, but
+I did not mention you, although it seemed queer to me at my heart
+that the brother should sit at the first table with the young
+ladies, and the sister be farm swine-maiden. Now they have put her
+in prison! I am very sorry for her and you too, Mr. Thostrup, for
+it is disagreeable! If the magistrate come to-morrow morning, and
+she fall into the claws of the red angel, it will not be so easy to
+set her at liberty again! But yet you could, perhaps, help her; as,
+for instance, to-night! I could make an opportunity--I would be in
+the great avenue beyond the hall. If she could get thus far she
+would be safe; I would then conduct her out of this part of the
+country. I may as well tell you that we were yesterday half-betrothed!
+She goes with me; and you can persuade the gracious lady at the hall
+to let the bird fly!"
+
+"But how can I? how can I?" exclaimed Otto.
+
+"She is, however, always your sister!" said Heinrich, and they both
+remained silent for a moment. "Then I will," said Heinrich, "if all
+be still at the hall, wait in the avenue as the bell goes twelve."
+
+"I must!" exclaimed Otto; "I must! God help me!"
+
+"Jesu, Maria, help!" said Heinrich, and Otto left him.
+
+"She is my sister! she, the most horrible of all!" sighed he; his
+knees trembled, and he leaned against a tree for support: his
+countenance was like that of the dead; cold sweat-drops stood upon
+his brow. All around him lay the dark night-like wood; only to the
+left glimmered, between the bushes, the moonlight reflected from
+the lake.
+
+"Within its depths," sighed he, "all would be forgotten--my grief
+would be over! Yet, what is my sin? Had I an existence before I was
+born upon this globe? Must I here be punished for sins which I then
+committed?"
+
+His dark eye stared lifelessly out of his pale countenance. Thus
+sit the dead upon their graves in the silent night; thus gazes the
+somnambulist upon the living world around him.
+
+"I have felt this moment before--this moment which now is here; it
+was the well-spring whence poison was poured over my youthful days!
+She is my sister! She? unhappy one that I am!"
+
+Tears streamed from his eyes, it was a convulsive weeping; he cried
+aloud, it was impossible to him to suppress his voice; he sank half
+down by the tree and wept, for it was night in his soul: silent,
+bitter tears flowed, as the blood flows when the heart is
+transpierced. Who could breathe to him consolation? There lay no
+balsam in the gentle airs of the clear summer night, in the
+fragrance of the wood, in the holy, silent spirit of nature. Poor
+Otto!
+
+             "Weep, only weep! it gives repose,
+              A world is every tear that flows,--
+              A world of anguish and unrest,
+              That rolleth from the troubled breast.
+
+             "And hast thou wept whilst tears can flow,
+              A tranquil peace thy heart will know;
+              For sorrow, trivial or severe,
+              Hath had its seat in every tear.
+
+             "Think'st thou that He, whose love beholds
+              The worm the smallest leaf enfolds,--
+              That He, whose power sustains the whole
+              Forgets a world--thy human soul?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+
+"Mourir! c'est un instant de supplice: mais vivre?"--FR�D�RIC SOULIE.
+
+The physician from Nyborg, who had been on a visit to a sick person
+in the neighborhood, took this opportunity of calling on the family
+and inquiring after Eva's health. They had prayed him to stay over
+the night there, and rather to drive hone in the early morning than
+so late in the evening. He allowed himself to be persuaded. Otto,
+on his return, found him and the family in deep conversation. They
+were talking of the "Letters of a Wandering Ghost."
+
+"Where have you been?" asked Sophie, as Otto entered.
+
+"You look so pale!" said Louise; "are you ill?"
+
+"I do not feel well!" replied Otto; "I went therefore down into the
+garden a little. Now I am perfectly recovered." And he took part in
+the conversation.
+
+The overwhelming sorrow had dissolved itself in tears. His mind had
+raised itself up again from its stupefaction, and sought for a
+point of light on which to attach itself. They were talking of the
+immense caves of Maastricht, how they stretch themselves out into
+deep passages and vast squares, in which sound is lost, and where
+the light, which cannot reach the nearest object, only glimmers
+like a point of fire. In order to comprehend this vacuity and this
+darkness, the travellers let the guide extinguish his torch, and
+all is night; they are penetrated, as it were, with darkness; the
+hand feels after a wall, in order to have some restraint, some
+thought on which to repose itself: the eye sees nothing; the ear
+hears nothing. Horror seizes on the strongest mind: the same
+darkness, the same desolate emotion, had Heinrich's words breathed
+into Otto's soul; therefore he sank like the traveller to the
+earth: but as the traveller's whole soul rivets itself by the eye
+upon the first spark which glimmers, to kindle again the torch
+which is to lead him forth from this grave, so did Otto attach
+himself to the first awakening thought of help. "Wilhelm? his soul
+is noble and good, him will I initiate into my painful secret,
+which chance had once almost revealed to him."
+
+But this was again extinguished, as the first spark is extinguished
+which the steel gives birth to. He could not confide himself to
+Wilhelm; the understanding which this very confidence would give
+birth to between them, must separate them from each other. It was
+humiliating, it was annihilating. But for Sophie? No, how could he,
+after that, declare the love of his heart? how far below her should
+he be placed, as the child of poverty and shame! But the mother of
+the family? Yes, she was gentle and kind; with a maternal sentiment
+she extended to him her hand, and looked upon him as on a near
+relation. His thoughts raised themselves on high, his hands folded
+themselves to prayer; "The will of the Lord alone be done!"
+trembled involuntarily from his lips. Courage returned refreshingly
+to his heart. The help of man was like the spark which was soon
+extinguished; God was an eternal torch, which illumined the
+darkness and could guide him through it.
+
+"Almighty God! thou alone canst and willest!" said he; "to thou who
+knowest the heart, do thou alone help and lead me!"
+
+This determination was firmly taken; to no human being would he
+confide himself; alone would he release the prisoner, and give her
+up to Heinrich. He thought upon the future, and yet darker and
+heavier than hitherto it stood before him. But he who confides in
+God can never despair the only thing that was now to be done was to
+obtain the key of the chamber where Sidsel was confined, and then
+when all in the house were asleep he would dare that which must be
+done.
+
+Courage and tranquillity return into every powerful soul when it
+once sees the possibility of accomplishing its work. With a
+constrained vivacity Otto mingled in the conversation, no one
+imagining what a struggle his soul had passed through.
+
+The disputation continued. Wilhelm was in one of his eloquent
+moods. The doctor regarded the "Letters of the Wandering Ghost" as
+one of the most perfect books in the Danish literature. Once Sophie
+had been of the same opinion, now she preferred Cooper's novels to
+this and all other books.
+
+"People so easily forget the good for the new," said Wilhelm; "if
+the new is only somewhat astonishing, the many regard the author as
+the first of writers. The nation is, aesthetically considered, now
+in its period of development. Every really cultivated person, who
+stands among the best spirits of his age, obtains, whilst he
+observes his own advance in the intellectual kingdom, clearness
+with regard to the development of his nation. This has, like
+himself, its distinct periods; in him some important event in life,
+in it some agitating world convulsion, may advance them suddenly a
+great leap forward. The public favor is unsteady; to-day it strews
+palm-branches, to-morrow it cries, 'Crucify him!' But I regard that
+as a moment of development. You will permit me to make use of an
+image to elucidate my idea. The botanist goes wandering through
+field and wood, he collects flowers and plants; every one of these
+had, while he gathered it, his entire interest, his whole thought--
+but the impression which it made faded before that of its
+successor: nor is it till after a longer time that he is able to
+enjoy the whole of his treasures, and arrange them according to
+their worth and their rareness. The public seizes alike upon
+flowers and herbs; we hear its assiduous occupation with the object
+of the moment, but it is not yet come into possession of the whole.
+At one time, that which was sentimental was the foremost in favor,
+and that poet was called the greatest who best knew how to touch
+this string; then it passed over to the peppered style of writing,
+and nothing pleased but histories of knights and robbers. Now
+people find pleasure in prosaic life, and Schr�der and Iffland are
+the acknowledged idols. For us the strength of the North opened
+heroes and gods, a new and significant scene. Then tragedy stood
+uppermost with us. Latterly we have begun to feel that this is not
+the flesh and blood of the present times. Then the fluttering
+little bird, the vaudeville, came out to us from the dark wood, and
+enticed us into our own chambers, where all is warm and
+comfortable, where one has leave to laugh, and to laugh is now a
+necessity for the Danes. One must not, like the crowd, inconsiderately
+place that as foremost which swims upon the waters, but treasure
+the good of every time, and arrange them side by side, as the
+botanist arranges his plants. Every people must, under the poetical
+sunshine, have their sentimental period, their berserker rage, their
+enjoyment of domestic life, and their giddy flights beyond it; it
+must merge itself in individuality before it can embrace the beauty
+of the whole. It is unfortunate for the poet who believes himself to
+be the wheel of his age; and yet he, with his whole crowd of admirers,
+is, as Menzel says, only a single wheel in the great machine--a little
+link in the infinite chain of beauty."
+
+"You speak like a Plato!" said Sophie.
+
+"If we could accord as well in music as we do in poetry," said
+Otto, "then we should be entirely united in our estimation of the
+arts. I love that music best which goes through the ear to the
+heart, and carries me away with it; on the contrary, if it is to be
+admired by the understanding, it is foreign to me."
+
+"Yes, that is your false estimation of the subject, dear friend!"
+said Wilhelm: "in aesthetics you come at once to the pure and true;
+but in music you are far away in the outer court, where the crowd
+is dancing, with cymbals and trumpets, around the musical golden
+calf!"
+
+And now the aesthetic unity brought them into a musical disunity.
+On such occasions, Otto was not one to be driven back from his
+position; he very well knew how to bear down his assailant by
+striking and original observations: but Otto, this evening,
+although he was animated enough--excited, one might almost say--did
+not exhibit the calmness, the decision in his thoughts and words,
+which otherwise would have given him the victory.
+
+It was a long hour, and one yet longer and more full of anxiety,
+which commenced with supper. The conversation turned to the events
+of the day. Otto mingled in it, and endeavored therefrom to derive
+advantage; it was a martyrdom of the soul. Sophie praised highly
+his discovery.
+
+"If Mr. Thostrup had not been here," said she, "then we should
+hardly have discovered the thief. We must thank Mr. Thostrup for
+it, and really for a merry, amusing spectacle."
+
+They joked about it alai laughed, and Otto was obliged to laugh
+also.
+
+"And now she sits up there, like a captive, in the roof!" said he;
+"it must be an uncomfortable night to her!"
+
+"Oh, she sleeps, perhaps, better than some of us others!" said
+Wilhelm: "that will not annoy her!"
+
+"She is confined in the gable chamber, out in the court, is she
+not?" inquired Otto: "there she has not any moonlight."
+
+"Yes, surely she has!" answered Sophie; "it is in the gable to the
+right, hooking toward the wood, that she is confined. We have
+placed her as near to the moon as we could. The gable on the
+uppermost floor is our keep."
+
+"But is it securely locked?" inquired Otto.
+
+"There is a padlock and a great bar outside the door; those she
+cannot force, and no one about the place will do such a piece of
+service for her. They dislike her, every one of them."
+
+They rose up from the table; the bell was just on the stroke of
+eleven.
+
+"But the Baron must play us a little piece!" said the physician.
+
+"Then Mr. Thostrup will sing us the pretty Jutlandish song by
+Steen-Blicher!" exclaimed Louise.
+
+"O yes!" said the mother, and clapped Otto on the shoulder.
+
+Wilhelm played.
+
+"Do sing!" said Wilhelm; all besought him to do so, and Otto sang
+the Jutlandish song for them.
+
+"See, you sang that with the proper humor," said Sophie, and
+clapped her hands in applause. With that all arose, offered to him
+their hands, and Wilhelm whispered to him, yet so that the sisters
+heard it, "This evening you have been right amiable!"
+
+Otto and Wilhelm went to their sleeping-room.
+
+"But, my good friend," said Wilhelm, "what did you really go into
+the garden for? Be so good as to confess to me: you were not
+unwell! You did not go only into the garden! you went into the
+wood, and you remained a long time there! I saw it! You made a
+little visit to the handsome woman while the fiddler was here, did
+you not? I do not trust you so entirely!"
+
+"You are joking!" answered Otto.
+
+"Yes, yes," continued Wilhelm, "she is a pretty little woman. Do
+you not remember how, last year at the mowing-feast, I threw roses
+at her? Now she is Peter Cripple's wife. When she comes with her
+husband then we have, bodily, 'Beauty and the Beast.'"
+
+That which Otto desired was, that Wilhelm should now soon go to
+sleep, and, therefore, he would not contradict him; he confessed
+even that the young wife was handsome, but added that she, as Peter
+Cripple's wife, was to him like a beautiful flower upon which a
+toad had set itself,--it would be disgusting to him to press the
+flower to his lips.
+
+The friends were soon in bed. They bade each other good night, and
+seemed both of them to sleep; and with Wilhelm this was the case.
+
+Otto lay awake; his pulse throbbed violently.
+
+Now the great hall clock struck twelve. All was still, quite still;
+but Otto did not yet dare to raise himself. It struck a quarter
+past the hour. He raised himself slowly, and glanced toward the bed
+where Wilhelm lay. Otto arose and dressed himself, suppressing the
+while his very breathing. A hunting-knife which hung upon the wall,
+and which belonged to Wilhelm, he put in his pocket; and lifted up,
+to take with him, the fire-tongs, with which he intended to break
+the iron staple that held the padlock. Yet once more he looked
+toward Wilhelm, who slept soundly. He opened the door, and went out
+without his shoes.
+
+He looked out from the passage-windows to see if lights were
+visible from any part of the building. All was still; all was in
+repose. That which he now feared most was, that one of the dogs
+might be lying in the lobby, and should begin to bark. But there
+was not one. He mounted up the steps, and went into the upper
+story.
+
+Only once before had he been there; now all was in darkness. He
+felt with his hands before him as he went.
+
+At length he found a narrow flight of stairs which led into a yet
+higher story. The opening at the top was closed, and he was obliged
+to use his whole strength to open it. At length it gave way with a
+loud noise. This was not the proper entrance; that lay on the
+opposite side of the story, and had he gone there he would have
+found it open, whereas this one had not been opened for a long
+time.
+
+The violent efforts which he had made caused him great pain, both
+in his neck and shoulders; but he was now at the very top of the
+building, close before the door he sought, and the moonlight shone
+in through the opening in the roof.
+
+By the help of the hunting-knife and the fire-tongs he succeeded in
+forcing the door, and that without any very considerable noise. He
+looked into a small, low room, upon the floor of which some dirty
+coverlets were thrown.
+
+Sidsel slept deeply and soundly with open mouth. A thick mass of
+hair escaped from beneath her cap, upon her brow; the moonlight
+fell, through the window-pane in the roof, upon her face. Otto
+bowed himself over her and examined the coarse, unpleasing
+features. The thick, black eyebrows appeared only like one
+irregular streak.
+
+"She is my sister!" was the thought which penetrated him. "She lay
+upon the same bosom that I did! The blood in these limbs has
+kinship with that in mine! She was the repelled one, the rejected
+one!"
+
+He trembled with pain and anguish; but it was only for a short
+time.
+
+"Stand up!" cried he, and touched the sleeper.
+
+"Ih, jane dou! [Author's Note: An exclamation among the common
+people of Funen, expressive of terror.] what is it?" cried she,
+half terrified, and fixed her unpleasant eyes wildly upon him.
+
+"Come with me!" said Otto, and his voice trembled as he spoke.
+"German Heinrich waits in the avenue! I will help you out! Hence;
+to-morrow it will be too late!"
+
+"What do you say?" asked she, and still looked at him with a
+bewildered mien.
+
+Otto repeated his words.
+
+"Do you think that I can get away?" asked she, and seized him by
+the arm, as she hastily sprang up.
+
+"Only silently and circumspectly!" said Otto.
+
+"I should not have expected theft from you!" said she. "But tell me
+why you do it?"
+
+Otto trembled; it was impossible for him to tell her his reasons,
+or to express the word,--"Thou art my sister!"
+
+His lips were silent.
+
+"To many a fellow," said she, "have I been kinder than I ought to
+have been, but see whether any of them think about Sidsel! And you
+do it! You who are so fine and so genteel!"
+
+Otto pressed together his eyelids; he heard her speak; an animal
+coarseness mingled itself with a sort of confidential manner which
+was annihilating to him.
+
+"She is my sister!" resounded in his soul.
+
+"Come now! come now!" and, descending the steps, she followed after
+him.
+
+"I know a better way!" said she, as they came to the lowest story.
+She seized his arm and they again descended a flight of steps.
+
+Suddenly a door opened itself, and Louise, still dressed, stepped
+forth with a light. She uttered a faint cry, and her eye riveted
+itself upon the two forms before her.
+
+But still more terribly and more powerfully did this encounter
+operate upon Otto. His feet seemed to fail him, and, for a moment,
+every object moved before his eyes in bright colors. It was the
+moment of his severest suffering. He sprang forth toward Louise,
+seized her hand, and, pale as death, with lifeless, staring eyes,
+half kneeling, besought of her, with an agitated voice:--
+
+"For God's sake, tell no one of that which you have seen! I am
+compelled to serve her--she is my sister! If you betray my secret I
+am lost to this world--I must die! It was not until this evening
+that I knew this to be the case! I will tell you all, but do not
+betray me! And do you prevent tomorrow any pursuit after her! O
+Louise! by the happiness of your own soul feel for the misery of
+mine! I shall destroy myself if you betray me!"
+
+"O God!" stammered Louise. "I will do all--all! I will be silent!
+Conduct her hence, quick, that you may meet with no one!"
+
+She seized Otto's hand; he sank upon his knee before her, and
+looked like a marble image which expressed manly beauty and sorrow.
+
+Louise bent herself with sisterly affection over him; tears flowed
+down her cheeks; her voice trembled, but it was tranquillizing,
+like the consolation of a good angel. With a glance full of
+confidence in her, Otto tore himself away. Sidsel followed him and
+said not a word.
+
+He led her to the lowest story and opened for her, silently, a
+window, through which she could descend to the garden, and thence
+easily reach the avenue where German Heinrich waited for her. To
+have accompanied her any further was unnecessary; it would have
+been venturing too much without any adequate cause. She stood now
+upon the window-sill--Otto put a little money into her hand.
+
+"The Lord is above us!" said he, in a solemn voice. "Never forget
+Him and endeavor to amend your life! All may yet be well!" He
+involuntarily pressed her hand in his. "Have God always in your
+thoughts!" said he.
+
+"I shall get safely away, however," said she, and descended into
+the garden; she nodded, and vanished behind the hedge.
+
+Otto stood for a while and listened whether any noise was heard, or
+whether any dog barked. He feared for her safety. All was still.
+
+Just as sometimes an old melody will suddenly awake in our
+remembrance and sound in our ear, so awoke now a holy text to his
+thoughts. "Lord, if I should take the wings of the morning, and
+should fly to the uttermost parts of the sea, thither thou wouldst
+lead me, and thy right hand would hold me fast! Thou art near to
+us! Thou canst accomplish and thou willest our well-being! Thou
+alone canst help us!"
+
+In silence he breathed his prayer.
+
+He returned to his chamber more composed in mind. Wilhelm seemed to
+sleep; but as Otto approached his bed he suddenly raised himself,
+and looked, inquiringly, around him.
+
+"Who is there?" exclaimed he; "you are dressed! where have you
+been?" He was urgent in his inquiry.
+
+Otto gave a joking reason.
+
+"Let me have your hand!" said he. Otto gave it to him be felt his
+pulse.
+
+"Yes, quite correct!" said he; "the blood is yet in commotion. One
+sees plain enough that there is no concealing things! Here was I
+sleeping in all innocence, and you were running after adventures.
+You wicked bird!"
+
+The thoughts worked rapidly in Otto's soul. If Louise would only be
+silent, no one would dream of the possibility of his having part in
+Sidsel's flight. He must allow Wilhelm quietly to have his joke.
+
+"Was not I right?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"And if now you were so," replied Otto, "will you tell it to any
+one?"
+
+"Do you think that I could do such a thing?" replied Wilhelm; "we
+are all of us only mortal creatures!"
+
+Otto gave him his hand. "Be silent!" he said.
+
+"Yes, certainly," said Wilhelm; and, according to his custom,
+strengthened it with an oath. "Now I have sworn it," said he; "but
+when there is an opportunity you must tell me more about it!"
+
+"Yes, certainly," said Otto, with a deep sigh. Before his friend he
+no longer stood pure and guiltless.
+
+They slept. Otto's sleep was only a hateful dream.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII
+
+"...Wie entz�ckend
+Und s�ss es ist, in einer sch�nen Seele,
+Verherrlicht uns zu f�hlen, es zu wissen,
+Das uns're Fruede fremde Wangen r�thet,
+Und uns're Angst in fremdem Busen zittert,
+Das uns're Leiden fremde Augen n�ssen."
+                                SCHILLER.
+
+"How pale!" said Wilhelm the next morning to Otto. "Do you see,
+that is what people get by night-wandering?"
+
+"How so?" inquired Otto.
+
+Wilhelm made a jest of it.
+
+"You have been dreaming that!" said Otto.
+
+"How do you mean?" replied Wilhelm; "will you make me fancy that I
+have imagined it? I was really quite awake! we really talked about
+it; I was initiated in it. Actually I have a good mind to give you
+a moral lecture. If it had been me, how you would have preached!"
+
+They were summoned to breakfast. Otto's heart was ready to burst.
+What might he not have to hear? What must he say?
+
+Sophie was much excited.
+
+"Did you, gentlemen, hear anything last night?" she inquired. "Have
+you both slept?"
+
+"Yes, certainly," replied Wilhelm, and looked involuntarily at Otto.
+
+"The bird is flown, however!" said she; "it has made its escape out
+of the dove-cote."
+
+"What bird?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"Sidsel!" replied she; "and, what is oddest in the whole affair is,
+that Louise has loosed her wings. Louise is quite up to the romantic.
+Think only! she went up in the night to the topmost story, unlocked
+the prison-tower, gave a moral lecture to Sidsel, and after that let
+her go! Then in the morning comes Louise to mamma, relates the whole
+affair, and says a many affecting things!"
+
+"Yes, I do not understand it," said the mother, addressing Louise.
+"How you could have had the courage to go up so late at night, and
+go up to _her_! But it was very beautiful of you! Let her escape!
+it is, as you say, best that she should. We should all of us have
+thought of that last evening!"
+
+"I was so sorry for her!" said Louise; "and by chance it happened
+that I had a great many things to arrange after you were all in
+bed. Everything was so still in the house, it seemed to me as if I
+could hear Sidsel sigh; certainly it was only my own imagination,
+but I could do no other than pity her! she was so unfortunate! Thus
+I let her escape!"
+
+"Are you gone mad?" inquired Wilhelm; "what a history is this? Did
+you go in the night up to the top of the house? That is an
+unseasonable compassion!"
+
+"It was beautiful!" said Otto, bending himself involuntarily, and
+kissing Louise's hand.
+
+"Yes, that is water to his mill!" exclaimed Wilhelm. "I think
+nothing of such things!"
+
+"We will not talk about it to anyone," said the mother. "The
+steward shall not proceed any further in it. We have recovered the
+old silver tankard, and the losing that was my greatest trouble. We
+will thank God that we are well rid of her! Poor thing! she will
+come to an unfortunate end!"
+
+"Are you still unwell, Mr. Thostrup?" said Sophie, and looked at
+him.
+
+"I am a little feverish," replied he. "I will take a very long
+walk, and then I shall be better."
+
+"You should take a few drops," said the lady.
+
+"O, he will come to himself yet!" said Wilhelm; "he must take
+exercise! His is not a dangerous illness."
+
+Otto went into the wood. It was to him a temple of God; his heart
+poured forth a hymn of thanksgiving. Louise had been his good
+angel. He felt of a truth that she would never betray his secret.
+His thoughts clung to her with confidence. "Are you still unwell?"
+Sophie had said. The tones of her voice alone had been like the
+fragrance of healing herbs; in her eye he had felt sympathy and--
+love. "O Sophie!" sighed he. Both sisters were so dear to him.
+
+He entered the garden and went along the great avenue; here he met
+Louise. One might almost have imagined that she had sought for him:
+there was no one but her to be seen in the whole avenue.
+
+Otto pressed her hand to his lips. "You have saved my life!" said
+he.
+
+"Dear Thostrup!" answered she, "do not betray yourself. Yon have
+come happily out of the affair! Thank God! my little part in it has
+concealed the whole. For the rest I have a suspicion. Yes, I cannot
+avoid it. May not the whole be an error? It is possible that she is
+that which you said! Tell me all that you can let me know. From
+this seat we can see everybody who comes into the avenue. No one
+can hear us!"
+
+"Yes, to you alone I can confide it!" said Otto; "to you will I
+tell it."
+
+He now related that which we know about the manufactory, which he
+called the house, in which German Heinrich had first seen him, and
+had tattooed his initials upon his shoulder; their later meeting in
+the park, and afterwards by St. Ander's Cross.
+
+Louise trembled; her glance rested sympathizingly upon Otto's pale
+and handsome countenance. He showed her the letter which had been
+brought to him the last evening, and related to her what Heinrich
+had told him.
+
+"It may be so," said Louise; "but yet I have not been able to lose
+the idea all the morning that you have been deceived. Not one of
+her features resembles yours. Can brother and sister be so
+different as you and she? Yet, be the truth as it may, promise me
+not to think too much about it. There is a good Ruler above who can
+turn all things for the best."
+
+"These horrible circumstances," said Otto, "have robbed me of the
+cheerfulness of my youth. They thrust themselves disturbingly into
+my whole future. Not to Wilhelm--no, not to any one have I been
+able to confide them. You know all! God knows that you were
+compelled to learn them. I leave myself entirely in your hands!"
+
+He pressed her hand silently, and with the earnest glance of
+confidence and truth they looked at each other.
+
+"I shall speedily leave my native country," said Otto. "It may be
+forever. I should return with sorrow to a home where no happiness
+awaited me. I stand so entirely alone in the world!"
+
+"But you have friends," said Louise; "sincere friends. You must
+think with pleasure of returning home to Denmark. My mother loves
+you as if she were your own mother. Wilhelm and Sophie--yes, we
+will consider you as a brother."
+
+"And Sophie?" exclaimed Otto.
+
+"Yes, can you doubt it?" inquired Louise.
+
+"She knows me not as you know me; and if she did?"--He pressed his
+hands before his eyes and burst into tears. "You know all: you know
+more than I could tell her," sighed he. "I am more unfortunate than
+you can believe. Never can I forget her--never!"
+
+"For Heaven's sake compose yourself!" said Louise rising. "Some one
+might come, and you would not be able to conceal your emotion. All
+may yet be well! Confide only in God in heaven!"
+
+"Do not tell your sister that which I have told you. Do not tell
+any one. I have revealed to you every secret which my soul
+contains."
+
+"I will be to you a good sister," said Louise, and pressed his hand.
+
+They silently walked down the avenue.
+
+The sisters slept in the same room.
+
+At night, after Sophie had been an hour in bed, Louise entered the
+chamber.
+
+"Thou art become a spirit of the night," said Sophie. "Where hast
+thou been? Thou art not going up into the loft again to-night, thou
+strange girl? Had it been Wilhelm, Thostrup, or myself who had
+undertaken such a thing, it would have been quite natural; but
+thou"--
+
+"Am I, then, so very different to you all?" inquired Louise. "I
+should resemble my sister less than even Mr. Thostrup resembles
+her. You two are so very different!"
+
+"In our views, in our impulses, we very much resemble each other!"
+said Sophie.
+
+"He is certainly not happy," exclaimed Louise. "We can read it in
+his eyes."
+
+"Yes, but it is precisely that which makes him interesting!" said
+Sophie; "he is thus a handsome shadow-piece in everyday life."
+
+"Thou speakest about it so calmly," said Louise, and bent over her
+sister, "I would almost believe that it was love."
+
+"Love!" exclaimed Sophie, raising herself up in bed, for now
+Louise's words had become interesting to her; "whom dost thou think
+that he loves?"
+
+"Thyself," replied Louise, and seized her sister's hand.
+
+"Perhaps?" returned Sophie. "I also made fun of him! It certainly
+went on better when our cousin was here. Poor Thostrup!"
+
+"And thou, Sophie," inquired Louise, "dost thou return his love?"
+
+"It is a regular confession that thou desirest," replied she. "He
+is in love--that all young men are. Our cousin, I can tell thee,
+said many pretty things to me. Even the Kammerjunker flatters as
+well as he can, the good soul! I have now resolved with myself to
+be a reasonable girl. Believe me, however, Thostrup is in an ill
+humor!"
+
+"If the Kammerjunker were to pay his addresses to you, would you
+accept him?" asked Louise, and seated herself upon her sister's
+bed.
+
+"What can make you think of such a thing?" inquired she. "Hast thou
+heard anything?--Thou makest me anxious! O Louise! I joke, I talk a
+deal; but for all that, believe me, I am not happy!"
+
+They talked about the Kammerjunker, about Otto, and about the
+French cousin. It was late in the night. Large tears stood in
+Sophie's eyes, but she laughed for all that, and ended with a
+quotation from Jean Paul.
+
+Half an hour afterward she slept and dreamed; her round white arm
+lay upon the coverlet, and her lips moved with these words:
+           "With a smile as if an angel
+            Had just then kissed her mouth." [Note: Christian Winther.]
+
+Louise pressed her countenance on the soft pillow, and wept.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX
+
+"A swarm of colors, noise and screaming,
+   Music and sights, past any dreaming,
+ The rattle of wheels going late and early,--
+   All draw the looker-on into the hurly-burly."
+                                  TH. OVERSKOU.
+
+A few days passed on. Otto heard nothing of German Heinrich or of
+his sister. Peter Cripple seemed not to be in their confidence. All
+that he knew was, that the letter which he had conveyed to Otto was
+to be unknown to any one beside. As regarded German Heinrich, he
+believed that he was now in another part of tire country; but that
+at St. Knud's fair, in Odense, he would certainly find him.
+
+In Otto's soul there was an extraordinary combating. Louise's
+words, that he had been deceived, gave birth to hopes, which,
+insignificant as the grain of mustard-seed, shot forth green
+leaves.
+
+"May not," thought he, "German Heinrich, to further his own plans,
+have made use of my fear? I must speak with him; he shall swear to
+me the truth."
+
+He compared in thought the unpleasing, coarse features of Sidsel,
+with the image which his memory faintly retained of his little
+sister. She seemed to him as a delicate creature with large eyes.
+He had not forgotten that the people about them had spoken of her
+as of "a kitten that they could hardly keep alive." How then could
+she now be this square-built, singularly plain being, with the
+eyebrows growing together? "I must speak with Heinrich," resolved
+he; "she cannot be my sister! so heavily as that God will not try
+me."
+
+By such thoughts as these his mind became much calmer. There were
+moments when the star of love mirrored itself in his life's sea.
+
+His love for Sophie was no longer a caged bird within his breast;
+its wings were at liberty; Louise saw its release; it was about to
+fly to its goal.
+
+St. Knud's fair was at hand, and on that account the family was
+about to set out for Odense. Eva was the only one who was to remain
+at home. It was her wish to do so.
+
+"Odense is not worth the trouble of thy going to see," said Sophie;
+"but in this way thou wilt never increase thy geographical
+knowledge. In the mean time, however, I shall bring thee a fairing
+--a husband of honey cake, ornamented with almonds."
+
+Wilhelm thought that she should enjoy the passing pleasure, and go
+with them; but Eva prayed to stay, and she had her will.
+
+"There is a deal of pleasure in the world," said Wilhelm, "if
+people will only enjoy it. If one day in Paris is a brilliant
+flower, a day at Odense fair is also a flower. It is a merry,
+charming world that we live in! I am almost ready to say with King
+Valdemar, that if I might keep--yes, I will say, the earth, then
+our Lord might willingly for me keep heaven: there it is much
+better than we deserve; and God knows whether we may not, in the
+other world, have longings after the old world down here!"
+
+"After Odense fair?" asked Sophie ironically.
+
+Otto stood wrapped in his own thoughts. This day, he felt, would be
+one of the most remarkable in his life. German Heinrich must give
+him an explanation. Sophie must do so likewise Could he indeed meet
+with success from them both? Would not sorrow and pain be his
+fairings?
+
+The carriage rolled away.
+
+From the various cross-roads came driving up the carriages of the
+gentry and the peasants; the one drove past the other; and as the
+French and English Channel collects ships from the Atlantic Ocean,
+so did the King's Road those who drove in carriages, those who rode
+on horseback, and those who went on foot.
+
+Behind most of the peasant-vehicles were tied a few horses, that
+went trotting on with them. Mamsells from the farms sat with large
+gloves on their red arms and hands. They held their umbrellas
+before their faces on account of the dust and the sun.
+
+"The Kammerjunker's people must have set off earlier than we," said
+Sophie, "otherwise they would have called for us."
+
+Otto looked inquiringly at her. She thought on the Kammerjunker!
+
+"We shall draw up by Faugde church," said Sophie. "Mr. Thostrup can
+see Kingo's [Author's Note: The Bishop of Funen, who died in 1703.]
+grave--can see where the sacred poet lies. Some true trumpeting
+angels, in whom one can rightly see how heavy the marble is, fly
+with the Bishop's staff and hat within the chapel."
+
+Otto smiled, and she thought also about giving him pleasure.
+
+The church was seen, the grave visited, and they rapidly rolled
+along the King's Road toward Odense, the lofty tower of whose
+cathedral had hailed them at some miles' distance.
+
+We do not require alone from the portrait-painter that he should
+represent the person, but that he should represent him in his
+happiest moment. To the plain as well as to the inexpressive
+countenance must the painter give every beauty which it possesses.
+Every human being has moments in which something intellectual or
+characteristic presents itself. Nature, too, when we are presented
+only with the most barren landscape, has the same moments; light
+and shadow produce these effects. The poet must be like the
+painter; he must seize upon these moments in human life as the
+other in nature.
+
+If the reader were a child who lived in Odense, it would require
+nothing more from him than that he should say the words, "St.
+Knud's fair;" and this, illumined by the beams of the imagination
+of childhood, would stand before him in the most brilliant colors.
+Our description will be only a shadow; it will be that, perhaps,
+which the many will find it to be.
+
+Already in the suburbs the crowd of people, and the outspread
+earthenware of the potters, which entirely covered the trottoir,
+announced that the fair was in full operation.
+
+The carriage drove down from the bridge across the Odense River.
+
+"See, how beautiful it is here!" exclaimed Wilhelm.
+
+Between the gardens of the city and a space occupied as a bleaching
+ground lay the river. The magnificent church of St. Knud, with its
+lofty tower, terminated the view.
+
+"What red house was that?" inquired Otto, when they had lost sight
+of it.
+
+"That is the nunnery!" replied Louise, knowing what thought it was
+which had arisen in his mind.
+
+"There stood in the ancient times the old bishop's palace, where
+Beldenak lived!" said Sophie. "Just opposite to the river is the
+bell-well, where a bell flew out of St. Albani's tower. The well is
+unfathomable. Whenever rich people in Odense die, it rings down
+below the water!"
+
+"It is not a pleasant thought," said Otto, "that it rings in the
+well when they must die."
+
+"One must not take it in that way now!" said Sophie, laughing, and
+turned the subject. "Odense has many lions," continued she, "from a
+king's garden with swans in it to a great theatre, which has this
+in common with La Scala and many Italian ones, that it is built
+upon the ruins of a convent. [Note: That of the Black Brothers.]
+
+"In Odense, aristocracy and democracy held out the longest," said
+Wilhelm, smiling; "yet I remember, in my childhood, that when the
+nobles and the citizens met on the king's birthday at the town-house
+ball, that we danced by ourselves."
+
+"Were not, then, the citizens strong enough to throw the giddy
+nobles out of the window?" inquired Otto.
+
+"You forget, Mr. Thostrup, that you yourself are noble!" said
+Sophie. "I was really the goddess of fate who gave to you your
+genealogical tree."
+
+"You still remember that evening?" said Otto, with a gentle voice,
+and the thoughts floated as gayly in his mind as the crowd of
+people floated up and down in the streets through which they drove.
+
+Somewhere about the middle of the city five streets met; and this
+point, which widens itself out into a little square, is called the Cross
+Street: here lay the hotel to which the family drove.
+
+"Two hours and a quarter too late!" said the Kammerjunker, who came
+out to meet them on the steps. "Good weather for the fair, and good
+horses! I have already been out at the West-gate, and have bought
+two magnificent mares. One of them kicked out behind, and had
+nearly given me a blow on the breast, so that I might have said I
+had had my fairing! Jakoba is paying visits, drinking chocolate,
+and eating biscuits. Mamsell is out taking a view of things. Now
+you know our story."
+
+The ladies went to their chamber, the gentlemen remained in the
+saloon.
+
+"Yes, here you shall see a city and a fair, Mr. Thostrup!" said the
+Kammerjunker, and slapped Otto on the shoulder.
+
+"Odense was at one time my principal chief-city," said Wilhelm;
+"and still St. Knud's Church is the most magnificent I know. God
+knows whether St. Peter's in Rome would make upon me, now that I am
+older, the impression which this made upon me as a child!"
+
+"In St. Knud's Church lies the Mamsell with the cats," said the
+Kammerjunker.
+
+"The bishop's lady, you should say," returned Wilhelm. "The legend
+relates, that there was a lady of a Bishop Mus who loved her cats
+to that degree that she left orders that they should be laid with
+her in the grave. [Author's Note: The remains of the body, as well
+as the skeletons of the cats, are still to be seen in a chapel on
+the western aisle of the church.] We will afterward go and see
+them."
+
+"Yes, both the bishop's lady and the cats," said the Kammerjunker,
+"look like dried fish! Then you must also see the nunnery and the
+military library."
+
+"The Hospital and the House of Correction!" added Wilhelm.
+
+The beating of a drum in the street drew them to the window. The
+city crier, in striped linsey-woolsey jacket and breeches, and with
+a yellow band across his shoulders, stood there, beat upon his
+drum, and proclaimed aloud from a written paper many wonderful
+things which were to be seen in the city.
+
+"He beats a good drum," said the Kammerjunker.
+
+"It would certainly delight Rossini and Spontini to hear the
+fellow!" said Wilhelm. "In fact Odense would be, at New Year's
+time, a city for these two composers. You must know that at that
+season drums and fifes are in their glory. They drum the New Year
+in. Seven or eight little drummers and fifers go from door to door,
+attended by children and old women; at that time they beat both the
+tattoo and the reveille. For this they get a few pence. When the
+New Year is drummed-in in the city they wander out into the
+country, and drum there for bacon and groats. The New Year's
+drumming in lasts until about Easter."
+
+"And then we have new pastimes," said the Kammerjunker.
+
+"Then come the fishers from Stige, [Author's Note: A fishing
+village in Odense Fjord.] with a complete band, and carrying a boat
+upon their shoulders ornamented with a variety of flags. After that
+they lay a board between two boats, and upon this two of the
+youngest and the strongest have a wrestling-match, until one of
+them falls into the water. The last years they both have allowed
+themselves to tumble in. And this has been done in consequence of
+one young man who fell in being so stung by the jeers which his
+fall had occasioned that he left, that same day, the fishing
+village, after which no one saw him. But all the fun is gone now!
+In my boyhood the merriment was quite another thing. It was a fine
+sight when the corporation paraded with their ensign and harlequin
+on the top! And at Easter, when the butchers led about a bullock
+ornamented with ribbons and Easter-twigs, on the back of which was
+seated a little winged boy in a shirt. They had Turkish music, and
+carried flagons with them! See! all that have I outlived, and yet I
+am not so old. Baron Wilhelm must have seen the ornamented ox. Now
+all that is past and gone; people are got so refined! Neither is
+St. Knud's fair that which it used to be."
+
+"For all that, I rejoice that it is not so!" said Wilhelm. "But we
+will go into the market and visit the Jutlanders, who are sitting
+there among the heath with their earthenware. You will stand a
+chance there, Mr. Thostrup, of meeting with an old acquaintance;
+only you must not have home-sickness when you smell the heather and
+hear the ringing of the clattering pots!"
+
+The ladies now entered. Before paying any visits they determined
+upon making the round of the market. The Kammerjunker offered his
+arm to the mother. Otto saw this with secret gladness, and
+approached Sophie. She accepted him willingly as an attendant; they
+must indeed get into the throng.
+
+As in the Middle Ages the various professions had their distinct
+streets and quarters, so had they also here. The street which led
+to the: market place, and which in every-day life was called the
+"Shoemaker Street," answered perfectly to its name. The shoemakers
+had ranged their tables side by side. These, and the rails which
+had been erected for the purpose, were hung over with all kinds of
+articles for the feet; the tables themselves were laden with heavy
+shoes and thick-soled boots. Behind these stood the skillful
+workman in his long Sunday coat, and with his well-brushed felt-hat
+upon his head.
+
+Where the shoemakers' quarter ended that of the hatters' began, and
+with this one was in the middle of the great market-place, where
+tents and booths formed many parallel streets. The booth of
+galanterie wares, the goldsmith's, and the confectioner's, most of
+them constructed of canvas, some few of them of wood, were points
+of great attraction. Round about fluttered ribbons and handkerchiefs;
+round about were noise and bustle. Peasant-girls out of the same
+village went always in a row, seven or eight inseparables, with their
+hands fast locked in each other; it was impossible to break the chain;
+and if people tried to press through them, the whole flock rolled
+together in a heap.
+
+Behind the booths there lay a great space filled with wooden shoes,
+coarse earthenware, turners' and saddlers' work. Upon tables were
+spread out toys, generally rudely made and coarsely painted. All
+around the children assayed their little trumpets, and turned about
+their playthings. The peasant-girls twirled and twisted both the
+work-boxes and themselves many a time before the bargain was
+completed. The air was heavy with all kinds of odors, and was
+spiced with the fragrance of honey-cake.
+
+Here acquaintances met each other-some peasant-maidens, perhaps,
+who had been born in the same village, but since then had been
+separated.
+
+"Good day!" exclaimed they, took each other by the hand, gave their
+arms a swing, and laughed.
+
+"Farewell!"
+
+That was the whole conversation: such a one went on in many places.
+
+"That is the heather!" exclaimed Otto, as he approached the quarter
+where the Jutland potters had their station; "how refreshing is the
+odor!" said he, and stooping down seized a twig fresh and green, as
+if it had been plucked only yesterday.
+
+"Aye, my Jesus though! is not that Mr. Otto!" exclaimed a female
+voice just beside him, and a young Jutland peasantwoman skipped
+across the pottery toward him. Otto knew her. It was the little
+Maria, the eelman's daughter, who, as we may remember at Otto's
+visit to the fisher's, had removed to Ringkjoebing, and had hired
+herself for the hay and cornharvest--the brisk Maria, "the girl,"
+as her father called her. She had been betrothed in Ringkjoebing,
+and married to the rich earthenware dealer, and now had come across
+the salt-water to Odense fair, where she should meet with Mr. Otto.
+
+"Her parents lived on my grandfather's estate," said Otto to
+Sophie, who observed with a smile the young wife's delight in
+meeting with an acquaintance of her childhood. The husband was
+busily employed in selling his wares; he heard nothing of it.
+
+"Nay, but how elegant and handsome you are become!" said the
+young wife: "but see, I knew you again for all that! Grandmother,
+you may believe me, thinks a deal about you! The old body, she is
+so brisk and lively; it does not trouble her a bit that she cannot
+see! You are the second acquaintance that I have met with in the
+fair. It's wonderful how people come here from all parts of the
+world! The players are here too! You still remember the German
+Heinrich? Over there in the gray house, at the corner of the
+market, he is acting his comedy in the gateway."
+
+"I am glad that I have seen you!" said Otto, and nodded kindly.
+"Greet them at home, and the grandmother, for me!"
+
+"Greet them also from me!" said Sophie smiling. "You, Mr. Thostrup,
+must for old acquaintance sake buy something. You ought also to
+give me a fairing: I wish for that great jug there!"
+
+"Where are you staying!" cried Wilhelm, and came back, whilst the
+rest went forward.
+
+"We would buy some earthenware," said Sophie. "Souvenir de Jutland.
+The one there has a splendid picture on it!"
+
+"You shall have it!" said Otto. "But if I requested a fairing from
+you, I beseech of you, might I say"--
+
+"That it possibly might obtain its worth from my hand," said
+Sophie, smiling. "I understand you very well--a sprig of heather? I
+shall steal!" said she to the young wife, as she took a little
+sprig of heath and stuck it into his buttonhole. "Greet the
+grandmother for me!"
+
+Otto and Sophie went.
+
+"That's a very laughing body!" said the woman half aloud, as she
+looked after them; her glance followed Otto, she folded her hands--
+she was thinking, perhaps, on the days of her childhood.
+
+At St. Knud's church-yard Otto and Sophie overtook the others. They
+were going into the church. On the fair days this and all the tombs
+within it were open to the public.
+
+From whichever side this church is contemplated from without, the
+magnificent old building has, especially from its lofty tower and
+spire, something imposing about it; the interior produces the same,
+nay, perhaps a greater effect. But as the principal entrance is
+through the armory, and the lesser one is from the side of the
+church, its full impression is not felt on entering it; nor is it
+until you arrive at the end of the great aisle that you are aware
+rightly of its grandeur. All there is great, beautiful, and light.
+The whole interior is white with gilding. Aloft on the high-vaulted
+roof there shine, and that from the old time, many golden stars. On
+both sides, high up, higher than the side-aisles of the church, are
+large Gothic windows, from which the light streams down. The
+side-aisles are adorned with old paintings, which represent whole
+families, women and children, all clad in canonicals, in long robes
+and large ruffs. In an ordinary way, the figures are all ranged
+according to age, the oldest first, and then down to the very least
+child, and stand with folded hands, and look piously with downcast
+eyes and faces all in one direction, until by length of time the
+colors have all faded away.
+
+Just opposite to the entrance of the church may be seen, built into
+the wall, a stone, on which is a bas-relief, and before it a grave.
+This attracted Otto's attention.
+
+"It is the grave of King John and of Queen Christina, of Prince
+Francesco and of Christian the Second," said Wilhelm; "they lie
+together in a small vault!" [Author's Note: On the removal of the
+church of the Grey Brothers, the remains of these royal parents and
+two of their children were collected in a coffin and placed here in
+St. Knud's Church. The memorial stone, of which we have spoken, was
+erected afterwards.]
+
+"Christian the Second!" exclaimed Otto. "Denmark's wisest and
+dearest king!"
+
+"Christian the Bad!" said the Kammerjunker, amazed at the tone of
+enthusiasm in which Otto had spoken.
+
+"Christian the Bad!" repeated Otto; "yes, it is now the mode to
+speak of him thus, but we should not do so. We ought to remember
+how the Swedish and Danish nobles behaved themselves, what
+cruelties they perpetrated, and that we have the history of
+Christian the Second from one of the offended party. Writers
+flatter the reigning powers. A prince must have committed crimes,
+or have lost his power, if his errors are to be rightly presented
+to future generations. People forget that which was good in
+Christian, and have painted the dark side of his character, to the
+formation of which the age lent its part."
+
+The Kammerjunker could not forget the Swedish bloodbath, the
+execution of Torben Oxe, and all that can be said against the
+unfortunate king.
+
+Otto drove him completely out of the field, in part from his
+enthusiasm for Christian the Second, but still more because it was
+the Kammerjunker with whom he was contending. Sophie took Otto's
+side, her eye sparkled applause, and the victory could not be other
+than his.
+
+"What is it that the poet said of the fate of a king?" said Sophie.
+                              "Woe's me for him
+   Who to the world shows more of ill than good!
+   The good each man ascribes unto himself,
+   Whilst on him only rest the crimes o' th' age."
+
+"Had Christian been so fortunate as to have subdued the rebellious
+nobles," continued Otto, "could he have carried out his bold plans,
+then they would have called him Christian the Great: it is not the
+active mind, but the failure in any design, which the world
+condemns."
+
+Louise nevertheless took the side of the Kammerjunker, and
+therefore these two went together up the aisle toward the tomb of
+the Glorup family. Wilhelm and his mother were already gone out of
+the church.
+
+"I envy you your eloquence!" said Sophie, and looked with an
+expression of love into Otto's face; she bent herself over the
+railing around the tomb, and looked thoughtfully upon the stone.
+Thoughts of love were animated in Otto's soul.
+
+"Intellect and heart!" exclaimed he, "must admire that which is
+great: you possess both these!" He seized her hand.
+
+A faint crimson passed over Sophie's cheeks. "The others are gone
+out!" she said; "come, let us go up to the chancel."
+
+"Up to the altar!" said Otto; "that is a bold course for one's
+whole life!"
+
+Sophie looked jestingly at him. "Do you see the monument there
+within the pillars?" asked she after a short pause; "the lady with
+the crossed arms and the colored countenance? In one night she
+danced twelve knights to death, the thirteenth, whom she had
+invited for her partner, cut her girdle in two in the dance and she
+fell dead to the earth!" [Author's Note: In Thiele's Danish Popular
+Tradition it is related that she was one Margrethe Skofgaard of
+Sanderumgaard, and that she died at a ball, where she had danced to
+death twelve knights. The people relate it with a variation as
+above; it is probable that it is mingled with a second tradition,
+for example, that of the blood-spots at Koldinghuus, which relates
+that an old king was so angry with his daughter that he resolved to
+kill her, and ordered that his knights should dance with her one
+after another until the breath was out of her. Nine had danced with
+her, and then came up the king himself as the tenth, and when he
+became weary he cut her girdle in two, on which the blood streamed
+from her mouth and she died.]
+
+"She was a northern Turandot!" said Otto; "the stony heart itself
+was forced to break and bleed. There is really a jest in having the
+marble painted. She stands before future ages as if she lived--a
+stone image, white and red, only a mask of beauty. She is a warning
+to young ladies!"
+
+"Yes, against dancing!" said Sophie, smiling at Otto's
+extraordinary gravity.
+
+"And yet it must be a blessed thing," exclaimed he, "a very blessed
+thing, amid pealing music, arm-in-arm with one's beloved, to be
+able to dance life away, and to sink bleeding before her feet!"
+
+"And yet only to see that she would dance with a new one!" said
+Sophie.
+
+"No, no!" exclaimed Otto, "that you could not do! that you will not
+do! O Sophie, if you knew!"--He approached her still nearer, bent
+his head toward her, and his eye had twofold fire and expression in
+it.
+
+"You must come with us and see the cats!" said the Kammerjunker,
+and sprang in between them.
+
+"Yes, it is charming!" said Sophie. "You will have an opportunity,
+Mr. Thostrup, of moralizing over the perishableness of female
+beauty!"
+
+"In the evening, when we drive home together," thought Otto to
+himself consolingly, "in the mild summer-evening no Kammerjunker
+will disturb me. It must, it shall be decided! Misfortune might
+subject the wildness of childhood, but it gave me confidence, it
+never destroyed my independence; Love has made me timid,--has made
+me weak. May I thereby win a bride?"
+
+Gravely and with a dark glance he followed after Sophie and her
+guide.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL
+
+"In vain his beet endeavors were;
+Dull was the evening, and duller grew."--LUDOLF SCHLEF.
+
+"Seest thou how its little life
+  The bird hides in the wood?
+Wilt thou be my little wife--
+  Then do it soon. Good!
+--A bridegroom am I."--Arion.
+
+Close beside St. Knud's Church, where once the convent stood, is
+now the dwelling of a private man. [Author's Note: See Oehlenschl�ger's
+Jorney to Funen.] The excellent hostess here, who once charmed the
+public on the Danish stage as Ida Munster, awaited the family to dinner.
+
+After dinner they wandered up and down the garden, which extended
+to the Odense River.
+
+In the dusk of evening Otto went to visit the German Heinrich; he
+had mentioned it to Louise, and she promised to divert attention from
+him whilst he was away.
+
+The company took coffee in the garden-house; Otto walked in deep
+thought in the avenue by the side of the river. The beautiful scene
+before him riveted his eye. Close beside lay a water-mill, over the
+two great wheels of which poured the river white as milk. Behind
+this was thrown a bridge, over which people walked and drove. The
+journeyman-miller stood upon the balcony, and whistled an air. It
+was such a picture as Christian Winther and Uhland give in their
+picturesque poems. On the other side of the mill arose tall poplars
+half-buried in the green meadow, in which stood the nunnery; a nun
+had once drowned herself where now the red daisies grow.
+
+A strong sunlight lit up the whole scene. All was repose and summer
+warmth. Suddenly Otto's ear caught the deep and powerful tones of
+an organ; he turned himself round. The tones, which went to his
+heart, came from St. Knud's Church, which lay close beside the
+garden. The sunshine of the landscape, and the strength of the
+music, gave, as it were, to him light and strength for the darkness
+toward which he was so soon to go.
+
+The sun set; and Otto went alone across the market-place toward the
+old corner house, where German Heinrich practiced his arts. Upon
+this place stood St. Albani's Church, where St. Knud, betrayed by
+his servant Blake, [Author's Note: Whence has arisen the popular
+expression of "being a false Blake."] was killed by the tumultuous
+rebels. The common people believe that from one of the deep cellars
+under this house proceeds a subterranean passage to the so-called
+"Nun's Hill." At midnight the neighboring inhabitants still hear a
+roaring under the marketplace, as if of the sudden falling of a
+cascade. The better informed explain it as being a concealed
+natural water-course, which has a connection with the neighboring
+river. In our time the old house is become a manufactory; the
+broken windows, the gaps of which are repaired either with slips of
+wood or with paper, the quantity of human bones which are found in
+the garden, and which remain from the time when this was a church-yard,
+give to the whole place a peculiar interest to the common people of
+Odense.
+
+Entering the house at the front, it is on the same level as the
+market-place; the back of the house, on the contrary, descends
+precipitously into the garden, where there are thick old walls and
+foundations. The situation is thus quite romantic; just beside it
+is the old nunnery, with its dentated gables, and not far off the
+ruins, in whose depths the common people believe that there resides
+an evil being, "the river-man," who annually demands his human
+sacrifice, which he announces the night before. Behind this lie
+meadows, villas, and green woods.
+
+On the other side of the court, in a back gate-way, German Heinrich
+had set up his theatre. The entrance cost eight skillings; people
+of condition paid according to their own will.
+
+Otto entered during the representation. A cloth constituted the
+whole scenic arrangement. In the middle of the floor sat a horrible
+goblin, with a coal-black Moorish countenance and crispy hair upon
+its head. An old bed-cover concealed the figure, yet one saw that
+it was that of a woman.
+
+The audience consisted of peasants and street boys. Otto kept
+himself in the background, and remained unobserved by Heinrich.
+
+The representation was soon at an end, and the crowd dispersed. It
+was then that Otto first came forward.
+
+"We must speak a few words together!" said he. "Heinrich, you have
+not acted honestly by me! The girl is not that which you
+represented her to be; you have deceived me: I demand an
+explanation!"
+
+German Heinrich stood silent, but every feature eloquently
+expressed first amazement, and then slyness and cunning; his
+knavish, malicious eye, measured Otto from top to toe.
+
+"Nay; so then, Mr. Thostrup, you are convinced, are you, that I
+have been cheating you?" said he. "If so, why do you come to me? In
+that case there needs no explanation. Ask herself there!" And so
+saying he pointed to the black-painted figure.
+
+"Do not be too proud, Otto!" said she, smiling; "thou couldst yet
+recognize thy sister, although she has a little black paint on her
+face!"
+
+Otto riveted a dark, indignant glance upon her, pressed his lips
+together, and tried to collect himself. "It is my firm determination
+to have the whole affair searched into," said he, with constrained
+calmness.
+
+"Yes, but it will bring you some disagreeables!" said Heinrich, and
+laughed scornfully.
+
+"Do not laugh in that manner when I speak to you!" said Otto, with
+flushing cheeks.
+
+Heinrich leaned himself calmly against the door which led into the
+garden.
+
+"I am acquainted with the head of the police," said Otto, "and I
+might leave the whole business in his hands. But I have chosen a
+milder way; I am come myself. I shall very soon leave Denmark; I
+shall go many hundred miles hence shall, probably, never return;
+and thus you see the principal ground for my coming to you is a
+whim: I will know wherefore you have deceived me; I will know what
+is the connection between you and her."
+
+"Nay; so, then, it is _that_ that you want to know?" said Heinrich,
+with a malicious glance. "Yes, see you, she is my best beloved; she
+shall be my wife: but your sister she is for all that, and that
+remains so!"
+
+"Thou couldst easily give me a little before thou settest off on
+thy journey!" said Sidsel, who seemed excited by Heinrich's words,
+and put forth her painted face.
+
+Otto glanced at her with contracted eyebrows.
+
+"Yes," said she, "I say 'thou' to thee: thou must accustom thyself
+to that! A sister may have, however, that little bit of pleasure!"
+
+"Yes, you should give her your hand!" said Heinrich, and laughed.
+
+"Wretch!" exclaimed Otto, "she is not that which you say! I will
+find out my real sister! I will have proof in hand of the truth! I
+will show myself as a brother; I will care for her future! Bring to
+me her baptismal register; bring to me one only attestation of its
+reality--and that before eight days are past! Here is my address,
+it is the envelope of a letter; inclose in it the testimonial which
+I require, and send it to me without delay. But prove it, or you
+are a greater villain than I took you for."
+
+"Let us say a few rational words!" said Heinrich, with a constrained,
+fawning voice. "If you will give to me fifty rix-dollars, then you
+shall never have any more annoyance with us! See, that would be a
+great deal more convenient."
+
+"I abide by that which I have said!" answered Otto; "we will not
+have any more conversation together!" And so saying, he turned him
+round to go out.
+
+Heinrich seized him by the coat.
+
+"What do you want?" inquired Otto.
+
+"I mean," said Heinrich, "whether you are not going to think about
+the fifty rix-dollars?"
+
+"Villain!" cried Otto, and, with the veins swelling in his
+forehead, he thrust Heinrich from him with such force, that he fell
+against the worm eaten door which led into the garden; the panel of
+the door fell out, and had not Heinrich seized fast hold on some
+firm object with both his hands, he must have gone the same way.
+Otto stood for a moment silent, with flashing eyes, and threw the
+envelope, on which his address was, at Heinrich's feet, and went
+out.
+
+When Otto returned to the hotel, he found the horses ready to be
+put to the carriage.
+
+"Have you had good intelligence?" whispered Louise.
+
+"I have in reality obtained no more than I had before!" replied he;
+"only my own feelings more strongly convince me than ever that I
+have been deceived by him."
+
+He related to her the short conversation which had taken place.
+
+The Kammerjunker's carriage was now also brought out; in this was
+more than sufficient room for two, whereas in the other carriage
+they had been crowded. The Kammerjunker, therefore, besought that
+they would avail themselves of the more convenient seat which he
+could offer; and Otto saw Sophie and her mother enter the
+Kammerjunker's carriage. This arrangement would shortly before have
+confounded Otto, now it had much less effect upon him. His mind was
+so much occupied by his visit to German Heinrich, his soul was
+filled with a bitterness, which for the moment repelled the impulse
+which he had felt to express his great love for Sophie.
+
+"I have been made Heinrich's plaything--his tool!" thought he. "Now
+he ridicules me, and I am compelled to bear it! That horrible being
+is not my sister!--she cannot be so!"
+
+The street was now quiet. They mounted into the carriage. In the
+corner house just opposite there was a great company; light
+streamed through the long curtains, a low tenor voice and a high
+ringing soprano mingled together in Mozart's "Audiam, audiam, mio
+bene."
+
+"The bird may not flutter from my heart!" sighed Otto, and seated
+himself by the side of Louise. The carriage rolled away.
+
+The full moon shone; the wild spiraea sent forth its odor from the
+road side; steam ascended from the moor-lands; and the white mist
+floated over the meadows like the daughters of the elfin king.
+
+Louise sat silent and embarrassed; trouble weighed down her heart.
+Otto was also silent.
+
+The Kammerjunker drove in first, cracked his whip, and struck up a
+wild halloo.
+
+Wilhelm began to sing, "Charming the summer night," and the
+Kammerjunker joined in with him.
+
+"Sing with us man," cried Wilhelm to the silent Otto, and quickly
+the two companies were one singing caravan.
+
+It was late when they reached the hall.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI
+
+"Destiny often pulls off leaves, as we treat the vine, that its
+fruits may be earlier brought to maturity."--JEAN PAUL.
+
+It was not until toward morning that Otto fell into sleep. Wilhelm
+and he were allowed to take their own time in rising, and thus it
+was late in the day before these two gentlemen made their
+appearance at the breakfast-table; the Kammerjunker was already
+come over to the hall, and now was more adorned than common.
+
+"Mr. Thostrup shall be one of the initiated!" said the mother. "It
+will be time enough this evening for strangers to know of it. The
+Kammerjunker and my Sophie are betrothed."
+
+"See, it was in the bright moonlight, Mr. Thostrup, that I became
+such a happy man!" said the Kammerjunker, and kissed the tips of
+Sophie's fingers. He offered his other hand to Otto.
+
+Otto's countenance remained unchanged, a smile played upon his
+lips. "I congratulate you!" said he; "it is indeed a joyful day! If
+I were a poet, I would give you an ode!"
+
+Louise looked at him with an extraordinary expression of pain in
+her countenance.
+
+Wilhelm called the Kammerjunker brother-in-law, and smiling shook
+both his hands.
+
+Otto was unusually gay, jested, and laughed. The ladies went to
+their toilet, Otto into the garden.
+
+He had been so convinced in his own mind that Sophie returned his
+passion. With what pleasure had she listened to him! with what an
+expression had her eye rested upon him! Her little jests had been
+to him such convincing proofs that the hope which he nourished was
+no self-delusion. She was the light around which his thoughts had
+circled. Love to her was to him a good angel, which sung to him
+consolation and life's gladness in his dark moments.
+
+Now, all was suddenly over. It was as if the angel had left him;
+the flame of love which had so entirely filled his soul, was in a
+moment extinguished to its last spark. Sophie was become a stranger
+to him; her intellectual eye, which smiled in love on the
+Kammerjunker, seemed to him the soulless eye of the automaton. A
+stupefying indifference went through him, deadly as poison that is
+infused into the human blood.
+
+"The vain girl! she thought to make herself more important by
+repelling from her a faithful heart! She should only see how
+changed her image is in my soul. All the weaknesses which my love
+for her made me pass over, now step forth with repulsive features!
+Not a word which she spoke fell to the ground. The diamond has lost
+its lustre; I feel only its sharp corners!"
+
+Sophie had given the preference to a man who, in respect of
+intellect, stood far below Otto! Sophie, who seemed to be
+enthusiastic for art and beauty, for everything glorious in the
+kingdom of mind, could thus have deceived him!
+
+We will now see the sisters in their chamber.
+
+Louise seemed pensive, she sat silently looking before her.
+
+Sophie stood thoughtfully with a smile upon her lips.
+
+"The Kammerjunker is very handsome, however!" exclaimed she: "he
+looks so manly!"
+
+"You ought to find him love-worthy!" said Louise.
+
+"Yes," replied her sister, "I have always admired these strong
+countenances! He is an Axel--a northern blackbearded savage. Faces
+such as Wilhelm's look like ladies'! And he is so good! He has
+said, that immediately after our marriage we shall make a tour to
+Hamburg. What dress do you think I should wear?"
+
+"When you make the journey to Hamburg?" inquired Louise.
+
+"O no, child! to-day I mean. Thostrup was indeed very polite! he
+congratulated me! I felt, however, rather curious when it was told
+to him. I had quite expected a scene! I was almost ready to beg of
+you to tell him first of all. He ought to have been prepared. But
+he was, however, very rational! I should not have expected it from
+him. I really wish him all good, but he is an extraordinary
+character! so melancholy! Do you think that he will take my
+betrothal to heart? I noticed that when I was kissed he turned
+himself suddenly round to the window and played with the flowers. I
+wish that he would soon go! The journey into foreign countries will
+do him good--there he will soon forget his heart's troubles.
+To-morrow I will write to Cousin Joachim; he will also be
+surprised!"
+
+Late in the afternoon came Jakoba, the Mamsell, the preacher, and
+yet a few other guests.
+
+In the evening the table was arranged festively. The betrothed sat
+together, and Otto had the place of honor--he sat on the other side
+of Sophie. The preacher had written a song to the tune of "Be thou
+our social guardian-goddess;" this was sung. Otto's voice sounded
+beautifully and strong; he rang his glass with the betrothed pair,
+and the Kammerjunker said that now Mr. Thostrup must speedily seek
+out a bride for himself.
+
+"She is found," answered Otto; "but now that is yet a secret."
+
+"Health to the bride!" said Sophie, and rung her glass; but soon
+again her intellectual eye rested upon the Kammerjunker, who was
+talking about asparagus and stall-feeding with clover, yet her
+glance brought him back again to the happiness of his love.
+
+It was a very lively evening. Late in the night the party broke up.
+The friends went to their chamber.
+
+"My dear, faithful Otto!" said Wilhelm, and laid his hand on his
+shoulder; "you were very lively and good-humored this evening.
+Continue always thus!"
+
+"I hope to do so," answered Otto: "may we only always have as happy
+an evening as this!"
+
+"Extraordinary man!" said Wilhelm, and shook his head. "Now we will
+soon set out on our journey, and catch for ourselves the happiness
+of the glorious gold bird!"
+
+"And not let it escape again!" exclaimed Otto. "Formerly I used to
+say, To-morrow! to-morrow! now I say, To-day, and all day long!
+Away with fancies and complainings. I now comprehend that which you
+once said to me, that is. Man _can_ be happy if he only _will_ be
+so."
+
+Wilhelm took his hand, and looked into his face with a half-melancholy
+expression.
+
+"Are you sentimental?" inquired Otto.
+
+"I only affect that which I am not!" answered Wilhelm; and with
+that, suddenly throwing off the natural gravity of the moment,
+returned to his customary gayety.
+
+The following days were spent in visiting and in receiving
+visitors. On every post-day Otto sought through the leathern bag of
+the postman, but he found no letter from German Heinrich, and heard
+nothing from him. "I have been deceived," said he, "and I feel
+myself glad about it! She, the horrible one, is not my sister!"
+
+There was a necessity for him to go away, far from home, and yet he
+felt no longing after the mountains of Switzerland or the luxuriant
+beauty of the south.
+
+"Nature will only weaken me! I will not seek after it. Man it is
+that I require: these egotistical, false beings--these lords of
+everything! How we flatter our weaknesses and admire our virtues!
+Whatever serves to advance our own wishes we find to be excellent.
+To those who love us, we give our love in return. At the bottom,
+whom do I love except myself? Wilhelm? My friendship for him is
+built upon the foundation,--I cannot do without thee! Friendship is
+to me a necessity. Was I not once convinced that I adored Sophie,
+and that I never could bear it if she were lost to me? and yet
+there needed the conviction 'She loves thee not,' and my strong
+feeling was dead. Sophie even seems to me less beautiful; I see
+faults where I formerly could only discover amiabilities! Now, she
+is to me almost wholly a stranger. As I am, so are all. Who is
+there that feels right lovingly, right faithfully for me, without
+his own interest leading him to do so? Rosalie? My old, honest
+Rosalie? I grew up before her eyes like a plant which she loved. I
+am dear to her as it! When her canary-bird one morning lay dead in
+its cage, she wept bitterly and long; she should never more hear it
+sing, she should never more look after its cage and its food. It
+was the loss of it which made her weep. She missed that which had
+been interesting to her. I also interested her. Interest is the
+name for that which the world calls love. Louise?" He almost spoke
+the name aloud, and his thoughts dwelt, from a strong combination
+of circumstances, upon it. "She appears to me true, and capable of
+making sacrifices! but is not she also very different from all the
+others? How often have I not heard Sophie laugh at her for it--look
+down upon her!" And Otto's better feeling sought in vain for a
+shadow of self-love in Louise, a single selfish motive for her
+noble conduct.
+
+"Away from Denmark! to new people! Happy he who can always be on
+the wing, making new friendships, and speedily breaking them off!
+At the first meeting people wear their intellectual Sunday apparel;
+every point of light is brought forth; but soon and the festival-day
+is over, and the bright points have vanished."
+
+"We will set off next week!" said Wilhelm, "and then it shall be--
+    'Over the rushing blue waters away!
+     We will speed along shores that are verdant and gay!'
+Away over the moors, up the Rhine, through the land of champagne to
+the city of cities, the life-animating Paris!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLII
+
+"A maiden stood musing, gentle and mild. I grasped the hand of the
+friendly child, but the lovely fawn shyly disappeared. ... From
+the Rhine to the Danish Belt, beautiful and lovely maidens are
+found in palaces and tents; yet nobody pleases me."--SCHMIDT VON L�BECK.
+
+The last day at home was Sophie's birthday. In the afternoon the
+whole family was invited to the Kammerjunker's, where Jakoba and
+the Mamsell were to be quite brilliant in their cookery.
+
+A table filled with presents, all from the Kammerjunker, awaited
+Miss Sophie; it was the first time that he had ever presented to
+her a birthday gift, and he had now, either out of his own head or
+somebody's else, fallen on the very good idea of making her a
+present for every year which she had lived. Every present was
+suited to the age for which it was intended, and thus he began with
+a paper of sugar-plums and ended with silk and magnificent fur;
+but between beginning and end there were things, of which more than
+the half could be called solid: gold ear-rings, a boa, French
+gloves, and a riding-horse. This last, of course, could not stand
+upon the table. It was a joy and a happiness; people walked about,
+and separated themselves by degrees into groups.
+
+The only one who was not there was Eva. She always preferred
+remaining at home; and yet, perhaps, to-day she might have allowed
+herself to have been overpersuaded, had she not found herself so
+extremely weak.
+
+Silently and alone she now sat at home in the great empty parlor.
+It was in the twilight; she had laid down her work, and her
+beautiful, thoughtful eyes looked straight before her: thoughts
+which we may not unveil were agitating her breast.
+
+Suddenly the door opened, and Wilhelm stood before her. Whilst the
+others were walking he had stolen away. He knew that Eva was alone
+at home; nobody would know that he visited her, nobody would dream
+of their conversation.
+
+"You here!" exclaimed Eva, when she saw him.
+
+"I was compelled to come," answered he. "I have slipped away from
+the others; no one knows that I am here. I must speak with you,
+Eva. To-morrow I set off; but I cannot leave home calmly and
+happily without knowing--what this moment must decide."
+
+Eva rose, her checks crimsoned, she cast down her eyes.
+
+"Baron Wilhelm!" stammered she, "it is not proper that I should
+remain here!" She was about to leave the room.
+
+"Eva!" said Wilhelm, and seized her hand, "you know that I love
+you! My feelings are honorable! Say Yes, and it shall be holy to me
+as an oath. Then I shall begin my journey glad at heart, as one
+should do. Your assent shall stand in my breast, shall sound in my
+ear, whenever sin and temptation assail me! It will preserve me in
+an upright course, it will bring me back good and unspoiled. My
+wife must you be! You have soul, and with it nobility! Eva! in
+God's name, do not make a feeble, life-weary, disheartened being of
+me!"
+
+"O Heavens!" exclaimed she, and burst into tears, "I cannot, and--
+will not! You forget that I am only a poor girl, who am indebted
+for everything to your mother! My assent would displease her, and
+some time or other you would repent of it! I cannot!--I do not love
+you!" added she, in a tremulous voice.
+
+Wilhelm stood speechless.
+
+Eva suddenly rang the bell.
+
+"What are you doing?" exclaimed he.
+
+The servant entered.
+
+"Bring in lights!" said she; "but first of all you must assist me
+with these flowers down into the garden. It will do them good to
+stand in the dew."
+
+The servant did as she bade; she herself carried down one of the
+pots, and left the room.
+
+"I do not love you!" repeated Wilhelm to himself, and returned to
+the company which he had left, and where he found all gayety and
+happiness.
+
+The supper-table was spread in the garden; lights burned in the
+open air with a steady flame; it was a summer-evening beautiful as
+the October of the South; the reseda sent forth its fragrance; and
+when Sophie's health was drunk cannon were fired among the lofty
+fir-trees, the pines of the North.
+
+The next morning those countenances were dejected which the evening
+before had been so gay. The carriage drew up to the door. The dear
+mother and sisters wept; they kissed Wilhelm, and extended their
+hands to Otto.
+
+"Farewell!" said Louise; "do not forget us!" and her tearful glance
+rested upon Otto. Eva stood silent and pale.
+
+"You will not forget me!" whispered Otto, as he seized Louise's
+hand. "I will forget your sister!"
+
+The carriage rolled away; Wilhelm threw himself back into a corner.
+Otto looked back once more; they all stood at the door, and waved
+their white handkerchiefs.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIII
+
+"In one short speaking silence all conveys--
+And looks a sigh, and weeps without a tear."
+                             MRS. BROWNING.
+
+"Forgive us our debts as we
+  The debts of others forgive;
+And lead us not in tempting ways;
+  Apart from evil let us live."
+              A. VON CHAMISSO.
+
+We will not accompany the friends, but will remain behind in Funen,
+where we will make a bolder journey than they, namely, we will go
+back one-and-twenty years. We will allow the circumstances of
+Otto's birth again to come before us. It is a leap backward that we
+take from 1830 to 1810. We are in Odense, that old city, which
+takes its name from Odin.
+
+The common people there have still a legend about the origin of the
+name of the city. Upon Naesbyhoved's Hill [Author's Note: Not far
+from the city, by the Odense Channel; it is described in Wedel
+Simonsen's City Ruins.] there once stood a castle; here lived King
+Odin and his wife: Odense city was not then in existence, but the
+first building of it was then begun. [Author's Note: The place is
+given as being that of the now so-called Cross Street.] The court
+was undecided as to the name which should be given to the city.
+After long indecision it was at last agreed that the first word
+which either King or Queen should speak the next morning should be
+the name given to it. In the early morning the Queen awoke and
+looked out from her window over the wood. The first house in the
+city was erected to the roof, and the builders had hung up a great
+garland, glittering with tinsel, upon the rooftree. "Odin, see!"
+exclaimed the Queen; and thenceforward the city was called Odensee,
+which name, since then, has been changed by daily speech to Odense.
+
+When people ask the children in Copenhagen whence they have come,
+they reply, out of the Peblings�e. The little children of Odense,
+who know nothing about the Peblings�e, say that they are fetched
+out of Rosenbaek, a little brook which has only been ennobled
+within the few last years, just as in Copenhagen is the case with
+Krystal Street, which formerly had an unpleasant name. This brook
+runs through Odense, and must, in former times, when united with
+the Odense River, have formed an island where the city at that time
+stood; hence some people derive the name of Odense from Odins Ei,
+or Odins �, that is, Odin's Island. Be it then as it might, the
+brook flows now, and in 1810, when the so-called Willow-dam, by the
+West Gate, was not filled up, it stood, especially in spring, low
+and watery. It often overflowed its banks, and in so doing
+overflowed the little gardens which lay on either side. It thus ran
+concealed through the city until near the North Gate, where it made
+its appearance for a moment and then dived again in the same
+street, and, like a little river, flowed through the cellars of the
+old justice-room, which was built by the renowned Oluf Bagger.
+[Author's Note: He was so rich that once, when Frederick the Second
+visited him, he had the room heated with cinnamon chips. Much may
+be found about this remarkable man in the second collection of
+Thiele's Popular Danish Legends. His descendants still live in
+Odense, namely, the family of the printer Ch. Iversen, who has
+preserved many curiosities which belonged to him.]
+
+It was an afternoon in the summer of 1810; the water was high in
+the brook, yet two washerwomen were busily employed in it; reed-matting
+was fast bound round their bodies, and they beat with wooden staves
+the clothes upon their washing-stools. They were in deep conversation,
+and yet their labor went on uninterruptedly.
+
+"Yes," said one of them, "better a little with honor, than much
+with dishonor. She is sentenced; to-morrow she is to go about in
+the pillory. That is sure and certain! I know it from the
+trumpeter's Karen, and from the beggar-king's [Author's Note:
+Overseer of the poor.] wife: neither of them go about with lies."
+
+"Ih, my Jesus!" exclaimed the other, and let her wooden beater
+fall, "is Johanne Marie to go in the pillory, the handsome girl?
+she that looked so clever and dressed herself so well?"
+
+"Yes, it is a misfortune!" said the first; "a great misfortune it
+must be! No, let every one keep his own! say I every day to my
+children. After the sweet claw comes the bitter smart. One had much
+better work till the blood starts from the finger-ends."
+
+"Ih, see though!" said the other; "there goes the old fellow,
+Johanne Marie's father. He is an honest man; he was so pleased with
+his daughter, and to-morrow he must himself bind her to the
+pillory! But can she really have stolen?"
+
+"She has herself confessed," returned she; "and the Colonel is
+severe. I fancy the Gevaldiger is going there."
+
+"The Colonel should put the bridle on his own son. He is a bad
+fellow! Not long ago, when I was washing yarn there, and was merry,
+as I always am, he called me 'wench.' If he had said 'woman,' I
+should not have troubled myself about it, for it has another
+meaning; but 'wench,' that is rude! Ei, there sails the whole
+affair!" screamed she suddenly, as the sheet which she had wound
+round the washing-stool got loose and floated down the stream: she
+ran after it, and the conversation was broken off.
+
+The old man whom they had seen and compassionated, went into a
+great house close by, where the Colonel lived. His eyes were cast
+upon the ground; a deep, silent suffering lay in his wrinkled face;
+he gently pulled at the bell, and bowed himself deeply before the
+black-appareled lady who opened to him the door.
+
+We know her--it was the old Rosalie, then twenty years younger than
+when we saw her upon the western coast of Jutland.
+
+"Good old man!" said she, and laid her hand kindly on his shoulder.
+"Colonel Thostrup is severe, but he is not, however, inhuman; and
+that he would be if he let you tomorrow do your office. The Colonel
+has said that the Gevaldiger should stay at home."
+
+"No!" said the old man, "our Lord will give me strength. God be
+thanked that Johanne Marie's mother has closed her eyes: she will
+not see the misery! We are not guilty of it!"
+
+"Honest man!" said Rosalie. "Johanne was always so good and clever;
+and now"--she shook her head--"I would have sworn for her, but she
+has confessed it herself!"
+
+"The law must have its course!" said the old man, and tears
+streamed down his cheeks.
+
+At that moment the door opened, and Colonel Thostrup, a tall, thin
+man, with a keen eye, stood before them. Rosalie left the room.
+
+"Gevaldiger," said the Colonel, "to-morrow you will not be required
+to act in your office."
+
+"Colonel," returned the old man, "it is my duty to be there, and,
+if I may say a few words, people would speak ill of me if I kept
+away."
+
+On the following forenoon, from the early morning, the square where
+lay the council-house and head-watch, was filled with people; they
+were come to see the handsome girl led forth in the pillory. The
+time began to appear long to them, and yet no sign was seen of that
+which they expected. The sentinel, who went with measured step
+backward and forward before the sentry-box, could give no
+intelligence. The door of the council-house was closed, and
+everything gave occasion to the report which suddenly was put into
+circulation, that the handsome Johanne Marie had been for a whole
+hour in the pillory within the council-house, and thus they should
+have nothing at all to see. Although it is entirely opposed to
+sound reason that punishment should be inflicted publicly, it met
+with much support, and great dissatisfaction was excited.
+
+"That is shabby!" said a simple woman, in whom we may recognize one
+of the washerwomen; "it is shabby thus to treat the folks as if
+they were fools! Yesterday I slaved like a horse, and here one has
+stood two whole hours by the clock, till I am stiff in the legs,
+without seeing anything at all!"
+
+"That is what I expected," said another woman; "a fair face has
+many friends! She has known how to win the great people to her
+side!"
+
+"Do not you believe," inquired a third, "that she has been good
+friends with the Colonels son?"
+
+"Yes; formerly I would have said No, because she always looked so
+steady, and against her parents there is not a word to be said; but
+as she has stolen, as we know she has, she may also have been
+unsteady. The Colonel's son is a wild bird; riots and drinks does
+he in secret! We others know more than his father does: he had held
+too tight a hand over him. Too great severity causes bad blood!"
+
+"God help me, now it begins!" interrupted another woman, as a
+detachment of soldiers marched out of the guard-house, and at some
+little distance one from the other inclosed an open space. The door
+of the council-house now opened, and two officers of police,
+together with some of the guard, conducted out the condemned, who
+was placed in the pillory. This was a sort of wooden yoke laid
+across the shoulders of the delinquent; a piece of wood came
+forward from this into which her hands were secured: above all
+stood two iron bars, to the first of which was fastened a little
+bell; to the other a long fox's tail, which hung down the lack of
+the condemned.
+
+The girl seemed hardly more than nineteen, and was of an unusually
+beautiful figure; her countenance was nobly and delicately formed,
+but pale as death: yet there was no expression either of suffering
+or shame,--she seemed like the image of a penitent, who meekly
+accomplishes the imposed penance.
+
+Her aged father, the Gevaldiger, followed her slowly; his eye was
+determined; no feature expressed that which went forward in his
+soul: he silently took his place beside one of the pillars before
+the guard house.
+
+A loud murmur arose among the crowd when they saw the beautiful
+girl and the poor old father, who must himself see his daughter's
+disgrace.
+
+A spotted dog sprang into the open space; the girl's monotonous
+tread, as she advanced into the middle of the square, the ringing
+of the little bell, and the fox-tail which moved in the wind,
+excited the dog, which began to bark, and wanted to bite the fox's
+tail. The guards drove the dog away, but it soon came back again,
+although it did not venture again into the circle, but thrust
+itself forward, and never ceased barking.
+
+Many of those who already had been moved to compassion by the
+beauty of the girl and the sight of the old father, were thrown
+again by this incident into a merry humor; they laughed and found
+the whole thing very amusing.
+
+The hour was past, and the girl was now to be released. The
+Gevaldiger approached her, but whilst he raised his hand to the
+yoke the old man tottered, and sank, in the same moment, back upon
+the hard stone pavement.
+
+A shriek arose from those who stood around; the young girl alone
+stood silent and immovable; her thoughts seemed to be far away. Yet
+some people fancied they saw how she closed her eyes, but that was
+only for a moment. A policeman released her from the pillory, her
+old father was carried into the guard-house, and two policemen led
+her into the council-house.
+
+"See, now it is over!" said an old glover, who was among the
+spectators; "the next time she'll get into the House of Correction."
+
+"O, it is not so bad there," answered another; "they sing and are
+merry there the whole day long, and have no need to trouble
+themselves about victuals."
+
+"Yes, but that is prison fare."
+
+"It is not so bad--many a poor body would thank God for it; and
+Johanne Marie would get the best of it. Her aunt is the head-cook,
+and the cook and the inspector they hang together. It's my opinion,
+however, that this affair will take the life out of the old man. He
+got a right good bump as he fell on the stone-pavement; one could
+hear how it rung again."
+
+The crowd separated.
+
+The last malicious voice had prophesied truth.
+
+Three weeks afterward six soldiers bore a woven, yellow straw
+coffin from a poor house in East Street. The old Gevaldiger lay,
+with closed eyes and folded hands, in the coffin. Within the
+chamber, upon the bedstead, sat Johanne Marie, with a countenance
+pale as that of the dead which had been carried away. A
+compassionate neighbor took her hand, and mentioned her name
+several times before she heard her.
+
+"Johanne, come in with me; eat a mouthful of pease and keep life in
+you; if not for your own sake, at least for that of the child which
+lies under your heart."
+
+The girl heaved a wonderfully deep sigh. "No, no!" said she, and
+closed her eyes.
+
+Full of pity, the good neighbor took her home with her.
+
+A few days passed on, and then one morning two policemen entered
+the poor room in which the Gevaldiger had died. Johanne Marie was
+again summoned before the judge.
+
+A fresh robbery had taken place at the Colonel's. Rosalie said that
+it was a long time since she had first missed that which was gone,
+but that she thought it best to try to forget it. The Colonel's
+violent temper and his exasperation against Johanne Marie, who, as
+he asserted, by her bad conduct, had brought her old, excellent
+father to the grave, insisted on summoning her before the tribunal,
+that the affair might be more narrowly inquired into.
+
+Rosalie, who had been captivated by the beauty of the girl and by
+her modest demeanor, and who was very fond of her, was this time
+quite calm, feeling quite sure that she would deny everything,
+because, in fact, the theft had only occurred within the last few
+days. The public became aware of this before long, and the opinion
+was that Johanne Marie could not possibly have been an actor in it;
+but, to the astonishment of the greater number, she confessed that
+she was the guilty person, and that with such calmness as amazed
+every one. Her noble, beautifully formed countenance seemed
+bloodless; her dark-blue eyes beamed with a brilliancy which seemed
+like that of delirium; her beauty, her calmness, and yet this
+obduracy in crime, produced an extraordinary impression upon the
+spectators.
+
+She was sentenced to the House of Correction in Odense. Despised
+and repulsed by the better class of her fellow-beings, she went to
+her punishment. No one had dreamed that under so fair a form so corrupt
+a soul could have been found. She was set to the spinning-wheel;
+silent and introverted, she accomplished the tasks that were
+assigned her. In the coarse merriment of the other prisoners she
+took no part.
+
+"Don't let your heart sink within you, Johanne Marie," said German
+Heinrich, who sat at the loom; "sing with us till the iron bars
+rattle!"
+
+"Johanne, you brought your old father to the grave," said her
+relation, the head-cook; "how could you have taken such bad
+courses?"
+
+Johanne Marie was silent; the large, dark eyes looked straight
+before her, whilst she kept turning the wheel.
+
+Five months went on, and then she became ill--ill to death, and
+gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl--two beautiful and well-formed
+children, excepting that the girl was as small and delicate as if its
+life hung on a thread.
+
+The dying mother kissed the little ones and wept; it was the first
+time that the people within the prison had seen her weep. Her
+relation the cook sat alone with her upon the bed.
+
+"Withdraw not your hand from the innocent children," said Johanne
+Marie; "if they live to grow up, tell them some time that their
+mother was innocent. My eternal Saviour knows that I have never
+stolen! Innocent am I, and innocent was I when I went out a
+spectacle of public derision, and now when I sit here!"
+
+"Ih, Jesus though! What do you say?" exclaimed the woman.
+
+"The truth!" answered the dying one. "God be gracious to me!--my
+children!"
+
+She sank back upon the couch, and was dead.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIV
+
+"Ah! wonderfully beautiful is God's earth, and worthy it is to live
+contented."--H�LTY.
+
+We now return to the hall in Funen, to the family which we left
+there; but autumn and winter are gone whilst we have been lingering
+on the past. Otto and Wilhelm have been two months away. It is the
+autumn of 1832.
+
+The marriage of the Kammerjunker and Sophie was deferred, according
+to her wish, until the second of April, because this day is
+immortal in the annals of Denmark. In the house, where there now
+were only the mother, Louise, and Eva, all was quiet. Through the
+whole winter Eva had become weaker; yet she did not resemble the
+flowers which wither; there was no expression of illness about her--
+it was much more as if the spiritual nature overpowered the
+bodily; she resembled an astral lamp which, filled with light,
+seems almost resembled be an ethereal existence. The dark-blue eyes
+had an expression of soul and feeling which attracted even the
+simple domestics at the hall. The physician assured them that her
+ chest was sound, and that her malady was to him a riddle. A
+beautiful summer, he thought, would work beneficially upon her.
+
+Wilhelm and Otto wrote alternately. It was a festival-day whenever
+a letter came; then were maps and plans of the great cities fetched
+out, and Louise and Eva made the journey with them.
+
+"To-day they are here, to-morrow they will be there," cried they.
+
+"How I envy them both, to see all these glorious things!" said
+Louise.
+
+"The charming Switzerland!" sighed Eva. "How refreshing the air
+must be to breathe! How well one must feel one's self there!"
+
+"If you could only go there, Eva," said Louise, "then you would
+certainly get better."
+
+"Here all are so kind to me; here I am so happy!" answered she. "I
+am right thankful to God for it. How could I have hoped for such a
+home as this? God reward you and your good mother for your kindness
+to me. Once I was so unhappy; but now I have had a double repayment
+for all my sorrow, and all the neglect I have suffered. I am so
+happy, and therefore I would so willingly live!"
+
+"Yes, and you shall live!" said Louise. "How came you now to think
+about dying? In the summer you will perfectly recover, the
+physician says. Can you hide from me any sorrow? Eva, I know that
+my brother loves you!"
+
+"He will forget that abroad!" said Eva. "He must forget it! Could I
+be ungrateful? But we are not suited for each other!" She spoke of
+her childhood, of long-passed, sorrowful days. Louise laid her arm
+upon her shoulder: they talked till late in the evening, and tears
+stood in Louise's eyes.
+
+"Only to you could I tell it!" said Eva. "It is to me like a sin,
+and yet I am innocent. My mother was so too--my poor mother! Her
+sin was love. She sacrificed all; more than a woman should
+sacrifice. The old Colonel was stern and violent. His wrath often
+became a sort of frenzy, in which he knew not what he did. The son
+was young and dissipated; my mother a poor girl, but very handsome,
+I have heard. He seduced her. She had become an unfortunate being,
+and that she herself felt. The Colonel's son robbed his father and
+an old woman who lived in the family: that which had been taken was
+missed. The father would have murdered the son, had he discovered
+the truth; the son, therefore, sought in his need help from my poor
+mother. He persuaded her to save him by taking the guilt on
+herself. The whole affair as regarded her was, he intended, only to
+come from the domestics. She thought that with her honor all was
+lost. She, indeed, had already given him the best of which she was
+possessed. In anguish of heart, and overpowered by his prayers, she
+said, 'Yes; my father has been angry and undone already '"
+
+Eva burst into tears.
+
+"Thou dear, good girl!" said Louise, and kissed her forehead.
+
+"My poor mother," continued Eva, "was condemned to an undeserved
+punishment. I cannot mention it. For that reason I have never had a
+desire to go to Odense. The old lady in the Colonel's family
+concealed, out of kindness, her loss; but by accident it was
+discovered. The Colonel was greatly embittered. My mother was
+overwhelmed by shame and misfortune: the first error had plunged
+her into all this. She was taken to the House of Correction in
+Odense. The Colonel's son shortly afterward went away in a vessel.
+My unhappy mother was dispirited: nobody knew that she had endured,
+out of despair and love, a disgrace which she had not deserved. It
+was not until she lay upon her death-bed, when I and my brother
+were born, that she told a relation that she was innocent. Like a
+criminal, in the early morning she was carried to the grave in a
+coffin of plaited straw. A great and a noble heart was carried
+unacknowledged to the dead!"
+
+"You had a brother?" inquired Louise, and her heart beat violently.
+"Did he die? and where did you, poor children, remain?"
+
+"The cook in the house kept us with her. I was small and weak; my
+brother, on the contrary, was strong, and full of life. He lived
+mostly among the prisoners. I sat in a little room with my doll.
+When we were in our seventh year, we were sent for to the old
+Colonel. His son died abroad; but before his death he had written
+to the old man, confessing to him his crime, my mother's innocence,
+and that we were his children! I resembled my father greatly. The
+old gentleman, as soon as he saw me, was very angry, and said, 'I
+will not have her!' I remained with my foster-mother. I never saw
+my brother after that time. The Colonel left the city, and took him
+with him."
+
+"O God!" cried Louise; "you have still some papers on this subject?
+Do you not know your brother? It is impossible that it should be
+otherwise! You are Otto's sister!"
+
+"O Heavens!" exclaimed Eva; her hands trembled, and she became as
+pale as a corpse.
+
+"You are fainting!" cried Louise, throwing her arm around her
+waist and kissing her eyes and her cheeks. "Eva! he is your
+brother! the dear, good Otto! O, he will be so happy with you!
+Yes, your eyes are like his! Eva, you beloved girl!"
+
+Louise related to her all that Otto had confided to her. She told
+her about German Heinrich, and how Otto had assisted Sidsel away,
+and how they had met.
+
+Eva burst into tears. "My brother! O Father in heaven, that I may
+but live! live and see him! Life is so beautiful! I must not die!"
+
+"Happiness will make you strong! There is no doubt but that he is
+your brother! We must tell it to mamma. O Heavens! how delighted
+she will be! and Otto will no longer suffer and be unhappy! He may
+be proud of you, and happy in you! O, come, come!"
+
+She led Eva out with her to her mother, who was already in bed; but
+how could Louise wait till next morning?
+
+"May the Lord bless thee, my good child!" said the lady, and
+pressed a kiss upon her forehead.
+
+Eva related now how the Colonel had, given a considerable sum to
+her foster-mother; but that was all she was to receive, he had
+said. Afterward, when the foster-mother died, Eva had still two
+hundred rix-dollars; and on consideration of this the sister of the
+deceased had taken Eva to live with her. With her she came to
+Copenhagen and to Nyboder, and at that time she was ten years old.
+There she had to nurse a little child--her brother she called it--
+and that was the little Jonas. As she grew older, people told her
+that she was handsome. It was now four years since she was followed
+one evening by two young men, one of whom we know--our moral Hans
+Peter. One morning her foster-mother came to her with a proposal
+which drove her to despair. The merchant had seen her, and wished
+to purchase the beautiful flower. Upon this Eva left her home, and
+came to the excellent people at Roeskelde; and from that day God
+had been very good to her.
+
+She sank down upon her knees before the elderly lady's bed. She was
+not among strangers: a mother and a sister wept with the happy one.
+
+"O that I might live!" besought Eva, in the depths of her heart. As
+a glorified one she stood before them. Her joy beamed through
+tears.
+
+The next morning she felt herself singularly unwell. Her feet
+trembled; her cheeks were like marble. She seated herself in the
+warm sunshine which came in through the window. Outside stood the
+trees with large, half-bursting buds. A few mild nights would make
+the wood green. But summer was already in Eva's heart; there was
+life's joy and gladness. Her large, thoughtful eyes raised
+themselves thankfully to heaven.
+
+"Let me not die yet, good God!" prayed she; and her lips moved to a
+low melody, soft as if breezes passed over the outstretched chords:--
+
+           "The sunshine warm, the odorous flowers,
+            Of these do not bereave me!
+            I breathe with joy the morning hours,
+            Let not the grave receive me!
+            There can no pleasant sunbeams fall,
+            No human voice come near me;
+            There should I miss the flow'rets small,
+            There have no friends to cheer me.
+
+            Now, how to value life I know--
+            I hold it as a treasure;
+            There is no love i' th' grave below,
+            No music, warmth, or pleasure.
+            On it the heavy earth is flung,
+            The coffin-lid shuts tightly!
+            My blood is warm, my soul is young!
+            Life smiles--life shines so brightly!"
+
+She folded her hands: all became like flowers and gold before her
+eyes. Afar off was the sound of music: she reeled and sank down
+upon the sofa which was near her. Life flowed forth from her heart,
+but the sensation was one of bliss; a repose, as when the weary
+bow down their heads for sleep.
+
+"Here is a letter!" cried Louise, full of joy, and found her white
+and cold. Terrified, she called for help, and bent over her.
+
+Eva was dead.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLV
+
+"Knowest thou the mountain and its cloudy paths? where the mule is
+seeking its misty way."--GOETHE.
+
+The letter was from Wilhelm; every line breathed life's joy and
+gladness.
+
+"MIA CARA SORELLA!
+
+"Does it not sound beautifully? It is Italian! Now then, I am in
+that so-often-sung-of Paradise, but of the so much-talked-about
+blue air, I have as yet seen nothing of consequence. Here it is
+gray, gray as in Denmark. To be sure Otto says that it is
+beautiful, that we have the heaven of home above us, but I am not
+so poetical. The eating is good, and the filth of the people
+strikes one horribly after being in Switzerland, the enchanting
+Switzerland! Yes, there is nature! We have made a crusade through
+it, you may think. But now you shall hear about the journey, and
+the entrance into 'la bella Italia,' which is yet below all my
+expectations. I cannot at all bear these feeble people; I cannot
+endure this monk-odor and untruthfulness. We are come direct from
+the scenery of Switzerland, from clouds and glaciers, from
+greatness and power. We travelled somewhat hastily through the
+valley of the Rhone; the weather was gray, but the whole obtained
+therefrom a peculiar character. The woods in the lofty ridges
+looked like heather; the valley itself seemed like a garden filled
+with vegetables, vineyards, and green meadows. The clouds over and
+under one another, but the snow-covered mountains peeped forth
+gloriously from among them, It was a riven cloud-world which drove
+past,--the wild chase with which the daylight had disguised itself.
+It kissed in its flight Pissevache, a waterfall by no means to be
+despised. In Brieg we rested some time, but at two o'clock in the
+morning began again our journey over the Simplon. This is the
+journey which I will describe to you. Otto and I sat in the
+coup�e. Fancy us in white blouses, shawl-caps, and with green
+morocco slippers, for the devil may travel in slippers--they are
+painful to the feet.
+
+"We both of us have mustaches! I have seduced Otto. They become us
+uncommonly well, and give us a very imposing air; and that is very
+good now that we are come into the land of banditti, where we must
+endeavor to awe the robbers. Thus travelled we. It was a dark
+night, and still as death, as in the moment when the overture
+begins to an opera. Soon, indeed, was the great Simplon curtain to
+be rolled up, and we to behold the land of music. Immediately on
+leaving the city, the road began to ascend; we could not see a
+hand before us; around us tumbled and roared the water-courses,--it
+was as if we heard the pulse of Nature beat. Close above the
+carriage passed the white clouds; they seemed like transparent
+marble slabs which were slid over us. We had the gray dawn with us,
+whilst deep in the valley lay yet the darkness of night; in an
+hour's time it began to show itself there among the little wooden houses.
+
+"It is a road hewn out of the rocks. The giant Napoleon carried it
+through the backbone of the earth. The eagle, Napoleon's bird, flew
+like a living armorial crest over the gigantic work of the master.
+There it was cold and gray; the clouds above us, the clouds below
+us, and in the middle space steep rocky walls.
+
+"At regular distances houses (relais) are erected for the
+travellers; in one of these we drank our coffee. The passengers sat
+on benches and tables around the great fire-place, where the pine
+logs crackled. More than a thousand names were written on the
+walls. I amused myself by writing mamma's, yours, Sophie's, and
+Eva's; now they stand there, and people will fancy that you have
+been on the Simplon. In the lobby I scratched in that of Mamsell,
+and added 'Without her workbox.' Otto was thinking about you. We
+talked in our, what the rest would call 'outlandish speech,' when I
+all at once exclaimed, 'It is really Eva's birthday!' I remembered
+it first. In Simplon town we determined to drink her health.
+
+"We set off again. Wherever the glaciers might fall and destroy the
+road the rocks have been sprung, and formed into great galleries,
+through which one drives without any danger. One waterfall succeeds
+another. There is no balustrade along the road, only the dark,
+deep abyss where the pine-trees raise themselves to an immense
+height, and yet only look like rafters on the mighty wall of rock.
+Before we had advanced much further, we came to where trees no
+longer grew. The great hospice lay in snow and cloud. We came into
+a valley. What solitude! what desolation! only naked crags! They
+seemed metallic, and all had a green hue. The utmost variety of
+mosses grew there; before us towered up an immense glacier, which
+looked like green bottle-glass ornamented with snow. It was
+bitterly cold here, and in Simplon the stoves were lighted; the
+champagne foamed, Eva's health was drunk, and, only think! at that
+very moment an avalanche was so gallant as to fall. That was a
+cannonade; a pealing among the mountains! It must have rung in
+Eva's ears. Ask her about it. I can see how she smiles.
+
+"We now advanced toward Italy, but cold was it, and cold it
+remained. The landscape became savage; we drove between steep
+crags. Only fancy, on both sides a block of granite several miles
+long, and almost as high, and the road not wider than for two
+carriages to pass, and there you have a picture of it. If one
+wanted to see the sky, one was obliged to put one's head out of the
+carriage and look up, and then it was as if one looked up from the
+bottom of the deepest well, dark and narrow. Every moment I kept
+thinking, 'Nay, if these two walls should come together!' We with
+carriage and horses were only like ants on a pebble. We drove
+through the ribs of the earth! The water roared; the clouds hung
+like fleeces on the gray, craggy walls. In a valley we saw boys and
+girls dressed in sheep-skins, who looked as wild as if they had
+been brought up among beasts.
+
+"Suddenly the air became wondrously mild. We saw the first fig-tree
+by the road-side. Chestnuts hung over our heads; we were in Isella,
+the boundary town of Italy. Otto sang, and was wild with delight; I
+studied the first public-house sign, 'Tabacca e vino.'
+
+"How luxuriant became the landscape! Fields of maize and vineyards!
+The vine was not trained on frames as in Germany!--no, it hung in
+luxuriant garlands, in great huts of leaves! Beautiful children
+bounded along the road, but the heavens were gray, and that I had
+not expected in Italy. From Domo d'Ossola, I looked back to my
+beloved Switzerland! Yes, she turns truly the most beautiful side
+toward Italy. But there was not any time for me to gaze; on we
+must. In the carriage there sat an old Signorina; she recited
+poetry, and made: with her eyes 'che bella cosa!'
+
+"About ten o'clock at night we were in Baveno, drank tea, and
+slept, whilst Lago Maggiore splashed under our window. The lake and
+the Borromaen island we were to see by daylight.
+
+"'Lord God!' thought I, 'is this all?' A scene as quiet and riant
+as this we--have at home! Funen after this should be called Isola
+bella, and the East Sea is quite large enough to be called Lago
+Maggiore. We went by the steamboat past the holy Borromeus
+[Author's Note: A colossal statue on the shore of Lago Maggiore.]
+to Sesto de Calende; we had a priest on board, who was very much
+astonished at our having come from so far. I showed him a large
+travelling map which we had with us, where the Lago Maggiore was
+the most southern, and Hamburg the most northern point. 'Yet still
+further off,' said I; 'more to the north!' and he struck his hands
+together when he perceived that we were from beyond the great map.
+He inquired whether we were Calvinists.
+
+"We sped through glorious scenes. The Alps looked like glass
+mountains in a fairy tale. They lay behind us. The air was warm as
+summer, but light as on the high mountains. The women wafted kisses
+to us; but they were not handsome, the good ladies!
+
+"Tell the Kammerjunker that the Italian pigs have no bristles, but
+have a coal-black shining skin like a Moor.
+
+"Toward night we arrived at Milan, where we located ourselves with
+Reichmann, made a good supper, and had excellent beds; but I
+foresee that this bliss will not last very long. On the other side
+of the Apennines we shall be up to the ears in dirt, and must eat
+olives preserved in oil; but let it pass. Otto adapts himself
+charmingly to all things; he begins to be merry--that is, at times!
+I, too, have had a sort of vertigo--I am taken with Italian music;
+but then there is a difference in hearing it on the spot. It has
+more than melody; it has character. The luxuriance in nature and in
+the female form; the light, fluttering movement of the people,
+where even pain is melody, has won my heart and my understanding.
+Travelling changes people!
+
+"Kiss mamma for me! Tell Eva about the health-drinking on the
+Simplon, and about the falling avalanche: do not forget that; that
+is precisely the point in my letter! Tell me too how Eva blushed,
+and smiled, and said, 'He thought of me!' Yes, in fact it is very
+noble of me. My sweet Sophie and her Kammerjunker, Jakoba and
+Mamsell, must have a bouquet of greetings, which you must arrange
+properly. If you could but see Otto and me with our mustaches! We
+make an impression, and that is very pleasant. If the days only did
+not go on so quickly--if life did not pass so rapidly!
+
+           "'Questa vita mortale
+             Che par si bella, a quasi piuma al vento
+             Che la porta a la perde in un momento,' [Note: Guarini]
+as we Italians say. Cannot you understand that?
+
+"Thy affectionate brother,
+
+"WILHELM."
+
+Otto wrote in the margin of the letter, "Italy is a paradise! Here
+the heavens are three times as lofty as at home. I love the proud
+pine-trees and the dark-blue mountains. Would hat everybody could
+see the glorious objects!"
+
+Wilhelm added to this, "What he writes about the Italian heavens is
+stupid stuff. Ours at home is just as good. He is an odd person, as
+you very well know!
+
+"'Addic! A rivederci!'"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVI
+
+"Thou art master in thy world.
+Hast thou thyself, then thou hast all!"
+--WAHLMANN.
+
+In the summer of 1834 the friends had been absent for two years. In
+the last year, violet-colored gillyflowers had adorned a grave in
+the little country church-yard.
+
+"A heart which overflowed with love,
+Was gone from earth to love and God,"
+were the words which might be read upon the grave-stone.
+
+A withered bouquet of stocks had been found by Louise, with the
+certificate of Eva's birth and her hymn-book. These were the
+flowers which Wilhelm had given her that evening at Roeskelde.
+Among the dry leaves there lay a piece of paper, on which she had
+written,--"Even like these flowers let the feelings die away in my
+soul which these flowers inspire it with!"
+
+And now above her grave the flowers which she had loved sent forth
+their fragrance.
+
+It was Sunday; the sun shone warm; the church-goers, old and young,
+assembled under the great lime-tree near Eva's grave. They expected
+their young preacher, who to-day was to preach for the third time.
+
+The gentlefolks would also certainly be there, they thought,
+because the young Baron was come back out of foreign parts, and
+with him the other gentleman, who certainly was to have Miss
+Louise.
+
+"Our new preacher is worth hearing," said one of the peasant women;
+"such a young man, who actually preaches the old faith! as gentle
+and as meek in conversation as if he were one of ourselves! And in
+the pulpit, God help us! it went quite down into my legs the last
+time about the Day of Judgment!"
+
+"There is Father!" [Note: The general term applied to the preacher
+by the Danish peasants.] exclaimed the crowd, and the heads of old
+and young were uncovered. The women courtesied deeply as a young
+man in priest-robes went into the church-door. His eyes and lips
+moved to a pious smile, the hair was smooth upon his pale forehead.
+
+"Good day, children!" said he.
+
+It was Hans Peter. He had, indeed, had "the best characters," and
+thus had received a good living, and now preached effectively about
+the devil and all his works.
+
+The singing of the community sounded above the grave where the sun
+shone, where the stocks sent forth their fragrance, and where Eva
+slept: she whose last wish was to live.
+
+"There is no love i' th' grave below,
+No music, warmth, or pleasure."
+
+The earth lay firm and heavy upon her coffin-lid.
+
+During the singing of the second hymn a handsome carriage drove up
+before the church-yard. The two friends, who were only just
+returned to their home in Denmark, entered the church, together
+with the mother and Louise.
+
+Travelling and two years had made Wilhelm appear somewhat older;
+there was a shadow of sadness in his otherwise open and life-rejoicing
+countenance. Otto looked handsomer than formerly; the gloomy
+expression in his face was softened, he looked around cheerfully,
+yet thoughtfully, and a smile was on his lips when he spoke with
+Louise.
+
+There was in the sermon some allusion made to those who had
+returned home; for the rest, it was a flowery discourse interlarded
+with many texts from the Bible. The community shed tears; the good,
+wise people, they understood it to mean that their young lord was
+returned home uninjured from all the perils which abound in foreign
+lands.
+
+The preacher was invited to dinner at the hall. The Kammerjunker
+and Sophie came also, but it lasted "seven long and seven wide," as
+Miss Jakoba expressed herself, before they could get through all
+the unwrapping and were ready to enter the parlor, for they had
+with them the little son Fergus, as he was called, after the
+handsome Scotchman in Sir Walter Scott's "Waverley." That was
+Sophie's wish. The Kammerjunker turned the name of Fergus to
+Gusseman, and Jacoba asserted that it was a dog's name.
+
+"Now you shall see my little bumpkin!" said he, and brought in a
+square-built child, who with fat, red cheeks, and round arms,
+stared around him. "That is a strong fellow! Here is something to
+take hold of! Tralla-ralla-ralla!" And he danced him round the
+room.
+
+Sophie laughed and offered her hand to Otto.
+
+Wilhelm turned to Mamsell. "I have brought something for you," said
+he, "something which I hope may find a place in the work-box--a man
+made of very small mussel-shells; it is from Venice."
+
+"Heavens! from all that way off!" said she and courtesied.
+
+After dinner they walked in the garden.
+
+Wilhelm spoke already of going the following year again to Paris.
+
+"Satan!" said the Kammerjunker. "Nay, I can do better with Mr.
+Thostrup. He is patriotic. He lays out his money in an estate. It
+is a good bargain which you have made, and in a while will be
+beautiful; there is hill and dale."
+
+"There my old Rosalie shall live with me," said Otto; "there she
+will find her Switzerland. The cows shall have bells on their
+necks."
+
+"Lord God! shall they also be made fools of?" exclaimed Jakoba:
+"that is just exactly as if it were Sophie."
+
+They went through the avenue where Otto two years before had wept,
+and had related all his troubles to Louise. He recollected it, and
+a gentle sigh passed his lips whilst his eyes rested on Louise.
+
+"Now, do you feel yourself happy at home?" asked she; "a lovelier
+summer's day than this you certainly have not abroad."
+
+"Every country has its own beauties," replied Otto. "Our Denmark is
+not a step child of Nature. The people here are dearest to me, for
+I am best acquainted with them. They, and not Nature, it is that
+makes a land charming. Denmark is a good land; and here also will I
+look for my happiness." He seized Louise's hand; she blushed, and
+was silent. Happy hours succeeded.
+
+This circle assembled every Sunday; on the third, their delight was
+greater, was more festal than on any former occasion.
+
+Nature herself had the same expression. The evening was most
+beautiful; the full moon shone, magnificent dark-blue clouds raised
+themselves like mountains on the other side the Belt. Afar off
+sailed the ships, with every sail set to catch the breeze.
+
+Below the moon floated a coal-black cloud, which foretold a squall.
+
+A little yacht went calmly over the water. At the helm sat a boy--
+half a child he seemed: it was Jonas, the little singing-bird, as
+Wilhelm had once called him. Last Whitsuntide he had been
+confirmed, and with his Confirmation all his singer-dreams were at
+an end: but that did not trouble him; on the contrary, it had lain
+very heavy upon his heart that he was not to be a fifer. His
+highest wish had been to see himself as a regimental fifer, and
+then he should have gone to his Confirmation in his red uniform,
+with a sabre at his side, and a feather in his hat half as tall
+as himself. Thus adorned, he might have gone with the girls into
+the King's Garden and upon the Round Tower, the usual walk for poor
+children in Copenhagen. On Confirmation-day they ascend the high
+tower, just as if it were to gain from it a free view over the
+world. Little Jonas, however, was confirmed as a sailor, and he now
+sat at the helm on this quiet night.
+
+Upon the deck lay two persons and slept; a third went tranquilly up
+and down. Suddenly he shook one of the sleepers, and caught hold on
+the sail. A squall had arisen with such rapidity and strength, that
+the vessel in a moment was thrown on her side. Mast and sail were
+below the water. Little Jonas uttered a shriek. Not a vessel was
+within sight. The two sleepers had woke in time to cling to the
+mast. With great force they seized the ropes, but in vain; the
+sail hung like lead in the water. The ship did not right herself.
+
+"Joseph, Maria!" exclaimed one of them, a man with gray hairs and
+unpleasing features. "We sink! the water is in the hold!"
+
+All three clambered now toward the hinder part of the vessel, where
+a little boat floated after. One of them sprang into it.
+
+"My daughter!" cried the elder, and bent himself toward the narrow
+entrance into the cabin. "Sidsel, save thy life!" and so saying, he
+sprang into the boat.
+
+"We must have my daughter out," cried he. One of the ship's cabin
+windows was under water; he burst in the other window.
+
+"We are sinking!" cried he, and a horrible scream was heard within.
+
+The old man was German Heinrich, who was about to come with this
+vessel from Copenhagen to Jutland: Sidsel was his daughter, and
+therefore he wished now to save her life a second time.
+
+The water rushed more and more into the ship. Heinrich thrust his
+arm through the cabin-window, he grasped about in the water within;
+suddenly he caught hold on a garment, he drew it toward him; but it
+was only the captain's coat, and not his daughter, as he had hoped.
+
+"The ship sinks!" shrieked the other, and grasped wildly on the
+rope which held the boat fast: in vain he attempted to divide it
+with his pocket-knife. The ship whirled round with the boat and
+all. Air and water boiled within it, and, as if in a whirlpool, the
+whole sunk into the deep. The sea agitated itself into strong
+surges over the place, and then was again still. The moon shone
+tranquilly over the surface of the water as before. No wreck
+remained to tell any one of the struggle which there had been with
+death.
+
+The bell tolled a quarter past twelve; and at that moment the last
+light at the hall was extinguished.
+
+"I will go to Paris," said Wilhelm, "to my glorious Switzerland;
+here at home one is heavy-hearted; the gillyflowers on the grave
+have an odor full of melancholy recollections. I must breathe the
+mountain air; I must mingle in the tumult of men, and it is quite
+the best in the world."
+
+Otto closed his eyes; he folded his hands.
+
+"Louise loves me," said he. "I am so happy that I fear some great
+misfortune may soon meet me; thus it used always to be. Whilst
+German Heinrich lives I cannot assure myself of good! If he were
+away, I should be perfectly tranquil, perfectly happy!"
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's O. T., A Danish Romance, by Hans Christian Andersen
+
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