Carl Gottlieb Samuel Heun

“ On horseback a new charm was diffused over this extraordinary girl. On the brink of the most frightful precipices, along which the animal, accustomed to these romantic tracks, cautiously proceeded with his lovely burden, Mimili sat with perfect negligence and ease, as though flying over abysses of such tremendous depth that the eye could not discover the bottom. If the beast were to make but one false step, the angelic girl must inevitably perish. ”

“ I feel perfectly easy; the night of death has for me no terrors. The Alps will soon glow, and the sun, the moon, and the stars, shine far—far beneath me; and I shall rejoin my dear mother and my William, and on his bosom enjoy the transports of love to all eternity. Amen! amen!’ added she faintly, folding her hands, and dissolving in tears.”
“Amen! amen!” I repeated, not with dry eyes, after the lovely sufferer, and dispatched my letter, with the melancholy intelligence of the death of my gallant friend to Mimili’s worthy neighbour. ”

“ I have never yet had the happiness of entertaining one of your nation. You are the first to afford me that gratification. Share with us such as we have. We shall make no stranger of you; but while you stay here, we shall consider you as one of the family. Mimili, let us have the best that the kitchen and cellar can furnish: I will enjoy myself to-night with you, and talk, over a glass of wine, about the important events in which, as that cross shows, you have borne a part. ”

“ That which has life perishes; that which has not, endures for ever. Such is the pleasure of Him whom short-sighted mortals name the Father of Love. Yon cold glaciers have beheld for thousands of years the omnipotence of the Eternal, and will subsist for thousands of years to come in their awful magnificence; but the faithful heart of my noble William beats no more. ”

“ Why should we not be as well acquainted with the plants and grasses of our pastures, as the girls of your country with those which grow in your fields? No sooner is the snow gone than they all shoot up here vigorously.—But come along a little higher. You have not there the blue-bell of the Alps, Soldanella Alpina, which flowers even upon the snow, and the Crocus vernus beneath it. These are fond of a cool situation; for when the snow melts, they fade and go off too. Both always appear to me like infants who die at the mother’s breast. The air of the earth is too heavy for them ”

“ I suppose I had ventured a step beyond the line, for I cannot recollect exactly what I had done, owing to the powerful effect of the wine I had taken, when she caught hold of both my hands, pressed them to her bosom, and said, in a tone that might have melted the everlasting mountains which towered above us, “Don’t behave so; I am but a weak girl, and you are a strong man, with whom my father has trusted his maiden.” Throwing her left arm round me, she pressed the Iron Cross to her lips with the right, as the superstitious, when in imminent danger, would an amulet. ”

“ I could not conceal my surprise at her knowledge.
“You must not banter me, sir,” said she bashfully, “or I shall hold my tongue.”
“Ah Mimili! speak on,” cried I, kissing her hand, which lay within my arm. “I could listen to you for a day together, while you are talking of your Alps.”
“Don’t you think our mountains beautiful?” she again began, in her former friendly tone. “You should stay here always. I fancy I should not like any spot in the whole world as I do our own. It must be very disagreeable to live in a flat country. ”

“ Whoever has been in Switzerland must be acquainted with the theatrical costume of the damsels of the Alps. When I first entered the canton of Berne, and beheld the fanciful dresses of the Swiss girls, I was ready to imagine that some friend had played me a trick, and sent the most beautiful of their sex, arrayed after the elegant fashion of some tender idyl, to make me believe that I had found the Arcadian scenes of my youthful reveries. By degrees I became accustomed to the pleasing reality ”

“ The whole atmosphere was an ocean of perfumes, wafted from innumerable flowers of all colours around us; the crystal stream murmured at our feet; there was not a human eye in the whole valley to overlook us; and the umbrageous roof formed over our heads by the overarching boughs of the venerable walnut-tree was so thick, that the sun himself could not peep through it. ”

“ I carried her net, and we returned, laughing and joking, to the old man, who was amused by our frolics, and seemed to survey with peculiar complacency the lovely figure of the blooming girl.
Mimili hastened into the house to prepare supper. “How much you are to be envied the possession of such a daughter!” said I, observing the silent rapture with which his eyes hung upon her.
“Indeed, sir,” replied he, “a man who has such a child may well be envied. She is my only joy and my only pride. ”

“ He has blessed my Alps, so that, were even Mimili to give me a son-in-law without a shilling, there would still be sufficient here to maintain both. I have always clung with peculiar fondness to the idea that Mimili would abide with me in my declining years, and close my eyes: you overthrow my plan; for the wife ought to follow the husband, and I cannot expect you to remain here, for you belong to your country and your king. Still I am ready to sacrifice the dearest wishes of my heart; when I am satisfied that God hath chosen you for my girl, I will not stand in the way of your happiness. ”

“ A good son ought always to obey a good father. Let a hundred suitors solicit the maiden’s hand,—if Mimili loves me as dearly—no, that she never can—if she loves me but half as dearly as I love her, I need not be afraid of the result. ”

“ In your country there are excellent people, whom I love and respect, and who will no doubt be kind to Mimili. I will visit you there; you shall come hither, and bring my grandchildren along with you; and thus our parting will not be so painful as it would otherwise prove. And when I am no more, and you are grown older, and your strength declines, so that you can no longer be useful to your country, then you and Mimili may settle here with your family, and calmly await your last hour, because I should not like my Alps to be transferred to strangers ”

“ When I rose in the morning, Mimili was already gone; whether to her mountains, her cows, her fish, her doves, or her flowers, I cannot tell. I was glad of it, for I was in a very serious mood, and she would only have disturbed me with her playful pranks. I was arranging in my mind the harangue which I should address to the old man to solicit the hand of his daughter. ”

“ A narrow footpath led us farther up the valley, on either side of which, as we advanced, the descending torrents formed waterfalls. My aim was to approach this evening so near to the Jungfrau as to obtain a good view of that majestic mountain. My guide promised, if I was a good climber, to take me to a herdsman’s hut, from which I should have the best view of the Jungfrau in all the country round. We accordingly quitted the valley, and ascended a noble Alp. Here and there we met herdsmen with milk-vessels at their backs, going down to the lower grounds to milk their cows. ”

“ Leaving my companion, who was not well, at Unterseen, I pursued my route on the day of our arrival there. My guide was a stout, active fellow. We ascended, with rapid step, along the bank of the foaming Lutschine, which winds between rocks of immense height, first to Matten, past the ruins of Unspunnen and Wilderswyl; then continuing our course along the impetuous torrent which ran on our left, whilst on the right we had almost perpendicular rocks, some bare, others covered with wood. The ravine gradually became darker and narrower, and the country assumed a wilder appearance. ”

“ He again replenished the glasses, and proposed my health; but Mimili declared she would not drink it till I had promised to stay at least a week with them. “You are the man for my father,” added she; “I have not seen him for a long time so happy as he is to-night.”
“Don’t talk of a week, Mimili,” said the old man: “if this gentleman should like to stay longer than that with us, surely you would not forbid him. When people are happy in each other’s company, they ought never to talk about parting.
My intimation that I should set out early next morning was rejected as wholly inadmissible. ”

“ If God grants me life, I will be with you again in a year; then Mimili may decide in your presence and your good neighbour’s, as befits a free Swiss girl. Will you promise this?”
The old man silently nodded assent, and gave me his hand.
“Now,” continued I, “it is impossible for me to conceal from her how matters stand between us: a man ought not to have any secrets with the female to whom he purposes to consign his happiness, his children, and himself. ”

“ Before I reached Lauterbrunn, I was met by a number of poor boys, who solicited charity in so persuasive a manner that it was impossible to refuse them. “I am a very poor boy,” was the usual cry of these urchins, while extending their little hands; and as soon as they had received a trifle, they gratefully offered themselves for all sorts of services; but they particularly vied with each other in offers to show me the finest places in their valley.
In the French towns you are beset in every street by boys who importune strangers with offers to conduct them to the haunts of vice. ”

“ As I walked along by her side, another of those frolicsome zephyrs overtook us, and, more audacious than his brethren in the valley, he seemed determined to play his wanton pranks with Mimili’s plaited petticoat. “Come up to me,” said she, “for I shall sit better”—a mere pretext to prevent me from seeing any more of the freaks of the amorous wind. I accordingly sprang up behind her, and we proceeded merrily home. I laid all the blame of my offence on the fiery Corteillod. “Oh,” replied she, laughing, “there is a remedy for that! Drink water! We have the finest in the world, and plenty of it ”

“ The herdsman was poor, like all the rest of his class. He offered me clean hay for a bed and milk and cheese for supper. I thanked him, and hastened out of the hut, that I might not lose for a moment, while it was daylight, the exquisite enjoyment which Nature here presented. I sat down on the flowery turf, and revelled in the delightful contemplation of the wonderful works of the Almighty Hand.
The Jungfrau stood in all its magnificence before me. Beside and beyond it rose the Mittaghorn, the Tchingelhorn, the Ebenflue, and other gigantic mountains ”

“ Owing to the slightest concussion of the air, frequently to the mere tinkling of the bells of the pack-horses, one of these tremendous masses is detached, carries away all before it, buries houses and villages, dashes rocks in pieces, overthrows the strongest walls, and squeezes up woods of the most ancient larch-trees, like a handful of toothpicks. ”

“ Her head, covered with dark curly locks, was shaded by a large Leghorn hat, adorned by a bunch of wild flowers; and two light blue ribands floated loosely from the broad brim down to her hips. Her large blue eye bespoke the sweetest disposition, childlike simplicity, and innocent love. ”

“ Mimili looked stedfastly at me, and laughed. “Surely you must have lost your wits, sir,” cried she. “What could you do with a silly girl from the Alps in your fine city? What would your generous maids and matrons say, if you were to carry home one who has done nothing—nothing at all, for your king and country—one who is not acquainted with your ways and manners—one who knows nothing but her love to you. Here you like me because you see no others: but wait till you get home ”

“ I will show you a valley and two glaciers that are not to be matched in the whole country.”
I gave her my arm, and we ascended. She climbed the steepest places with the greatest agility. Her cheeks were suffused with a higher glow, and her bosom heaved quicker. It became cooler as we advanced, for we had not much higher to mount to the snow, which still covered the summit of the Alp. ”

“ When you are gone—but perhaps it is wrong for me to tell you, and yet there is no harm in it, and it seems to me as if you ought to know all I think and feel—when you are gone, I shall have nothing worth living for. ”

“ In a few weeks the year will be at an end; every thing is prepared and arranged; the maiden is waiting for him with throbbing heart, and instead of hastening into the arms of love, he marches away against the French banditti: no, Mimili—to be quite plain with you, I don’t approve his conduct.’
“‘Do you suppose, Mrs. Trini,’ replied she, eyeing my wife with evident displeasure, that William could have acted otherwise than he did? When the whole nation again rose with one accord; when the high and the mighty girt on their swords, to chastise the rebel crew with whom God himself is wroth ”

“ Oh, I am rich! Only think, I have six-and-thirty cows; each cow produces yearly two hundred weight of cheese, which sells for at least ten crowns the hundred weight. My Alp always supplies my cows with fresh grass in summer, and more hay than they want in winter; and this is all that I need care about. Have you any mountains in your country? ”

“ Here the innocent children of the herdsmen were desirous to show me the magnificence of their peaceful valleys. Each of these boys had his favourite place: one would have shown me this, another that; and had I accepted all their invitations, I should not have done with them at this day.
At Lauterbrunn I observed several clever carvers in wood, seated at the doors of their cottages, and making the neatest articles of maple, which are sold far and wide; particularly milk-bowls, milk-ladles, and butter-knives. ”

“ This, sir, is what I have already been thinking; only I am not sure that you are the man whom God has destined for my girl. Mimili has never seen any one but you. Perhaps it is on this account that she loves you. Go, therefore, in peace. There are in our canton and in those adjoining to it many young men of respectable families, to one or the other of whom I could have no objection as a suitor for the maiden. I will consult my old neighbour on the matter; Mimili shall have opportunities of seeing and becoming acquainted with them ”