CHAPTER XI. WHEREIN THE READER IS MADE SPECTATOR WITH THE ENGLISHFAIRIES OF THE SCENES AND BEINGS THAT ARE BENEATH THE EARTH.
DURING the heat of next day's noon, Fayzenheim took the English visitorsthrough the cool caverns that wind amidst the mountains of the Rhine.There, a thousand wonders awaited the eyes of the fairy queen. I speaknot of the Gothic arch and aisle into which the hollow earth formsitself, or the stream that rushes with a mighty voice through the darkchasm, or the silver columns that shoot aloft, worked by the gnomes fromthe mines of the mountains of Taunus; but of the strange inhabitantsthat from time to time they came upon. They found in one solitarycell, lined with dried moss, two misshapen elves, of a larger size thancommon, with a plebeian working-day aspect, who were chatting noisilytogether, and making a pair of boots: these were the Hausmannen ordomestic elves, that dance into tradesmen's houses of a night, and playall sorts of undignified tricks. They were very civil to the queen,for they are good-natured creatures on the whole, and once had manyrelations in Scotland. They then, following the course of a noisyrivulet, came to a hole from which the sharp head of a fox peeped out.The queen was frightened. "Oh, come on," said the fox, encouragingly, "Iam one of the fairy race, and many are the gambols we of the brute-elvesplay in the German world of romance." "Indeed, Mr. Fox," said theprince, "you only speak the truth; and how is Mr. Bruin?" "Quite well,my prince, but tired of his seclusion; for indeed our race can dolittle or nothing now in the world; and lie here in our old age,telling stories of the past, and recalling the exploits we did in ouryouth,--which, madam, you may see in all the fairy histories in theprince's library."
"Your own love adventures, for instance, Master Fox," said the prince.
The fox snarled angrily, and drew in his head.
"You have displeased your friend," said Nymphalin.
"Yes; he likes no allusions to the amorous follies of his youth. Did youever hear of his rivalry with the dog for the cat's good graces?"
"No; that must be very amusing."
"Well, my queen, when we rest by and by, I will relate to you thehistory of the fox's wooing."
The next place they came to was a vast Runic cavern, covered with darkinscriptions of a forgotten tongue; and sitting on a huge stone theyfound a dwarf with long yellow hair, his head leaning on his breast, andabsorbed in meditation. "This is a spirit of a wise and powerful race,"whispered Fayzenheim, "that has often battled with the fairies; but heis of the kindly tribe."
Then the dwarf lifted his head with a mournful air; and gazed upon thebright shapes before him, lighted by the pine torches that the prince'sattendants carried.
"And what dost thou muse upon, O descendant of the race of Laurin?" saidthe prince.
"Upon TIME!" answered the dwarf, gloomily. "I see a River, and its wavesare black, flowing from the clouds, and none knoweth its source. Itrolls deeply on, aye and evermore, through a green valley, which itslowly swallows up, washing away tower and town, and vanquishing allthings; and the name of the River is TIME."
Then the dwarf's head sank on his bosom, and he spoke no more.
The fairies proceeded. "Above us," said the prince, "rises one of theloftiest mountains of the Rhine; for mountains are the Dwarf's home.When the Great Spirit of all made earth, he saw that the hollows of therocks and hills were tenantless, and yet that a mighty kingdom and greatpalaces were hid within them,--a dread and dark solitude, but lighted attimes from the starry eyes of many jewels; and there was the treasure ofthe human world--gold and silver--and great heaps of gems, and a soilof metals. So God made a race for this vast empire, and gifted them withthe power of thought, and the soul of exceeding wisdom, so that theywant not the merriment and enterprise of the outer world; but musingin these dark caves is their delight. Their existence rolls away in theluxury of thought; only from time to time they appear in the world, andbetoken woe or weal to men,--according to their nature, for they aredivided into two tribes, the benevolent and the wrathful." While theprince spoke, they saw glaring upon them from a ledge in the upper rocka grisly face with a long matted beard. The prince gathered himself up,and frowned at the evil dwarf, for such it was; but with a wild laughthe face abruptly disappeared, and the echo of the laugh rang with aghastly sound through the long hollows of the earth.
The queen clung to Fayzenheim's arm. "Fear not, my queen," said he. "Theevil race have no power over our light and aerial nature; with men onlythey war; and he whom we have seen was, in the old ages of the world,one of the deadliest visitors to mankind."
But now they came winding by a passage to a beautiful recess in themountain empire; it was of a circular shape of amazing height; in themidst of it played a natural fountain of sparkling waters, and around itwere columns of massive granite, rising in countless vistas, till lostin the distant shade. Jewels were scattered round, and brightly playedthe fairy torches on the gem, the fountain, and the pale silver, thatgleamed at frequent intervals from the rocks. "Here let us rest," saidthe gallant fairy, clapping his hands; "what, ho! music and the feast."
So the feast was spread by the fountain's side; and the courtiersscattered rose-leaves, which they had brought with them, for the princeand his visitor; and amidst the dark kingdom of the dwarfs brokethe delicate sound of fairy lutes. "We have not these evil beings inEngland," said the queen, as low as she could speak; "they rouse myfear, but my interest also. Tell me, dear prince, of what nature was theintercourse of the evil dwarf with man?"
"You know," answered the prince, "that to every species of living thingthere is something in common; the vast chain of sympathy runs throughall creation. By that which they have in common with the beast of thefield or the bird of the air, men govern the inferior tribes; theyappeal to the common passions of fear and emulation when they tame thewild steed, to the common desire of greed and gain when they snarethe fishes of the stream, or allure the wolves to the pitfall by thebleating of the lamb. In their turn, in the older ages of the world, itwas by the passions which men had in common with the demon race that thefiends commanded or allured them. The dwarf whom you saw, being of thatrace which is characterized by the ambition of power and the desireof hoarding, appealed then in his intercourse with men to the samecharacteristics in their own bosoms,--to ambition or to avarice. Andthus were his victims made! But, not now, dearest Nymphalin," continuedthe prince, with a more lively air,--"not now will we speak of thosegloomy beings. Ho, there! cease the music, and come hither all of ye,to listen to a faithful and homely history of the Dog, the Cat, theGriffin, and the Fox."
The Pilgrims of the Rhine Page 37