Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by Google Books
Transcriber's Notes:
1. Page scan source:
http://books.google.com/books?id=fuUBAAAAQAAJ
2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe].
3. Errata on pp. 109, 154, and 183 have been corrected.
AT ALL LIBRARIES.
BY THE SAME TRANSLATOR.
RIVEN BONDS,
By E. WERNER,
_Author of_ "_Under a Charm_," "_Success and How He Won it_," _&c_.
2 VOLS. 21s.
* * * * *
"An art novel of great power and passion * * * * * The situations are
well contrived, and the workings of strong feelings well managed. The
story is able and absorbing, and the development of Ella's character is
powerfully conceived."--_The British Quarterly_.
"The Translator may claim credit, not only of having selected a good
subject, but of having handled it well * * * * * The situations
in this story being true and unforced, are more effective than any
amount of fine writing and strained invention could make them.
We have no difficulty in believing in the individualities of the
personages."--_The Queen_.
"The same power, however, of giving reality to his word-portraits which
delighted us so much in Herr Werner's former production again makes
itself felt in this one, as well as a certain aptness in choosing
felicitous incidents * * * * * The story is admirably told, and its
conclusion exceedingly dramatic."--_Morning Post_.
* * * * *
REMINGTON & Co., 5, Arundel Street, Strand, W.C.
WITHERED LEAVES.
A Novel,
BY
Rudolf von Gottschall.
FROM THE GERMAN,
By BERTHA NESS.
Translator of Werner's "Riven Bonds" and "Sacred Vows."
THREE VOLUMES.
* * * * *
AUTHORISED TRANSLATION.
* * * * *
VOL. II.
* * * * *
London:
REMINGTON AND CO.,
5, Arundel Street, Stand, W.C.
* * *
1879.
[_All Rights Reserved_.]
CONTENTS OF VOLUME II.
CHAP.
I.--The First Meeting.
II.--The Novice.
III.--The Fall of Man.
IV.--Mother and Daughter.
V.--Half-witted Kaetchen.
VI.--The Castle Lake.
VII.--Norma.
VIII.--In the Boudoir.
IX.--In the Boarding School.
X.--The Sisters.
XI.--In the Churchyard.
XII.--In the Citizen Assembly.
XIII.--At Mother Hecht's.
WITHERED LEAVES.
VOL. II.--ERRATA.
Page 109, line 20, for Nirwana read Nirvana.
" 154, " 12, for Niriwana read Nirvana.
" 183, " 1, for Arioste read Ariosto.
WITHERED LEAVES.
CHAPTER I.
THE FIRST MEETING.
"I had always been a dreamer, and an enthusiast," began Blanden, "and
even when at school I cherished bold designs; I would emigrate to
Madagascar, an island to which I had taken a peculiar fancy, and did
not deem it impossible there to win a crown for myself.
"I always remained aloof from the noisy amusements of my companions. I
loved solitude; a walk in the company of others was disagreeable to me;
all their conversations and songs seemed like desecration of nature,
which only reveals its beauty, its secrets to silent appreciation. But
when I wandered alone through meadows, even if only the cornfields of
my paternal estates, or lost myself in the woods--above me the rustling
oaks, beside me the roaring sea--a sensation often overcame me, of
which I was unable to give any account, which would not allow itself to
be put into words, without wiping away its mysterious magic as if it
were the coloured down of a butterfly's wings. I was persuaded that
this feeling was shared and understood by none; it was a kind of
religion of nature, but so fervent, that in it I believed to lose my
identity, that I felt as if my soul went forth into the vast universe,
as if the lisping breeze which stirred the branches and tops of the
trees were the spirit of the Divinity, the same spirit which also
animated the respirations of my bosom, and the feelings of my heart.
The evening crimson, when its glow faded away behind the summits, could
fill me with infinite emotion; a hot day which unfettered the spicy
breeze in field and forest, and which with darkening fragrance hovered
over the blue distance, could transport me into an ecstacy, as though
the fire of external nature glowed within my own veins.
"I studied the works of poets; I found nothing that would entirely have
expressed my sensations, and even in ancient religious writings and the
works of a later period, I found the indication of this feeling rather
than itself in its peculiarity.
"I might gather it from ambiguous symbols, but the language of my heart
it was not.
"I visited the university, nevertheless I remained faithful to my
solitary, dreamy tendency. I was never to be seen at the drinking
parties of our duelling clubs, although I attended their fencing
school; I learned to wield the blade bravely, and if any one disturbed
or ridiculed me, I demanded satisfaction of him. Dry knowledge
imprinted itself on my memory, yet it remained a stranger to my own
mental life. The philosophy of the lecture-room gave me no reply to
those questions of my soul; I followed their mathematical problems with
interest, but they did not touch that which laid hold of my inmost
feelings. The lecturer at that time was a highly esteemed master of the
art of thinking, yet he confined himself to the tangible, the palpable,
and my mind was devoted to the unfathomable.
"Would the world's secret let itself be put into set forms? Would it
not much rather disclose itself to inexpressible feelings? A nameless
longing took possession of me, to fathom the secret connection between
the world's spirit and my own, which at those moments of inspired views
had illumined my soul as with flashes of lightning, only to take refuge
again in the unattainable.
"It was the same supreme feeling that was peculiar to religious
fervour, and yet it lay so far removed from the ordinary circle of
conceptions in which believers moved. The daring idea of founding a new
religion, or at least of expounding in a new manner that which for
thousands of years had been the tradition of faith, often rose within
my soul; then--I started at this daring; was it not a lesser venture to
emigrate to Madagascar, than to discover a new world of religion?
"The ecstacies which Nature granted me, even as she appeared in the
Baltic country mostly void of charms, remained the same; I felt
inwardly related to her. On the other hand, Nature stood before me in
lofty estrangement in another form in woman. While stormy youth around
me had long since in daily pleasures denuded of its leaves that which
appeared to me the sacred crowning work of creation, I still
experienced a dread of and longing for it, as though for me it were
something unapproachable. I felt that for me one half of the world lay
in obscurity; like that hemisphere from which the sun is averted, it
lay as if bedded in the lap of sacred night, and an ambrosial magical
light seemed to flow from it. I shuddered, as through me passed a
nervous dread of that moment in which this dark world should move with
me into the bright sunshine of knowledge.
"Meanwhile I had terminated my studies. I had been industrious; dry law
released me from my internal struggles, from all disturbing trains of
thought. Even the most subtle distinctions of the Roman jurists in the
most difficult law questions, were enigmas which could be solved, and
my mind felt especial satisfaction when it had been successful in such
a solution. How totally different were those non-transparent secrets in
which neither thought nor feeling were ever entirely consumed.
"I passed my legal examination, and commenced my first employment in
the service of the State. With an adventure which had befallen me as
student a fatal complication in my life now became connected.
"One evening I had been walking along the Pregel. The light of the
declining sun swept the hollow-eyed warehouses, which were crowded
together in large quarters of the town, and hovered, dream-like, behind
the sails and masts of the ships which lay at anchor in that part of
the river where greater depth of water allowed them to do so. Farther
up, lay the heavily-freighted 'Wittinen,' and rafts which had come up
from Masuren, with their wooden huts. All were merry upon those
bast-covers, for these 'Dschimken,' who at home lived in mud hovels,
had been long enough sailing past pasturage and meadows on the river
bank to rejoice in their life here, at the end of their journey.
"Yonder, one of them in a sheepskin, with a straw hat upon his head, is
playing upon a fiddle with two strings; the light-hearted little people
danced upon the tree trunks bound together--dancers and spectators
clapped their hands; others crouched around a large kettle, out of
which they helped themselves with wooden spoons.
"Like all pleasures of the people, this merry scene, which might amuse
others, touched me. Not far from it, a picture of busy activity
attracted me; I saw how eagerly carpenters were at work upon the frame
of a ship that seemed to me to be of a peculiar form. Just as I came
near, they were about to cease their labours, laid their axes aside,
and went towards a man whose singular appearance, when I looked more
narrowly at him, made a strange impression upon me.
"He reminded me of the hermits of old; a long beard flowed down almost
to his girdle, thick black hair fell far down upon his shoulders, a
broad-brimmed hat covered his head. As he now turned sideways,
sharply-cut features showed themselves in the evening light; his tall
form was clad in Oriental fashion, in a garment that hung down to his
feet.
"Who was that remarkable man, who seemed to step out of the 'thousand
and one nights' into the sober life of the old royal Prussian town?
"He stood amidst a group that plainly belonged to the upper classes.
Two young women, apparently very graceful, also stood beside him. The
carpenters went towards him, and pressed his hand; the women had a
shake of the hand and a sweet smile for each. The workmen assembled
themselves behind the distinguished group, and soon the whole
procession set itself in motion.
"A carpenter, whom other business called away, had separated himself
from his companions, and went past me.
"'What kind of a ship is that which you are building over there?' asked
I of him.
"'It is the "Swan."'
"'And who christened it thus, and who has ordered it to be built?'
"'The Paraclete.'
"That sounded most mysterious.
"'Who is the Paraclete?'
"'The man yonder, with the long, dark hair; they call him so; he is a
minister, but no ordained one.'
"'But why does he build ships?'
"'It is to be a wonderful ship; he has often preached to us about it; a
kind of Noah's ark. We must have firm faith when we build it; then it
will be able to sail against wind and waves. And we believe, too, that
with each stroke of the axe we are doing a work that is pleasing to the
Lord.'
"'Is he a rich ship-owner?'
"'He himself does not own a farthing, but pious people give him as much
as he requires.'
"'Whither does the procession go?'
"'Yonder to the public-house. I shall soon follow, when I have seen to
my wife and child at home. He preaches over there, and it is wonderful
to hear everything that he says. You can go too, because he preaches to
all the world, and no one is excluded.'
"I followed the workman's invitation, and also went to the house inside
which the procession had disappeared. As it moved farther on, it had
increased like a caravan. Porters and sailors had joined it. They
filled a large room, evidently a dancing saloon. Above, on the gallery,
where at other times the musicians would be, the 'Paraclete' had taken
up his position; beside him sat his male and female companions.
"Who were the young women who went so dauntlessly into this district of
the lowest inhabitants, whose rudeness is usually avoided by all of
refined bringing up? Great must be their attachment to the prophet, and
the might of their faith, that enabled them to bid defiance to the wild
noise and to the odours of tobacco. Yet, in the latter, they seemed
only to perceive clouds of incense, which ascended to do homage to the
High Priest. Did they believe those times to be returned when prophets
moved amongst the lowly people, who alone possessed appreciation of the
seed that was scattered amongst them?
"I looked up at the chosen congregation that surrounded the preacher,
and was wonderfully struck with the charming grace of one youthful
face, which with its soft, gentle lines contrasted pleasantly with the
Paraclete's sharp features. Was it a girl or a young married woman? The
whole figure was full of girlish charm, yet a girl would hardly have
ventured into such a district. A transfiguring breath of enthusiasm lay
upon those noble features, large deep blue eyes gazed up at the
preacher with such trust, such confidence; it was as if the faith of an
entire devoted congregation were reflected in the glance of those eyes.
I looked again and ever again in that direction; I followed all her
movements with unwavering glances; she stood up, she walked to and fro,
apparently eagerly occupied with arrangements to render the preacher's
pulpit a more worthy one; she brought a cushion and placed it upon the
balustrade, she brought milk and fruit, for the minister scorned any
other nourishment--yes, she brought a footstool for his feet.
"This servile occupation which she devoted to the mysterious man
displeased me, but all the movements of her slender form were full of
such winning grace, and made an enrapturing impression upon me.
"I felt as if the divinity had been found for that altar which already
for long I had erected to 'woman,' and the dense clouds of tobacco
appeared to me to be the ambrosial firmament which hovers above a
Madonna.
"The preacher rose, and silence suddenly reigned in the assembly
hitherto so noisy.
"What he spoke was marvellous, but it attracted me; it was not the old
story that has so often been promulgated from a pulpit lulling all to
sleep, they were new doctrines, even although in the old garment. Was
my youthful dream of founding a new religion called into life by this
enthusiast?
"He did not speak like other men of views and convictions, nor like the
teachers of the Divine Word, of a traditionary faith. Everything had
been experienced inwardly by himself, he was a new mediator between God
and man. He had discovered the origin of all being, the two original
powers of creation, out of which all life flowed. The one was water:
plants draw their nourishment out of moisture, and every young shoot is
rich in this primordial power; but the other which gives form is light,
is warmth; those are the two original beings, the female and the male
which are necessarily and closely wedded.
"And with glowing fantasy the apostle described how the serpent of
light pants for the water of darkness, how seven-armed with
thousandfold arteries of rays it pours itself into the depths where the
element, dark as night, waits to receive it. They were poetical visions
in apocalyptic pictures; the people listened devoutly to the
incomprehensible, which, however, led a succession of gay, misty
pictures before their mental vision. The prophet himself spoke with
tongues of fire, and with the dauntlessness of a man in whom Heaven had
deposited the jewels of its revelations as in a sacred shrine. All the
time he stroked his long beard, divided it, and put it together again,
yet all was done with dignity and with self-complacency.
"When he sat down he refreshed himself with the milk which his graceful
companion handed to him.
"Two or three times more he rose, when the spirit moved him, and
immediately ceased the wild tumult, the buzz of voices at his feet.
"It might be about midnight when he retired with his companions. One of
these was evidently a minister whom the ladies had joined. The young
beauty passed close by me; was I mistaken, or did she smile pleasantly
at me? And was this smile one of approval of my demeanour and
appearance, or of pleasure that a young student also--for the Albertus
on my cap showed that I attended the Albertina--should have joined the
pious congregation that sat at the feet of the Heaven-sent preacher?
Never to be forgotten was the gracious smile, the nobility of form and
feature, the deep large eye.
"Like a dream, that beautiful woman glided past me, and years should
elapse ere I saw her again.
"I was too shy, too modest to ask about her; I should have expected to
destroy the dreamlike charm of that vision by any enquiries; yet
whenever afterwards I read the works of the poets, when Shakespeare's,
Goethe's, and Schiller's female figures stood before my mind, they
invariably borrowed her features. With such deep-blue eyes, Ophelia
scattered abroad her flowers, plucked to pieces, Juliet gazed upon her
Romeo, Gretchen lay upon her knees before the _mater dolorosa_. Woman
since then appeared more beautiful to me, but also loftier and more
unapproachable.
"Meanwhile I made enquiries about the new 'Paraclete' and learned much
of his life and doings; how he had wandered through Germany preaching
the Gospel of light and water, had here found enthusiastic disciples,
there was greeted with scorn, thrown down stairs, yes, had even been
locked up in a mad house.
"I also learned, when on one occasion I returned to the town after the
vacations, that the new Noah's ark had been released from the slip-way,
but had stranded against the first pillar of the bridge and been
capsized. The faith which could remove mountains was not able to bring
that ark into the sea.
"There it lay broken, ruined, and the jeers of the children of this
world exhausted themselves upon the evil which had befallen the sacred
'Swan.' All promises had been brought to shame!
"Just as sadly fared the prophet himself; he had so often announced
that he could not die, because he had once already been dead and now
lived the life of one who was regenerated; yet despite such
announcement his eyes were closed soon after that mishap.
"It was an unimportant piece of news for all my friends, it went to my
heart. I thought of the tears which that fair one who was bound to
him with such touching devotion, might have shed at the news of his
death--and tears rose to my eyes also."