Das landhaus am Rhein. English

by Berthold Auerbach

  CHAPTER VI.

  THE RECEPTION DAY.

  It was yet bright daylight here upon the mountain-height, when theyapproached the Wolfsgarten mansion. As they were making the last ascentthrough the park, a beautiful girl in a figured blue summer-suit stoodin the path between the green trees. Getting sight of the carriage, shequickly turned back again. Two light-blue ribbons, tied behind,according to the fashion, floated in the evening wind. Her step wasfirm and yet graceful.

  "Ah," said Pranken, "to-day we have hit upon my sister's collation-day.That pretty girl who turned about so quickly is the daughter of theJustice, freshly baked out of the oven of the convent of the 'SacredHeart' at Aix. You will find her a genuine child of the Rhine, and mysister has given her the appropriate name Musselina; there is in hersomething of perpetual summer. Through this warm-hearted child we arenow already announced to the company."

  While he was arranging his hair with his pocket-comb, he continued,--

  "The family is very respectable and highly esteemed; the little one istoo good to be trifled with; one must have an inferior kind to smoke inthe open air."

  Pranken suddenly became aware whom he was talking to, and immediatelyadded,--"So would our comrade, Don John Nipper, who was everlastinglybetting, express himself. Do you know that the wild fellow has now anaffection of the spine, and is wheeled about at Wiesbaden in a chair?"

  Pranken's whole manner changed; and springing with joyful elasticityout of the carriage, he reached out his hand to Eric, saying, "Welcometo Wolfsgarten!" Many carriages were standing in the court-yard, and inthe garden they found the ladies, who with fans and parasols sat uponhandsome chairs around a bed of luxuriantly-growing forget-me-nots, inthe centre of which was a red rhododendron in full bloom.

  "We are no peace-breakers; don't let us disturb you, good ladies,"cried out Pranken from a distance, in a jesting tone. Bella greeted herbrother, and then Eric, whom she recognised at once. The wife of theJustice and Fraeulein Lina were very happy to renew the acquaintance ofyesterday; then were introduced the district physician's wife andsister, the head-forester's wife and her mother, the apothecary's wife,the burgomaster's wife, the school-director's wife, and the wives ofthe two manufacturers. In fact, all the notabilities of the placeseemed to have assembled. The gentlemen had gone, it was said, to viewsome prospect not very far off, and would soon be back.

  The conversation was not very lively, and Eric's appearance awakenedinterest. The director's wife, a large striking figure--Bella calledher the lay figure, for she knew how to dress well, and everythingbecame her--raised her opera-glass and looked round upon the landscape,but took advantage of this survey to get a nearer look at Eric's face.The manner in which she then balanced the glass in her hand seemed tosay that she was not altogether displeased with the view.

  After the first question, how long it was since Eric had seen theRhine, and after he had informed them how everything had appeared undera new aspect, and had affected him almost to intoxication, he said itwas very pleasant to see the young ladies wearing wreaths of freshflowers and leaves upon their heads. To this he added the remark, thatthough it was natural and fitting for ladies to wear wreaths on theirheads, it was very comical when men, even on some rural excursion,allowed the black cylinder hat to be ornamented with a wreath by somefair hand.

  Insignificant as was the observation, the tone in which Eric uttered itgave peculiar pleasure, and the whole circle smiled in a friendlymanner; they at once felt that here was a person of original andsuggestive ideas.

  Bella knew how to bring out a guest in conversation. "Did not theGreeks and Romans, Captain," she asked, "wear badges of distinctionupon the head, while we, who plume ourselves so much about our hearts,wear ours upon the breast?" Then she spoke of an ancient wreath ofvictory she had seen at Rome, and asked Eric whether there weredifferent classes of wreaths. Without intending it Eric described thevarious kinds of crowns given to victory, and it excited much merrimentwhen he spoke of the wreath made of grass, which a general received whohad relieved a besieged city.

  The girls, who stood in groups at one side, made a pretence of callingout to a handsome boy playing at the fountain below, and sprang downthe little hill with flying garments. On reaching the fountain, theytroubled themselves no further about the little boy they had called to,but talked with one another about the stranger, and how interesting hewas.

  "He is handsomer than the architect," said the apothecary's daughter.

  "And he is even handsomer than Herr von Pranken," added Hildegard, theschool-director's daughter.

  Lina enjoyed the enviable advantage of being able to relate that shehad met him yesterday at the island convent; her father had rightlyguessed that he was of French descent, for his father had belonged tothe immigrating Huguenots, as his name indicated. The apothecary'sdaughter, who plumed herself highly upon her brother's being alieutenant, promised to obtain from him more definite information aboutthe captain.

  In her free way, Lina proposed that they should weave a garland andplace it unexpectedly on the bare head of the stranger. The wreath wasspeedily got ready, but no one of the girls, not even Lina, ventured tocomplete the strange proposal.

  Meanwhile Eric was sitting amidst the circle of ladies, and heexpressed his sincere envy of those persons who live among suchbeautiful natural scenery; they might not always be conscious of it,but it had a bracing influence upon the spirit, and there was a keensense of loss when removed into less interesting scenes. No oneventured to make any reply, until Bella remarked,--"Praise of thelandscape in which we live is a sort of flattery to us, as if weourselves, our dress, our house, or anything belonging to us, should bepraised."

  All assented, although it was not evident whether Bella had expressedapproval or disapproval. Then she asked Eric concerning his mother, andas if incidentally, but not without emphasis, alluded to the suddendeath of her brother, Baron von Burgholz. Those present knew now thatEric was of partially noble descent. Bella spoke so easily thatspeaking seemed a wholly secondary matter to her, while seeing andbeing seen were the things of real importance. She hardly moved afeature in speaking, scarcely even the lips, and only in smilingexhibited a full row of small white teeth.

  Bella knew that Eric was looking at her attentively while he spoke, andcomposedly as if she stood before a mirror, she offered her face to hisgaze. She then introduced Eric, in the most friendly way, to theagreeable head-forester's wife, a fine singer, asking at the same timeif he still kept up his singing; he replied that he had been for someyears out of practice.

  The evening was unusually sultry, and the air was close and hot overmountain and valley.

  A thunder storm was coming up in the distance. They discussed whetherthey should wait for the storm at Wolfsgarten or return homeimmediately. "If the gentlemen were only here to decide." The pleasantforester's lady confessed that she was afraid of a thunder storm.

  "Then you and your sister are in sympathy," said Eric.

  "O," said the sister, "I am not at all afraid."

  "Excuse me; I did not mean you, but the beautiful songstress dwellinghere in the thicket. Do you not notice that Mrs. Nightingale, who sangso spiritedly a few moments since, is now suddenly dumb?" All were verymerry over this remark, and now each told what she did with herselfduring a thunder storm.

  "I think," said Eric, "that we can find out not so much the character,as the vegetative life of the brain, the nervous temperament, as it iscalled, by observing the effect which a thunder storm has upon us. Weare so far removed from the life of nature, that when changes takeplace in the atmosphere that can be heard and seen, we are taken bysurprise, as if a voice should suddenly call to us out of the stillair, 'Attend! thou art walking and breathing in a world full ofmystery!'"

  "Ah, here come the gentlemen!" it was suddenly called out. Two handsomepointers springing into the garden went round and round Pranken's dog,who had been abroad, smelling at him inquiringly, as if they wo
uld getout of him the results of his experience. The men came immediatelyafter the dogs.

  Eric immediately recognised Count Clodwig, before his name wasmentioned. His fine, well-preserved person, the constant friendlinessof expression on his smoothly shaven, elderly face, as yetunwrinkled,--this could be no other than the Count Clodwig vonWolfsgarten; all the rest had grouped themselves around him as acentre, and exhibited a sort of deference, as if he were the prince ofthe land. He possessed two peculiar characteristics seldom foundtogether: he attracted love, and at the same time commanded homage; andalthough he never exhibited any aristocratic haughtiness, and treatedeach one in a friendly and kindly manner, it seemed only a matter ofcourse for him to take the lead.

  When Eric was introduced to him, his countenance immediately lightedup, every feature beaming with happy thoughts. "You are welcome; as theson of my Roman friend you have inherited my friendship," he said,pressing more closely with his left hand the spectacles over his eyes.

  His manner of speaking was so moderate and agreeable that he seemed tobe no stranger; while there was in the accent something so calmand measured, that any striking novelty was received from him assomething for which you were unconsciously prepared. He had alwaysthe same demeanor, a steady composure, and a certain deliberateness,never making haste, having always time enough, and preserving astraight-forward uprightness befitting an old man. When Eric expressedthe happiness it gave him to inherit the count's friendship towards hisfather, and that of the countess towards his mother, a still warmerfriendliness beamed from Clodwig's countenance.

  "You have exactly your father's voice," he said. "It was a hard stroketo me when I heard of his death, for I had thought of writing to himfor several years, but delayed until it was too late."

  When Eric was introduced now by Clodwig to the rest of the gentlemen,it seemed as if this man invested him with his own dignity. "Here Imake you acquainted with a good comrade," said Clodwig, with asignificant smile, whilst he introduced him to an old gentleman, havinga broad red face, and snow-white hair trimmed very close. "This is ourmajor--Major Grassler."

  The major nodded pleasantly, extending to Eric a hand to which theforefinger was wanting; but the old man could still press strongly thestranger's hand. He nodded again, but said nothing.

  The other gentlemen were also introduced by the count; one of these, ahandsome young man, with a dark-brown face and fine beard andmoustache, the architect Erhardt, took his leave directly, as he had anappointment at the limestone quarry. The school-director informed Ericthat he had been also a pupil of Professor Einsiedel.

  The major was called out of the men's circle by the ladies; they tookhim to task, the wife of the Justice leading off, for having left themand gone off with the gentlemen, while always before he had been veryattentive to the ladies, and their faithful knight. Now he was to makeamends.

  The major had just seated himself when the girls placed upon his whitehead the crown intended for Eric. He nodded merrily, and desired that amirror should be brought, to see how he looked. He pointed theforefinger of his left hand to Lina, and asked her if that was one ofthe things she learned at the convent.

  It soon became evident that the major was the target for shafts of wit,a position which some one in every society voluntarily must assume orsubmit to perforce. The major conferred upon his acquaintance morepleasure than he was aware of, for every one smiled in a friendly waywhen he was thought of or spoken about.

  A gust of wind came down over the plain; the flag upon the mansion waslowered; the upholstered chairs were speedily put under the covering ofthe piazza; and all had a feeling of comfort, as they sat sociablytogether in the well-lighted drawing-room, while the storm ragedoutside.

  For some time no other subject could be talked about than the storm.The major told of a slight skirmish in which he had been engaged in themidst of the most fearful thunder and lightning; he expressed himselfclumsily, but they understood his meaning, how horrible it was for themto be murdering each other, while the heavens were speaking. TheJustice told of a young fellow who was about to take a false oath, andhad just raised up his hand, when a sudden thunder-clap caused him todrop it, crying out, "I am guilty." The forester added laughing, that athunder storm was a very nice thing, as the wild game afterwards wasvery abundant. The school-director gave an exceedingly graphicdescription of the difficulty of keeping children in the school-roomoccupied, as one could not continue the ordinary instruction, and yetone did not know what should be done with them.

  All eyes were turned upon Eric as if to inquire what he had to say, andhe remarked in an easy tone,--"What here possesses the soul as a ragingstorm is down there, on the lower Rhine, and above there, in Alsace, adistant heat lightning which cools off the excessive heat of thedaytime. People sit there enjoying themselves in gardens and balconies,breathing in the pure air in quiet contemplation. I might say thatthere are geographical boundaries and distinct zones of feeling."

  Drawing out this idea at length, he was able to make them whollyforget the present. The forester's wife, who had been sitting in thedark in the adjoining room with her hand over her eyes, came into thedrawing-room at these words of Eric, which she must have heard, andseemed relieved of all fear.

  Eric spoke for a long time. Though his varied experience might havetaught him a different lesson, he still believed that people alwayswished to get something in conversation, to gain clearer ideas, and notmerely to while away the time. Hence, when he conversed, he gave outhis whole soul, the very best he had, and did not fear that behind hisback they would call his animated utterances pertness and vanity. Hehad a talent for society; even more than that, for he placed himself inthe position of him whom he addressed, and this one soon felt that Ericsaw farther than he himself did, and that he spoke not out ofpresumption, but out of benevolence.

  There is something really imposing in a man who clearly and fluentlyexpresses his ideas to other people; their own thought is brought tolight, and they are thankful for the boon. But most persons are imposedupon by the "Sir Oracle" who gives them to understand, "I am speakingof things which you do not and cannot comprehend;" and the Sir Oraclescarry so much the greater weight of influence.

  The men, and more particularly the Justice and the school-director,shrugged their shoulders. Eric's enthusiasm and his unreservedunfolding of his own interior life had in it something odd, evenwounding to some of the men. They felt that this strange manner, thisextraordinary revelation of character, this pouring out of one's best,was attractive to the ladies, and that they, getting in a wordincidentally and without being able to complete a thought, or round offa period, were wholly cast into the shade. The Justice, observing thebeaming eyes of his daughter and of the forester's wife, whispered tothe school-director, "This is a dangerous person."

  The company broke up into groups. Eric stood with Clodwig in thebow-window, and they looked out upon the night. The lightning flashedover the distant mountains, sometimes lighting up a peak in thehorizon, sometimes making a rift in the sky, as if behind it wereanother sky, while the thunder rolled, shaking the ceiling and tinklingthe pendent prisms of the chandelier.

  "There are circumstances and events which occur and repeat themselvesas if they had already passed before us in a dream," Clodwig began."Just as I now stand here with you, I stood with your father in theRoman Campagna. I know not how it chanced, but we spoke of that view inwhich the things of the world are regarded under the aspect of theinfinite, and then your father said,--methinks I still hear hisvoice,--'Only when we take in the life of humanity as a whole do wehave, as thinkers, that rest which the believers receive from faith,for then the world lives to us as to them, in the oneness of God'sthought. He who follows up only the individual ant cannot comprehendits zigzag track, or its fate as it suddenly falls into the hole of theant-lion, who must also get a living. But he who regards the anthill asa whole--'"

  Clodwig suddenly stopped. From the valley they heard the shrill whistleof the locomotive, and the hollow rumbling o
f the train of cars.

  "But at that time," he continued after a pause, and his face waslighted up by a sudden flash of lightning, "at that time nolocomotive's whistle broke in upon our quiet meditation."

  "And yet," said Eric, "I do not like to regard this shrill tone as adiscord."

  "Go on, I am curious to hear why not."

  "Is it not grand that human beings continue their ordinary pursuits inthe midst of nature's disturbances? In our modern age an unalterablesystem of movements is seen to be continually operating upon our earth.May it not be said that all our doing is but a preparation of the way,a making straight the path, so that the eternal forces of nature maymove in freedom? The man of this new age has the railroad to servehim."

  Clodwig grasped Eric's hand. Bright flashes of lightning illumined thebeaming face of the young man and the serene countenance of the oldcount. Clodwig pressed warmly Eric's hand, as if he would say, "Welcomeagain! now art thou truly mine." Love, suddenly taking possession oftwo hearts, is said to make them one; and is it not also true offriendship?

  It was so here. The two confronted each other, not with any foreboding,or excitement of feeling, but with a clear and firm recognition thateach had found his own choicest possession; they felt that theybelonged to each other, and it was entirely forgotten that they hadlooked into each other's eyes for the first time only a few momentsbefore. They had become united in the pure thought of the Eternal thathas no measure of time; they may have stood there speechless for a longtime after unclasping their hands; they were united, and they were onewithout the need of word, without external sign.

  In a voice full of emotion, as if he had a secret to reveal, which hecould hardly open his lips to utter, and yet which he must notwithhold, Clodwig said,--"In such storms I have often thought of thatformer period when the whole land from here to the Odenwald was a greatlake, out of which the mountain peaks towered as islands, until thewater forced for itself a channel through the wall of rock. And haveyou, my young friend, ever entertained the thought that chaos may comeagain?"

  "Yes, indeed; but we cannot transport ourselves into the pre-human orpost-human period. We can only fill out, according to our strength, ourallotted time of three score years and ten." The major now came andinvited them to go into the inner saloon, where the company hadassembled. Clodwig again stroked softly Eric's hand, saying, "Will youcome?" Like two lovers who have just given a secret kiss and anembrace, they rejoined the company. No one suspected why theircountenances were so radiant.