Transcribed from the 1889 Cassell & Company edition by David Price, email
ccx074@pglaf.org
CASSELL’S NATIONAL LIBRARY.
* * * * *
PETER SCHLEMIHL
BY
ADELBERT CHAMISSO
THE STORY WITHOUT AN END
BY
CARODÉ
HYMNS TO THE NIGHT
BY
NOVALIS
[Picture: Decorative graphic]
CASSELL & COMPANY, Limited:
LONDON, PARIS & MELBOURNE
1889
INTRODUCTION.
“PETER SCHLEMIHL,” one of the pleasantest fancies of the days when
Germany delighted in romance, was first published in 1814, and was
especially naturalised in England by association with the genius of
George Cruikshank, who enriched a translation of it with some of his
happiest work as an illustrator. An account of the book and its author
is here reprinted at the end of the tale, as originally given by the
translator. To this account one or two notes may be added. Louis
Charles Adelaide de Chamisso de Boncourt was born on the 27th of January,
1781, at the Château of Boncourt, in Champagne, which he made the subject
of one of his most beautiful lyrics. He belonged to a family faithful to
Louis XVI., that fled to Würzburg from the fury of the French Revolution.
Thus he was taken to Germany a child of nine, and was left there when the
family, with other emigrants, returned to France in 1801. At fifteen he
had Teutonised his name to Adelbert von Chamisso, and was appointed page
to the Queen of Prussia. In the war that came afterwards, for a very
short time he bore arms against the French, but being one of a garrison
taken in the captured fort of Hamlin, he and his comrades had to pledge
their honour that they would not again bear arms against France during
that war. After the war he visited France. His parents then were dead,
and though he stayed in France some years, he wrote from France to a
friend, “I am German heart and soul, and cannot feel at home here.” He
wandered irresolutely, then became Professor of Literature in a gymnasium
in La Vendée. Still he was restless. In 1812 he set off for a walk in
Switzerland, returned to Germany, and took to the study of anatomy. In
1813, Napoleon’s expedition to Russia and the peril to France from
legions marching upon Paris caused to Chamisso suffering and confusion of
mind.
It is often said that his sense of isolation between interests of the
land of his forefathers and the land of his adoption makes itself felt
through all the wild playfulness of “Peter Schlemihl,” which was at this
time written, when Chamisso’s age was about thirty-two. A letter of his
to the Councillor Trinius, in Petersburg, tells how he came to write it.
He had lost on a pedestrian tour his hat, his knapsack, his gloves, and
his pocket handkerchief—the chief movables about him. His friend Fouqué
asked him whether he hadn’t also lost his shadow? The friends pleased
their fancies in imagining what would have happened to him if he had.
Not long afterwards he was reading in La Fontaine of a polite man who
drew out of his pocket whatever was asked for. Chamisso thought, He will
be bringing out next a coach and horses. Out of these hints came the
fancy of “Peter Schlemihl, the Shadowless Man.” In all thought that goes
with invention of a poet, there are depths as well as shallows, and the
reader may get now and then a peep into the depths. He may find, if he
will, in a man’s shadow that outward expression of himself which shows
that he has been touched, like others, by the light of heaven. But
essentially the story is a poet’s whim. Later writings of Chamisso
proved him to be one of the best lyric poets of the romance school of his
time, entirely German in his tone of thought. His best poem, “Salas y
Gomez,” describes the feeling of a solitary on a sea-girt rock, living on
eggs of the numberless sea-birds until old age, when a ship is in sight,
and passes him, and his last agony of despair is followed by a triumph in
the strength of God.
“Alone and world-forsaken let me die;
Thy Grace is all my wealth, for all my loss:
On my bleached bones out of the southern sky
Thy Love will look down from the starry cross.”
The “Story Without an End”—a story of the endless beauty of Creation—is
from a writer who has no name on the rolls of fame. The little piece has
been made famous among us by the good will of Sarah Austin. The child
who enjoyed it, and for whom she made the delicate translation which here
follows next after Chamisso’s “Peter Schlemihl,” was that only daughter
who became Lady Duff-Gordon, and with whom we have made acquaintance in
this Library as the translator of “The Amber Witch.”
To make up the tale of pages in this little book without breaking its
uniformity, I have added a translation of the “Hymns to Night” of
Novalis. It is a translation made by myself seven-and-forty years ago,
and printed in a student’s magazine that I then edited. “Novalis” was
the name assumed by a poet, Friedrich von Hardenberg, who died on the
25th March, 1801, aged twenty-nine. He was bred among the Moravian
brethren, and then sent to the University of Jena. Two years after his
marriage to a young wife, Sophie von Kühn, she died. That was in 1797.
At the same time he lost a brother who was very dear to him. It was
then—four years before his own death—that he wrote his “Hymns to Night.”
H. M.
INTRODUCTORY EPISTLE
FROM
A. VON CHAMISSO TO JULIUS EDWARD HITZIG.
YOU, who forget nobody, must surely remember one Peter Schlemihl, whom
you used to meet occasionally at my house—a long-legged youth, who was
considered stupid and lazy, on account of his awkward and careless air.
I was sincerely attached to him. You cannot have forgotten him, Edward.
He was on one occasion the hero of our rhymes, in the hey-day of our
youthful spirits; and I recollect taking him one evening to a poetical
tea-party, where he fell asleep while I was writing, without even waiting
to hear my effusion: and this reminds me of a witticism of yours
respecting him. You had already seen him, I know not where or when, in
an old black frock-coat, which, indeed, he constantly wore; and you said,
“He would be a lucky fellow if his soul were half as immortal as his
coat,” so little opinion had you of him. _I_ loved him, however: and to
this very Schlemihl, of whom for many years I had wholly lost sight, I am
indebted for the little volume which I communicate to you, Edward, my
most intimate friend, my second self, from whom I have no secrets;—to
you, and of course our Fouqué, I commit them, who like you is intimately
entwined about my dearest affections,—to him I communicate them only as a
friend, but not as a poet; for you can easily imagine how unpleasant it
would be if a secret confided to me by an honest man, relying implicitly
on my friendship and honour, were to be exposed to the public in a poem.
One word more as to the manner in which I obtained these sheets:
yesterday morning early, as soon as I was up, they were brought to me.
An extraordinary-looking man, with a long grey beard, and wearing an old
black frock-coat with a botanical case hanging at his side, and slippers
over his boots, in the damp, rainy weather, had just been inquiring for
me, and left me these papers, saying he came from Berlin.
ADELBERT VON CHAMISSO.
PETER SCHLEMIHL,
_THE SHADOWLESS MAN_.
CHAPTER I.
AFTER a prosperous, but to me very wearisome, voyage, we came at last
into port. Immediately on landing I got together my few effects; and,
squeezing myself through the crowd, went into the nearest and humblest
inn which first met my gaze. On asking for a room the waiter looked at
me from head to foot, and conducted me to one. I asked for some cold
water, and for the correct address of Mr. Thomas John, which was
described as being “by the north gate, the first country-house to the
right, a large new house of red and white marble, with many pillars.”
This was enough. As the day was not yet far advanced, I untied my
bundle, took out my newly-turned black coat, dressed myself in my best
clothes, and, with my letter of recommendation, set out for the man who
was to assist me in the attainment of my moderate wishes.
After proceeding up the north street, I reached the gate, and saw the
marble columns glittering through the trees. Having wiped the dust from
my shoes with my pocket-handkerchief and readjusted my cravat, I rang the
bell—offering up at the same time a silent prayer. The door flew open,
and the porter sent in my name. I had soon the honour to be invited into
the park, where Mr. John was walking with a few friends. I recognised
him at once by his corpulency and self-complacent air. He received me
very well—just as a rich man receives a poor devil; and turning to me,
took my letter. “Oh, from my brother! it is a long time since I heard
from him: is he well?—Yonder,” he went on,—turning to the company, and
pointing to a distant hill—“Yonder is the site of the new building.” He
broke the seal without discontinuing the conversation, which turned upon
riches. “The man,” he said, “who does not possess at least a million is
a poor wretch.” “Oh, how true!” I exclaimed, in the fulness of my heart.
He seemed pleased at this, and replied with a smile, “Stop here, my dear
friend; afterwards I shall, perhaps, have time to tell you what I think
of this,” pointing to the letter, which he then put into his pocket, and
turned round to the company, offering his arm to a young lady: his
example was followed by the other gentlemen, each politely escorting a
lady; and the whole party proceeded towards a little hill thickly planted
with blooming roses.
I followed without troubling any one, for none took the least further
notice of me. The party was in high spirits—lounging about and
jesting—speaking sometimes of trifling matters very seriously, and of
serious matters as triflingly—and exercising their wit in particular to
great advantage on their absent friends and their affairs. I was too
ignorant of what they were talking about to understand much of it, and
too anxious and absorbed in my own reflections to occupy myself with the
solution of such enigmas as their conversation presented.
By this time we had reached the thicket of roses. The lovely Fanny, who
seemed to be the queen of the day, was obstinately bent on plucking a
rose-branch for herself, and in the attempt pricked her finger with a
thorn. The crimson stream, as if flowing from the dark-tinted rose,
tinged her fair hand with the purple current. This circumstance set the
whole company in commotion; and court-plaster was called for. A quiet,
elderly man, tall, and meagre-looking, who was one of the company, but
whom I had not before observed, immediately put his hand into the tight
breast-pocket of his old-fashioned coat of grey sarsnet, pulled out a
small letter-case, opened it, and, with a most respectful bow, presented
the lady with the wished-for article. She received it without noticing
the giver, or thanking him. The wound was bound up, and the party
proceeded along the hill towards the back part, from which they enjoyed
an extensive view across the green labyrinth of the park to the
wide-spreading ocean. The view was truly a magnificent one. A slight
speck was observed on the horizon, between the dark flood and the azure
sky. “A telescope!” called out Mr. John; but before any of the servants
could answer the summons the grey man, with a modest bow, drew his hand
from his pocket, and presented a beautiful Dollond’s telescope to Mr.
John, who, on looking through it, informed the company that the speck in
the distance was the ship which had sailed yesterday, and which was
detained within sight of the haven by contrary winds. The telescope
passed from hand to hand, but was not returned to the owner, whom I gazed
at with astonishment, and could not conceive how so large an instrument
could have proceeded from so small a pocket. This, however, seemed to
excite surprise in no one; and the grey man appeared to create as little
interest as myself.
Refreshments were now brought forward, consisting of the rarest fruits
from all parts of the world, served up in the most costly dishes. Mr.
John did the honours with unaffected grace, and addressed me for the
second time, saying, “You had better eat; you did not get such things at
sea.” I acknowledged his politeness with a bow, which, however, he did
not perceive, having turned round to speak with some one else.
The party would willingly have stopped some time here on the declivity of
the hill, to enjoy the extensive prospect before them, had they not been
apprehensive of the dampness of the grass. “How delightful it would be,”
exclaimed some one, “if we had a Turkey carpet to lay down here!” The
wish was scarcely expressed when the man in the grey coat put his hand in
his pocket, and, with a modest and even humble air, pulled out a rich
Turkey carpet, embroidered in gold. The servant received it as a matter
of course, and spread it out on the desired spot; and, without any
ceremony, the company seated themselves on it. Confounded by what I saw,
I gazed again at the man, his pocket, and the carpet, which was more than
twenty feet in length and ten in breadth; and rubbed my eyes, not knowing
what to think, particularly as no one saw anything extraordinary in the
matter.
I would gladly have made some inquiries respecting the man, and asked who
he was, but knew not to whom I should address myself, for I felt almost
more afraid of the servants than of their master. At length I took
courage, and stepping up to a young man who seemed of less consequence
than the others, and who was more frequently standing by himself, I
begged of him, in a low tone, to tell me who the obliging gentleman was
in the grey cloak. “That man who looks like a piece of thread just
escaped from a tailor’s needle?” “Yes; he who is standing alone yonder.”
“I do not know,” was the reply; and to avoid, as it seemed, any further
conversation with me, he turned away, and spoke of some common-place
matters with a neighbour.
The sun’s rays now being stronger, the ladies complained of feeling
oppressed by the heat; and the lovely Fanny, turning carelessly to the
grey man, to whom I had not yet observed that any one had addressed the
most trifling question, asked him if, perhaps, he had not a tent about
him. He replied, with a low bow, as if some unmerited honour had been
conferred upon him; and, putting his hand in his pocket, drew from it
canvas, poles, cord, iron—in short, everything belonging to the most
splendid tent for a party of pleasure. The young gentlemen assisted in
pitching it: and it covered the whole carpet: but no one seemed to think
that there was anything extraordinary in it.
I had long secretly felt uneasy—indeed, almost horrified; but how was
this feeling increased when, at the next wish expressed, I saw him take
from his pocket three horses! Yes, Adelbert, three large beautiful
steeds, with saddles and bridles, out of the very pocket whence had
already issued a letter-case, a telescope, a carpet twenty feet broad and
ten in length, and a pavilion of the same extent, with all its
appurtenances! Did I not assure thee that my own eyes had seen all this,
thou wouldst certainly disbelieve it.
This man, although he appeared so humble and embarrassed in his air and
manners, and passed so unheeded, had inspired me with such a feeling of
horror by the unearthly paleness of his countenance, from which I could
not avert my eyes, that I was unable longer to endure it.
I determined, therefore, to steal away from the company, which appeared
no difficult matter, from the undistinguished part I acted in it. I
resolved to return to the town, and pay another visit to Mr. John the
following morning, and, at the same time, make some inquiries of him
relative to the extraordinary man in grey, provided I could command
sufficient courage. Would to Heaven that such good fortune had awaited
me!
I had stolen safely down the hill, through the thicket of roses, and now
found myself on an open plain; but fearing lest I should be met out of
the proper path, crossing the grass, I cast an inquisitive glance around,
and started as I beheld the man in the grey cloak advancing towards me.
He took off his hat, and made me a lower bow than mortal had ever yet
favoured me with. It was evident that he wished to address me; and I
could not avoid encountering him without seeming rude. I returned his
salutation, therefore, and stood bareheaded in the sunshine as if rooted
to the ground. I gazed at him with the utmost horror, and felt like a
bird fascinated by a serpent.
He affected himself to have an air of embarrassment. With his eyes on
the ground, he bowed several times, drew nearer, and at last, without
looking up, addressed me in a low and hesitating voice, almost in the
tone of a suppliant: “Will you, sir, excuse my importunity in venturing
to intrude upon you in so unusual a manner? I have a request to
make—would you most graciously be pleased to allow me—!” “Hold! for
Heaven’s sake!” I exclaimed; “what can I do for a man who”—I stopped in
some confusion, which he seemed to share. After a moment’s pause, he
resumed: “During the short time I have had the pleasure to be in your
company, I have—permit me, sir, to say—beheld with unspeakable admiration
your most beautiful shadow, and remarked the air of noble indifference
with which you, at the same time, turn from the glorious picture at your
feet, as if disdaining to vouchsafe a glance at it. Excuse the boldness
of my proposal; but perhaps you would have no objection to sell me your
shadow?” He stopped, while my head turned round like a mill-wheel. What
was I to think of so extraordinary a proposal? To sell my shadow! “He
must be mad,” thought I; and assuming a tone more in character with the
submissiveness of his own, I replied, “My good friend, are you not
content with your own shadow? This would be a bargain of a strange
nature indeed!”
“I have in my pocket,” he said, “many things which may possess some value
in your eyes: for that inestimable shadow I should deem the highest price
too little.”
A cold shuddering came over me as I recollected the pocket; and I could
not conceive what had induced me to style him “_good friend_,” which I
took care not to repeat, endeavouring to make up for it by a studied
politeness.
I now resumed the conversation:—“But, Sir—excuse your humble servant—I am
at a loss to comprehend your meaning,—my shadow?—how can I?”
“Permit me,” he exclaimed, interrupting me, “to gather up the noble image
as it lies on the ground, and to take it into my possession. As to the
manner of accomplishing it, leave that to me. In return, and as an
evidence of my gratitude, I shall leave you to choose among all the
treasures I have in my pocket, among which are a variety of enchanting
articles, not exactly adapted for you, who, I am sure, would like better
to have the wishing-cap of Fortunatus, all made new and sound again, and
a lucky purse which also belonged to him.”
“Fortunatus’s purse!” cried I; and, great as was my mental anguish, with
that one word he had penetrated the deepest recesses of my soul. A
feeling of giddiness came over me, and double ducats glittered before my
eyes.
“Be pleased, gracious sir, to examine this purse, and make a trial of its
contents.” He put his hand in his pocket, and drew forth a large
strongly stitched bag of stout Cordovan leather, with a couple of strings
to match, and presented it to me. I seized it—took out ten gold pieces,
then ten more, and this I repeated again and again. Instantly I held out
my hand to him. “Done,” said I; “the bargain is made: my shadow for the
purse.” “Agreed,” he answered; and, immediately kneeling down, I beheld
him, with extraordinary dexterity, gently loosen my shadow from the
grass, lift it up, fold it together, and, at last put it in his pocket.
He then rose, bowed once more to me, and directed his steps towards the
rose bushes. I fancied I heard him quietly laughing to himself.
However, I held the purse fast by the two strings. The earth was basking
beneath the brightness of the sun; but I presently lost all
consciousness.
On recovering my senses, I hastened to quit a place where I hoped there
was nothing further to detain me. I first filled my pockets with gold,
then fastened the strings of the purse round my neck, and concealed it in
my bosom. I passed unnoticed out of the park, gained the high road, and
took the way to the town. As I was thoughtfully approaching the gate, I
heard some one behind me exclaiming, “Young man! young man! you have lost
your shadow!” I turned, and perceived an old woman calling after me.
“Thank you, my good woman,” said I; and throwing her a piece of gold for
her well-intended information, I stepped under the trees. At the gate,
again, it was my fate to hear the sentry inquiring where the gentleman
had left his shadow; and immediately I heard a couple of women
exclaiming, “Jesu Maria! the poor man has no shadow.” All this began to
depress me, and I carefully avoided walking in the sun; but this could
not everywhere be the case: for in the next broad street I had to cross,
and, unfortunately for me, at the very hour in which the boys were coming
out of school, a humpbacked lout of a fellow—I see him yet—soon made the
discovery that I was without a shadow, and communicated the news, with
loud outcries, to a knot of young urchins. The whole swarm proceeded
immediately to reconnoitre me, and to pelt me with mud. “People,” cried
they, “are generally accustomed to take their shadows with them when they
walk in the sunshine.”
In order to drive them away I threw gold by handfuls among them, and
sprang into a hackney-coach which some compassionate spectators sent to
my rescue.
As soon as I found myself alone in the rolling vehicle I began to weep
bitterly. I had by this time a misgiving that, in the same degree in
which gold in this world prevails over merit and virtue, by so much one’s
shadow excels gold; and now that I had sacrificed my conscience for
riches, and given my shadow in exchange for mere gold, what on earth
would become of me?
As the coach stopped at the door of my late inn, I felt much perplexed,
and not at all disposed to enter so wretched an abode. I called for my
things, and received them with an air of contempt, threw down a few gold
pieces, and desired to be conducted to a first-rate hotel. This house
had a northern aspect, so that I had nothing to fear from the sun. I
dismissed the coachman with gold; asked to be conducted to the best
apartment, and locked myself up in it as soon as possible.
Imagine, my friend, what I then set about? O my dear Chamisso! even to
thee I blush to mention what follows.
I drew the ill-fated purse from my bosom; and, in a sort of frenzy that
raged like a self-fed fire within me, I took out gold—gold—gold—more and
more, till I strewed it on the floor, trampled upon it, and feasting on
its very sound and brilliancy, added coins to coins, rolling and
revelling on the gorgeous bed, until I sank exhausted.
Thus passed away that day and evening; and as my door remained locked,
night found me still lying on the gold, where, at last, sleep overpowered
me.
Then I dreamed of thee, and fancied I stood behind the glass door of thy
little room, and saw thee seated at thy table between a skeleton and a
bunch of dried plants; before thee lay open the works of Haller,
Humboldt, and Linnæus; on thy sofa a volume of Goethe, and the Enchanted
Ring. I stood a long time contemplating thee, and everything in thy
apartment; and again turning my gaze upon thee, I perceived that thou
wast motionless—thou didst not breathe—thou wast dead.
I awoke—it seemed yet early—my watch had stopped. I felt thirsty, faint,
and worn out; for since the preceding morning I had not tasted food. I
now cast from me, with loathing and disgust, the very gold with which but
a short time before I had satiated my foolish heart. Now I knew not
where to put it—I dared not leave it lying there. I examined my purse to
see if it would hold it,—impossible! Neither of my windows opened on the
sea. I had no other resource but, with toil and great fatigue, to drag
it to a huge chest which stood in a closet in my room; where I placed it
all, with the exception of a handful or two. Then I threw myself,
exhausted, into an arm-chair, till the people of the house should be up
and stirring. As soon as possible I sent for some refreshment, and
desired to see the landlord.
I entered into some conversation with this man respecting the arrangement
of my future establishment. He recommended for my personal attendant one
Bendel, whose honest and intelligent countenance immediately prepossessed
me in his favour. It is this individual whose persevering attachment has
consoled me in all the miseries of my life, and enabled me to bear up
under my wretched lot. I was occupied the whole day in my room with
servants in want of a situation, and tradesmen of every description. I
decided on my future plans, and purchased various articles of vertu and
splendid jewels, in order to get rid of some of my gold; but nothing
seemed to diminish the inexhaustible heap.
I now reflected on my situation with the utmost uneasiness. I dared not
take a single step beyond my own door; and in the evening I had forty wax
tapers lighted before I ventured to leave the shade. I reflected with
horror on the frightful encounter with the school-boys; yet I resolved,
if I could command sufficient courage, to put the public opinion to a
second trial. The nights were now moonlight. Late in the evening I
wrapped myself in a large cloak, pulled my hat over my eyes, and,
trembling like a criminal, stole out of the house.
I did not venture to leave the friendly shadow of the houses until I had
reached a distant part of the town; and then I emerged into the broad
moonlight, fully prepared to hear my fate from the lips of the
passers-by.
Spare me, my beloved friend, the painful recital of all that I was doomed
to endure. The women often expressed the deepest sympathy for me—a
sympathy not less piercing to my soul than the scoffs of the young
people, and the proud contempt of the men, particularly of the more
corpulent, who threw an ample shadow before them. A fair and beauteous
maiden, apparently accompanied by her parents, who gravely kept looking
straight before them, chanced to cast a beaming glance on me; but was
evidently startled at perceiving that I was without a shadow, and hiding
her lovely face in her veil, and holding down her head, passed silently
on.
This was past all endurance. Tears streamed from my eyes; and with a
heart pierced through and through, I once more took refuge in the shade.
I leant on the houses for support, and reached home at a late hour, worn
out with fatigue.
I passed a sleepless night. My first care the following morning was, to
devise some means of discovering the man in the grey cloak. Perhaps I
may succeed in finding him; and how fortunate it were if he should be as
ill satisfied with his bargain as I am with mine!
I desired Bendel to be sent for, who seemed to possess some tact and
ability. I minutely described to him the individual who possessed a
treasure without which life itself was rendered a burden to me. I
mentioned the time and place at which I had seen him, named all the
persons who were present, and concluded with the following directions:—He
was to inquire for a Dollond’s telescope, a Turkey carpet interwoven with
gold, a marquee, and, finally, for some black steeds—the history, without
entering into particulars, of all these being singularly connected with
the mysterious character who seemed to pass unnoticed by every one, but
whose appearance had destroyed the peace and happiness of my life.
As I spoke I produced as much gold as I could hold in my two hands, and
added jewels and precious stones of still greater value. “Bendel,” said
I, “this smooths many a path, and renders that easy which seems almost
impossible. Be not sparing of it, for I am not so; but go, and rejoice
thy master with intelligence on which depend all his hopes.”
He departed, and returned late and melancholy.
None of Mr. John’s servants, none of his guests (and Bendel had spoken to
them all) had the slightest recollection of the man in the grey cloak.
The new telescope was still there, but no one knew how it had come; and
the tent and Turkey carpet were still stretched out on the hill. The
servants boasted of their master’s wealth; but no one seemed to know by
what means he had become possessed of these newly acquired luxuries. He
was gratified; and it gave him no concern to be ignorant how they had
come to him. The black coursers which had been mounted on that day were
in the stables of the young gentlemen of the party, who admired them as
the munificent present of Mr. John.
Such was the information I gained from Bendel’s detailed account; but, in
spite of this unsatisfactory result, his zeal and prudence deserved and
received my commendation. In a gloomy mood, I made him a sign to
withdraw.
“I have, sir,” he continued, “laid before you all the information in my
power relative to the subject of the most importance to you. I have now
a message to deliver which I received early this morning from a person at
the gate, as I was proceeding to execute the commission in which I have
so unfortunately failed. The man’s words were precisely these: ‘Tell
your master, Peter Schlemihl, he will not see me here again. I am going
to cross the sea; a favourable wind now calls all the passengers on
board; but, in a year and a day I shall have the honour of paying him a
visit; when, in all probability, I shall have a proposal to make to him
of a very agreeable nature. Commend me to him most respectfully, with
many thanks.’ I inquired his name; but he said you would remember him.”
“What sort of person was he?” cried I, in great emotion; and Bendel
described the man in the grey coat feature by feature, word for word; in
short, the very individual in search of whom he had been sent. “How
unfortunate!” cried I bitterly; “it was himself.” Scales, as it were,
fell from Bendel’s eyes. “Yes, it was he,” cried he, “undoubtedly it was
he; and fool, madman, that I was, I did not recognise him—I did not, and
have betrayed my master!” He then broke out into a torrent of
self-reproach; and his distress really excited my compassion. I
endeavoured to console him, repeatedly assuring him that I entertained no
doubt of his fidelity; and despatched him immediately to the wharf, to
discover, if possible, some trace of the extraordinary being. But on
that very morning many vessels which had been detained in port by
contrary winds had set sail, all bound to different parts of the globe;
and the grey man had disappeared like a shadow.
CHAPTER II.
OF what use were wings to a man fast bound in chains of iron? They would
but increase the horror of his despair. Like the dragon guarding his
treasure, I remained cut off from all human intercourse, and starving
amidst my very gold, for it gave me no pleasure: I anathematised it as
the source of all my wretchedness.
Sole depository of my fearful secret, I trembled before the meanest of my
attendants, whom, at the same time, I envied; for he possessed a shadow,
and could venture to go out in the daytime; while I shut myself up in my
room day and night, and indulged in all the bitterness of grief.
One individual, however, was daily pining away before my eyes—my faithful
Bendel, who was the victim of silent self-reproach, tormenting himself
with the idea that he had betrayed the confidence reposed in him by a
good master, in failing to recognise the individual in quest of whom he
had been sent, and with whom he had been led to believe that my
melancholy fate was closely connected. Still, I had nothing to accuse
him with, as I recognised in the occurrence the mysterious character of
the unknown.
In order to leave no means untried, I one day despatched Bendel with a
costly ring to the most celebrated artist in the town, desiring him to
wait upon me. He came; and, dismissing the attendants, I secured the
door, placing myself opposite to him, and, after extolling his art, with
a heavy heart came to the point, first enjoining the strictest secrecy.
“For a person,” said I, “who most unfortunately has lost his shadow,
could you paint a false one?”
“Do you speak of the natural shadow?”
“Precisely so.”
“But,” he asked, “by what awkward negligence can a man have lost his
shadow?”
“How it occurred,” I answered, “is of no consequence; but it was in this
manner”—(and here I uttered an unblushing falsehood)—“he was travelling
in Russia last winter, and one bitterly cold day it froze so intensely,
that his shadow remained so fixed to the ground, that it was found
impossible to remove it.”
“The false shadow that I might paint,” said the artist, “would be liable
to be lost on the slightest movement, particularly in a person who, from
your account, cares so little about his shadow. A person without a
shadow should keep out of the sun, that is the only safe and rational
plan.”
He rose and took his leave, casting so penetrating a look at me that I
shrunk from it. I sank back in my chair, and hid my face in my hands.
In this attitude Bendel found me, and was about to withdraw silently and
respectfully on seeing me in such a state of grief: looking up,
overwhelmed with my sorrows, I felt that I must communicate them to him.
“Bendel,” I exclaimed, “Bendel, thou the only being who seest and
respectest my grief too much to inquire into its cause—thou who seemest
silently and sincerely to sympathise with me—come and share my
confidence. The extent of my wealth I have not withheld from thee,
neither will I conceal from thee the extent of my grief. Bendel! forsake
me not. Bendel, you see me rich, free, beneficent; you fancy all the
world in my power; yet you must have observed that I shun it, and avoid
all human intercourse. You think, Bendel, that the world and I are at
variance; and you yourself, perhaps, will abandon me, when I acquaint you
with this fearful secret. Bendel, I am rich, free, generous; but, O God,
I have _no shadow_!”
“No shadow!” exclaimed the faithful young man, tears starting from his
eyes. “Alas! that I am born to serve a master without a shadow!” He was
silent, and again I hid my face in my hands.
“Bendel,” at last I tremblingly resumed, “you have now my confidence; you
may betray me—go—bear witness against me!”
He seemed to be agitated with conflicting feelings; at last he threw
himself at my feet and seized my hand, which he bathed with his tears.
“No,” he exclaimed; “whatever the world may say, I neither can nor will
forsake my excellent master because he has lost his shadow. I will
rather do what is right than what may seem prudent. I will remain with
you—I will shade you with my own shadow—I will assist you when I can—and
when I cannot, I will weep with you.”
I fell upon his neck, astonished at sentiments so unusual; for it was
very evident that he was not prompted by the love of money.
My mode of life and my fate now became somewhat different. It is
incredible with what provident foresight Bendel contrived to conceal my
deficiency. Everywhere he was before me and with me, providing against
every contingency, and in cases of unlooked-for danger, flying to shield
me with his own shadow, for he was taller and stouter than myself. Thus
I once more ventured among mankind, and began to take a part in worldly
affairs. I was compelled, indeed, to affect certain peculiarities and
whims; but in a rich man they seem only appropriate; and so long as the
truth was kept concealed I enjoyed all the honour and respect which gold
could procure.
I now looked forward with more composure to the promised visit of the
mysterious unknown at the expiration of the year and a day.
I was very sensible that I could not venture to remain long in a place
where I had once been seen without a shadow, and where I might easily be
betrayed; and perhaps, too, I recollected my first introduction to Mr.
John, and this was by no means a pleasing reminiscence. However, I
wished just to make a trial here, that I might with greater ease and
security visit some other place. But my vanity for some time withheld
me, for it is in this quality of our race that the anchor takes the
firmest hold.
Even the lovely Fanny, whom I again met in several places, without her
seeming to recollect that she had ever seen me before, bestowed some
notice on me; for wit and understanding were mine in abundance now. When
I spoke, I was listened to; and I was at a loss to know how I had so
easily acquired the art of commanding attention, and giving the tone to
the conversation.
The impression which I perceived I had made upon this fair one completely
turned my brain; and this was just what she wished. After that, I
pursued her with infinite pains through every obstacle. My vanity was
only intent on exciting hers to make a conquest of me; but although the
intoxication disturbed my head, it failed to make the least impression on
my heart.
But why detail to you the oft-repeated story which I have so often heard
from yourself?
However, in the old and well-known drama in which I played so worn-out a
part a catastrophe occurred of quite a peculiar nature, in a manner
equally unexpected to her, to me, and to everybody.
One beautiful evening I had, according to my usual custom, assembled a
party in a garden, and was walking arm-in-arm with Fanny at a little
distance from the rest of the company, and pouring into her ear the usual
well-turned phrases, while she was demurely gazing on vacancy, and now
and then gently returning the pressure of my hand. The moon suddenly
emerged from behind a cloud at our back. Fanny perceived only her own
shadow before us. She started, looked at me with terror, and then again
on the ground, in search of my shadow. All that was passing in her mind
was so strangely depicted in her countenance, that I should have burst
into a loud fit of laughter had I not suddenly felt my blood run cold
within me. I suffered her to fall from my arm in a fainting-fit; shot
with the rapidity of an arrow through the astonished guests, reached the
gate, threw myself into the first conveyance I met with, and returned to
the town, where this time, unfortunately, I had left the wary Bendel. He
was alarmed on seeing me: one word explained all. Post-horses were
immediately procured. I took with me none of my servants, one cunning
knave only excepted, called Rascal, who had by his adroitness become very
serviceable to me, and who at present knew nothing of what had occurred—I
travelled thirty leagues that night; having left Bendel behind to
discharge my servants, pay my debts, and bring me all that was necessary.
When he came up with me next day, I threw myself into his arms, vowing to
avoid such follies and to be more careful for the future.
We pursued our journey uninterruptedly over the frontiers and mountains;
and it was not until I had placed this lofty barrier between myself and
the before-mentioned unlucky town that I was persuaded to recruit myself
after my fatigues in a neighbouring and little-frequented watering-place.
* * * * *
I must now pass rapidly over one period of my history, on which how
gladly would I dwell, could I conjure up your lively powers of
delineation! But the vivid hues which are at your command, and which
alone can give life and animation to the picture, have left no trace
within me; and were I now to endeavour to recall the joys, the griefs,
the pure and enchanting emotions, which once held such powerful dominion
in my breast, it would be like striking a rock which yields no longer the
living spring, and whose spirit has fled for ever. With what an altered
aspect do those bygone days now present themselves to my gaze!
In this watering-place I acted an heroic character, badly studied; and
being a novice on such a stage, I forgot my part before a pair of lovely
blue eyes.
All possible means were used by the infatuated parents to conclude the
bargain; and deception put an end to these usual artifices. And that is
all—all.
The powerful emotions which once swelled my bosom seem now in the
retrospect to be poor and insipid, nay, even terrible to me.
Alas, Minna! as I wept for thee the day I lost thee, so do I now weep
that I can no longer retrace thine image in my soul.
Am I, then, so far advanced into the vale of years? O fatal effects of
maturity! would that I could feel one throb, one emotion of former days
of enchantment—alas, not one! a solitary being, tossed on the wild ocean
of life—it is long since I drained thine enchanted cup to the dregs!
But to return to my narrative. I had sent Bendel to the little town with
plenty of money to procure me a suitable habitation. He spent my gold
profusely; and as he expressed himself rather reservedly concerning his
distinguished master (for I did not wish to be named), the good people
began to form rather extraordinary conjectures.
As soon as my house was ready for my reception, Bendel returned to
conduct me to it. We set out on our journey. About a league from the
town, on a sunny plain, we were stopped by a crowd of people, arrayed in
holiday attire for some festival. The carriage stopped. Music, bells,
cannons, were heard; and loud acclamations rang through the air.
Before the carriage now appeared in white dresses a chorus of maidens,
all of extraordinary beauty; but one of them shone in resplendent
loveliness, and eclipsed the rest as the sun eclipses the stars of night.
She advanced from the midst of her companions, and, with a lofty yet
winning air, blushingly knelt before me, presenting on a silken cushion a
wreath, composed of laurel branches, the olive, and the rose, saying
something respecting majesty, love, honour, &c., which I could not
comprehend; but the sweet and silvery magic of her tones intoxicated my
senses and my whole soul: it seemed as if some heavenly apparition were
hovering over me. The chorus now began to sing the praises of a good
sovereign, and the happiness of his subjects. All this, dear Chamisso,
took place in the sun: she was kneeling two steps from me, and I, without
a shadow, could not dart through the air, nor fall on my knees before the
angelic being. Oh, what would I not now have given for a shadow! To
conceal my shame, agony, and despair, I buried myself in the recesses of
the carriage. Bendel at last thought of an expedient; he jumped out of
the carriage. I called him back, and gave him out of the casket I had by
me a rich diamond coronet, which had been intended for the lovely Fanny.
He stepped forward, and spoke in the name of his master, who, he said,
was overwhelmed by so many demonstrations of respect, which he really
could not accept as an honour—there must be some error; nevertheless he
begged to express his thanks for the goodwill of the worthy townspeople.
In the meantime Bendel had taken the wreath from the cushion, and laid
the brilliant crown in its place. He then respectfully raised the lovely
girl from the ground; and, at one sign, the clergy, magistrates, and all
the deputations withdrew. The crowd separated to allow the horses to
pass, and we pursued our way to the town at full gallop, through arches
ornamented with flowers and branches of laurel. Salvos of artillery
again were heard. The carriage stopped at my gate; I hastened through
the crowd which curiosity had attracted to witness my arrival.
Enthusiastic shouts resounded under my windows, from whence I showered
gold amidst the people; and in the evening the whole town was
illuminated. Still all remained a mystery to me, and I could not imagine
for whom I had been taken. I sent Rascal out to make inquiry; and he
soon obtained intelligence that the good King of Prussia was travelling
through the country under the name of some count; that my _aide-de-camp_
had been recognised, and that he had divulged the secret; that on
acquiring the certainty that I would enter their town, their joy had
known no bounds: however, as they perceived I was determined on
preserving the strictest _incognito_, they felt how wrong they had been
in too importunately seeking to withdraw the veil; but I had received
them so condescendingly and so graciously, that they were sure I would
forgive them. The whole affair was such capital amusement to the
unprincipled Rascal, that he did his best to confirm the good people in
their belief, while affecting to reprove them. He gave me a very comical
account of the matter; and, seeing that I was amused by it, actually
endeavoured to make a merit of his impudence.
Shall I own the truth? My vanity was flattered by having been mistaken
for our revered sovereign. I ordered a banquet to be got ready for the
following evening, under the trees before my house, and invited the whole
town. The mysterious power of my purse, Bendel’s exertions, and Rascal’s
ready invention, made the shortness of the time seem as nothing.
It was really astonishing how magnificently and beautifully everything
was arranged in these few hours. Splendour and abundance vied with each
other, and the lights were so carefully arranged that I felt quite safe:
the zeal of my servants met every exigency and merited all praise.
Evening drew on, the guests arrived, and were presented to me. The word
_majesty_ was now dropped; but, with the deepest respect and humility, I
was addressed as the _count_. What could I do? I accepted the title,
and from that moment I was known as Count Peter. In the midst of all
this festivity my soul pined for one individual. She came late—she who
was the empress of the scene, and wore the emblem of sovereignty on her
brow.
She modestly accompanied her parents, and seemed unconscious of her
transcendent beauty.
The Ranger of the Forests, his wife, and daughter, were presented to me.
I was at no loss to make myself agreeable to the parents; but before the
daughter I stood like a well-scolded schoolboy, incapable of speaking a
single word.
At length I hesitatingly entreated her to honour my banquet by presiding
at it—an office for which her rare endowments pointed her out as
admirably fitted. With a blush and an expressive glance she entreated to
be excused; but, in still greater confusion than herself, I respectfully
begged her to accept the homage of the first and most devoted of her
subjects, and one glance of the count was the same as a command to the
guests, who all vied with each other in acting up to the spirit of the
noble host.
In her person majesty, innocence, and grace, in union with beauty,
presided over this joyous banquet. Minna’s happy parents were elated by
the honours conferred upon their child. As for me, I abandoned myself to
all the intoxication of delight: I sent for all the jewels, pearls, and
precious stones still left to me—the produce of my fatal wealth—and,
filling two vases, I placed them on the table, in the name of the Queen
of the banquet, to be divided among her companions and the remainder of
the ladies.
I ordered gold in the meantime to be showered down without ceasing among
the happy multitude.
Next morning Bendel told me in confidence that the suspicions he had long
entertained of Rascal’s honesty were now reduced to a certainty; he had
yesterday embezzled many bags of gold.
“Never mind,” said I; “let him enjoy his paltry booty. I like to spend
it; why should not he? Yesterday he, and all the newly-engaged servants
whom you had hired, served me honourably, and cheerfully assisted me to
enjoy the banquet.”
No more was said on the subject. Rascal remained at the head of my
domestics. Bendel was my friend and confidant; he had by this time
become accustomed to look upon my wealth as inexhaustible, without
seeking to inquire into its source. He entered into all my schemes, and
effectually assisted me in devising methods of spending my money.
Of the pale, sneaking scoundrel—the unknown—Bendel only knew thus much,
that he alone had power to release me from the curse which weighed so
heavily on me, and yet that I stood in awe of him on whom all my hopes
rested. Besides, I felt convinced that he had the means of discovering
_me_ under any circumstances, while he himself remained concealed. I
therefore abandoned my fruitless inquiries, and patiently awaited the
appointed day.
The magnificence of my banquet, and my deportment on the occasion, had
but strengthened the credulous townspeople in their previous belief.
It appeared soon after, from accounts in the newspapers, that the whole
history of the King of Prussia’s fictitious journey originated in mere
idle report. But a king I was, and a king I must remain by all means;
and one of the richest and most royal, although people were at a loss to
know where my territories lay.
The world has never had reason to lament the scarcity of monarchs,
particularly in these days; and the good people, who had never yet seen a
king, now fancied me to be first one, and then another, with equal
success; and in the meanwhile I remained as before, Count Peter.
Among the visitors at this watering-place a merchant made his appearance,
one who had become a bankrupt in order to enrich himself. He enjoyed the
general good opinion; for he projected a shadow of respectable size,
though of somewhat faint hue.
This man wished to show off in this place by means of his wealth, and
sought to rival me. My purse soon enabled me to leave the poor devil far
behind. To save his credit he became bankrupt again, and fled beyond the
mountains; and thus I was rid of him. Many a one in this place was
reduced to beggary and ruin through my means.
In the midst of the really princely magnificence and profusion, which
carried all before me, my own style of living was very simple and
retired. I had made it a point to observe the strictest precaution; and,
with the exception of Bendel, no one was permitted, on any pretence
whatever, to enter my private apartment. As long as the sun shone I
remained shut up with him; and the Count was then said to be deeply
occupied in his closet. The numerous couriers, whom I kept in constant
attendance about matters of no importance, were supposed to be the
bearers of my despatches. I only received company in the evening under
the trees of my garden, or in my saloons, after Bendel’s assurance of
their being carefully and brilliantly lit up.
My walks, in which the Argus-eyed Bendel was constantly on the watch for
me, extended only to the garden of the forest-ranger, to enjoy the
society of one who was dear to me as my own existence.
Oh, my Chamisso! I trust thou hast not forgotten what love is! I must
here leave much to thine imagination. Minna was in truth an amiable and
excellent maiden: her whole soul was wrapped up in me, and in her lowly
thoughts of herself she could not imagine how she had deserved a single
thought from me. She returned love for love with all the full and
youthful fervour of an innocent heart; her love was a true woman’s love,
with all the devotion and total absence of selfishness which is found
only in woman; she lived but in me, her whole soul being bound up in
mine, regardless what her own fate might be.
Yet I, alas, during those hours of wretchedness—hours I would even now
gladly recall—how often have I wept on Bendel’s bosom, when after the
first mad whirlwind of passion I reflected, with the keenest
self-upbraidings, that I, a shadowless man, had, with cruel selfishness,
practised a wicked deception, and stolen away the pure and angelic heart
of the innocent Minna!
At one moment I resolved to confess all to her; then that I would fly for
ever; then I broke out into a flood of bitter tears, and consulted Bendel
as to the means of meeting her again in the forester’s garden.
At times I flattered myself with great hopes from the near approaching
visit of the unknown; then wept again, because I saw clearly on
reflection that they would end in disappointment. I had made a
calculation of the day fixed on by the fearful being for our interview;
for he had said in a year and a day, and I depended on his word.
The parents were worthy old people, devoted to their only child; and our
mutual affection was a circumstance so overwhelming that they knew not
how to act. They had never dreamed for a moment that the _Count_ could
bestow a thought on their daughter; but such was the case—he loved and
was beloved. The pride of the mother might not have led her to consider
such an alliance quite impossible, but so extravagant an idea had never
entered the contemplation of the sounder judgment of the old man. Both
were satisfied of the sincerity of my love, and could but put up prayers
to Heaven for the happiness of their child.
A letter which I received from Minna about that time has just fallen into
my hands. Yes, these are the characters traced by her own hand. I will
transcribe the letter:—
“I am indeed a weak, foolish girl to fancy that the friend I so tenderly
love could give an instant’s pain to his poor Minna! Oh no! thou art so
good, so inexpressibly good! But do not misunderstand me. I will accept
no sacrifice at thy hands—none whatever. Oh heavens! I should hate
myself! No; thou hast made me happy, thou hast taught me to love thee.
“Go, then—let me not forget my destiny—Count Peter belongs not to me, but
to the whole world; and oh! what pride for thy Minna to hear thy deeds
proclaimed, and blessings invoked on thy idolised head! Ah! when I think
of this, I could chide thee that thou shouldst for one instant forget thy
high destiny for the sake of a simple maiden! Go, then; otherwise the
reflection will pierce me. How blest I have been rendered by thy love!
Perhaps, also, I have planted some flowers in the path of thy life, as I
twined them in the wreath which I presented to thee.
“Go, then—fear not to leave me—you are too deeply seated in my heart—I
shall die inexpressibly happy in thy love.”
Conceive how these words pierced my soul, Chamisso!
I declared to her that I was not what I seemed—that, although a rich, I
was an unspeakably miserable man—that a curse was on me, which must
remain a secret, although the only one between us—yet that I was not
without a hope of its being removed—that this poisoned every hour of my
life—that I should plunge her with me into the abyss—she, the light and
joy, the very soul of my existence. Then she wept because I was unhappy.
Oh! Minna was all love and tenderness. To save me one tear she would
gladly have sacrificed her life.
Yet she was far from comprehending the full meaning of my words. She
still looked upon me as some proscribed prince or illustrious exile; and
her vivid imagination had invested her lover with every lofty attribute.
One day I said to her, “Minna, the last day in next month will decide my
fate, and perhaps change it for the better; if not, I would sooner die
than render you miserable.”
She laid her head on my shoulder to conceal her tears. “Should thy fate
be changed,” she said, “I only wish to know that thou art happy; if thy
condition is an unhappy one, I will share it with thee, and assist thee
to support it.”
“Minna, Minna!” I exclaimed, “recall those rash words—those mad words
which have escaped thy lips! Didst thou know the misery and curse—didst
thou know who—what—thy lover—Seest thou not, my Minna, this convulsive
shuddering which thrills my whole frame, and that there is a secret in my
breast which you cannot penetrate?” She sank sobbing at my feet, and
renewed her vows and entreaties.
Her father now entered, and I declared to him my intention to solicit the
hand of his daughter on the first day of the month after the ensuing one.
I fixed that time, I told him, because circumstances might probably occur
in the interval materially to influence my future destiny; but my love
for his daughter was unchangeable.
The good old man started at hearing such words from the mouth of Count
Peter. He fell upon my neck, and rose again in the utmost confusion for
having forgotten himself. Then he began to doubt, to ponder, and to
scrutinise; and spoke of dowry, security, and future provision for his
beloved child. I thanked him for having reminded me of all this, and
told him it was my wish to remain in a country where I seemed to be
beloved, and to lead a life free from anxiety. I then commissioned him
to purchase the finest estate in the neighbourhood in the name of his
daughter—for a father was the best person to act for his daughter in such
a case—and to refer for payment to me. This occasioned him a good deal
of trouble, as a stranger had everywhere anticipated him; but at last he
made a purchase for about £150,000.
I confess this was but an innocent artifice to get rid of him, as I had
frequently done before; for it must be confessed that he was somewhat
tedious. The good mother was rather deaf, and not jealous, like her
husband, of the honour of conversing with the Count.
The happy party pressed me to remain with them longer this evening. I
dared not—I had not a moment to lose. I saw the rising moon streaking
the horizon—my hour was come.
Next evening I went again to the forester’s garden. I had wrapped myself
closely up in my cloak, slouched my hat over my eyes, and advanced
towards Minna. As she raised her head and looked at me, she started
involuntarily. The apparition of that dreadful night in which I had been
seen without a shadow was now standing distinctly before me—it was she
herself. Had she recognised me? She was silent and thoughtful. I felt
an oppressive load at my heart. I rose from my seat. She laid her head
on my shoulder, still silent and in tears. I went away.
I now found her frequently weeping. I became more and more melancholy.
Her parents were beyond expression happy. The eventful day approached,
threatening and heavy, like a thundercloud. The evening preceding
arrived. I could scarcely breathe. I had carefully filled a large chest
with gold, and sat down to await the appointed time—the twelfth hour—it
struck.
Now I remained with my eyes fixed on the hand of the clock, counting the
seconds—the minutes—which struck me to the heart like daggers. I started
at every sound—at last daylight appeared. The leaden hours passed
on—morning—evening—night came. Hope was fast fading away as the hand
advanced. It struck eleven—no one appeared—the last minutes—the first
and last stroke of the twelfth hour died away. I sank back in my bed in
an agony of weeping. In the morning I should, shadowless as I was, claim
the hand of my beloved Minna. A heavy sleep towards daylight closed my
eyes.
CHAPTER III.
IT was yet early, when I was suddenly awoke by voices in hot dispute in
my antechamber. I listened. Bendel was forbidding Rascal to enter my
room, who swore he would receive no orders from his equals, and insisted
on forcing his way. The faithful Bendel reminded him that if such words
reached his master’s ears, he would turn him out of an excellent place.
Rascal threatened to strike him if he persisted in refusing his entrance.
By this time, having half dressed myself, I angrily threw open the door,
and addressing myself to Rascal, inquired what he meant by such
disgraceful conduct. He drew back a couple of steps, and coolly
answered, “Count Peter, may I beg most respectfully that you will favour
me with a sight of your shadow? The sun is now shining brightly in the
court below.”
I stood as if struck by a thunderbolt, and for some time was unable to
speak. At last, I asked him how a servant could dare to behave so
towards his master. He interrupted me by saying, quite coolly, “A
servant may be a very honourable man, and unwilling to serve a shadowless
master—I request my dismissal.”
I felt that I must adopt a softer tone, and replied, “But, Rascal, my
good fellow, who can have put such strange ideas into your head? How can
you imagine—”
He again interrupted me in the same tone—“People say you have no shadow.
In short, let me see your shadow, or give me my dismissal.”
Bendel, pale and trembling, but more collected than myself, made a sign
to me. I had recourse to the all-powerful influence of gold. But even
gold had lost its power—Rascal threw it at my feet: “From a shadowless
man,” he said, “I will take nothing.”
Turning his back upon me, and putting on his hat, he then slowly left the
room, whistling a tune. I stood, with Bendel, as if petrified, gazing
after him.
With a deep sigh and a heavy heart I now prepared to keep my engagement,
and to appear in the forester’s garden like a criminal before his judge.
I entered by the shady arbour, which had received the name of Count
Peter’s arbour, where we had appointed to meet. The mother advanced with
a cheerful air; Minna sat fair and beautiful as the early snow of autumn
reposing on the departing flowers, soon to be dissolved and lost in the
cold stream.
The ranger, with a written paper in his hand, was walking up and down in
an agitated manner, and struggling to suppress his feelings—his usually
unmoved countenance being one moment flushed, and the next perfectly
pale. He came forward as I entered, and, in a faltering voice, requested
a private conversation with me. The path by which he requested me to
follow him led to an open spot in the garden, where the sun was shining.
I sat down. A long silence ensued, which even the good woman herself did
not venture to break. The ranger, in an agitated manner, paced up and
down with unequal steps. At last he stood still; and glancing over the
paper he held in his hand, he said, addressing me with a penetrating
look, “Count Peter, do you know one Peter Schlemihl?” I was silent.
“A man,” he continued, “of excellent character and extraordinary
endowments.”
He paused for an answer.—“And supposing I myself were that very man?”
“You!” he exclaimed, passionately; “he has lost his shadow!”
“Oh, my suspicion is true!” cried Minna; “I have long known it—he has no
shadow!” And she threw herself into her mother’s arms, who, convulsively
clasping her to her bosom, reproached her for having so long, to her
hurt, kept such a secret. But, like the fabled Arethusa, her tears, as
from a fountain, flowed more abundantly, and her sobs increased at my
approach.
“And so,” said the ranger fiercely, “you have not scrupled, with
unparalleled shamelessness, to deceive both her and me; and you pretended
to love her, forsooth—her whom you have reduced to the state in which you
now see her. See how she weeps!—Oh, shocking, shocking!”
By this time I had lost all presence of mind; and I answered, confusedly,
“After all, it is but a shadow, a mere shadow, which a man can do very
well without; and really it is not worth the while to make all this noise
about such a trifle.” Feeling the groundlessness of what I was saying, I
ceased, and no one condescended to reply. At last I added, “What is lost
to-day may be found to-morrow.”
“Be pleased, sir,” continued the ranger, in great wrath—“be pleased to
explain how you have lost your shadow.”
Here again an excuse was ready: “A boor of a fellow,” said I, “one day
trod so rudely on my shadow that he tore a large hole in it. I sent it
to be repaired—for gold can do wonders—and yesterday I expected it home
again.”
“Very well,” answered the ranger. “You are a suitor for my daughter’s
hand, and so are others. As a father, I am bound to provide for her. I
will give you three days to seek your shadow. Return to me in the course
of that time with a well-fitted shadow, and you shall receive a hearty
welcome; otherwise, on the fourth day—remember, on the fourth day—my
daughter becomes the wife of another.”
I now attempted to say one word to Minna; but, sobbing more violently,
she clung still closer to her mother, who made a sign for me to withdraw.
I obeyed; and now the world seemed shut out from me for ever.
Having escaped from the affectionate care of Bendel, I now wandered
wildly through the neighbouring woods and meadows. Drops of anguish fell
from my brow, deep groans burst from my bosom—frenzied despair raged
within me.
I knew not how long this had lasted, when I felt myself seized by the
sleeve on a sunny heath. I stopped, and looking up, beheld the
grey-coated man, who appeared to have run himself out of breath in
pursuing me. He immediately began:
“I had,” said he, “appointed this day; but your impatience anticipated
it. All, however, may yet be right. Take my advice—redeem your shadow,
which is at your command, and return immediately to the ranger’s garden,
where you will be well received, and all the past will seem a mere joke.
As for Rascal—who has betrayed you in order to pay his addresses to
Minna—leave him to me; he is just a fit subject for me.”
I stood like one in a dream. “This day?” I considered again. He was
right—I had made a mistake of a day. I felt in my bosom for the purse.
He perceived my intention, and drew back.
“No, Count Peter; the purse is in good hands—pray keep it.” I gazed at
him with looks of astonishment and inquiry. “I only beg a trifle as a
token of remembrance. Be so good as to sign this memorandum.” On the
parchment, which he held out to me, were these words:—“By virtue of this
present, to which I have appended my signature, I hereby bequeath my soul
to the holder, after its natural separation from my body.”
I gazed in mute astonishment alternately at the paper and the grey
unknown. In the meantime he had dipped a new pen in a drop of blood
which was issuing from a scratch in my hand just made by a thorn. He
presented it to me. “Who are you?” at last I exclaimed. “What can it
signify?” he answered; “do you not perceive who I am? A poor devil—a
sort of scholar and philosopher, who obtains but poor thanks from his
friends for his admirable arts, and whose only amusement on earth
consists in his small experiments. But just sign this; to the right,
exactly underneath—Peter Schlemihl.”
I shook my head, and replied, “Excuse me, sir; I cannot sign that.”
“Cannot!” he exclaimed; “and why not?”
“Because it appears to me a hazardous thing to exchange my soul for my
shadow.”
“Hazardous!” he exclaimed, bursting into a loud laugh. “And, pray, may I
be allowed to inquire what sort of a thing your soul is?—have you ever
seen it?—and what do you mean to do with it after your death? You ought
to think yourself fortunate in meeting with a customer who, during your
life, in exchange for this infinitely-minute quantity, this galvanic
principle, this polarised agency, or whatever other foolish name you may
give it, is willing to bestow on you something substantial—in a word,
your own identical shadow, by virtue of which you will obtain your
beloved Minna, and arrive at the accomplishment of all your wishes; or do
you prefer giving up the poor young girl to the power of that
contemptible scoundrel Rascal? Nay, you shall behold her with your own
eyes. Come here; I will lend you an invisible cap (he drew something out
of his pocket), and we will enter the ranger’s garden unseen.”
I must confess that I felt excessively ashamed to be thus laughed at by
the grey stranger. I detested him from the very bottom of my soul; and I
really believe this personal antipathy, more than principle or
previously-formed opinion, restrained me from purchasing my shadow, much
as I stood in need of it, at such an expense. Besides, the thought was
insupportable, of making this proposed visit in his society. To behold
this hateful sneak, this mocking fiend, place himself between me and my
beloved, between our torn and bleeding hearts, was too revolting an idea
to be entertained for a moment. I considered the past as irrevocable, my
own misery as inevitable; and turning to the grey man, I said, “I have
exchanged my shadow for this very extraordinary purse, and I have
sufficiently repented it. For Heaven’s sake, let the transaction be
declared null and void!” He shook his head; and his countenance assumed
an expression of the most sinister cast. I continued, “I will make no
exchange whatever, even for the sake of my shadow, nor will I sign the
paper. It follows, also, that the incognito visit you propose to me
would afford you far more entertainment than it could possibly give me.
Accept my excuses, therefore; and, since it must be so, let us part.”
“I am sorry, Mr. Schlemihl, that you thus obstinately persist in
rejecting my friendly offer. Perhaps, another time, I may be more
fortunate. Farewell! May we shortly meet again! But, _à propos_, allow
me to show you that I do not undervalue my purchase, but preserve it
carefully.”
So saying, he drew my shadow out of his pocket; and shaking it cleverly
out of its folds, he stretched it out at his feet in the sun—so that he
stood between two obedient shadows, his own and mine, which was compelled
to follow and comply with his every movement.
On again beholding my poor shadow after so long a separation, and seeing
it degraded to so vile a bondage at the very time that I was so
unspeakably in want of it, my heart was ready to burst, and I wept
bitterly. The detested wretch stood exulting over his prey, and
unblushingly renewed his proposal. “One stroke of your pen, and the
unhappy Minna is rescued from the clutches of the villain Rascal, and
transferred to the arms of the high-born Count Peter—merely a stroke of
your pen!”
My tears broke out with renewed violence; but I turned away from him, and
made a sign for him to be gone.
Bendel, whose deep solicitude had induced him to come in search of me,
arrived at this very moment. The good and faithful creature, on seeing
me weeping, and that a shadow (evidently mine) was in the power of the
mysterious unknown, determined to rescue it by force, should that be
necessary; and disdaining to use any finesse, he desired him directly,
and without any disputing, to restore my property. Instead of a reply,
the grey man turned his back on the worthy fellow, and was making off.
But Bendel raised his buck-thorn stick; and following close upon him,
after repeated commands, but in vain, to restore the shadow, he made him
feel the whole force of his powerful arm. The grey man, as if accustomed
to such treatment, held down his head, slouched his shoulders, and, with
soft and noiseless steps, pursued his way over the heath, carrying with
him my shadow, and also my faithful servant. For a long time I heard
hollow sounds ringing through the waste, until at last they died away in
the distance, and I was again left to solitude and misery.
* * * * *
Alone on the wild heath, I disburdened my heart of an insupportable load
by giving free vent to my tears. But I saw no bounds, no relief, to my
surpassing wretchedness; and I drank in the fresh poison which the
mysterious stranger had poured into my wounds with a furious avidity. As
I retraced in my mind the loved image of my Minna, and depicted her sweet
countenance all pale and in tears, such as I had beheld her in my late
disgrace, the bold and sarcastic visage of Rascal would ever and anon
thrust itself between us. I hid my face, and fled rapidly over the
plains; but the horrible vision unrelentingly pursued me, till at last I
sank breathless on the ground, and bedewed it with a fresh torrent of
tears—and all this for a shadow!—a shadow which one stroke of the pen
would repurchase. I pondered on the singular proposal, and on my
hesitation to comply with it. My mind was confused—I had lost the power
of judging or comprehending. The day was waning apace. I satisfied the
cravings of hunger with a few wild fruits, and quenched my thirst at a
neighbouring stream. Night came on; I threw myself down under a tree,
and was awoke by the damp morning air from an uneasy sleep, in which I
had fancied myself struggling in the agonies of death. Bendel had
certainly lost all trace of me, and I was glad of it. I did not wish to
return among my fellow-creatures—I shunned them as the hunted deer flies
before its pursuers. Thus I passed three melancholy days.
I found myself on the morning of the fourth on a sandy plain, basking in
the rays of the sun, and sitting on a fragment of rock; for it was sweet
to enjoy the genial warmth of which I had so long been deprived. Despair
still preyed on my heart. Suddenly a slight sound startled me; I looked
round, prepared to fly, but saw no one. On the sunlit sand before me
flitted the shadow of a man not unlike my own; and wandering about alone,
it seemed to have lost its master. This sight powerfully excited me.
“Shadow!” thought I, “art thou in search of thy master? in me thou shalt
find him.” And I sprang forward to seize it, fancying that could I
succeed in treading so exactly in its traces as to step in its footmarks,
it would attach itself to me, and in time become accustomed to me, and
follow all my movements.
The shadow, as I moved, took to flight, and I commenced a hot chase after
the airy fugitive, solely excited by the hope of being delivered from my
present dreadful situation; the bare idea inspired me with fresh strength
and vigour.
The shadow now fled towards a distant wood, among whose shades I must
necessarily have lost it. Seeing this, my heart beat wild with fright,
my ardour increased and lent wings to my speed. I was evidently gaining
on the shadow—I came nearer and nearer—I was within reach of it, when it
suddenly stopped and turned towards me. Like a lion darting on its prey,
I made a powerful spring and fell unexpectedly upon a hard substance.
Then followed, from an invisible hand, the most terrible blows in the
ribs that anyone ever received. The effect of my terror made me
endeavour convulsively to strike and grasp at the unseen object before
me. The rapidity of my motions brought me to the ground, where I lay
stretched out with a man under me, whom I held tight, and who now became
visible.
The whole affair was now explained. The man had undoubtedly possessed
the bird’s nest which communicates its charm of invisibility to its
possessor, though not equally so to his shadow; and this nest he had now
thrown away. I looked all round, and soon discovered the shadow of this
invisible nest. I sprang towards it, and was fortunate enough to seize
the precious booty, and immediately became invisible and shadowless.
The moment the man regained his feet he looked all round over the wide
sunny plain to discover his fortunate vanquisher, but could see neither
him nor his shadow, the latter seeming particularly to be the object of
his search: for previous to our encounter he had not had leisure to
observe that I was shadowless, and he could not be aware of it. Becoming
convinced that all traces of me were lost, he began to tear his hair, and
give himself up to all the frenzy of despair. In the meantime, this
newly acquired treasure communicated to me both the ability and the
desire to mix again among mankind.
I was at a loss for a pretext to vindicate this unjust robbery—or,
rather, so deadened had I become, I felt no need of a pretext; and in
order to dissipate every idea of the kind, I hastened on, regardless of
the unhappy man, whose fearful lamentations long resounded in my ears.
Such, at the time, were my impressions of all the circumstances of this
affair.
I now ardently desired to return to the ranger’s garden, in order to
ascertain in person the truth of the information communicated by the
odious unknown; but I knew not where I was, until, ascending an eminence
to take a survey of the surrounding country, I perceived, from its
summit, the little town and the gardens almost at my feet. My heart beat
violently, and tears of a nature very different from those I had lately
shed filled my eyes. I should, then, once more behold her!
Anxiety now hastened my steps. Unseen I met some peasants coming from
the town; they were talking of me, of Rascal, and of the ranger. I would
not stay to listen to their conversation, but proceeded on. My bosom
thrilled with expectation as I entered the garden. At this moment I
heard something like a hollow laugh which caused me involuntarily to
shudder. I cast a rapid glance around, but could see no one. I passed
on; presently I fancied I heard the sound of footsteps close to me, but
no one was within sight. My ears must have deceived me.
It was early; no one was in Count Peter’s bower—the gardens were
deserted. I traversed all the well-known paths, and penetrated even to
the dwelling-house itself. The same rustling sound became now more and
more audible. With anguished feelings I sat down on a seat placed in the
sunny space before the door, and actually felt some invisible fiend take
a place by me, and heard him utter a sarcastic laugh. The key was turned
in the door, which was opened. The forest-master appeared with a paper
in his hand. Suddenly my head was, as it were, enveloped in a mist. I
looked up, and, oh horror! the grey-coated man was at my side, peering in
my face with a satanic grin. He had extended the mist-cap he wore over
my head. His shadow and my own were lying together at his feet in
perfect amity. He kept twirling in his hand the well-known parchment
with an air of indifference; and while the ranger, absorbed in thought,
and intent upon his paper, paced up and down the arbour, my tormentor
confidentially leaned towards me, and whispered, “So, Mr. Schlemihl, you
have at length accepted my invitation; and here we sit, two heads under
one hood, as the saying is. Well, well, all in good time. But now you
can return me my bird’s nest—you have no further occasion for it; and I
am sure you are too honourable a man to withhold it from me. No need of
thanks, I assure you; I had infinite pleasure in lending it to you.” He
took it out of my unresisting hand, put it into his pocket, and then
broke into so loud a laugh at my expense, that the forest-master turned
round, startled at the sound. I was petrified. “You must acknowledge,”
he continued, “that in our position a hood is much more convenient. It
serves to conceal not only a man, but his shadow, or as many shadows as
he chooses to carry. I, for instance, to-day bring two, you perceive.”
He laughed again. “Take notice, Schlemihl, that what a man refuses to do
with a good grace in the first instance, he is always in the end
compelled to do. I am still of opinion that you ought to redeem your
shadow and claim your bride (for it is yet time); and as to Rascal, he
shall dangle at a rope’s end—no difficult matter, so long as we can find
a bit. As a mark of friendship I will give you my cap into the bargain.”
The mother now came out, and the following conversation took place: “What
is Minna doing?” “She is weeping.” “Silly child! what good can that
do?” “None, certainly; but it is so soon to bestow her hand on another.
O husband, you are too harsh to your poor child.” “No, wife; you view
things in a wrong light. When she finds herself the wife of a wealthy
and honourable man, her tears will soon cease; she will waken out of a
dream, as it were, happy and grateful to Heaven and to her parents, as
you will see.” “Heaven grant it may be so!” replied the wife. “She has,
indeed, now considerable property; but after the noise occasioned by her
unlucky affair with that adventurer, do you imagine that she is likely
soon to meet with so advantageous a match as Mr. Rascal? Do you know the
extent of Mr. Rascal’s influence and wealth? Why, he has purchased with
ready money, in this country, six millions of landed property, free from
all encumbrances. I have had all the documents in my hands. It was he
who outbid me everywhere when I was about to make a desirable purchase;
and, besides, he has bills on Mr. Thomas John’s house to the amount of
three millions and a half.” “He must have been a prodigious thief!”
“How foolishly you talk! he wisely saved where others squandered their
property.” “A mere livery-servant!” “Nonsense! he has at all events an
unexceptionable shadow.” “True, but . . . ”
While this conversation was passing, the grey-coated man looked at me
with a satirical smile.
The door opened, and Minna entered, leaning on the arm of her female
attendant, silent tears flowing down her fair but pallid face. She
seated herself in the chair which had been placed for her under the
lime-trees, and her father took a stool by her side. He gently raised
her hand; and as her tears flowed afresh, he addressed her in the most
affectionate manner:—
“My own dear, good child—my Minna—will act reasonably, and not afflict
her poor old father, who only wishes to make her happy. My dearest
child, this blow has shaken you—dreadfully, I know it; but you have been
saved, as by a miracle, from a miserable fate, my Minna. You loved the
unworthy villain most tenderly before his treachery was discovered: I
feel all this, Minna; and far be it from me to reproach you for it—in
fact, I myself loved him so long as I considered him to be a person of
rank: you now see yourself how differently it has turned out. Every dog
has a shadow; and the idea of my child having been on the eve of uniting
herself to a man who . . . but I am sure you will think no more of him.
A suitor has just appeared for you in the person of a man who does not
fear the sun—an honourable man—no prince indeed, but a man worth ten
millions of golden ducats sterling—a sum nearly ten times larger than
your fortune consists of—a man, too, who will make my dear child
happy—nay, do not oppose me—be my own good, dutiful child—allow your
loving father to provide for you, and to dry up these tears. Promise to
bestow your hand on Mr. Rascal. Speak my child: will you not?”
Minna could scarcely summon strength to reply that she had now no longer
any hopes or desires on earth, and that she was entirely at her father’s
disposal. Rascal was therefore immediately sent for, and entered the
room with his usual forwardness; but Minima in the meantime had swooned
away.
My detested companion looked at me indignantly, and whispered, “Can you
endure this? Have you no blood in your veins?” He instantly pricked my
finger, which bled. “Yes, positively,” he exclaimed, “you have some
blood left!—come, sign.” The parchment and pen were in my hand!
CHAPTER IV.
I SUBMIT myself to thy judgment, my dear Chamisso; I do not seek to bias
it. I have long been a rigid censor of myself, and nourished at my heart
the worm of remorse. This critical moment of my life is ever present to
my soul, and I dare only cast a hesitating glance at it, with a deep
sense of humiliation and grief. Ah, my dear friend, he who once permits
himself thoughtlessly to deviate but one step from the right road, will
imperceptibly find himself involved in various intricate paths, all
leading him farther and farther astray. In vain he beholds the
guiding-stars of Heaven shining before him. No choice is left him—he
must descend the precipice, and offer himself up a sacrifice to his fate.
After the false step which I had rashly made, and which entailed a curse
upon me, I had, in the wantonness of passion, entangled one in my fate
who had staked all her happiness upon me. What was left for me to do in
a case where I had brought another into misery, but to make a desperate
leap in the dark to save her?—the last, the only means of rescue
presented itself. Think not so meanly of me, Chamisso, as to imagine
that I would have shrunk from any sacrifice on my part. In such a case
it would have been but a poor ransom. No, Chamisso; but my whole soul
was filled with unconquerable hatred to the cringing knave and his
crooked ways. I might be doing him injustice; but I shuddered at the
bare idea of entering into any fresh compact with him. But here a
circumstance took place which entirely changed the face of things . . .
I know not whether to ascribe it to excitement of mind, exhaustion of
physical strength (for during the last few days I had scarcely tasted
anything), or the antipathy I felt to the society of my fiendish
companion; but just as I was about to sign the fatal paper, I fell into a
deep swoon, and remained for a long time as if dead. The first sounds
which greeted my ear on recovering my consciousness were those of cursing
and imprecation; I opened my eyes—it was dusk; my hateful companion was
overwhelming me with reproaches. “Is not this behaving like an old
woman? Come, rise up, and finish quickly what you were going to do; or
perhaps you have changed your determination, and prefer to lie groaning
there?”
I raised myself with difficulty from the ground and gazed around me
without speaking a word. It was late in the evening, and I heard strains
of festive music proceeding from the ranger’s brilliantly illuminated
house; groups of company were lounging about the gardens; two persons
approached, and seating themselves on the bench I had lately occupied,
began to converse on the subject of the marriage which had taken place
that morning between the wealthy Mr. Rascal and Minima. All was then
over.
I tore off the cap which rendered me invisible; and my companion having
disappeared, I plunged in silence into the thickest gloom of the grove,
rapidly passed Count Peter’s bower towards the entrance-gate; but my
tormentor still haunted me, and loaded me with reproaches. “And is this
all the gratitude I am to expect from you, Mr. Schlemihl—you, whom I have
been watching all the weary day, until you should recover from your
nervous attack? What a fool’s part I have been enacting! It is of no
use flying from me, Mr. Perverse—we are inseparable—you have my gold, I
have your shadow; this exchange deprives us both of peace. Did you ever
hear of a man’s shadow leaving him?—yours follows me until you receive it
again into favour, and thus free me from it. Disgust and weariness
sooner or later will compel you to do what you should have done gladly at
first. In vain you strive with fate!”
He continued unceasingly in the same tone, uttering constant sarcasms
about the gold and the shadow, till I was completely bewildered. To fly
from him was impossible. I had pursued my way through the empty streets
towards my own house, which I could scarcely recognise—the windows were
broken to pieces, no light was visible, the doors were shut, and the
bustle of domestics had ceased. My companion burst into a loud laugh.
“Yes, yes,” said he, “you see the state of things: however, you will find
your friend Bendel at home; he was sent back the other day so fatigued,
that I assure you he has never left the house since. He will have a fine
story to tell! So I wish you a very good night—may we shortly meet
again!”
I had repeatedly rung the bell: at last a light appeared; and Bendel
inquired from within who was there. The poor fellow could scarcely
contain himself at the sound of my voice. The door flew open, and we
were locked in each other’s arms. I found him sadly changed; he was
looking ill and feeble. I, too, was altered; my hair had become quite
grey. He conducted me through the desolate apartments to an inner room,
which had escaped the general wreck. After partaking of some
refreshment, we seated ourselves; and, with fresh lamentations, he began
to tell me that the grey withered old man whom he had met with my shadow
had insensibly led him such a zig-zag race, that he had lost all traces
of me, and at last sank down exhausted with fatigue; that, unable to find
me, he had returned home, when, shortly after the mob, at Rascal’s
instigation, assembled violently before the house, broke the windows, and
by all sorts of excesses completely satiated their fury. Thus had they
treated their benefactor. My servants had fled in all directions. The
police had banished me from the town as a suspicious character, and
granted me an interval of twenty-four hours to leave the territory.
Bendel added many particulars as to the information I had already
obtained respecting Rascal’s wealth and marriage. This villain, it
seems—who was the author of all the measures taken against me—became
possessed of my secret nearly from the beginning, and, tempted by the
love of money, had supplied himself with a key to my chest, and from that
time had been laying the foundation of his present wealth. Bendel
related all this with many tears, and wept for joy that I was once more
safely restored to him, after all his fears and anxieties for me. In me,
however, such a state of things only awoke despair.
My dreadful fate now stared me in the face in all its gigantic and
unchangeable horror. The source of tears was exhausted within me; no
groans escaped my breast; but with cool indifference I bared my
unprotected head to the blast. “Bendel,” said I, “you know my fate; this
heavy visitation is a punishment for my early sins: but as for thee, my
innocent friend, I can no longer permit thee to share my destiny. I will
depart this very night—saddle me a horse—I will set out alone. Remain
here, Bendel—I insist upon it: there must be some chests of gold still
left in the house—take them, they are thine. I shall be a restless and
solitary wanderer on the face of the earth; but should better days arise,
and fortune once more smile propitiously on me, then I will not forget
thy steady fidelity; for in hours of deep distress thy faithful bosom has
been the depository of my sorrows.” With a bursting heart, the worthy
Bendel prepared to obey this last command of his master; for I was deaf
to all his arguments and blind to his tears. My horse was brought—I
pressed my weeping friend to my bosom—threw myself into the saddle, and,
under the friendly shades of night, quitted this sepulchre of my
existence, indifferent which road my horse should take; for now on this
side the grave I had neither wishes, hopes, nor fears.
After a short time I was joined by a traveller on foot, who, after
walking for a while by the side of my horse, observed that as we both
seemed to be travelling the same road, he should beg my permission to lay
his cloak on the horse’s back behind me, to which I silently assented.
He thanked me with easy politeness for this trifling favour, praised my
horse, and then took occasion to extol the happiness and the power of the
rich, and fell, I scarcely know how, into a sort of conversation with
himself, in which I merely acted the part of listener. He unfolded his
views of human life and of the world, and, touching on metaphysics,
demanded an answer from that cloudy science to the question of
questions—the answer that should solve all mysteries. He deduced one
problem from another in a very lucid manner, and then proceeded to their
solution.
You may remember, my dear friend, that after having run through the
school-philosophy, I became sensible of my unfitness for metaphysical
speculations, and therefore totally abstained from engaging in them.
Since then I have acquiesced in some things, and abandoned all hope of
comprehending others; trusting, as you advised me, to my own plain sense
and the voice of conscience to direct and, if possible, maintain me in
the right path.
Now this skilful rhetorician seemed to me to expend great skill in
rearing a firmly-constructed edifice, towering aloft on its own
self-supported basis, but resting on, and upheld by, some internal
principle of necessity. I regretted in it the total absence of what I
desired to find; and thus it seemed a mere work of art, serving only by
its elegance and exquisite finish to captivate the eye. Nevertheless, I
listened with pleasure to this eloquently gifted man, who diverted my
attention from my own sorrows to the speaker; and he would have secured
my entire acquiescence if he had appealed to my heart as well as to my
judgment.
In the meantime the hours had passed away, and morning had already dawned
imperceptibly in the horizon; looking up, I shuddered as I beheld in the
east all those splendid hues that announce the rising sun. At this hour,
when all natural shadows are seen in their full proportions, not a fence
or a shelter of any kind could I descry in this open country, and I was
not alone! I cast a glance at my companion, and shuddered again—it was
the man in the grey coat himself! He laughed at my surprise, and said,
without giving me time to speak: “You see, according to the fashion of
this world, mutual convenience binds us together for a time: there is
plenty of time to think of parting. The road here along the mountain,
which perhaps has escaped your notice, is the only one that you can
prudently take; into the valley you dare not descend—the path over the
mountain would but reconduct you to the town which you have left—my road,
too, lies this way. I perceive you change colour at the rising sun—I
have no objections to let you have the loan of your shadow during our
journey, and in return you may not be indisposed to tolerate my society.
You have now no Bendel; but I will act for him. I regret that you are
not over-fond of me; but that need not prevent you from accepting my poor
services. The devil is not so black as he is painted. Yesterday you
provoked me, I own; but now that is all forgotten, and you must confess I
have this day succeeded in beguiling the wearisomeness of your journey.
Come, take your shadow, and make trial of it.”
The sun had risen, and we were meeting with passengers; so I reluctantly
consented. With a smile, he immediately let my shadow glide down to the
ground; and I beheld it take its place by that of my horse, and gaily
trot along with me. My feelings were anything but pleasant. I rode
through groups of country people, who respectfully made way for the
well-mounted stranger. Thus I proceeded, occasionally stealing a
sidelong glance with a beating heart from my horse at the shadow once my
own, but now, alas, accepted as a loan from a stranger, or rather a
fiend. He moved on carelessly at my side, whistling a song. He being on
foot, and I on horseback, the temptation to hazard a silly project
occurred to me; so, suddenly turning my bridle, I set spurs to my horse,
and at full gallop struck into a by-path; but my shadow, on the sudden
movement of my horse, glided away, and stood on the road quietly awaiting
the approach of its legal owner. I was obliged to return abashed towards
the grey man; but he very coolly finished his song, and with a laugh set
my shadow to rights again, reminding me that it was at my option to have
it irrevocably fixed to me, by purchasing it on just and equitable terms.
“I hold you,” said he, “by the shadow; and you seek in vain to get rid of
me. A rich man like you requires a shadow, unquestionably; and you are
to blame for not having seen this sooner.”
I now continued my journey on the same road; every convenience and even
luxury of life was mine; I moved about in peace and freedom, for I
possessed a shadow, though a borrowed one; and all the respect due to
wealth was paid to me. But a deadly disease preyed on my heart. My
extraordinary companion, who gave himself out to be the humble attendant
of the richest individual in the world, was remarkable for his dexterity;
in short, his singular address and promptitude admirably fitted him to be
the very _beau ideal_ of a rich man’s lacquey. But he never stirred from
my side, and tormented me with constant assurances that a day would most
certainly come when, if it were only to get rid of him, I should gladly
comply with his terms, and redeem my shadow. Thus he became as irksome
as he was hateful to me. I really stood in awe of him—I had placed
myself in his power. Since he had effected my return to the pleasures of
the world, which I had resolved to shun, he had the perfect mastery of
me. His eloquence was irresistible, and at times I almost thought he was
in the right. A shadow is indeed necessary to a man of fortune; and if I
chose to maintain the position in which he had placed me, there was only
one means of doing so. But on one point I was immovable: since I had
sacrificed my love for Minna, and thereby blighted the happiness of my
whole life, I would not now, for all the shadows in the universe be
induced to sign away my soul to this being—I knew not how it might end.
One day we were sitting by the entrance of a cavern, much visited by
strangers, who ascended the mountain: the rushing noise of a subterranean
torrent resounded from the fathomless abyss, the depths of which exceeded
all calculation. He was, according to his favourite custom, employing
all the powers of his lavish fancy, and all the charm of the most
brilliant colouring, to depict to me what I might effect in the world by
virtue of my purse, when once I had recovered my shadow. With my elbows
resting on my knees, I kept my face concealed in my hands, and listened
to the false fiend, my heart torn between the temptation and my
determined opposition to it. Such indecision I could no longer endure,
and resolved on one decisive effort.
“You seem to forget,” said I, “that I tolerate your presence only on
certain conditions, and that I am to retain perfect freedom of action.”
“You have but to command, I depart,” was all his reply.
The threat was familiar to me; I was silent. He then began to fold up my
shadow. I turned pale, but allowed him to continue. A long silence
ensued, which he was the first to break.
“You cannot endure me, Mr. Schlemihl—you hate me—I am aware of it—but
why?—is it, perhaps, because you attacked me on the open plain, in order
to rob me of my invisible bird’s nest? or is it because you thievishly
endeavoured to seduce away the shadow with which I had entrusted you—my
own property—confiding implicitly in your honour! I, for my part, have
no dislike to you. It is perfectly natural that you should avail
yourself of every means, presented either by cunning or force, to promote
your own interests. That your principles also should be of the strictest
sort, and your intentions of the most honourable description,—these are
fancies with which I have nothing to do; I do not pretend to such
strictness myself. Each of us is free, I to act, and you to think, as
seems best. Did I ever seize you by the throat, to tear out of your body
that valuable soul I so ardently wish to possess? Did I ever set my
servant to attack you, to get back my purse, or attempt to run off with
it from you?”
I had not a word to reply.
“Well, well,” he exclaimed, “you detest me, and I know it; but I bear you
no malice on that account. We must part—that is clear; also I must say
that you begin to be very tiresome to me. Once more let me advise you to
free yourself entirely from my troublesome presence by the purchase of
your shadow.”
I held out the purse to him.
“No, Mr. Schlemihl; not at that price.”
With a deep sigh, I said, “Be it so, then; let us part, I entreat; cross
my path no more. There is surely room enough in the world for us both.”
Laughing, he replied, “I go; but just allow me to inform you how you may
at any time recall me whenever you have a mind to see your most humble
servant: you have only to shake your purse, the sound of the gold will
bring me to you in an instant. In this world every one consults his own
advantage; but you see I have thought of yours, and clearly confer upon
you a new power. Oh this purse! it would still prove a powerful bond
between us, had the moth begun to devour your shadow.—But enough: you
hold me by my gold, and may command your servant at any distance. You
know that I can be very serviceable to my friends; and that the rich are
my peculiar care—this you have observed. As to your shadow, allow me to
say, you can only redeem it on one condition.”
Recollections of former days came over me; and I hastily asked him if he
had obtained Mr. Thomas John’s signature.
He smiled, and said, “It was by no means necessary from so excellent a
friend.”
“Where is he? for God’s sake tell me: I insist upon knowing.”
With some hesitation, he put his hand into his pocket; and drew out the
altered and pallid form of Mr. John by the hair of his head, whose livid
lips uttered the awful words, “_Justo judicio Dei judicatus sum_; _justo
judicio Dei condemnatus sum_”—“I am judged and condemned by the just
judgment of God.” I was horror-struck; and instantly throwing the
jingling purse into the abyss, I exclaimed, “Wretch! in the name of
Heaven, I conjure you to be gone!—away from my sight!—never appear before
me again!” With a dark expression on his countenance, he arose, and
immediately vanished behind the huge rocks which surrounded the place.
CHAPTER V.
I WAS now left equally without gold and without shadow; but a heavy load
was taken from my breast, and I felt cheerful. Had not my Minna been
irrecoverably lost to me, or even had I been perfectly free from
self-reproach on her account, I felt that happiness might yet have been
mine. At present I was lost in doubt as to my future course. I examined
my pockets, and found I had a few gold pieces still left, which I counted
with feelings of great satisfaction. I had left my horse at the inn, and
was ashamed to return, or at all events I must wait till the sun had set,
which at present was high in the heavens. I laid myself down under a
shady tree and fell into a peaceful sleep.
Lovely forms floated in airy measures before me, and filled up my
delightful dreams. Minna, with a garland of flowers entwined in her
hair, was bending over me with a smile of goodwill; also the worthy
Bendel was crowned with flowers, and hastened to meet me with friendly
greetings. Many other forms seemed to rise up confusedly in the
distance: thyself among the number, Chamisso. Perfect radiance beamed
around them, but none had a shadow; and what was more surprising, there
was no appearance of unhappiness on this account. Nothing was to be seen
or heard but flowers and music; and love and joy, and groves of
never-fading palms, seemed the natives of that happy clime.
In vain I tried to detain and comprehend the lovely but fleeting forms.
I was conscious, also, of being in a dream, and was anxious that nothing
should rouse me from it; and when I did awake, I kept my eyes closed, in
order if possible to continue the illusion. At last I opened my eyes.
The sun was now visible in the east; I must have slept the whole night: I
looked upon this as a warning not to return to the inn. What I had left
there I was content to lose, without much regret; and resigning myself to
Providence, I decided on taking a by-road that led through the wooded
declivity of the mountain. I never once cast a glance behind me; nor did
it ever occur to me to return, as I might have done, to Bendel, whom I
had left in affluence. I reflected on the new character I was now going
to assume in the world. My present garb was very humble—consisting of an
old black coat I formerly had worn at Berlin, and which by some chance
was the first I put my hand on before setting out on this journey, a
travelling-cap, and an old pair of boots. I cut down a knotted stick in
memory of the spot, and commenced my pilgrimage.
In the forest I met an aged peasant, who gave me a friendly greeting, and
with whom I entered into conversation, requesting, as a traveller
desirous of information, some particulars relative to the road, the
country, and its inhabitants, the productions of the mountain, &c. He
replied to my various inquiries with readiness and intelligence. At last
we reached the bed of a mountain-torrent, which had laid waste a
considerable tract of the forest; I inwardly shuddered at the idea of the
open sunshine. I suffered the peasant to go before me. In the middle of
the very place which I dreaded so much, he suddenly stopped, and turned
back to give me an account of this inundation; but instantly perceiving
that I had no shadow, he broke off abruptly, and exclaimed, “How is
this?—you have no shadow!”
“Alas, alas!” said I, “in a long and serious illness I had the misfortune
to lose my hair, my nails, and my shadow. Look, good father; although my
hair has grown again, it is quite white; and at my age, my nails are
still very short; and my poor shadow seems to have left me, never to
return.”
“Ah!” said the old man, shaking his head; “no shadow! that was indeed a
terrible illness, sir.”
But he did not resume his narrative; and at the very first cross-road we
came to, left me without uttering a syllable. Fresh tears flowed from my
eyes, and my cheerfulness had fled. With a heavy heart I travelled on,
avoiding all society. I plunged into the deepest shades of the forest;
and often, to avoid a sunny tract of country, I waited for hours till
every human being had left it, and I could pass it unobserved. In the
evenings I took shelter in the villages. I bent my steps to a mine in
the mountains, where I hoped to meet with work underground; for besides
that my present situation compelled me to provide for my own support, I
felt that incessant and laborious occupation alone could divert my mind
from dwelling on painful subjects. A few rainy days assisted me
materially on my journey; but it was to the no small detriment of my
boots, the soles of which were better suited to Count Peter than to the
poor foot-traveller. I was soon barefoot, and a new purchase must be
made. The following morning I commenced an earnest search in a
marketplace, where a fair was being held; and I saw in one of the booths
new and second-hand boots set out for sale. I was a long time selecting
and bargaining; I wished much to have a new pair, but was frightened at
the extravagant price; and so was obliged to content myself with a
second-hand pair, still pretty good and strong, which the beautiful
fair-haired youth who kept the booth handed over to me with a cheerful
smile, wishing me a prosperous journey. I went on, and left the place
immediately by the northern gate.
I was so lost in my own thoughts, that I walked along scarcely knowing
how or where. I was calculating the chances of my reaching the mine by
the evening, and considering how I should introduce myself. I had not
gone two hundred steps, when I perceived I was not in the right road. I
looked round, and found myself in a wild-looking forest of ancient firs,
where apparently the stroke of the axe had never been heard. A few steps
more brought me amid huge rocks covered with moss and saxifragous plants,
between which whole fields of snow and ice were extended. The air was
intensely cold. I looked round, and the forest had disappeared behind
me; a few steps more, and there was the stillness of death itself. The
icy plain on which I stood stretched to an immeasurable distance, and a
thick cloud rested upon it; the sun was of a red blood-colour at the
verge of the horizon; the cold was insupportable. I could not imagine
what had happened to me. The benumbing frost made me quicken my pace. I
heard a distant sound of waters; and, at one step more, I stood on the
icy shore of some ocean. Innumerable droves of sea-dogs rushed past me
and plunged into the waves. I continued my way along this coast, and
again met with rocks, plains, birch and fir forests, and yet only a few
minutes had elapsed. It was now intensely hot. I looked around, and
suddenly found myself between some fertile rice-fields and
mulberry-trees; I sat down under their shade, and found by my watch that
it was just one quarter of an hour since I had left the village market.
I fancied it was a dream; but no, I was indeed awake, as I felt by the
experiment I made of biting my tongue. I closed my eyes in order to
collect my scattered thoughts. Presently I heard unintelligible words
uttered in a nasal tone; and I beheld two Chinese, whose Asiatic
physiognomies were not to be mistaken, even had their costume not
betrayed their origin. They were addressing me in the language and with
the salutations of their country. I rose, and drew back a couple of
steps. They had disappeared; the landscape was entirely changed; the
rice-fields had given place to trees and woods. I examined some of the
trees and plants around me, and ascertained such of them as I was
acquainted with to be productions of the southern part of Asia. I made
one step towards a particular tree, and again all was changed. I now
moved on like a recruit at drill, taking slow and measured steps, gazing
with astonished eyes at the wonderful variety of regions, plains,
meadows, mountains, steppes, and sandy deserts, which passed in
succession before me. I had now no doubt that I had seven-leagued boots
on my feet.
I fell on my knees in silent gratitude, shedding tears of thankfulness;
for I now saw clearly what was to be my future condition. Shut out by
early sins from all human society, I was offered amends for the privation
by Nature herself, which I had ever loved. The earth was granted me as a
rich garden; and the knowledge of her operations was to be the study and
object of my life. This was not a mere resolution. I have since
endeavoured, with anxious and unabated industry, faithfully to imitate
the finished and brilliant model then presented to me; and my vanity has
received a check when led to compare the picture with the original. I
rose immediately, and took a hasty survey of this new field, where I
hoped afterwards to reap a rich harvest.
I stood on the heights of Thibet; and the sun I had lately beheld in the
east was now sinking in the west. I traversed Asia from east to west,
and thence passed into Africa, which I curiously examined at repeated
visits in all directions. As I gazed on the ancient pyramids and temples
of Egypt, I descried, in the sandy deserts near Thebes of the hundred
gates, the caves where Christian hermits dwelt of old.
My determination was instantly taken, that here should be my future
dwelling. I chose one of the most secluded, but roomy, comfortable, and
inaccessible to the jackals.
I stepped over from the pillars of Hercules to Europe; and having taken a
survey of its northern and southern countries, I passed by the north of
Asia, on the polar glaciers, to Greenland and America, visiting both
parts of this continent; and the winter, which was already at its height
in the south, drove me quickly back from Cape Horn to the north. I
waited till daylight had risen in the east of Asia, and then, after a
short rest, continued my pilgrimage. I followed in both the Americas the
vast chain of the Andes, once considered the loftiest on our globe. I
stepped carefully and slowly from one summit to another, sometimes over
snowy heights, sometimes over flaming volcanoes, often breathless from
fatigue. At last I reached Elias’s mountain, and sprang over Behring’s
Straits into Asia; I followed the western coast in its various windings,
carefully observing which of the neighbouring isles was accessible to me.
From the peninsula of Malacca, my boots carried me to Sumatra, Java,
Bali, and Lombok. I made many attempts—often with danger, and always
unsuccessfully—to force my way over the numerous little islands and rocks
with which this sea is studded, wishing to find a north-west passage to
Borneo and other islands of the Archipelago.
At last I sat down at the extreme point of Lombok, my eyes turned towards
the south-east, lamenting that I had so soon reached the limits allotted
to me, and bewailing my fate as a captive in his grated cell. Thus was I
shut out from that remarkable country, New Holland, and the islands of
the southern ocean, so essentially necessary to a knowledge of the earth,
and which would have best assisted me in the study of the animal and
vegetable kingdoms. And thus, at the very outset, I beheld all my
labours condemned to be limited to mere fragments.
Ah! Chamisso, what is the activity of man?
Frequently in the most rigorous winters of the southern hemisphere I have
rashly thrown myself on a fragment of drifting ice between Cape Horn and
Van Dieman’s Land, in the hope of effecting a passage to New Holland,
reckless of the cold and the vast ocean, reckless of my fate, even should
this savage land prove my grave.
But all in vain—I never reached New Holland. Each time, when defeated in
my attempt, I returned to Lombok; and seated at its extreme point, my
eyes directed to the south-east, I gave way afresh to lamentations that
my range of investigation was so limited. At last I tore myself from the
spot, and, heartily grieved at my disappointment, returned to the
interior of Asia. Setting out at morning dawn, I traversed it from east
to west, and at night reached the cave in Thebes which I had previously
selected for my dwelling-place, and had visited yesterday afternoon.
After a short repose, as soon as daylight had visited Europe, it was my
first care to provide myself with the articles of which I stood most in
need. First of all a drag, to act on my boots; for I had experienced the
inconvenience of these whenever I wished to shorten my steps and examine
surrounding objects more fully. A pair of slippers to go over the boots
served the purpose effectually; and from that time I carried two pairs
about me, because I frequently cast them off from my feet in my botanical
investigations, without having time to pick them up, when threatened by
the approach of lions, men, or hyenas. My excellent watch, owing to the
short duration of my movements, was also on these occasions an admirable
chronometer. I wanted, besides, a sextant, a few philosophical
instruments, and some books. To purchase these things, I made several
unwilling journeys to London and Paris, choosing a time when I could be
hid by the favouring clouds. As all my ill-gotten gold was exhausted, I
carried over from Africa some ivory, which is there so plentiful, in
payment of my purchases—taking care, however, to pick out the smallest
teeth, in order not to over-burden myself. I had thus soon provided
myself with all that I wanted, and now entered on a new mode of life as a
student—wandering over the globe—measuring the height of the mountains,
and the temperature of the air and of the springs—observing the manners
and habits of animals—investigating plants and flowers. From the equator
to the pole, and from the new world to the old, I was constantly engaged
in repeating and comparing my experiments.
My usual food consisted of the eggs of the African ostrich or northern
sea-birds, with a few fruits, especially those of the palm and the banana
of the tropics. The tobacco-plant consoled me when I was depressed; and
the affection of my spaniel was a compensation for the loss of human
sympathy and society. When I returned from my excursions, loaded with
fresh treasures, to my cave in Thebes, which he guarded during my
absence, he ever sprang joyfully forward to greet me, and made me feel
that I was indeed not alone on the earth. An adventure soon occurred
which brought me once more among my fellow-creatures.
* * * * *
One day, as I was gathering lichens and algæ on the northern coast, with
the drag on my boots, a bear suddenly made his appearance, and was
stealing towards me round the corner of a rock. After throwing away my
slippers, I attempted to step across to an island, by means of a rock,
projecting from the waves in the intermediate space, that served as a
stepping-stone. I reached the rock safely with one foot, but instantly
fell into the sea with the other, one of my slippers having inadvertently
remained on. The cold was intense; and I escaped this imminent peril at
the risk of my life. On coming ashore, I hastened to the Libyan sands to
dry myself in the sun; but the heat affected my head so much, that, in a
fit of illness, I staggered back to the north. In vain I sought relief
by change of place—hurrying from east to west, and from west to east—now
in climes of the south, now in those of the north; sometimes I rushed
into daylight, sometimes into the shades of night. I know not how long
this lasted. A burning fever raged in my veins; with extreme anguish I
felt my senses leaving me. Suddenly, by an unlucky accident, I trod upon
some one’s foot, whom I had hurt, and received a blow in return which
laid me senseless.
On recovering, I found myself lying comfortably in a good bed, which,
with many other beds, stood in a spacious and handsome apartment. Some
one was watching by me; people seemed to be walking from one bed to
another; they came beside me, and spoke of me as _Number Twelve_. On
the wall, at the foot of my bed—it was no dream, for I distinctly read
it—on a black-marble tablet was inscribed my name, in large letters of
gold:—
PETER SCHLEMIHL
Underneath were two rows of letters in smaller characters, which I was
too feeble to connect together, and closed my eyes again.
I now heard something read aloud, in which I distinctly noted the words,
“Peter Schlemihl,” but could not collect the full meaning. I saw a man
of benevolent aspect, and a very beautiful female dressed in black,
standing near my bed; their countenances were not unknown to me, but in
my weak state I could not remember who they were. Some time elapsed, and
I began to regain my strength. I was called _Number Twelve_, and, from
my long beard, was supposed to be a Jew, but was not the less carefully
nursed on that account. No one seemed to perceive that I was destitute
of a shadow. My boots, I was assured, together with everything found on
me when I was brought here, were in safe keeping, and would be given up
to me on my restoration to health. This place was called the
SCHLMEIHLIUM: the daily recitation I had heard, was an exhortation to
pray for Peter Schlemihl as the founder and benefactor of this
institution. The benevolent-looking man whom I had seen by my bedside
was Bendel; the beautiful lady in black was Minna.
I had been enjoying the advantages of the Schlemihlium without being
recognised; and I learned, further, that I was in Bendel’s native town,
where he had employed a part of my once unhallowed gold in founding an
hospital in my name, under his superintendence, and that its unfortunate
inmates daily pronounced blessings on me. Minna had become a widow: an
unhappy lawsuit had deprived Rascal of his life, and Minna of the greater
part of her property. Her parents were no more; and here she dwelt in
widowed piety, wholly devoting herself to works of mercy.
One day, as she stood by the side of Number Twelve’s bed with Bendel, he
said to her, “Noble lady, why expose yourself so frequently to this
unhealthy atmosphere? Has fate dealt so harshly with you as to render
you desirous of death?”
“By no means, Mr. Bendel,” she replied; “since I have awoke from my long
dream, all has gone well with me. I now neither wish for death nor fear
it, and think on the future and on the past with equal serenity. Do you
not also feel an inward satisfaction in thus paying a pious tribute of
gratitude and love to your old master and friend?”
“Thanks be to God, I do, noble lady,” said he. “Ah, how wonderfully has
everything fallen out! How thoughtlessly have we sipped joys and sorrows
from the full cup now drained to the last drop; and we might fancy the
past a mere prelude to the real scene for which we now wait armed by
experience. How different has been the reality! Yet let us not regret
the past, but rather rejoice that we have not lived in vain. As respects
our old friend also, I have a firm hope that it is now better with him
than formerly.”
“I trust so, too,” answered Minna; and so saying she passed by me, and
they departed.
This conversation made a deep impression on me; and I hesitated whether I
should discover myself or depart unknown. At last I decided; and, asking
for pen and paper, wrote as follows:—
“Matters are indeed better with your old friend than formerly. He has
repented; and his repentance has led to forgiveness.”
I now attempted to rise, for I felt myself stronger. The keys of a
little chest near my bed were given me; and in it I found all my effects.
I put on my clothes; fastened my botanical case round me—wherein, with
delight, I found my northern lichens all safe—put on my boots, and
leaving my note on the table, left the gates, and was speedily far
advanced on the road to Thebes.
Passing along the Syrian coast, which was the same road I had taken on
last leaving home, I beheld my poor Figaro running to meet me. The
faithful animal, after vainly waiting at home for his master’s return,
had probably followed his traces. I stood still, and called him. He
sprang towards me with leaps and barks, and a thousand demonstrations of
unaffected delight. I took him in my arms—for he was unable to follow
me—and carried him home.
There I found everything exactly in the order in which I had left it; and
returned by degrees, as my increasing strength allowed me, to my old
occupations and usual mode of life, from which I was kept back a whole
year by my fall into the Polar Ocean. And this, dear Chamisso, is the
life I am still leading. My boots are not yet worn out, as I had been
led to fear would be the case from that very learned work of Tieckius—_De
rebus gestis Pollicilli_. Their energies remain unimpaired; and although
mine are gradually failing me, I enjoy the consolation of having spent
them in pursuing incessantly one object, and that not fruitlessly.
So far as my boots would carry me, I have observed and studied our globe
and its conformation, its mountains and temperature, the atmosphere in
its various changes, the influences of the magnetic power; in fact, I
have studied all living creation—and more especially the kingdom of
plants—more profoundly than any one of our race. I have arranged all the
facts in proper order, to the best of my ability, in different works.
The consequences deducible from these facts, and my views respecting
them, I have hastily recorded in some essays and dissertations. I have
settled the geography of the interior of Africa and the Arctic regions,
of the interior of Asia and of its eastern coast. My _Historia stirpium
plantarum utriusque orbis_ is an extensive fragment of a _Flora
universalis terræ_ and a part of my _Systema naturæ_. Besides increasing
the number of our known species by more than a third, I have also
contributed somewhat to the natural system of plants and to a knowledge
of their geography. I am now deeply engaged on my _Fauna_, and shall
take care to have my manuscripts sent to the University of Berlin before
my decease.
I have selected thee, my dear Chamisso, to be the guardian of my
wonderful history, thinking that, when I have left this world, it may
afford valuable instruction to the living. As for thee, Chamisso, if
thou wouldst live amongst thy fellow-creatures, learn to value thy shadow
more than gold; if thou wouldst only live to thyself and thy nobler
part—in this thou needest no counsel.
APPENDIX.
[_From the prefatory matter prefixed to time Berlin edition_, 1839, _from
which the present translation is made_.]
PREFACE BY THE EDITOR.
THE origin of “Peter Schlemihl” is to be ascribed in a great degree to
circumstances that occurred in the life of the writer. During the
eventful year of 1813, when the movement broke out which ultimately freed
Germany from the yoke of her oppressor, and precipitated his downfall,
Chamisso was in Berlin. Everyone who could wield a sword hastened then
to employ it on behalf of Germany and of the good cause. Chamisso had
not only a powerful arm, but a heart also of truly German mould; and yet
he was placed in a situation so peculiar as to isolate him among
millions. As he was of French parentage, the question was, not merely
whether he should fight on behalf of Germany, but, also, whether he
should fight against the people with whom he was connected by the ties of
blood and family relationship. Hence arose a struggle in his breast.
“I, and I alone, am forbidden at this juncture to wield a sword!” Such
was frequently his exclamation; and instead of meeting with sympathy on
account of his peculiar situation, he was frequently doomed to hear, in
the capital of Prussia, the head-quarters of the confederation against
France and Napoleon, expressions of hatred and scorn directed against his
countrymen. He was himself too equitable to mistake the cause of such
expressions, which were perfectly natural under the circumstances, but
they nevertheless deeply afflicted him when they reached his ears. In
this state of things his friends resolved to remove him from such a scene
of excitement, and to place him amid the quiet scenery of the country.
An asylum was offered him in the family of Count Itzenplitsch, where he
was sufficiently near to become acquainted with the gradual development
of the all-important crisis, and yet free from any unpleasant personal
contact with it. Here, at the family-seat of Cunersdorf, scarcely a
day’s journey from Berlin, wholly devoted to botany and other favourite
pursuits, Chamisso conceived the idea of “Peter Schlemihl,” and with
rapid pen finished off the story. Chamisso’s letters of this date (in
the first volume of his Life, by the writer of this notice) afford
evidence of this.
The first edition of the incomparable story appeared in 1814, with a
dedication dated May 27, 1813; and it was just beginning to be known in
the world at the commencement of 1815, when the author left Germany on a
voyage round the world, of which the story contains a remarkable
anticipation. “Peter Schlemihl” was his parting salutation to his second
fatherland, and the first foundation-stone of his future fame.
Chamisso was often pestered with questions respecting what he really
meant by the story of Schlemihl. These questions amused as well as
annoyed him. The truth is, that his intention in writing it was perhaps
scarcely of so precise a nature as to admit of his giving a formal
account of it. The story sprang into being of itself, like every work of
genius, prompted by a self-creating power. In a letter to the writer of
this notice, after he had just commenced the story, he says, “A book was
the last thing you would have expected from me! Place it before your
wife this evening, if you have time; should she be desirous to know
Schlemihl’s further adventures, and particularly who the man in the grey
cloak is—send me back the MS. immediately, that I may continue the story;
but if you do not return it, I shall know the meaning of the signal
perfectly.” Is it possible for any writer to submit himself to the
scrutiny of the public more good-naturedly?
In the preface to the new French translation (which appeared in 1838) of
this story, Chamisso amuses himself in his own peculiar way, over the
prying curiosity of those who want to know what his real object was in
writing this tale:—“The present story,” he says, “has fallen into the
hands of thoughtful people, who, being accustomed to read only for
instruction’s sake, have been at a loss to know what the shadow
signifies. On this point several have formed curious hypotheses; others,
who do me the honour to believe that I am more learned than I really am,
have addressed themselves to me for the solution of their doubts. The
questions with which they have besieged me have made me blush on account
of my ignorance. I have therefore been induced to devote myself to the
investigation of a matter not hitherto the subject of my studies; and I
now beg to submit to the world the result of my learned researches.
“‘_Concerning Shadows_.—A dark body can only be partially illuminated by
a bright one. The dark space which lies in the direction of the
unilluminated part is what we call a _shadow_. Properly speaking, shadow
signifies a bodily space, the form of which depends upon the form of the
illuminating body, and upon their opposite position with regard to each
other. The shadow thrown on a surface, situated before the
shadow-projecting body, is, therefore, nothing else than the intersection
of this surface by the bodily space (in French, _le solide_, on which
word _solid_ the whole force of the humour turns), which we before
designated by the word shadow.’
“The question in this wonderful history of Peter Schlemihl relates
entirely to the last-mentioned quality, _solidity_. The science of
finance instructs us sufficiently as to the value of money: the value of
a shadow is less generally acknowledged. My thoughtless friend was
covetous of money, of which he knew the value, and forgot to think on
solid substance. It was his wish that the lesson which he had paid for
so dearly should be turned to our profit; and his bitter experience calls
to us with a loud voice, Think on the solid—the substantial!” So far
Chamisso.
“Peter Schlemihl” has been translated into almost all the languages of
Europe. Of the Dutch, Spanish, and Russian translations we do not
possess any copies. The French and Italian are as follows:—
_Pierre Schlemihl_. _Paris_, _chez Ladvocat_, 1822.—This was revised
by Chamisso in manuscript, who added a preface to it; but the
translation was afterwards capriciously altered by the same publisher.
_Un Roman du Poète Allemand contemporain_, _Adelbert de Chamisso_;
_traduit par N. Martin_. _Histoire merveilleuse de Pierre Schlemihl_.
_Dunquerque_, 1837.—At the end the translator has added a letter to a
friend, with the Greek motto, “Life is the dream of a shadow.” The
translator, while laughing in this letter at the Germans, who, he says,
ought to write three folio volumes of explanatory notes on the little
volume, falls into the error of being very diffuse himself in the
attempt to elucidate his author. His long letter concludes not
inappropriately with these words: “I have just observed, although
certainly rather late, that I have written a letter full of shadows,
and instead of lighting a torch to illuminate the darkness, have, I
fear, only deepened the gloom. Should this be the case, the reader at
any rate will not withhold from me the praise of having preserved the
colours of the original.”
_Merveilleuse Histoire de Pierre Schlemihl_. _Enrichie d’une savente
préface_, _où les curieux pourront apprendre ce que c’est que l’ombre_.
_Paris et Nurnberg_, 1838. _With illustrations_.—This translation was
revised by Chamisso.
_L’Uomo senz’ Ombra_. _Dono di simpatia al gentil sesso_. _Milano_,
1838. Published as an Annual, with a Calendar, and Engravings.—The
editor is pleased not only to withhold the author’s name, but manages
so to word his own preface as to lead his readers to conclude that he
himself is the author of the book.
“Schlemihl” was also brought on the stage, but without giving the honours
of authorship to the true source. This took place at Vienna, in
February, 1819. The announcement ran thus:—“Pulzlivizli, or the Man
without a Shadow: a comic, enchanted drama, in three acts, adapted from
De la Motte Fouqué, by Ferdinand Rosenau.” Among the characters were the
grey man, and a certain Albert, probably intended for Schlemihl. Of the
contents of the piece we know nothing.
In England two editions have appeared [previous to the present,—_Tr._];
one of which was reprinted at Boston in 1825. Of the popularity of
“Peter Schlemihl” in Great Britain we have a striking proof, from a
caricature that appeared shortly after the coronation of William IV. On
the celebration of this solemnity, a brother of the King—the Duke of
Cumberland—arrived from the Continent to be present on the occasion; and
as he was well known to be an ardent Tory, his reception on the part of
the people was not of the most flattering description. As a consequence
of this, and owing, perhaps, to an expression that fell from the Duke,
that “popularity is only a shadow,” the caricature made its appearance.
In the foreground of the print is seen a striking likeness of the royal
Duke in the costume of the Order of the Garter. On his right stands the
King, with the crown on his head, and reflecting a goodly shadow on the
wall. Between the King and his brother are some courtiers, who exclaim,
in a tone of commiseration, “Lost, or stolen, a gentleman’s shadow.” At
the bottom of the print is the following inscription:—
“PETER SCHLEMIHL AT THE CORONATION.
Granted that popularity is nothing but a shadow, it is still far from
pleasant to be without that shadow.”
BRIEF SKETCH OF CHAMISSO’S LIFE.
Louis Adelbert de Chamisso was born January 27, 1781, at Beaucourt, in
Champagne. At the Revolution, he left France with his parents, and came
to Berlin, where, in 1796, he was appointed page to the King, and soon
after had a commission given him in the army. He applied himself with
much ardour to acquire the German language, and felt great interest in
the study of its literature, particularly its poetry and philosophy, and
was most attracted by those writers whose character presented the
greatest contrast to that of his own countrymen. By intercourse with the
learned, and by the friendships which he formed, he soon became
thoroughly German, which he proved by his poems, which were distinguished
above the crowd of such compositions by the originality of their style,
and peculiar vigour. From 1804 to 1806 he published the “Almanack of the
Muses,” in conjunction with Varnhagen von Ense. At the peace of Tilsit
he left the army, and visited France, when his family obtained back part
of their possessions. At this time he held, for a short period, a
situation as Professor at the school of Napoleonville, but soon returned
to Germany, devoting himself wholly to a literary life, and in particular
to the study of natural history. During his visit to France, he spent
some time with Madame de Staël, whom he also visited in Switzerland. In
1811 he returned to Berlin; and in 1813 he wrote his “Peter Schlemihl,”
which marked him out as a man of distinguished and original genius. It
was published in 1814 by his friend Fouqué. When Count Runnjanzow
resolved on undertaking a voyage round the world, he invited Chamisso to
accompany him as naturalist to the expedition—an invitation which he
gladly embraced. The ships left Cronstadt in 1815, and returned in 1818;
and although the discovery of a North-West passage—the great object of
the expedition—was not attained, yet extensive acquisitions were made in
every department of scientific research. Chamisso’s share in the voyage
is recorded in the third volume of the account of it published at Weimar
in 1821, and does honour to his spirit of careful observation and his
accuracy. He now again fixed his residence at Berlin, from whose
university he received the degree of doctor in philosophy. An
appointment at the Botanic Garden allowed him full liberty to follow up
his favourite pursuit of natural history, and bound him by still stronger
ties to his second fatherland. He now wrote an account of the principal
plants of the North of Germany, with views respecting the vegetable
kingdom and the science of botany: this work appeared at Berlin in 1827.
Poetry, however, had still some share of his attention; and he continued,
during the latter years of his life, to maintain his claims to an
honourable place among the poets of Germany. Several of his ballads and
romances rank with the most distinguished of modern times in this branch
of composition. Surrounded by a circle of attached and admiring friends,
Chamisso continued thus entirely engaged till his death, in 1839, leaving
behind him a name and works which posterity “will not willingly let
perish.”
FROM THE BARON DE LA MOTTE FOUQUÉ TO JULIUS EDWARD HITZIG.
[_From the first edition_.]
We should take care, my dear Edward, not to expose the history of poor
Schlemihl to eyes unfit to look upon it. That would be a bad experiment.
Of such eyes there are plenty; and who is able to predict what may befal
a _manuscript_, which is almost more difficult to guard than spoken
language? Like a person seized with vertigo, therefore, who, in the
paroxysm of his feelings, leaps into the abyss, I commit the story to the
press.
And yet there are better and more serious reasons for the step I have
taken. If I am not wholly deceived, there are in our dear Germany many
hearts both capable and worthy of comprehending poor Schlemihl, although
a smile will arise on the countenance of many among our honest countrymen
at the bitter sport which was death to him and to the innocent being whom
he drew along with him. And you, Edward, when you have seen the
estimable work, and reflected on the number of unknown and sympathising
bosoms who, with ourselves, will learn to love it,—you will, then,
perhaps, feel that some drops of consolation have been instilled into
those wounds inflicted on you, and on all who love you, by death.
To conclude: I have become convinced, by repeated experience, that a
guardian angel watches over books, places them in proper hands, and if
not always, yet often, prevents them from falling into improper. In any
case, he exercises an invisible guardianship over every work of true
genius and genuine feeling, and with unfailing tact and skill opens or
shuts its pages as he sees fit.
To this guardian angel I commit our “Schlemihl.” And so, adieu!
FOUQUÉ.
_Neunhausen_, _May_, 1814.
THE STORY WITHOUT AN END.
TO MY DAUGHTER
MY DEAR CHILD,
The story you love so much in German I dedicate to you in English. It
was in compliance with your earnest wish that other children might share
the delight it has so often afforded you, that I translated it; so that
it is, in some sort, yours of right. Let us hope that your confident
expectations of sympathy in your pleasure may not be disappointed; or
that, if others think the story less beautiful than you do, they may find
compensation in the graceful designs it has inspired.
You have often regretted that it left off so soon, and would, I believe,
“have been glad to hear more and more, and for ever.” The continuation
you have longed for lies in a wide and magnificent book, which contains
more wonderful and glorious things than all our favourite fairy tales put
together. But to read in that book, so as to discover all its beautiful
meanings, you must have pure, clear eyes, and an humble, loving heart;
otherwise you will complain, as some do, that it is dim and puzzling; or,
as others that it is dull and monotonous.
May you continue to read in it with new curiosity, new delight, and new
profit; and to find it, as long as you live, the untiring “Story without
an End.”
Your affectionate mother,
S. A.
CHAPTER I.
THERE was once a Child who lived in a little hut, and in the hut there
was nothing but a little bed and a looking-glass which hung in a dark
corner. Now the Child cared nothing at all about the looking-glass; but
as soon as the first sunbeam glided softly through the casement, and
kissed his sweet eyelids, and the finch and the linnet waked him merrily
with their morning songs, he arose, and went out into the green meadow.
And he begged flour of the primrose, and sugar of the violet, and butter
of the buttercup; he shook dewdrops from the cowslip into the cup of a
harebell; spread out a large lime-leaf, set his little breakfast upon it,
and feasted daintily. Sometimes he invited a humming-bee, oftener a gay
butterfly, to partake his feast; but his favourite guest was the blue
dragon-fly. The bee murmured a good deal, in a solemn tone, about his
riches; but the Child thought that if he were a bee, heaps of treasure
would not make him gay and happy; and that it must be much more
delightful and glorious to float about in the free and fresh breezes of
spring, and to hum joyously in the web of the sunbeams, than, with heavy
feet and heavy heart, to stow the silver wax and the golden honey into
cells.
To this the Butterfly assented; and he told how once on a time, he too
had been greedy and sordid; how he had thought of nothing but eating, and
had never once turned his eyes upwards to the blue heavens. At length,
however, a complete change had come over him; and instead of crawling
spiritless about the dirty earth, half dreaming, he all at once awaked as
out of a deep sleep. And now he would rise into the air;—and it was his
greatest joy sometimes to play with the light, and to reflect the heavens
in the bright eyes of his wings; sometimes to listen to the soft language
of the flowers, and catch their secrets. Such talk delighted the Child,
and his breakfast was the sweeter to him, and the sunshine on leaf and
flower seemed to him more bright and cheering.
But when the Bee had flown off to beg from flower to flower, and the
Butterfly had fluttered away to his playfellows, the Dragon-fly still
remained, poised on a blade of grass. Her slender and burnished body,
more brightly and deeply blue than the deep blue sky, glistened in the
sun beam; and her net-like wings laughed at the flowers because _they_
could not fly, but must stand still and abide the wind and the rain. The
Dragon-fly sipped a little of the Child’s clear dew-drops and blue
violet-honey, and then whispered her winged words. And the Child made an
end of his repast, closed his dark blue eyes, bent down his beautiful
head, and listened to the sweet prattle.
* * * * *
Then the Dragon-fly told much of the merry life in the green wood; how
sometimes she played hide-and-seek with her playfellows under the broad
leaves of the oak and the beech trees; or hunt-the-hare along the surface
of the still waters; sometimes quietly watched the sunbeams, as they flew
busily from moss to flower and from flower to bush, and shed life and
warmth over all. But at night, she said, the moonbeams glided softly
around the wood, and dropped dew into the mouths of all the thirsty
plants; and when the dawn pelted the slumberers with the soft roses of
heaven, some of the half-drunken flowers looked up and smiled; but most
of them could not so much as raise their heads for a long, long time.
Such stories did the Dragon-fly tell; and as the Child sat motionless
with his eyes shut, and his head rested on his little hand, she thought
he had fallen asleep; so she poised her double wings and flew into the
rustling wood.