history, poetry, and painting resemble one another, and so it appears that in writing history, one paints a picture; in painting, one composes a story; history does not always treat of weighty matters, neither does the painter always choose great or magnificent subjects for his pencil; poetry is not always in the clouds; history must treat of base deeds; painting has grass and furze in her pictures, and poetry exalts humble things. these truths are shown in our history.
it was noon, the sun's rays shot down vertically upon the ground, and the heat was very great; many pleasant looking houses were scattered over the peaceful plains through which they were now travelling, where the gentry of this country passed the greater part of the year, seldom quitting them for a town life. our travellers had arrived near one of these, which was a little distant from the high road; the shadow cast by a tall tower of the dwelling, invited them to take their siesta there, as the heat threatened to be great. the careful bartholomew unloaded his mule, and spread a carpet on the ground; they seated themselves in a circle, and prepared to make their repast upon the provisions that bartholomew had taken care to provide, which were welcome, for they were beginning to feel hungry; but, hardly had they raised their hands to their mouths, when bartholomew, looking up, cried out, "get away, gentlemen! ladies, get away quickly! here is something tumbling down from the skies, i know not what, but it will not be well to have it fall on us." they looked up, and saw a figure coming down from above, which, before they could tell what it was, fell almost at periander's feet. the figure proved to be a very pretty woman who had been thrown from the top of the tower; but, her clothes serving as a bell, supported her like wings, and she got up unhurt, a thing quite possible without any miracle. however, the event left her in a state of great agitation and fright, as also was the state of those who had seen her fall. in the tower, loud shrieks and screams were heard from a woman whom they saw struggling with a man, and it seemed as if each was endeavouring to throw the other over.
"help, help!" cried the woman, "help me, gentlemen, for this madman wants to throw me down from the tower!"
the flying woman, now somewhat recovered, said, "if any of you are bold enough to go up through that door, (pointing to one at the foot of the tower,) you might save my children and other helpless creatures from the mortal danger they are in."
periander, impelled by his generous feelings, instantly went in, and, in a few minutes they saw him on the top of the tower engaged with the seeming madman, from whom he had taken a knife, and was trying to defend himself; but fate had determined that the tragedy of the man's life should end here, and both fell together from the height on the ground below. the madman had stabbed himself with the knife that periander held, and periander's eyes, nose and mouth were streaming with blood; for as he had no petticoats to sustain him, the fall took its effect, and he lay lifeless upon the earth.
auristella, seeing him thus, immediately supposed him dead; she threw herself upon his body, and, without caring who saw her, she pressed her mouth to his, as if she expected to receive some last breath or last token; but although there had been any such, she would not have received it, because the firmly-closed teeth would have denied its exit. constance was in no condition to lend her aid, for she stood as if transfixed on the spot, her feet glued to the ground, as though she was taking root there, or as if she had been a marble statue. antonio flew to assist the sufferers, and to separate the living from those he believed were dead corpses. bartholomew was the only one of the party whose eyes expressed the grief that he felt in his heart, and he was weeping loudly.
all being in this deep affliction, whilst as yet no one had uttered a word of speech, it was seen that a troop of people was approaching, who had probably from the high road perceived the persons falling from the tower, and came to ask what had happened. it was the travelling party of the three beautiful french ladies, delicia, bellarmina, and felicia flora. as soon as they came up, they recognized in auristella and periander the two pilgrims, whose marvellous beauty left an impression never to be forgotten by any one who had ever seen them. scarcely had their compassion caused them to alight, in order to give some assistance if possible to the distress they saw before them, when they were assailed from behind by seven or eight armed men, who fell suddenly upon them; at sight of this, antonio seized his bow and arrows, which were never far off, and which he always kept ready for defence or offence. one of the ruffians had seized upon felicia flora, and placed her on his saddle before him; then, turning to his companions, he said, "it is done, this one will do; let us be off." antonio, who saw this discourteous act, fitted an arrow to his bow, extended to the utmost his left arm, and drew the string with his right till it touched his right ear, so that the two extreme points of the bow almost met, then, taking the robber who held felicia flora as his mark, let fly his arrow; without touching felicia flora, except a portion of the veil which covered her head, it pierced the ruffian through the body: one of his companions hastened to avenge him, and, without giving antonio time to fit a second arrow to his bow, he dealt him so violent a blow on the head, that he fell to the ground senseless. at this sight, constance left off being a statue, and flew to her brother's assistance. the force of kindred blood was such that it warmed hers, which had frozen at the sight of a friend's sorrow; both, signs of strong affection.
by this time people had come out of the house armed, and the servants in the suite of the three ladies, who were unarmed, had collected stones, and came to the defence of their mistresses. the robbers, who saw their leader dead, and that so many persons were collected, began to think they should gain nothing by the enterprise, and that it would be madness to risk their lives for one who could no longer reward them; they therefore turned their backs and fled, leaving the field free. hitherto, in this affray, few sword strokes had been heard; no warlike instruments of music had sounded, the wail of the living over the dead had not yet been heard, but in bitter silence the sorrowing ones kept their grief within their lips, only some sad moans and sobs had issued from the breasts of the miserable auristella and constance, each one closely embracing her brother, without being able to utter those complaints which relieve the breaking heart. but, at length, heaven not having ordained that they should die thus suddenly, and without complaint or lamentation, untied their tongues, which had been cleaving to the roof of their mouths, and auristella burst forth in these words:—
"unhappy that i am, how am i to seek for any breath in a dead body, or how should i be able to feel it, if i am so deprived of it myself that i know not whether i can speak or breathe. alas, my brother! and what a fall was this, that has so destroyed all my hopes; alas! and could not your high lineage save you from this misfortune? but would it have been so great if you were not so high? the highest mountains attract the lightning, and where it meets with most resistance it does the greatest harm; you were a mountain, but a humble mountain, for you concealed yourself from the eyes of men in the shade of your wisdom and your ability; you were going to seek your fortune in mine, but death has cut short the intention, and mine is going with it to the tomb. what will the queen, your mother, do, when the news of your unexpected death reaches her ears? alas! woe is me, once more alone in a foreign land, like the poor ivy torn from her natural support."
these words about queens, and mountains, and greatness, caught the attention of the listening bystanders, and increased their wonder; constance, who held her wounded brother in her lap whilst the compassionate felicia flora tried to staunch the blood with her own handkerchief, spoke thus:—
"alas!" she said, "my protector, what avails it that fortune has raised me if misfortune is to destroy me. return to me, o my brother! if you wish that i should return to my senses; or, if not, ye pitying heavens, let our eyes be closed in death together, and one grave receive our bodies, for the good fortune i met with so unexpectedly can bring no better boon than a speedy end." so saying, she fell fainting on the ground; and auristella was no better off, so that they seemed more dead than the wounded ones.
the lady who fell from the tower, the chief cause of periander's fall, ordered her servants, several of whom had come out of the house, to carry him to the bed of count domicio, her lord and husband; she likewise commanded them to take his body up that it might receive burial; bartholomew took the young antonio in his arms; the ladies had charge of auristella and constance, and, in mournful procession and with slow steps, they moved along to the almost regal looking mansion.
