The postilion now found out where we were. Instead of going straight
forward, he had quitted the road, and driven almost in a retrograde
direction, so that we were now at the Prince von Rosenthurm's
_forst-haus_, distant only about a league to the right of the station
which we had quitted.
As soon as we had explained to Christian the mischance that we had met
with, he directly opened both wings of the gate, and let the carriage
pass into the court. The dogs, who were now pacified, came fawning and
snuffling about us; and the man above, who was still stationed at the
window, cried out incessantly, in a voice by no means of good-humour,
"Who's there?--who's there? _What for a_ caravan is that?" to which
neither Christian nor I returned a word in answer.
At last I stepped into the house, and was walking up stairs, when I met
a powerful tall man, with a sun-burnt visage, a large hat, with a plume
of green feathers, on his head, (which was oddly contrasted with the
rest of his figure, for he appeared in his shirt and slippers,) and a
drawn stiletto (or hunting dagger) in his hand. In a rough voice, he
called out to me, "Whence do you come? How dare you disturb people in
the dead of night? This is no public-house; no post station. Here no one
lives but the _Ober-revier-forster_, and for want of a better, I am he.
Christian is an ass, for having opened the gates without my permission."
In a tone of great humility, I now related the story of my mischance,
explaining that nothing but necessity had brought me hither. Hereupon
the man was somewhat conciliated. He said, "Well, no doubt, the storm
was very violent; but your postilion must be a stupid rascal, to drive
out of the road, and break your carriage in that manner. Such a fellow
should have been able to go blindfolded through these woods. He should
be at home among them, like any one of us."
With these words, he led me up stairs into a large hall, furnished with
a long oak table and benches; the walls adorned with stag's antlers,
hunting weapons, bugle-horns, etc. An enormous stove was at one end, and
an open _kamin_, where there were yet the warm embers of a wood-fire, at
the other.
The _Ober-revier-forster_ now laid aside his hat and dagger, and drawing
on his clothes, requested I would not take it ill that he had received
me so roughly; for, in his remote habitation, he must be constantly on
his guard. All sorts of bad people were in the habit of haunting these
woods--and especially with poachers, he lived almost always in open
warfare--"However," added he, "the rogues can gain no advantage over me,
for, with the help of God, I fulfil my duty to the prince
conscientiously and faithfully. They have more than once attacked my
house by night; but, in reliance on Providence, and my trusty dogs and
fire-arms, I bid them defiance."
Involuntarily, and led away by the force of old habits, I here thrust in
some common-place words about the power and efficacy of trust in
God.--However, such expressions were not lost on the forester, but
seemed to gain for me his confidence and good opinion. He became always
more cheerful, and notwithstanding my earnest entreaties to the
contrary, roused up his wife--a matron in years, of a quiet,
good-humoured demeanour, who, though thus disturbed from her sleep,
welcomed, in a very friendly manner, her unexpected guest, and began, by
her husband's orders, to prepare supper.
As for the postilion, he, by the forester's decision, was obliged, for a
punishment, that night, to drive back (as he best could) to the station
from which he had come,--and on the following morning I should be
carried on by the forester to the place of my destination. I agreed the
more readily to this plan, as I found myself now much in want of repose.
I therefore said to my host that I would gladly stay with him even till
the middle of the following day, as, by constant travelling, I had been
greatly fatigued, and would be much the better for such refreshment.
"If I might advise you, sir," said the forester, "you had better remain
here through the whole of to-morrow--After that, my son, whom I must at
any rate send to the _residenz_, will himself take you forward in my
carriage."
I was, of course, well contented with this proposal; and by way of
conversation, while supper was placed on the table, began to praise the
solitude and retirement of his house, by which I professed myself to be
greatly attracted.
"It is remote, sir, no doubt," said the forester; "at the same time, our
life here is the farthest possible from being dull or gloomy, as a
townsman would probably conclude it to be.--To such people every
situation in the country appears both lonely and stupid;--but much
depends on the temper and disposition of the party by whom a house like
this of ours is inhabited.
"If, as in former years in this castle, an old gloomy Baron were the
master,--one who shuts himself up within the four walls of his court,
and takes no pleasure in the woods or the chase--then, indeed, it would
be a dull and lonely habitation--But since this old Baron died, and our
gracious Prince has been pleased to fit it up as a _forst-haus_, it has
been kept in constant liveliness and mirth.
"Probably you, sir, may be one of those townspeople, who know nothing,
unless by report, of our pleasures, and therefore can have no adequate
idea, what a joyous pleasant life we hunters lead in the forest--As to
solitude, I know nothing either of its pains or pleasures--for, along
with my huntsmen lads, we live all equally, and make but one family.
Indeed, however absurd this may seem to you, I reckon my staunch wise
dogs also among the number--And why not? They understand every word that
I say to them. They obey even my slightest signals, and are attached,
and faithful even to death.
"Mark there, only, how intelligently my Waldmann looks up, because he
knows already that I am speaking about him!
"Now, sir, not only is there every day something to be done with the
huntsmen and dogs in the forest--but every evening before, there is the
pleasure of preparation, and a hospitable well-supplied board, (at which
we enjoy ourselves with a zest, that you townsmen never experience;)
then, with the first dawn of day, I am always out of bed, and make my
appearance, blowing all the way a cheering _reveille_ upon my
hunting-horn.
"At that sound every one directly starts up--The dogs, too, begin to
give tongue, and join in one great concert, of barking and rejoicing,
from their delight at the anticipation of the coming sport. The
huntsmen are quickly dressed--They throw the game-bags and fire-arms on
their shoulders, and assemble directly in this room, where my old woman
(my wife, I mean) prepares for us a right stout hunter's breakfast, an
enormous _schuessel_ of hot ragout, with a bottle of vin-ordinaire, a
reaming flagon of home-brewed ale, with another of _Stettiner beer_,
sent us from the _residenz_; then, after a glass of _schnaps_, we all
sally forth in the highest possible spirits, shouting and rejoicing.
"Thereafter, we have a long march before us--(I speak of our employments
at this present season)--but at last we arrive at the spot where the
game lies in cover--There every one takes his stand apart from the rest;
the dogs grope about with their noses on the ground, snuffing the scent,
and looking back every now and then to give notice to the huntsman, who,
in his turn, stands with his gun cocked, motionless and scarcely daring
to breathe, as if rooted to the ground. But when at last the game starts
out of the thicket, when the guns crack, and the dogs rush in after the
shot, ah! then, sir, one's heart beats--every fibre is trembling with
youthful energy; old as I am, I thus feel transformed into a new man.
"Moreover, and above all, there are no two adventures of this kind
exactly like each other. In every one is something new, and there is
always something to talk over that never happened before. If it were no
more than the variety of game at different seasons of the year, this
alone renders the pursuit so delightful, that one never can have enough
of it.
"But setting aside these diversions, I assure you, sir, that the mere
superintendance and care of the woods is an employment which would amply
fill up my time from January to December. So far am I from feeling
lonely, that every tree of the forest is to me like a companion.
"Absolutely, it appears to me as if every plant which has grown up under
my inspection, and stretches up its glossy waving head into the air,
should know me and love me, because I have watched over, and protected
it. Nay, many times, when I hear the whispering and rushing of the
leaves in the wind, it seems as if the trees themselves spoke with an
intelligible voice, that this was indeed a true praising of God and his
omnipotence; a prayer, which, in no articulate words, could so well
have been expressed.
"In short, sir, an honest huntsman and forester, who has the fear of God
before him, leads, even in these degenerate times, an admirable and
happy life. Something is yet left to him of that fine old state of
liberty, when the habits of men were according to nature, and they knew
nothing of all that conventional artifice, parade, and frippery,
wherewith they are now tormented in their walled-up garrisons and
cities. _There_, indeed, they become totally estranged from all those
delightful influences which God, in the midst of his works in this
world, is ready to shower upon them, by which, on the contrary, they
ought to be edified and rejoiced, as the free sylvan people were in
former ages, who lived in love and friendship with nature, as we read in
the old histories."
All this (though his style was somewhat rambling and methodistic) the
old forester uttered with a _gusto_ and emphasis, by which one could not
fail to perceive that he felt whatever he had said deeply in his own
heart; and I truly envied him his station in life, together with his
deeply-grounded quiet moods of mind, to which my own bore so little
resemblance, or rather presented so painful a contrast.
* * * * *
In another part of the building, which was of considerable extent, the
old man shewed me a small and neatly-fitted-up apartment, in which was a
bed, and where I found my luggage already deposited. There he left me,
with the assurance that the early disturbance in the house would not
break my sleep, as I was quite separated from the other inhabitants of
the castle, and might rest as long as I chose. My breakfast would not be
carried in until I rung the bell, or came down stairs to order it. He
added, that I should not see him again till we met at the dinner-table,
as he should set out early with his lads to the forest, and would not
return before mid-day.
I gave myself no farther trouble therefore, but being much fatigued,
undressed hastily, and threw myself into bed, where I soon fell into a
deep sleep. After this, however, I was persecuted by a horrible dream.
In a manner the most extraordinary, it began with the consciousness of
slumber. I said to myself, "Now this is fortunate, that I have fallen
asleep so readily; I shall by this means quite recover from my fatigue,
and, for fear of awaking, must only take special care to keep my eyes
shut."
Notwithstanding this resolution, it seemed to me as if I must, of
necessity, open my eyes, and yet continued at the same time to sleep.
Then the door of my room opened, and a dark form entered, in whom, to my
extreme horror and amazement, I recognised _myself_ in the capuchin
habit, with the beard and tonsure!
The monk came nearer and nearer to the bed, till he stood leaning over
me, and grinned scornfully. "Now, then," said he, in a hollow sepulchral
voice, and yet with a strange cadence of exultation--"now, then, thou
shalt come along with me; we shall mount on the _altan_[2] on the roof
of the house beside the weather-cock, who will sing us a merry
bridal-song, because the owl to-night holds his wedding-feast--there
shall we contend together, and whoever beats the other from the roof of
the house is king, and may drink blood!"
[Footnote 2: Balcony.]
I felt now that the figure seized upon me, and tried to lift me up from
the bed. Then despair gave me courage, and I exclaimed, "Thou art not
Medardus!--thou art the devil!" and as if with the claws of a demon, I
grappled at the throat and visage of this detestable spectre.
But when I did so, it seemed as if my fingers forced their way into
empty skeleton sockets, or held only dry withered joints, and the
spectre laughed aloud in shrilling tones of scorn and mockery.
At that moment, as if forcibly roused by some one violently wrenching me
about, I awoke!
The laughter still continued in the room. I raised myself up. The
morning had broken in bright gleams through the window, and I actually
beheld at the table, with his back turned towards me, a figure dressed
in the capuchin habit!
I was petrified with horror. The abominable dream had started into real
life! The capuchin tossed and tumbled among the things which lay upon
the table, till by accident he turned round, and thereupon I recovered
all my courage, for his visage, thank Heaven, was _not mine_! Certain
features, indeed, bore the closest resemblance, but I was in health and
vigour; he was, on the contrary, worn and emaciated, disguised too by an
overgrown head of hair, and grizzly black beard. Moreover, his eyes
rolled and glared with the workings of a thoughtless and vacant
delirium.
I resolved not to give any alarm, but remain quietly on the watch for
whatever he might do, and not interrupt him unless he attempted
something formidably mischievous, for my stiletto lay near me on the
bed, and on that account, together with my superior strength, I could
soon be completely master of this intruder.
He appeared to look at, and to play with, the things that lay upon the
table, as a child would do with toys; especially, he seemed delighted
with the red _portefeuille_, which he turned over and over towards the
light of the window, at the same time making strange grimaces, and
jumping up like a patient in the dance of St Vitus.
At last, he found the bottle with the rest of the Devil's Elixir, which
he directly opened and smelt at; then he seemed to tremble convulsively
through every limb. He uttered a loud and indescribable cry--"He, he,
he!--He, he, he!" which echoed in faltering reverberations through the
room, and passages.
A clear-toned clock in the house just then struck three (but the hour
must have been much later.) Thereupon, to my great annoyance, he lifted
up his voice, and howled as if seized by some horrible torment; then
broke out once more into the same shrill laughter that I had heard in my
dream. He heaved himself about into the wildest attitudes and caprioles,
concluding with a long draught from the bottle with the Devil's Elixir,
which (after having exhausted the last drops) he then hurled from him
against the wall, and ran out at the door.
I now instantly rose up and looked after him, but he was already out of
sight, and I heard him clamping and clattering down a distant staircase;
and, lastly, the violent hollow clank of a door, as he closed it after
him.
I then carefully locked and bolted that of my own room, that I might be
secured against any second intrusion, and threw myself once more into
bed. I had been too much excited to be able for some time to sleep
again; but at last slumber fell heavily upon me, and I did not awake
till a late hour, when, refreshed and strengthened, I found the bright
warm sun beating into my apartment.