Stories by Foreign Authors: German (V.2)

om, 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 r

he meant by such disgraceful conduct. He drew back a couple of steps, and coolly answered: "Count Peter, may I beg mos

a servant could dare to behave so towards his master. He interrupted me by saying, quite coolly, "A se

"But, Rascal, my good fellow, who can have put such

rrupted me in

. In short, let me see your sh

d recourse to the all-powerful influence of gold. But even gold had lost its power-

e then slowly left the room, whistling a tune. I st

entered by the shady arbor, which had received the name of Count Peter's arbor, where we had appointed to meet. The mother advanced with a cheerfu

tering 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 brea

f excellent character and

. "And supposing I myse

passionately; "he

arms, who, convulsively clasping her to her bosom, reproached her for having so long, to her hurt, kept such a secret. B

s, to deceive both her and me; and you pretended to love her, forsooth!-her whom you have

can do very well without; and really it is not worth the while to make all this noise about such a trifle." Feeling the groundlessn

ger, in great wrath-"be pleased to e

od so rudely on my shadow that he tore a large hole in it. I sent it to b

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

y, she clung still closer to her mother, who made a sign for me to w

y through the neighboring woods and meadows. Drops of anguish fell from m

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 t

He was right-I had made a mistake of a day. I felt in my bo

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 o

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 b

eplied: "Excuse me, si

exclaimed;

a hazardous thing to excha

ge for this infinitely minute quantity, this galvanic principle, this polarized 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 accomp

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 gray 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

Perhaps, another time, I may be more fortunate. Farewell! May we shortly meet again! But, a

ery 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 st

lence; but I turned away from him,

and without any disputing, to restore my property. Instead of a reply, the gray 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 gray man, as if accu

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 sati

tartled 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 sea

airy fugitive, solely excited by the hope of being delivered from my present

hin 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

ssessor, 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 th

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, h

a pretext; and in order to dissipate every idea of the kind, I hastened on, regardless of the unhappy man, whose fearful

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 al

on, 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 cas

ogether 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 arbor, 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 honorable 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 la

o 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 fr

sing, the gray-coated man looke

llid face. She seated herself in the chair which had been placed for her under the lime trees, and her father took a stoo

e 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 s

earth, and that she was entirely at her father's disposal. Rascal was therefore immediately sent

u no blood in your veins?" He instantly pricked my finger, which bled. "Yes, positively," he