another chat about witches and witchcraft—late period of the existence of belief in witches—queen semiramis—elfin armorers—the sword of the scandinavian king—mystical meaning of tales of magic—anglo-saxon enigmas—celestinus and the miller’s horse—the emperor conrad and the count’s son—legend of “the giant with the golden hairs.”
“your stories about sorcerers and sorcery, lathom,” said herbert, “have made me consider a little as to the amount of truth on which such fictions may have been founded.”
“perhaps you believe in witches, magicians, and all that tribe, that gather deadly herbs by moonlight, and ride through the air on broomsticks,” said thompson, with a smile.
“may not herbert fairly ask you,” said lathom, “whether there is any antecedent improbability in mortal beings obtaining, from the spirit of evil, a temporary superhuman power; or in the idea of satan awarding the riches and honors of this world to those who will fall down and worship him?”
“selden’s apology for the law against witches in his time shows a lurking belief,” remarked herbert. “‘if,’ says that sour old lawyer, ‘one man believes that by 204turning his hat thrice and crying “buz,” he could take away a fellow-creature’s life, this were a just law made by the state, that whosoever should do so, should forfeit his life.’”
“he must have believed, or his logical mind would have seen, that a law waging war with intentions which are incapable of fulfilment, is both wrong and mischievous.”
“well,” said herbert, “as good a lawyer as selden and a better man, did not fear to profess his belief in witchcraft, and to give his judicial countenance to trials for sorcery:—sir matthew hale was ever ready to admit his belief in witches and witchcraft.”
“to the lawyers you may add the learned antiquary and physician, sir thomas brown, the author of the ‘religio medici.’”
“but surely, lathom, all this belief, as well as the practice of witch-tormenting, ceased about 1682,” said thompson.
“the belief in witchcraft has never yet been extinct, and the practice of witch-burning lasted forty years after that, at least in scotland. the act of james, so minutely describing witches and their acts, and so strenuously inciting the people to burn them, remained on the statute-book until the ninth year of george the second; and as late as 1722 the hereditary sheriff of sutherlandshire condemned a poor woman to death as a witch.”
“i believe i can carry down the belief at least a few years later than the date even of the last witch execution,” remarked herbert.
“among the poor and uneducated, undoubtedly?”
“nay, thompson, with them it remains even now; i speak not only of the educated, but of that class of men which is most conversant with evidence, and most addicted to discredit fictitious stories.”
“what, the lawyers?”
205“even so,” replied lathom; “in 1730, william forbes, in his ‘institutes of the law of scotland,’ published in that year, makes this remark: ‘nothing seems plainer to me, than that there have been witches, and that, perhaps, such are now actually existing; which i intend, god willing, to clear in a larger work concerning the criminal law.’”
“did this large work appear?” said thompson.
“i should think not; at least, it is not known.”
“the old jesuit from whom you got your version of the ungrateful man, has a story illustrative of a kind of witchcraft that all will admit to have been very prevalent in every age,” said thompson.
“what, will you believe in witchcraft in any form?”
“at all events, in one form—the witchcraft of love; my instance is the story of semiramis and ninus. i will read it you from the same version that lathom used for his tale of vitalis and massaccio.”
the queen semiramis.
“of all my wives,” said king ninus to semiramis, “it is you i love the best. none have charms and graces like you, and for you i would willingly resign them all.”
“let the king consider well what he says,” replied semiramis. “what if i were to take him at his word?”
“do so,” returned the monarch; “whilst beloved by you, i am indifferent to all others.”
“so, then, if i asked it,” said semiramis, “you would banish all your other wives, and 206love me alone? i should be alone your consort, the partaker of your power, and queen of assyria?”
“queen of assyria! are you not so already,” said ninus, “since you reign, by your beauty, over its king?”
“no—no,” answered his lovely mistress; “i am at present only a slave whom you love. i reign not; i merely charm. when i give an order, you are consulted before i am obeyed.”
“and to reign, then, you think so great a pleasure?”
“yes, to one who has never experienced it.”
“and do you wish, then, to experience it? would you like to reign a few days in my place?”
“take care, o king! do not offer too much.”
“no, i repeat it,” said the captivated monarch. “would you like, for one whole day, to be sovereign mistress of assyria? if you would, i consent to it.”
“and all which i command, then, shall be executed?”
“yes, i will resign to you, for one entire day, my power and my golden sceptre.”
“and when shall this be?”
“to-morrow if you like.”
“i do,” said semiramis; and let her head fall upon the shoulder of the king, like a beautiful 207woman asking pardon for some caprice which has been yielded to.
the next morning, semiramis called her women, and commanded them to dress her magnificently. on her head she wore a crown of precious stones, and appeared thus before ninus. ninus, enchanted with her beauty, ordered the officers of the palace to assemble in the state chamber, and his golden sceptre to be brought from the treasury. he then entered the chamber, leading semiramis by the hand. all prostrated themselves before the aspect of the king, who conducted semiramis to the throne, and seated her upon it. then ordering the whole assembly to rise, he announced to the court that they were to obey, during the whole day, semiramis as himself. so saying, he took up the golden sceptre, and placing it in the hands of semiramis—“queen,” said he, “i commit to you the emblem of sovereign power; take it, and command with sovereign authority. all here are your slaves, and i myself am nothing more than your servant for the whole of this day. whoever shall be remiss in executing your orders, let him be punished as if he had disobeyed the commands of the king.”
having thus spoken, the king knelt down before semiramis, who gave him, with a smile, her hand to kiss. the courtiers then passed in 208succession, each making oath to execute blindly the orders of semiramis. when the ceremony was finished, the king made her his compliments, and asked her how she had managed to go through it with so grave and majestical an air.
“whilst they were promising to obey me,” said semiramis, “i was thinking what i should command each of them to do. i have but one day of power, and i will employ it well.”
the king laughed at this reply. semiramis appeared more piquante and amiable than ever. “let us see,” said he, “how you will continue your part. by what orders will you begin?”
“let the secretary of the king approach my throne,” said semiramis, in a loud voice.
the secretary approached; two slaves placed a little table before him.
“write,” said semiramis: “‘under penalty of death, the governor of the citadel of babylon is ordered to yield up the command of the citadel to him who shall bear to him this order.’ fold this order, seal it with the king’s seal, and give it to me. write now: ‘under penalty of death, the governor of the slaves of the palace is ordered to resign the command of the slaves into the hands of the person who shall present to him this order.’ fold, seal it with the king’s seal, and deliver to me this decree. write 209again: ‘under penalty of death, the general of the army encamped under the walls of babylon is ordered to resign the command of the army to him who shall be the bearer of this order.’ fold, seal, and deliver to me this decree.”
she took the three orders, thus dictated, and put them in her bosom. the whole court was struck with consternation; the king himself was surprised.
“listen,” said semiramis. “in two hours hence let all the officers of the state come and offer me presents, as is the custom on the accession of new princes, and let a festival be prepared for this evening. now, let all depart. let my faithful servant ninus alone remain. i have to consult him upon affairs of state.”
when all the rest had gone out—“you see,” said semiramis, “that i know how to play the queen.”
ninus laughed.
“my beautiful queen,” said he, “you play your part with astonishment. but, if your servant may dare question you, what would you do with the orders you have dictated?”
“i should be no longer queen were i obliged to give an account of my actions. nevertheless, this was my motive. i have a vengeance to execute against the three officers whom these orders menace.”
210“vengeance—and wherefore?”
“the first, the governor of the citadel, is one-eyed, and frightens me every time i meet him; the second, the chief of the slaves, i hate, because he threatens me with rivals; the third, the general of the army, deprives me too often of your company,—you are constantly in the camp.”
this reply, in which caprice and flattery were mingled, enchanted ninus. “good,” said he, laughing. “here are the three first officers of the empire dismissed for very sufficient reasons.”
the gentlemen of the court now came to present their gifts to the queen. some gave precious stones; others, of a lower rank, flowers and fruits; and the slaves, having nothing to give, gave nothing but homage. among these last, there were three young brothers, who had come from the caucasus with semiramis, and had rescued the caravan in which the women were, from an enormous tiger. when they passed before the throne—
“and you,” said she to the three brothers, “have you no present to make to your queen?”
“no other,” replied the first, zopire, “than my life to defend her.”
“none other,” replied the second, artaban, “than my sabre against her enemies.”
“none other,” replied the third, assar, 211“than the respect and admiration which her presence inspires.”
“slaves,” said semiramis, “it is you who have made me the most valuable present of the whole court, and i will not be ungrateful. you who have offered me your sword against my enemies, take this order, carry it to the general of the army encamped under the walls of babylon, give it to him, and see what he will do for you. you who have offered me your life for my defence, take this order to the governor of the citadel, and see what he will do for you; and you who offer me the respect and admiration which my presence inspires, take this order, give it to the commandant of the slaves of the palace, and see what will be the result.”
never had semiramis displayed so much gayety, so much folly, and so much grace, and never was ninus so captivated. nor were her charms lessened in his eyes, when a slave not having executed promptly an insignificant order, she commanded his head to be struck off, which was immediately done.
without bestowing a thought on this trivial matter, ninus continued to converse with semiramis till the evening and the fête arrived. when she entered the saloon which had been prepared for the occasion, a slave brought her a plate, in which was the head of the decapitated eunuch.—“’tis 212well,” said she, after having examined it. “place it on a stake in the court of the palace, that all may see it, and be you there on the spot to proclaim to every one, that the man to whom this head belonged lived three hours ago, but that having disobeyed my will, his head was separated from his body.”
the fête was magnificent; a sumptuous banquet was prepared in the gardens, and semiramis received the homage of all with a grace and majesty perfectly regal; she continually turned to and conversed with ninus, rendering him the most distinguished honor. “you are,” said she, “a foreign king, come to visit me in my palace. i must make your visit agreeable to you.”
shortly after the banquet was served, semiramis confounded and reversed all ranks. ninus was placed at the bottom of the table. he was the first to laugh at this caprice; and the court, following his example, allowed themselves to be placed, without murmuring, according to the will of the queen. she seated near herself the three brothers from the caucasus.
“are my orders executed?” she demanded of them.
“yes,” replied they.
the fête was very gay. a slave having, by the force of habit, served the king first, semiramis 213had him beaten with rods. his cries mingled with the laughter of the guests. every one was inclined to merriment. it was a comedy, in which each played his part. towards the end of the repast, when wine had added to the general gayety, semiramis rose from her elevated seat, and said: “my lords, the treasurer of the empire has read me a list of those who this morning have brought me their gifts of congratulation on my joyful accession to the throne. one grandee alone of the court has failed to bring his gift.”
“who is it?” cried ninus. “he must be punished severely.”
“it is yourself, my lord—you who speak; what have you given to the queen this morning?”
ninus rose, and came with a smiling countenance to whisper something into the ear of the queen. “the queen is insulted by her servant!” exclaimed semiramis.
“i embrace your knees to obtain my pardon, beautiful queen,” said he; “pardon me, pardon me”; and he added in a lower tone, “i wish this fête were finished.”
“you wish, then, that i should abdicate?” said semiramis. “but no—i have still two hours to reign”; and at the same time she withdrew her hand, which the king was covering with kisses. “i pardon not,” said she, with a 214loud voice, “such an insult on the part of a slave. slave, prepare thyself to die.”
“silly child that thou art,” said ninus, still on his knees, “yet will i give way to thy folly; but patience, thy reign will soon be over.”
“you will not then be angry,” said she, in a whisper, “at some thing i am going to order at this moment.”
“no,” said he.
“slaves!” said she aloud, “seize this man—seize this ninus!”
ninus, smiling, put himself into the hands of the slaves.
“take him out of the saloon, lead him into the court of the seraglio, prepare every thing for his death, and wait my orders.”
the slaves obeyed, and ninus followed them, laughing, into the court of the seraglio. they passed by the head of the disobeying eunuch. then semiramis placed herself on a balcony. ninus had suffered his hands to be tied.
“hasten,” said the queen, “hasten, zopire, to the fortress; you to the camp, artaban; assar, do you secure all the gates of the palace.”
the orders were given in a whisper, and executed immediately.
“beautiful queen,” said ninus, laughing, “this comedy wants but its conclusion; pray, let it be a prompt one.”
215“i will,” said semiramis. “slaves, recollect the eunuch. strike!”
they struck; ninus had hardly time to utter a cry; when his head fell upon the pavement, the smile was still upon his lips.
“now, i am queen of assyria,” exclaimed semiramis; “and perish every one, like the eunuch and ninus, who dare disobey my orders.”
“the discovery of the sword by sir guido, in your tale of the crusader,” said herbert, “reminds me of the elfin swords so common among the scandinavian heroes.”
“such as the enchanted sword taken by a pirate from the tomb of a norwegian monarch,” suggested lathom.
“rather, perhaps, of those manufactured by the elves under compulsion, or from gratitude to some earthly warrior; the famous sword tyrfing, the weapon of the scandinavian monarch suafurlami, was one of these. this is the story as given by scott, in the second volume of his scottish minstrelsy: ‘the scandinavian king, returning from hunting, bewildered himself among the mountains; about sunset he beheld a large rock, and two dwarfs sitting before the mouth of a cavern. the king drew his sword, and intercepted their retreat by springing between them and their recess, and imposed upon them the following condition of safety:—that they should make him a falchion, with a baldric and scabbard of pure gold, and a blade which would divide stones and iron as a garment, and which would render the wielder of it ever victorious in battle. the elves complied with his demand, and suafurlami pursued his way home. returning at the time appointed, the dwarfs delivered to him the famous sword tyrfing; then standing in the entrance 216to the cavern, spoke thus: “this sword, o king, shall destroy a man every time it is brandished; but it shall perform three atrocious deeds, and shall be thy bane.” the king rushed forward with the charmed sword, and buried both its edges in the rock, but the dwarfs escaped into their recesses. this enchanted sword emitted rays like the sun, dazzling all against whom it was brandished; it divided steel like water, and was never unsheathed without slaying a man.’”
“the supernatural skill in the fabrication of arms attributed to the northern elves,” remarked lathom, “seems to indicate some traces of historical truth. the fins, who inhabited scandinavia when odin and his asiatics invaded the country, retired to the mountains to avoid the tyranny of the new people. far better acquainted than the invaders could have been with the mines of their country, a superior knowledge in the manufacture of arms may be fairly awarded to them. and thus, in time, the oppressed fins would come to be the dwarfish armorers of scandinavian mythology.”
“as theory is the fashion,” said thompson, “what say you to a geological foundation to many of your mythological wonders? were not the great dragons of stone suddenly released from their rocky beds—the long serpents guarding treasures in deep pits—the closely coiled snake of the cavern—were not many of these the gigantic antediluvian relics of our caves? has not many an ichthyosaurus, in his earthly bed, been transformed into a deputy fiend, or even into the father of evil himself, keeping watch over some hoard of ill-gotten wealth; whilst the strange form of the huge pterodactyl, with its wings and claws, has been metamorphosed into the dragon of wantley and his compeers?”
“your theory, thompson,” rejoined herbert, “may not be so baseless as you regard it. the entire series of 217the heathen mythology has been of old, and still is, in germany, regarded as a mere mystical delineation of the phenomena of nature. the elements are said to have suggested the nature of the gods and their origin; the specific phenomena of nature may have suggested the various forms under which the divine race appears and acts. it was a very common practice among the astronomers of the days of galileo, and even to a later period, to conceal their discoveries in enigmas. may we not, with some little appearance of reason, regard the fables of our ancestors, the knights, the dragons, the giants, the magicians and their followers, as in some respect an esoteric teaching of the philosophy of physics, a mystical setting forth of natural phenomena?”
“the love of our anglo-saxon ancestors for philosophical enigmas, as they may be called, was undoubtedly very great,” rejoined lathom. “i remember one given by mr. wright, in his introduction to anglo-saxon literature. it was in these words:
“‘i saw tread over the turf
ten in all,
six brothers
and their sister with them,
they had a living soul:
they hanged their skins,
openly and manifestly,
on the wall of the hall:
to any one of them all
it was none the worse,
nor his side the sorer:
although they should thus,
bereaved of covering,
and awakened by the might
of the guardian of the skies,
bite, with their mouths,
the rough leaves;
clothing is renewed
to those, who, before coming forth,
left their ornaments,
lying in their track,
to depart over the earth.’”
218“i shall not attempt to guess such an enigma,” said thompson.
“its solution is the butterfly; the various transformations through which it passes from the grub until it rises with its beautiful wings, are intended to be described. but come, as we are on enigmas, what say you to this: ‘we are a family of seventeen, all sisters; six others claim to belong to our race, but we account them illegitimate. we are born of iron, or of the feather that bears the bird heavenward; by iron we die. our fathers were three brothers, our mother’s nature is uncertain. we teach him who desires to learn, and quickly and silently give words to him who requires them of us.’”
“i see the solution,” said herbert, “but yet cannot work it out; it is, doubtless, the alphabet, in that day confined to seventeen true and six false letters; what puzzles me is the iron, and the natures of the mother and the father.”
“the iron,” said lathom, “is the style used in writing; the sharp point for marking, and the broad end to rub out with; the uncertainty of the mother’s race arises from the pen being either of reed, or quill, or even of iron; the three brothers are the thumb and two fingers employed in writing.”
“the ‘uncertain mother’ is peculiarly applicable to these times,” said thompson, with a smile, “when you may vary your pen from goose to swan, and from swan to crow; or choose between steel pens of every size and shape, and delicate nibs of gold tipped with rubies.”
“come, we must leave our theories and enigmas, and return to our old story-tellers,” said herbert. “what tale is in preparation for us?”
“a little more demonology, as we have it in the story of
219
“celestinus and the miller’s horse.”
alexander had an only son, named celestinus, who was very dear to him; desirous of having him well instructed, he sent for a certain sage, and proffered his son to him for a pupil, promising a bountiful remuneration for his labor. the sage agreed, and took the boy home with him. celestinus was a diligent scholar, and made great and satisfactory progress under the tuition of the philosopher.
one day, as the tutor and pupil were walking together through a meadow, their attention was directed to a horse grievously afflicted with the mange. he lay on the ground in the middle of the field, and on either side of him two sheep were feeding, tied together by a rope which chanced to hang over the horse’s back; irritated by the rubbing of the cord, the poor horse rose, and naturally drew with him the two sheep. the weight of the sheep made the rope press more and more upon his poor back, and galled him dreadfully. unable to endure the pain, the horse ran towards his master’s home; the faster he ran, the more the sheep knocked against his flanks, and by their weight ground the cord into the sores on his back; with every 220struggle of the horse and his living burdens, the cord sank deeper into the wound.
on went the horse maddened with pain; at last he reached the hut of his master, the miller, and dashed in with his burdens through the open door. no one was within, but a fire of logs burned brightly on the hearth; plunging and striking with his hoofs, the horse scattered the burning logs about the house; the flames caught the building, and soon surrounded the poor animal. unable to move from the terror of the flames, there died the poor horse and the unlucky sheep, amid the ruins of the miller’s hut.
“my son,” said the tutor, when from afar he saw the end of the accident, “you have seen the beginning, the middle, and the end of this incident; when you return to your study, make me some verses upon it, and show me wherefore the house was burned. if you fail, beware of the punishment.”
it was all in vain that celestinus tried to coin a verse or two on such a curious subject. he felt more than usually unpoetical; and as for assigning a cause for the fire, he so puzzled himself with his own arguments, as at last to begin to doubt whether there was any cause at all. at length he left his room, and tried what a walk would do towards making him able to poetize.
221“my son,” said a venerable-looking man that met him on his solitary ramble, “what makes you so sorrowful?”
“pray do not trouble yourself,” replied the youth; “it is quite useless to tell you of my trouble; you cannot help me.”
“nay, but my son—how can we decide until we hear the cause?”
“well, then, good father, i have got to make some verses on a mangy horse and two sheep, and i do not know how.”
“and to decide wherefore the hut, the horse, and the sheep were burnt.”
“why, father, how do you know that?” exclaimed celestinus.
“though human to look at, i am not of this world,” replied the old man; “come, make a contract with me, henceforth to serve me, and care not for your master; and i will make you such a copy of verses as never were yet seen. come, choose; you know the alternative—the philosopher flogs sharply.”
celestinus hesitated a long time, but at last, through fear, he agreed to the devil’s proposal.
“now, then, my son,” said the devil, “write what i tell you. are you ready to begin?”
a mangy horse lay in a field,
a sheep on either side;
222across his back a rope was hung,
to which the sheep were tied.
teas’d by the rope, up rose the horse,
with him the sheep up swung,
on either flank, thus weighted well,
the rope his withers wrung.
clogg’d by his living load, he seeks
yon miller’s hut to gain;
the rope wears deeper, and his pace
is quicken’d with the pain.
he minds not bolts, nor bars, nor logs
that on the hearthstone burn;
nor fears with ready, scattering hoof,
the flaming pile to spurn.
wide flies the fire, above, around,
the rafters catch the flame;
poor dobbin, and his fleecy load,
are roasted in the same.
had but that miller deigned at home,
his careful watch to keep,
he had not burnt his house, or horse,
nor roasted both his sheep.
223delighted with the verses, celestinus hastened to his master on his return home. the philosopher read them with astonishment.
“boy,” said he, “whence did you steal these verses?”
“i did not steal them, sir.”
“come, come, boy—they are clearly not your own; tell me who made them for you.”
“i dare not, master,” replied the boy.
“dare not, why dare not? come boy, tell me the truth, or abide a worse punishment than would have awaited you had you not brought me any verses.”
terrified at his master’s threats, celestinus revealed his interview with the devil in a human form, and his contract of service with him. deeply grieved at the occurrence, the preceptor ceased not to talk with his pupil, until he had persuaded him, humbly and heartily, on his knees, to confess to god his grievous sin in his compact with the devil. his confederacy with the evil one thus renounced, celestinus became a good and holy man, and, after a well-spent life, resigned his soul to god.
“pray, lathom, what moral did your old monk intend to draw from this diabolical poetry?” asked thompson.
“his application is very recondite; the preceptor is a prelate of the church; the mangy horse, a sinner covered with sins; the two sheep represent two preachers bound 224by the cord of charity; the miller’s house is the world, and the fire, detraction. i must admit that the application, in this case, is far less valuable or intelligible than the story itself.”
“in an old book of moral advice,” said herbert, “i found a description of three madmen, that reminded me much of the five kinds described by st. peter, as related by your old writer. the first carried a fagot of wood, and because it was already too heavy for him, he added more wood to it, in the hopes of thereby making it lighter.”
“and he,” rejoined lathom, “was a sinner, daily adding new sins to old, because unable to bear the weight of his original errors.”
“the very same. the second madman drew water from a deep well with a sieve; his labor was incessant, and his progress just as slow. can you explain the nature of his sin?”
“i can read the explanation,” rejoined lathom, “for i have this moment found out the source of your extract in my old monk’s book. this madman was the man who does good, but does it sinfully, and therefore it is of no benefit. the third madman was far worse: he carried a beam in his chariot; and wishing to enter his court-yard, and finding the gate so narrow that it would not admit the beam, he whipped his horse until it tumbled both itself and its master into a deep well. the beam was worldly vanities, with which their possessor sought to enter into heaven, but by which he was cast down into hell.”
“the belief in witchcraft,” began herbert, “is very well illustrated by a late publication of the camden society of london.”
“nay, nay, reginald, no more of witches now,” rejoined lathom; “the subject deserves far more time, attention, and illustration than we can now afford it, 225and must be adjourned for the present. let me conclude this evening with the tale of
“the emperor conrad and the count’s son.”
during the reign of the emperor conrad, there lived a certain count of the name of leopold, who had risen to high commands by his bravery and his knowledge. every one regarded the count with favor, and loved him for his kindness to suitors, and his prowess against the enemies of the emperor. conrad alone looked on his servant with an evil eye; for he envied his reputation, and would have taken to himself the glories he had acquired, and ascribed to himself those victories which leopold had won.
the count, unable to endure the evil looks and hard words of the emperor, and fearful that in time his present anger would be turned into bitter hatred, suddenly left the court of rome, and fled with his wife into the forest of the apennines. there he toiled all day, and labored diligently to support himself and his spouse. there he knew not what the fear of impending evil was; he had no one to envy him, no one to covet his position or his property.
it was a bright sunny day, and the meridian 226sun glared with unwonted fierceness, even through the thick trees of the forest, and rendered the air close and heavy from lack of a breeze to move even the highest leaves of the loftiest pines. the emperor pursued the chase with ardor; urged on by the exhilarating cry of the hounds, he thought not of the denseness of the forest, or the tangled nature of its winding ways, until at last, tired and thirsty, he checked his horse in a dark, close glade, and looked around for some hut where he might obtain rest and refreshment.
many were the paths which the emperor and his attendants followed before they reached the cottage where leopold lived in solitude; the count recognized the sovereign, but conrad knew not his old servant, nor was he recognized by any of the hunting train; refreshments, such as the homely store could furnish, were soon placed before the emperor. it was now nigh to evening; already the glades of the forest were growing dark, and the devious paths more and more difficult to track out, even to the experienced eye of a woodman. it was useless to attempt to escape from the forest before the next morning. the attendants soon formed for themselves sylvan beds on the soft grass, and beneath the broad-spreading trees, their cloaks for coverlids, and the green mossy grass for 227their beds. the emperor fared better. one low tressel bed leopold had in the lower room of his hut; this he resigned to the emperor.
fatigued with his hard day’s riding, conrad soon fell asleep; how long he slept he knew not; but when all was dark and still, both within and without the hut, a voice broke upon his ear.
“take—take—take,” said the voice.
conrad rose and listened. “what,” said he to himself, as he thought on the words, “what am i to take? take—take—take: what can the voice mean?”
as he reflected on the singularity of the words, the emperor again fell asleep; again a voice awoke him from his slumbers.
“restore—restore—restore,” said the mysterious voice.
“what means all this mystery?” exclaimed the emperor. “first i was to take, take, take, and there is nothing for me to take; and now i am to restore. what can i restore, when i have taken nothing?”
again the emperor slept, and again the voice seemed to speak to him.
“fly—fly—fly,” said the voice this time, “for a child is now born, who shall become thy son-in-law.”
it was early dawn when conrad heard the 228voice the third time. he immediately arose, and inquired of his squires if they had heard a noise, and what had happened in the night.
“naught,” replied they, “my lord, but that a son was born to the poor woodman whilst you slept.”
“hah!” exclaimed conrad, “a son—to mount—to horse—we will away.”
the emperor and his train had hardly found their way out of the wood, when conrad called two of his knights to him.
“go,” said he, “to the woodman’s hut, take away the new-born child, kill it; and bring its heart to me, that i may know that you have performed my commands.”
with sorrowful hearts the two knights returned towards the woodman’s cottage. the babe was nestled in its mother’s breast, and smiled on them as they seized it. vain was the resistance of its mother, for she was alone; leopold had gone into the wood, to his daily labor.
“i cannot strike the poor babe,” said one knight to the other, as they left the hut in the forest, “do you play the butcher.”
“not i,” replied the other; “i can strike down my adversary in fair fight, but not this poor babe.”
at this moment a hare sprang across the path 229so close to the foremost of the knights, that he raised his hunting pole and struck it down.
“comrade,” said the other knight, “i perceive how we may make the emperor believe that we have obeyed his commands, and yet not take this poor babe’s life—open the hare, take out its heart. as for the babe, we will place it on yonder high branch, where the wild beasts cannot get at it, until we have done our message to the emperor, then will i return and take this poor babe to my home, for i am childless.”
leaving the babe, the two knights went on their message to the emperor; but before they could return, a good duke rode by the tree where the babe was, and took compassion on it, and carried the child to his own house, where it was nurtured as his own son. as for the child, he grew up a man of fine form, the joy of his adopted parents, eloquent in speech, and a general favorite at the emperor’s court. for a time, conrad was as pleased with the attainments of the young henry, as he had been with those of his poor father; but time brought with it envy, and he soon hated the youth, as he had before the unfortunate count. a dreadful suspicion haunted conrad’s mind that he had been deceived by his knights, and that the youthful favorite of the people was the woodman’s child, against whom he had been warned by the secret 230voice. the most cruel thoughts entered his mind, and he determined, this time, not to be deceived by his agents.
“henry,” said he to the young count, “i have a letter of the utmost importance that i wish to be delivered to my wife; to you i commit it, for you i can trust; haste, then, prepare for your journey, whilst i write the letter.”
henry retired to his apartments to prepare for his ride he chose his best riding suit, and his strongest horse, desirous in every way to do honor to the emperor’s mission. conrad went to his private room to prepare the letter.
“as soon as this letter reaches you,” he wrote, “i command you to cause the bearer thereof to be put to death. see that this be done, as you value my love.”
henry received the letter, and prepared to commence his journey. as it happened, his horse cast one of its shoes, and he was compelled to wait until another could be forged. unwilling that the emperor should know of the delay, the young man wandered into the royal chapel, and seating himself in one of the royal stalls, fell asleep.
there was a prying, crafty priest in the chapel, who had heard the message given to the young count, and wished very much to discover the secret of the message. seeing the 231young man asleep, he silently approached the youth, and extracting the letter from the little silken bag in which it was enclosed, opened its folds, and read, with astonishment, the proposed wickedness.
“poor youth,” murmured the priest, “thou little thinkest on what errand you are riding. but, come, i will deceive this cruel emperor,” continued he, as he erased the passage in which henry’s death was commanded, and inserted these words: “give him our daughter in marriage.”
the letter altered and replaced, his horse reshod, henry set out on his journey, and soon arrived at the city where the queen dwelt. presenting his letter to the queen, he was greatly surprised when she hailed him as her son-in-law, by virtue of the royal commands, and bade the priests and nobles of her court to assist in rendering the celebration of the nuptials as gorgeous as befitted the occasion.
it was in vain that conrad raged against the deceit thus practised on him; one by one the wonderful facts of the young man’s deliverance were revealed to him, and he could not but recognize in them all the hand of a protecting providence. deeply penitent for his many offences against god and man, he confirmed the marriage of his daughter, recalled the old 232count from his forest hut, and proclaimed the young henry heir to his empire.
“there is a great family likeness between this tale of yours, and the german story of the giant with the golden hair.”
“in what respect?”
“in the manner in which the fortunate youth obtains the princess as his wife. in that legend, a king discovers the babe after a manner very similar to that in which henry is found by conrad, and—warned that the child is to be his son-in-law—he sends him on a message to his queen, with a letter of the same import as in your tale. fatigued with his journey, the youth arrived at a robber’s cottage, falls asleep, and during his rest the thieves alter the letter, as the priest does that borne by henry. the effect is, of course, similar.”
“but what of the golden-haired giant?” asked herbert.
“he does not appear until the second part of the legend, and this is doubtless added on from some other tradition. you will find the whole story in grimm’s most amusing collection of german popular stories.”
“with this tale, then, we conclude our evening’s amusement.”
“i am afraid it must be so, herbert,” rejoined lathom; “i should not like to be left without material for to-morrow, our last meeting; and between this and then i am unable to prepare any more tales.”
