I passed a bad night. Rising early in the morning, I threw over my
shoulders my travelling bag, warned my landlady that I would not return
during the day, and walked by the side of the mountains, along the
river, upon the borders of which was situated the little town of L.
These mountains, whose chain bears the name of _Hundsrüch_ (Dog's Back)
are of a very curious formation; especially noticeable were columns of
basalt very regular and of great purity of shape, but at the moment I
hardly thought of making any geological observations. I could not
account for the way I felt, only I was conscious that I no longer wished
to persuade even myself that the only cause of the sudden estrangement
with which they inspired me was my chagrin at being deceived by them.
Nothing obliged them to give themselves out as--brother and sister.
Finally I tried to banish the remembrance of them from my mind.
I wandered at leisure over mountains and valleys; I made some long stops
in the village inns; engaging in a quiet conversation with the landlord
and travellers, or else, lying down upon a flat stone, warmed by the
sun, I looked at the clouds floating by. Happily for me the weather was
beautiful. It was thus I occupied my leisure for three days, and I found
in doing so a certain charm, though at times I felt depressed. The state
of my mind was in perfect accord with the tranquil nature of these
regions.
I abandoned myself entirely to chance, to all the impressions that
happened to strike me. They followed each other slowly and left in the
depths of my soul a general sensation, in which mingled harmoniously all
that I had seen, felt, and heard for the last three days; yes,
everything, without exception, the penetrating odor of rosin in the
woods, the cries and the tappings of the woodpecker, the incessant
rushing of the clear streams, with speckled trout playing on the sandy
bottom, the undulating outlines of the mountains, the towering rocks;
the neat little villages, with their respectable old churches; the
storks in the meadows, the pretty mills with clattering wheels, the
stout figures of the countrymen with their blue waistcoats and gray
stockings, the lumbering carts drawn slowly by heavy horses and
sometimes by cows, young travellers, with long hair, walking in groups
on the smooth streets, bordered with pear and apple trees.