THE NEW MELUSINA.
“Respected gentlemen! Being aware that preliminary speeches and
introductions are not much to your taste, I shall without further talk
assure you, that, in the present instance, I hope to fulfil your
commission moderately well. From me has many a true history gone forth
already, to the high and universal satisfaction of hearers; but to-day I
may assert, that I have one to tell which far surpasses the former, and
which, though it happened to me several years ago, still disquiets me in
recollecting it, nay, still gives hope of some further development.
“By way of introduction, let me confess, that I have not always so
arranged my scheme of life as to be certain of the next period in it, or
even of the next day. In my youth, I was no first-rate economist, and
often found myself in manifold perplexity. At one time I undertook a
journey, thinking to derive good profit in the course of it; but the
scale I went upon was too liberal: and after having commenced my travel
with extra-post, and then prosecuted it for a time in the diligence, I
at last found myself obliged to front the end of it on foot.
“Like a gay young blade, it had been from of old my custom, on entering
any inn, to look round for the landlady, or even the cook, and wheedle
myself into favor with her; whereby, for most part, my shot was somewhat
reduced.
“One night at dusk, as I was entering the post-house of a little town,
and purposing to set about my customary operations, there came a fair
double-seated coach with four horses rattling up to the door behind me.
I turned round, and observed in it a young lady, without maid, without
servants. I hastened to open the carriage for her, and to ask if I could
help her in any thing. On stepping out, a fair form displayed itself;
and her lovely countenance, if you looked at it narrowly, was adorned
with a slight shade of sorrow. I again asked if there was aught I could
do for her. ‘Oh, yes!’ said she, ‘if you will lift that little box
carefully, which you will find standing on the seat, and bring it in;
but I beg very much of you to carry it with all steadiness, and not to
move or shake it in the least.’ I took out the box with great care: she
shut the coach-door; we walked up-stairs together, and she told the
servants that she was to stay here for the night.
“We were now alone in the chamber: she desired me to put the box on the
table, which was standing at the wall; and as, by several of her
movements, I observed that she wished to be alone, I took my leave,
reverently but warmly kissing her hand.
“‘Order supper for us two,’ said she then: and you may well conceive
with what pleasure I executed the commission; scarcely deigning, in my
pride of heart, to cast even a side-look on landlady and menials. With
impatience I expected the moment that was to lead me back to her. Supper
was served: we took our seats opposite each other; I refreshed my heart,
for the first time during a considerable while, with a good meal, and no
less with so desirable a sight beside me: nay, it seemed as if she were
growing fairer and fairer every moment.
“Her conversation was pleasant, yet she carefully waived whatever had
reference to affection and love. The cloth was removed: I still
lingered, I tried all sorts of manœuvres to get near her, but in vain;
she kept me at my distance, by a certain dignity which I could not
withstand: nay, against my will, I had to part from her at a rather
early hour.
“After a night passed in waking or unrestfully dreaming, I rose early,
inquired whether she had ordered horses; and, learning that she had not,
I walked into the garden, saw her standing dressed at the window, and
hastened up to her. Here, as she looked so fair, and fairer than ever,
love, roguery, and audacity all at once started into motion within me: I
rushed towards her, and clasped her in my arms. ‘Angelic, irresistible
being,’ cried I, ‘pardon! but it is impossible!’--With incredible
dexterity she whisked herself out of my arms, and I had not even time to
imprint a kiss on her cheek. ‘Forbear such outbreakings of a sudden
foolish passion,’ said she, ‘if you would not scare away a happiness
which lies close beside you, but which cannot be laid hold of till after
some trials.’
“‘Ask of me what thou pleasest, angelic spirit!’ cried I, ‘but do not
drive me to despair.’ She answered, with a smile, ‘If you mean to devote
yourself to my service, hear the terms. I am come hither to visit a lady
of my friends, and with her I purpose to continue for a time: in the
mean while, I could wish that my carriage and this box were taken
forward. Will you engage with it? You have nothing to do but carefully
to lift the box into the carriage and out, to sit down beside it, and
punctually take charge that it receive no harm. When you enter an inn,
it is put upon a table, in a chamber by itself, in which you must
neither sit nor sleep. You lock the chamber-door with this key, which
will open and shut any lock, and has the peculiar property, that no lock
shut by it can be opened in the interim.’
“I looked at her; I felt strangely enough at heart; I promised to do
all, if I might hope to see her soon, and if she would seal this hope to
me with a kiss. She did so, and from that moment I had become entirely
her bondman. I was now to order horses, she said. We settled the way I
was to take, the places where I was to wait, and expect her. She at last
pressed a purse of gold into my hand, and I pressed my lips on the fair
hand that gave it me. She seemed moved at parting; and, for me, I no
longer knew what I was doing or was to do.
“On my return from giving my orders, I found the room-door locked. I
directly tried my master-key, and it performed its duty perfectly. The
door flew up: I found the chamber empty, only the box standing on the
table where I had laid it.
“The carriage drove up: I carried the box carefully down with me, and
placed it by my side. The hostess asked, ‘But where is the lady?’ A
child answered, ‘She is gone into the town.’ I nodded to the people, and
rolled off in triumph from the door which I had last night entered with
dusty gaiters. That in my hours of leisure I diligently meditated on
this adventure, counted my money, laid many schemes, and still now and
then kept glancing at the box, you will readily imagine. I posted right
forward, passed several stages without alighting, and rested not till I
had reached a considerable town, where my fair one had appointed me to
wait. Her commands had been pointedly obeyed,--the box always carried to
a separate room, and two wax candles lighted beside it; for such, also,
had been her order. I would then lock the chamber, establish myself in
my own, and take such comfort as the place afforded.
“For a while I was able to employ myself with thinking of her, but by
degrees the time began to hang heavy on my hands. I was not used to live
without companions: these I soon found, at _tables-d’hôte_, in
coffee-houses, and public places, altogether to my wish. In such a mode
of living, my money began to melt away; and one night it vanished
entirely from my purse in a fit of passionate gaming, which I had not
had the prudence to abandon. Void of money, with the appearance of a
rich man, expecting a heavy bill of charges, uncertain whether and when
my fair one would again make her appearance, I felt myself in the
deepest embarrassment. Doubly did I now long for her, and believe, that,
without her and her gold, it was quite impossible for me to live.
“After supper, which I had relished very little, being forced for this
time to consume it in solitude, I took to walking violently up and down
my room: I spoke aloud to myself, cursed my folly with horrid
execrations, threw myself on the floor, tore my hair, and indeed behaved
in the most outrageous fashion. Suddenly, in the adjoining chamber where
the box was, I heard a slight movement, and then a soft knocking at the
well-bolted door, which entered from my apartment. I gather myself,
grope for my master-key; but the door-leaves fly up of themselves, and
in the light of those burning wax candles enters my beauty. I cast
myself at her feet, kiss her robe, her hands; she raises me; I venture
not to clasp her, scarcely to look at her, but candidly and repentantly
confess to her my fault. ‘It is pardonable,’ said she: ‘only it
postpones your happiness and mine. You must now make another tour into
the world before we can meet again. Here is more money,’ continued she,
‘sufficient if you husband it with any kind of reason. But, as wine and
play have brought you into this perplexity, be on your guard in future
against wine and women, and let me hope for a glad meeting when the time
comes.’
“She retired over the threshold; the door-leaves flew together: I
knocked, I entreated; but nothing further stirred. Next morning, while
presenting his bill, the waiter smiled, and said, ‘So we have found out
at last, then, why you lock your door in so artful and incomprehensible
a way, that no master-key can open it. We supposed you must have much
money and precious ware laid up by you: but now we have seen your
treasure walking down-stairs; and, in good truth, it seemed worthy of
being well kept.’
“To this I answered nothing, but paid my reckoning, and mounted with my
box into the carriage. I again rolled forth into the world, with the
firmest resolution to be heedful in future of the warning given me by my
fair and mysterious friend. Scarcely, however, had I once more reached a
large town, when forthwith I got acquainted with certain interesting
ladies, from whom I absolutely could not tear myself away. They seemed
inclined to make me pay dear for their favor: for, while they still kept
me at a certain distance, they led me into one expense after the other;
and I, being anxious only to promote their satisfaction, once more
ceased to think of my purse, but paid and spent straightforward, as
occasion needed. But how great was my astonishment and joy, when, after
some weeks, I observed that the fulness of my store was not in the least
diminished, that my purse was still as round and crammed as ever!
Wishing to obtain more strict knowledge of this pretty quality, I set
myself down to count: I accurately marked the sum, and again proceeded
in my joyous life as before. We had no want of excursions by land, and
excursions by water; of dancing, singing, and other recreations. But now
it required small attention to observe that the purse was actually
diminishing, as if by my cursed counting I had robbed it of the property
of being uncountable. However, this gay mode of existence had been once
entered on: I could not draw back, and yet my ready money soon verged to
a close. I execrated my situation; upbraided my fair friend for having
so led me into temptation; took it as an offence that she did not again
show herself to me; renounced in my spleen all duties towards her; and
resolved to break open the box, and see if peradventure any help might
be found there. I was just about proceeding with my purpose: but I put
it off till night, that I might go through the business with full
composure; and, in the mean time, I hastened off to a banquet, for which
this was the appointed hour. Here again we got into a high key: the wine
and trumpet-sounding had flushed me not a little, when by the most
villanous luck it chanced, that, during the dessert, a former friend of
my dearest fair one, returning from a journey, entered unexpectedly,
placed himself beside her, and, without much ceremony, set about
asserting his old privileges. Hence, very soon arose ill-humor,
quarrelling, and battle: we plucked out our spits, and I was carried
home half dead of several wounds.
“The surgeon had bandaged me and gone away; it was far in the night; my
sick-nurse had fallen asleep; the door of the side-room went up; my
fair, mysterious friend came in, and sat down by me on the bed. She
asked how I was. I answered not, for I was faint and sullen. She
continued speaking with much sympathy: she rubbed my temples with a
certain balsam, whereby I felt myself rapidly and decidedly
strengthened,--so strengthened that I could now get angry and upbraid
her. In a violent speech I threw all the blame of my misfortune on her;
on the passion she had inspired me with; on her appearing and vanishing;
and the tedium, the longing, which, in such a case, I could not but
feel. I waxed more and more vehement, as if a fever had been coming on;
and I swore to her at last, that if she would not be mine, would not now
abide with me and wed me, I had no wish to live any longer: to all which
I required a peremptory answer. As she lingered and held back with her
explanation, I got altogether beside myself, and tore off my double and
triple bandages in the firmest resolution to bleed to death. But what
was my amazement when I found all my wounds healed, my skin smooth and
entire, and this fair friend in my arms!
“Henceforth we were the happiest pair in the world. We both begged
pardon of each other without either of us rightly knowing why. She now
promised to travel on along with me; and soon we were sitting side by
side in the carriage, the little box lying opposite us on the other
seat. Of this I had never spoken to her, nor did I now think of
speaking, though it lay there before our eyes: and both of us, by tacit
agreement, took charge of it, as circumstances might require; I,
however, still carrying it to and from the carriage, and busying myself,
as formerly, with the locking of the doors.
“So long as aught remained in my purse I had continued to pay; but, when
my cash went down, I signified the fact to her. ‘That is easily helped,’
said she, pointing to a couple of little pouches fixed at the top, to
the sides of the carriage. These I had often observed before, but never
turned to use. She put her hand into the one, and pulled out some gold
pieces, as from the other some coins of silver; thereby showing me the
possibility of meeting any scale of expenditure which we might choose to
adopt. And thus we journeyed on from town to town, from land to land,
contented with each other and with the world; and I fancied not that she
would again leave me, the less so that for some time she had evidently
been as loving wives wish to be, a circumstance by which our happiness
and mutual affection was increased still further. But one morning, alas!
she could not be found: and as my actual residence, without her company,
became displeasing, I again took the road with my box, tried the virtue
of the two pouches, and found it still unimpaired.
“My journey proceeded without accident. But if I had hitherto paid
little heed to the mysteries of my adventure, expecting a natural
solution of the whole, there now occurred something which threw me into
astonishment, into anxiety, nay, into fear. Being wont, in my impatience
for change of place, to hurry forward day and night, it was often my hap
to be travelling in the dark, and, when the lamps by any chance went
out, to be left in utter obscurity. Once, in the dead of such a night, I
had fallen asleep; and on awakening I observed the glimmer of a light on
the covering of my carriage. I examined this more strictly, and found
that it was issuing from the box, in which there seemed to be a chink,
as if it had been chapped by the warm and dry weather of summer, which
was now come on. My thoughts of jewels again came into my head: I
supposed there must be some carbuncle lying in the box, and this point I
forthwith set about investigating. I postured myself as well as might
be, so that my eye was in immediate contact with the chink. But how
great was my surprise when a fair apartment, well lighted, and furnished
with much taste and even costliness, met my inspection; just as if I had
been looking down through the opening of a dome into a royal saloon! A
fire was burning in the grate, and before it stood an arm-chair. I held
my breath, and continued to observe. And now there entered from the
other side of the apartment a lady with a book in her hand, whom I at
once recognized for my wife; though her figure was contracted into the
extreme of diminution. She sat down in the chair by the fire to read;
she trimmed the coals with the most dainty pair of tongs; and, in the
course of her movements, I could clearly perceive that this fairest
little creature was also in the family way. But now I was obliged to
shift my constrained posture a little; and the next moment, when I bent
down to look in again, and convince myself that it was no dream, the
light had vanished, and my eye rested on empty darkness.
“How amazed, nay, terrified, I was, you may easily conceive. I started a
thousand thoughts on this discovery, and yet in truth could think
nothing. In the midst of this I fell asleep, and on awakening I fancied
that it must have been a mere dream: yet I felt myself in some degree
estranged from my fair one; and, though I watched over the box but so
much the more carefully, I knew not whether the event of her
re-appearance in human size was a thing which I should wish or dread.
“After some time she did actually re-appear. One evening in a white robe
she came gliding in; and, as it was just then growing dusky in my room,
she seemed to me taller than when I had seen her last: and I remembered
having heard that all beings of the mermaid and gnome species increased
in stature very perceptibly at the fall of night. She flew as usual to
my arms, but I could not with right gladness press her to my obstructed
breast.
“‘My dearest,’ said she, ‘I now feel, by thy reception of me, what,
alas! I already knew too well. Thou hast seen me in the interim; thou
art acquainted with the state in which, at certain times, I find myself:
thy happiness and mine is interrupted,--nay, it stands on the brink of
being annihilated altogether. I must leave thee, and I know not whether
I shall ever see thee again.’ Her presence, the grace with which she
spoke, directly banished from my memory almost every trace of that
vision, which, indeed, had already hovered before me as little more than
a dream. I addressed her with kind vivacity, convinced her of my
passion, assured her that I was innocent, that my discovery was
accidental,--in short, I so managed it that she appeared composed, and
endeavored to compose me.
“‘Try thyself strictly,’ said she, ‘whether this discovery has not hurt
thy love; whether thou canst forget that I live in two forms beside
thee; whether the diminution of my being will not also contract thy
affection.’
“I looked at her; she was fairer than ever: and I thought within myself,
Is it so great a misfortune, after all, to have a wife who from time to
time becomes a dwarf, so that one can carry her about with him in a
casket? Were it not much worse if she became a giantess, and put her
husband in the box? My gayety of heart had returned. I would not for the
whole world have let her go. ‘Best heart,’ said I, ‘let us be and
continue ever as we have been. Could either of us wish to be better?
Enjoy thy conveniency, and I promise thee to guard the box with so much
the more faithfulness. Why should the prettiest sight I have ever seen
in my life make a bad impression on me? How happy would lovers be, could
they but procure such miniature pictures! And, after all, it was but a
picture, a little sleight-of-hand deception. Thou art trying and teasing
me, but thou shalt see how I will stand it.’
“‘The matter is more serious than thou thinkest,’ said the fair one;
‘however, I am truly glad to see thee take it so lightly; for much good
may still be awaiting us both. I will trust in thee, and for my own part
do my utmost: only promise me that thou wilt never mention this
discovery by way of reproach. Another prayer likewise I most earnestly
make to thee: Be more than ever on thy guard against wine and anger.’
“I promised what she required; I could have gone on promising to all
lengths: but she herself turned aside the conversation, and thenceforth
all proceeded in its former routine. We had no inducement to alter our
place of residence: the town was large, the society various; and the
fine season gave rise to many an excursion and garden festival.
“In all such amusements the presence of my wife was welcome, nay,
eagerly desired, by women as well as men. A kind, insinuating manner,
joined with a certain dignity of bearing, secured to her on all hands
praise and estimation. Besides, she could play beautifully on the lute,
accompanying it with her voice; and no social night could be perfect
unless crowned by the graces of this talent.
“I will be free to confess that I never cared much for music: on the
contrary, it has always rather had a disagreeable effect on me. My fair
one soon noticed this; and accordingly, when by ourselves, she never
tried to entertain me by such means: in return, however, she appeared to
indemnify herself while in society, where, indeed, she always found a
crowd of admirers.
“And now, why should I deny it? our late dialogue, in spite of my best
intentions, had by no means sufficed to settle the matter within me: on
the contrary, my temper of mind had by degrees got into the strangest
tune, almost without my being conscious of it. One night, in a large
company, this hidden grudge broke loose, and, by its consequences,
produced to myself the greatest damage.
“When I look back on it now, I, in fact, loved my beauty far less after
that unlucky discovery: I was also growing jealous of her,--a whim that
had never struck me before. This night at table, I found myself placed
very much to my mind beside my two neighbors, a couple of ladies, who,
for some time, had appeared to me very charming. Amid jesting and soft
small talk, I was not sparing of my wine; while, on the other side, a
pair of musical _dilettanti_ had got hold of my wife, and at last
contrived to lead the company into singing separately, and by way of
chorus. This put me into ill-humor. The two amateurs appeared to me
impertinent; the singing vexed me; and when, as my turn came, they even
requested a solo-strophe from me, I grew truly indignant: I emptied my
glass, and set it down again with no soft movement.
“The grace of my two fair neighbors soon pacified me, but there is an
evil nature in wrath when once it is set a-going. It went on fermenting
within me, though all things were of a kind to induce joy and
complaisance. On the contrary, I waxed more splenetic than ever when a
lute was produced, and my fair one began fingering it and singing, to
the admiration of all the rest. Unhappily a general silence was
requested. So, then, I was not even to talk any more: and these tones
were going through me like a toothache. Was it any wonder that, at last,
the smallest spark should blow up the mine?
“The songstress had just ended a song amid the loudest applauses, when
she looked over to me; and this truly with the most loving face in the
world. Unluckily, its lovingness could not penetrate so far. She
perceived that I had just gulped down a cup of wine, and was pouring out
a fresh one. With her right forefinger she beckoned to me in kind
threatening. ‘Consider that it is wine!’ said she, not louder than for
myself to hear it. ‘Water is for mermaids!’ cried I. ‘My ladies,’ said
she to my neighbors, ‘crown the cup with all your gracefulness, that it
be not too often emptied.’--‘You will not let yourself be tutored?’
whispered one of them in my ear. ‘What ails the dwarf?’ cried I, with a
more violent gesture, in which I overset the glass. ‘Ah, what you have
spilt!’ cried the paragon of women; at the same time twanging her
strings, as if to lead back the attention of the company from this
disturbance to herself. Her attempt succeeded; the more completely as
she rose to her feet, seemingly that she might play with greater
convenience, and in this attitude continued preluding.
“At sight of the red wine running over the tablecloth, I returned to
myself. I perceived the great fault I had been guilty of, and it cut me
through the very heart. Never till now had music had an effect on me:
the first verse she sang was a friendly good-night to the company, here
as they were, as they might still feel themselves together. With the
next verse they became as if scattered asunder: each felt himself
solitary, separated, no one could fancy that he was present any longer.
But what shall I say of the last verse? It was directed to me alone, the
voice of injured love bidding farewell to moroseness and caprice.
“In silence I conducted her home, foreboding no good. Scarcely, however,
had we reached our chamber, when she began to show herself exceedingly
kind and graceful,--nay, even roguish: she made me the happiest of all
men.
“Next morning, in high spirits and full of love, I said to her, ‘Thou
hast so often sung, when asked in company; as, for example, thy touching
farewell song last night. Come now, for my sake, and sing me a dainty,
gay welcome to this morning hour, that we may feel as if we were meeting
for the first time.’
“‘That I cannot do, my friend,’ said she seriously. ‘The song of last
night referred to our parting, which must now forthwith take place; for
I can only tell thee, the violation of thy promise and oath will have
the worst consequences for us both: thou hast scoffed away a great
felicity; and I, too, must renounce my dearest wishes.’
“As I now pressed and entreated her to explain herself more clearly, she
answered, ‘That, alas! I can well do; for, at all events, my continuance
with thee is over. Hear, then, what I would rather have concealed to the
latest times. The form under which thou sawest me in the box is my
natural and proper form; for I am of the race of King Eckwald, the dread
sovereign of the dwarfs, concerning whom authentic history has recorded
so much. Our people are still, as of old, laborious and busy, and
therefore easy to govern. Thou must not fancy that the dwarfs are
behindhand in their manufacturing skill. Swords which followed the foe,
when you cast them after him; invisible and mysteriously binding chains;
impenetrable shields, and such like ware, in old times,--formed their
staple produce. But now they chiefly employ themselves with articles of
convenience and ornament, in which truly they surpass all people of the
earth. I may well say, it would astonish thee to walk through our
workshops and warehouses. All this would be right and good, were it not
that with the whole nation in general, but more particularly with the
royal family, there is one peculiar circumstance connected.’
“She paused for a moment, and I again begged further light on these
wonderful secrets; which, accordingly, she forthwith proceeded to grant.
“‘It is well known,’ said she, ‘that God, so soon as he had created the
world, and the ground was dry, and the mountains were standing bright
and glorious, that God, I say, thereupon, in the very first place,
created the dwarfs, to the end that there might be reasonable beings
also, who, in their passages and chasms, might contemplate and adore his
wonders in the inward parts of the earth. It is further well known, that
this little race by degrees became uplifted in heart, and attempted to
acquire the dominion of the earth; for which reason God then created the
dragons, in order to drive back the dwarfs into their mountains. Now, as
the dragons themselves were wont to nestle in the large caverns and
clefts, and dwell there; and many of them, too, were in the habit of
spitting fire, and working much other mischief,--the poor little dwarfs
were by this means thrown into exceeding straits and distress: so that,
not knowing what in the world to do, they humbly and fervently turned to
God, and called to him in prayer, that he would vouchsafe to abolish
this unclean dragon generation. But though it consisted not with his
wisdom to destroy his own creatures, yet the heavy sufferings of the
poor dwarfs so moved his compassion, that anon he created the giants,
ordaining them to fight these dragons, and, if not root them out, at
least lessen their numbers.
“‘Now, no sooner had the giants got moderately well through with the
dragons, than their hearts also began to wax wanton: and, in their
presumption, they practised much tyranny, especially on the good little
dwarfs, who then once more in their need turned to the Lord; and he, by
the power of his hand, created the knights, who were to make war on the
giants and dragons, and to live in concord with the dwarfs. Hereby was
the work of creation completed on this side; and it is plain, that
henceforth giants and dragons, as well as knights and dwarfs, have
always maintained themselves in being. From this, my friend, it will be
clear to thee that we are of the oldest race on the earth,--a
circumstance which does us honor, but at the same time brings great
disadvantage along with it.
“‘For as there is nothing in the world that can endure forever, but all
that has once been great must become little and fade, it is our lot,
also, that, ever since the creation of the world, we have been waning,
and growing smaller,--especially the royal family, on whom, by reason of
their pure blood, this destiny presses with the heaviest force. To
remedy this evil, our wise teachers have many years ago devised the
expedient of sending forth a princess of the royal house from time to
time into the world, to wed some honorable knight, that so the dwarf
progeny may be refected, and saved from entire decay.’
“Though my fair one related these things with an air of the utmost
sincerity, I looked at her hesitatingly; for it seemed as if she meant
to palm some fable on me. As to her own dainty lineage I had not the
smallest doubt; but that she should have laid hold of me in place of a
knight occasioned some mistrust, seeing I knew myself too well to
suppose that my ancestors had come into the world by an immediate act of
creation.
“I concealed my wonder and scepticism, and asked her kindly, ‘But tell
me, my dear child, how hast thou attained this large and stately shape?
For I know few women that in richness of form can compare with
thee.’--‘Thou shalt hear,’ replied she. ‘It is a settled maxim in the
council of the dwarf kings, that this extraordinary step be forborne as
long as it possibly can; which, indeed, I cannot but say is quite
natural and proper. Perhaps they might have hesitated still longer had
not my brother, born after me, come into the world so exceedingly small
that the nurses actually lost him out of his swaddling-clothes; and no
creature yet knows whither he is gone. On this occurrence, unexampled in
the annals of dwarfdom, the sages were assembled; and, without more ado,
the resolution was taken, and I sent out in quest of a husband.’
“‘The resolution!’ exclaimed I, ‘that is all extremely well. One can
resolve, one can take his resolution; but, to give a dwarf this heavenly
shape, how did your sages manage that?’
“‘It had been provided for already,’ said she, ‘by our ancestors. In the
royal treasury lay a monstrous gold ring. I speak of it as it then
appeared to me, when I saw it in my childhood; for it was this same ring
which I have here on my finger. We now went to work as follows.
“‘I was informed of all that awaited me, and instructed what I had to do
and to forbear. A splendid palace, after the pattern of my father’s
favorite summer residence, was then got ready,--a main edifice, wings,
and whatever else you could think of. It stood at the entrance of a
large rock-cleft, which it decorated in the handsomest style. On the
appointed day our court moved thither, my parents, also, and myself. The
army paraded; and four and twenty priests, not without difficulty,
carried on a costly litter the mysterious ring. It was placed on the
threshold of the building, just within the spot where you entered. Many
ceremonies were observed; and, after a pathetic farewell, I proceeded to
my task. I stepped forward to the ring, laid my finger on it, and that
instant began perceptibly to wax in stature. In a few moments I had
reached my present size, and then I put the ring on my finger. But now,
in the twinkling of an eye, the doors, windows, gates, flapped to; the
wings drew up into the body of the edifice; instead of a palace stood a
little box beside me, which I forthwith lifted, and carried off with me,
not without a pleasant feeling in being so tall and strong. Still,
indeed, a dwarf to trees and mountains, to streams, and tracts of land,
yet a giant to grass and herbs, and, above all, to ants, from whom we
dwarfs, not being always on the best terms with them, often suffer
considerable annoyance.
“‘How it fared with me on my pilgrimage, I might tell thee at great
length. Suffice it to say I tried many, but no one save thou seemed
worthy of being honored to renovate and perpetuate the line of the
glorious Eckwald.’
“In the course of these narrations my head had now and then kept
wagging, without myself having absolutely shaken it. I put several
questions, to which I received no very satisfactory answers: on the
contrary, I learned, to my great affliction, that after what had
happened she must needs return to her parents. She had hopes still, she
said, of getting back to me: but, for the present, it was indispensably
necessary to present herself at court; as otherwise, both for her and
me, there was nothing but utter ruin. The purses would soon cease to
pay, and who knew what all would be the consequences?
“On hearing that our money would run short, I inquired no further into
consequences; I shrugged my shoulders; I was silent, and she seemed to
understand me.
“We now packed up, and got into our carriage, the box standing opposite
us; in which, however, I could still see no symptoms of a palace. In
this way we proceeded several stages. Post-money and drink-money were
readily and richly paid from the pouches to the right and left, till at
last we reached a mountainous district; and no sooner had we alighted
here than my fair one walked forward, directing me to follow her with
the box. She led me by rather steep paths to a narrow plot of green
ground, through which a clear brook now gushed in little falls, now ran
in quiet windings. She pointed to a little knoll, bade me set the box
down there, then said, ‘Farewell! Thou wilt easily find the way back;
remember me; I hope to see thee again.’
“At this moment I felt as if I could not leave her. She was just now in
one of her fine days, or, if you will, her fine hours. Alone with so
fair a being, on the greensward, among grass and flowers, girt in by
rocks, waters murmuring round you, what heart could have remained
insensible! I came forward to seize her hand, to clasp her in my arms;
but she motioned me back, threatening me, though still kindly enough,
with great danger if I did not instantly withdraw.
“‘Is there not any possibility,’ exclaimed I, ‘of my staying with thee,
of thy keeping me beside thee?’ These words I uttered with such rueful
tones and gestures, that she seemed touched by them, and after some
thought confessed to me that a continuance of our union was not entirely
impossible. Who happier than I! My importunity, which increased every
moment, compelled her at last to come out with her scheme, and inform
me, that if I, too, could resolve on becoming as little as I had once
seen her, I might still remain with her, be admitted to her house, her
kingdom, her family. The proposal was not altogether to my mind, yet at
this moment I positively could not tear myself away: so, having already
for a good while been accustomed to the marvellous, and being at all
times prone to bold enterprises, I closed with her offer, and said she
might do with me as she pleased.
“I was thereupon directed to hold out the little finger of my right
hand: she placed her own against it; then, with her left hand, she quite
softly pulled the ring from her finger, and let it run along mine. That
instant I felt a violent twinge on my finger: the ring shrunk together,
and tortured me horribly. I gave a loud cry, and caught round me for my
fair one; but she had disappeared. What state of mind I was in during
this moment, I find no words to express: so I have nothing more to say
but that I very soon, in my miniature size, found myself beside my fair
one in a wood of grass-stalks. The joy of meeting after this short yet
most strange separation, or, if you will, of this re-union without
separation, exceeds all conception. I fell on her neck: she replied to
my caresses, and the little pair was as happy as the large one.
“With some difficulty we now mounted a hill: I say difficulty, because
the sward had become for us an almost impenetrable forest. Yet at length
we reached a bare space; and how surprised was I at perceiving there a
large, bolted mass, which, erelong, I could not but recognize for the
box in the same state as when I had set it down.
“‘Go up to it, my friend,’ said she, ‘and do but knock with the ring:
thou shalt see wonders.’ I went up accordingly; and no sooner had I
rapped, than I did, in fact, witness the greatest wonder. Two wings came
jutting out; and at the same time there fell, like scales and chips,
various pieces this way and that: while doors, windows, colonnades, and
all that belongs to a complete palace, at once came into view.
“If ever you have seen one of Röntgen’s desks,--how, at one pull, a
multitude of springs and latches get in motion, and writing-board and
writing materials, letter and money compartments, all at once, or in
quick succession, start forward,--you will partly conceive how this
palace unfolded itself, into which my sweet attendant now introduced me.
In the large saloon I directly recognized the fireplace which I had
formerly seen from above, and the chair in which she had then been
sitting. And, on looking up, I actually fancied I could still see
something of the chink in the dome, through which I had peeped in. I
spare you the description of the rest: in a word, all was spacious,
splendid, and tasteful. Scarcely had I recovered from my astonishment,
when I heard afar off a sound of military music. My better half sprang
up, and with rapture announced to me the approach of his Majesty her
father. We stepped out to the threshold, and here beheld a magnificent
procession moving towards us from a considerable cleft in the rock.
Soldiers, servants, officers of state, and glittering courtiers,
followed in order. At last you observed a golden throng, and in the
midst of it the king himself. So soon as the whole procession had drawn
up before the palace, the king, with his nearest retinue, stepped
forward. His loving daughter hastened out to him, pulling me along with
her. We threw ourselves at his feet: he raised me very graciously; and,
on coming to stand before him, I perceived, that in this little world I
was still the most considerable figure. We proceeded together to the
palace, where his Majesty, in presence of his whole court, was pleased
to welcome me with a well-studied oration, in which he expressed his
surprise at finding us here, acknowledged me as his son-in-law, and
appointed the nuptial ceremony to take place on the morrow.
“A cold sweat went over me as I heard him speak of marriage; for I
dreaded this even more than music, which had, of old, appeared to me the
most hateful thing on earth. Your music-makers, I used to say, enjoy at
least the conceit of being in unison with each other, and working in
concord; for when they have tweaked and tuned long enough, grating our
ears with all manner of screeches, they believe in their hearts that the
matter is now adjusted, and one instrument accurately suited to the
other. The band-master himself is in this happy delusion; and so they
set forth joyfully, though still tearing our nerves to pieces. In the
marriage state, even this is not the case; for although it is but a
duet, and you might think two voices, or even two instruments, might in
some degree be attuned to each other, yet this happens very seldom: for
while the man gives out one tone, the wife directly takes a higher one,
and the man again a higher; and so it rises from the chamber to the
choral pitch, and farther and farther, till at last not even
wind-instruments can reach it. And now, as I loathe harmonical music, it
cannot be surprising that disharmonical should be a thing which I cannot
endure.
“Of all the festivities in which the day was spent, I shall and can not
give an account; for I paid small heed to them. The sumptuous victuals,
the generous wine, the royal amusements, I could not relish. I kept
thinking and considering what I was to do. Here, however, there was but
little to be considered. I determined, once for all, to take myself
away, and hide somewhere. Accordingly, I succeeded in reaching the chink
of a stone, where I intrenched and concealed myself as well as might be.
My first care after this was to get the unhappy ring off my finger,--an
enterprise, however, which would by no means prosper; for, on the
contrary, I felt that every pull I gave, the metal grew straiter, and
cramped me with violent pains, which again abated so soon as I desisted
from my purpose.
“Early in the morning I awoke (for my little person had slept, and very
soundly), and was just stepping out to look farther about me, when I
felt a kind of rain coming on. Through the grass, flowers, and leaves,
there fell, as it were, something like sand and grit in large
quantities; but what was my horror when the whole of it became alive,
and an innumerable host of ants rushed down on me! No sooner did they
observe me than they made an attack on all sides; and, though I defended
myself stoutly and gallantly enough, they at last so hemmed me in, so
nipped and pinched me, that I was glad to hear them calling to
surrender. I surrendered instantly and wholly, whereupon an ant of
respectable stature approached me with courtesy, nay, with reverence,
and even recommended itself to my good graces. I learned that the ants
had now become allies of my father-in-law, and by him been called out in
the present emergency, and commissioned to fetch me back. Here, then,
was little I in the hands of creatures still less. I had nothing for it
but looking forward to the marriage; nay, I must now thank Heaven if my
father-in-law were not wroth, if my fair one had not taken the sullens.
“Let me skip over the whole train of ceremonies: in a word, we were
wedded. Gayly and joyously as matters went, there were, nevertheless,
solitary hours in which you were led astray into reflection; and now
there happened to me something which had never happened before,--what,
and how, you shall learn.
“Every thing about me was completely adapted to my present form and
wants: the bottles and glasses were in a fit ratio to a little
toper,--nay, if you will, better measure in proportion than with us. In
my tiny palate the dainty tidbits tasted excellently; a kiss from the
little mouth of my spouse was still the most charming thing in nature;
and I will not deny that novelty made all these circumstances highly
agreeable. Unhappily, however, I had not forgotten my former situation.
I felt within me a scale of by-gone greatness, and it rendered me
restless and cheerless. Now, for the first time, did I understand what
the philosophers might mean by their ideal, which they say so plagues
the mind of man. I had an ideal of myself, and often in dreams I
appeared as a giant. In short, my wife, my ring, my dwarf figure, and so
many other bonds and restrictions, made me utterly unhappy; so that I
began to think seriously about obtaining my deliverance.
“Being persuaded that the whole magic lay in the ring, I resolved on
filing this asunder. From the court-jeweller, accordingly, I borrowed
some files. By good luck I was left-handed; as, indeed, throughout my
whole life I had never done aught in the right-handed way. I stood
tightly to the work: it was not small; for the golden hoop, so thin as
it appeared, had grown proportionately thicker in contracting from its
former length. All vacant hours I privately applied to this task; and at
last, the metal being nearly through, I was provident enough to step out
of doors. This was a wise measure; for all at once the golden hoop
started sharply from my finger, and my frame shot aloft with such
violence that I actually fancied I should dash against the sky; and, at
all events, I must have bolted through the dome of our palace,--nay,
perhaps, in my new awkwardness, have destroyed this summer residence
altogether.
“Here, then, was I standing again,--in truth, so much the larger, but
also, as it seemed to me, so much the more stupid and helpless. On
recovering from my stupefaction, I observed the royal strong-box lying
near me, which I found to be moderately heavy, as I lifted it, and
carried it down the footpath to the next stage, where I directly ordered
horses and set forth. By the road I soon made trial of the two
side-pouches. Instead of money, which appeared to be run out, I found a
little key: it belonged to the strong-box, in which I got some moderate
compensation. So long as this held out, I made use of the carriage: by
and by I sold it, and proceeded by the diligence. The strong-box, too, I
at length cast from me; having no hope of its ever filling again. And
thus in the end, though after a considerable circuit, I again returned
to the kitchen-hearth, to the landlady and the cook, where you were
first introduced to me.”
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