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diff --git a/7513.txt b/7513.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..59b31cd --- /dev/null +++ b/7513.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10914 @@ +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 + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK O. 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