Glumdalclitch

“ I heard Glumdalclitch give a shriek at the moment he was carrying me out. The poor girl was almost distracted. That quarter of the palace was all in an uproar; the servants ran for ladders; the monkey was seen by hundreds in the court, sitting upon the ridge of a building, holding me like a baby in one of his fore-paws: whereat many of the rabble below could not forbear laughing; neither do I think they justly ought to be blamed, for without question, the sight was ridiculous enough to everybody but myself. Some of the people threw up stones, hoping to drive the monkey down ”

“ Glumdalclitch wrapped it up in her handkerchief and carried it home in her pocket, to keep among other trinkets, of which the girl was very fond, as children at her age usually are.
The king's kitchen is indeed a noble building, vaulted at top, and about six hundred feet high. The great oven is not so wide by ten paces as the cupola at St. Paul's, for I measured the latter on purpose after my return. But if I should describe the kitchen-grate, the prodigious pots and kettles, the joints of meat turning on the spits, with many other particulars, perhaps I should be hardly believed ”

“ She was very good-natured, and not above forty feet high, being small for her age. She gave me the name [283] of Grildrig, meaning mannikin. I called her my Glumdalclitch, or little nurse.
She was not above forty feet high
It soon began to be known in the neighborhood that my master had found in the field a tiny animal shaped exactly like a human creature, which seemed to speak in a little language of its own, had already learned several words of theirs, walked erect on two legs, was tame and gentle, and would come when it was called. ”

“ And as he was hanging the flask to his belt again, he saw a little dog lying on the rocks, gasping for breath,—just as Hans had seen it on the day of his ascent. And Gluck stopped and looked at it, and then at the Golden River, not five hundred yards above him; and he thought of the dwarf's words, "that no one could succeed, except in his first attempt"; and he tried to pass the dog, but it whined piteously, and Gluck stopped again. "Poor beastie," said Gluck, "it'll be dead when I come down again, if I don't help it." ”

“ Thou married Paul Glumm, and it is well known he and thee were not always in the same mind, for thou loved company and he loved quiet. Then Glumm took thee to the Skoolfiord, where there were none at the station but thee and he. Thou knowest how thou rebelled at that, and how often thou could be found in thy father’s house. Suddenly Glumm takes a sickness, and when a doctor sees him there is little hope, and after three days he dies. Then thou art back at Lerwick again, quick enough, and in a few weeks thou hast plenty of lovers. ”

“ In the man, the baron recognized his tenant Wilhelm, one of those who had been with him to beg for indulgence on the previous day.
The keen features, and bones almost starting through the pallid skin, showed how heavily the hand of hunger had been laid upon all.
The cold night wind moaned and whistled through the many flaws in the ill-glazed, ill-thatched tenement, and rustled over the sleepers, who shivered even in their sleep.
"Ha, baron!" said the goblin, "death is breathing in their faces even now, you see; it is hardly worth while to lay them to sleep in the snow, is it? ”

“ The next morning early the Freiherr sent to Klausenburg for Otto, who made his appearance without delay.
"It is terrible to be persecuted by misfortune as I am," he said to himself, as he went up-stairs. "Every stupidity I commit comes to the old man's ears, and he instantly falls foul of me. And what have I done, after all? I should like to know whether Johann Leopold and Waldemar have not had their escapades too? ”

“ The lonely ride did her good. The weight that had of late oppressed her heart, the vague sensation of estrangement between Otto and herself, vanished in the bright fulness of life that encompassed her here in the forest on every hand. She thirstily drank eager draughts of the pungent air exhaled in the sunshine by the drenched earth; she listened delightedly when amid the humming, buzzing, twittering, and chirping around her she distinguished the merry song of the finch, the call of the wild dove, or the shrill, exultant note of the black thrush as it echoed through the woods. ”

“ Otto had grown pale. He seemed to wish to speak, but only breathed heavily and hung his head.
Aunt Thekla felt impelled to interfere. "Dear Johann, I entreat you——" she began in a trembling voice.
The Freiherr interrupted her. "Hush, Thekla; you understand nothing about it," he said, harshly.
But she was not to be intimidated. "What will become of the poor boy?" she asked, softly.
"You are right,—the poor boy!" the Freiherr exclaimed, with a scornful laugh. "It is strange that such fellows can always wheedle you women. ”

“ Hark! a heavy tread, beneath which the snow yields. Every footfall goes straight to Grettir's heart. A crash on the turf overhead! By all the saints in paradise! The monster is treading on the roof. For one moment the chimney-gap is completely darkened: Glámr is looking down it; the flash of the red ash is reflected in the two lustreless eyes. Then the moon glances sweetly in once more, and the heavy tramp of Glámr is audibly moving towards the farther end of the hall. A thud—he has leaped down. Grettir feels the board at his back quivering, for Thorhall is awake and is trembling in his bed. ”

“ Johann Leopold lay still, staring before him, while Johanna contemplated him with compassion. His sunken temples, his neglected beard, his haggard eyes, made him still look very ill.
"Red Jakob,—what do you know of him?" he asked at last.
"I asked Ludwig—Dr. Werner, I mean—to take your place there," she replied. "You can depend upon him——"
"I know that," he interrupted her. "Well, what does he think?—how is Jakob?"
"Not well; Ludwig thinks his arm will always be useless."
"I thought so," said the sick man. "Does Christine know it?"
"Yes; I wrote her about it," Johanna made answer. ”

“ If you would lighten my task, my dear Ludwig, remain the connecting link between my past and present. Let me inform you as to my life, and let me hear from you of your work, your plans for the future. However dissatisfied you may be with what I am now, it cannot affect the past,—I mean our childhood. Do you not remember how I always from the first sought and found protection with you from Mathilde's tyranny? ”

“ I have been here an hour."
"Do not be angry with me," she begged. "Since, on grandpapa's account, I could not ask my people to the castle, I drove with them to Remmingen."
"Your people?" he repeated, sharply. "Do not forget, my dear Johanna, that your people are to be found only among the Dönninghausens. Whoever does not belong to us is nothing to you."
"Otto, I have a sister!" she exclaimed, half angry, half wounded.
"The child of an equestrienne can be nothing to you."
"She is and always must be the child of my father. Moreover, my step-mother is not an equestrienne. ”

“ In her affectionate folly she has undertaken the hardest task herself. She could not feign and lie; she preferred to renounce and to labour. Foolish she has been, and stubborn, but her heart is of gold,—a true, genuine Dönninghausen!"
After these words he paced the room to and fro once or twice, and then, pausing before Ludwig, asked, "Doctor, when does your train start for Hanover? I shall go with you, and bring the child home."
Aunt Thekla raised her hand in entreaty: "Dear Johann, travel at this season! You cannot be in earnest!"
And Johann Leopold begged, "Pray let me go, sir!" ”

“ Magelone repeated to herself, casting an expressive look upwards, while the Freiherr added, "You said lately that you were about to write a book; do it here."
"Thank you, Herr von Dönninghausen," Ludwig replied; "but I could find no leisure here for writing. Good work must be done among those who work too."
The Freiherr tossed his head. "There we have the arrogance of the scholar," he said, and his eyes flashed beneath his bent brows. "Do you mean to imply that I do not work?" ”

“ The old Freifräulein confided to my father that the purchase of the jewels is a mere pretence. The Freiherr has parted with you; but he cannot endure to think of you, without means, exposed to the vicissitudes of life. His pride will not allow him openly to offer you a helping hand, and yet he feels it his duty to support you. Meet him half-way."
"Impossible!" Johanna declared.
He was silent for a while. "Pray do not let this be your final decision," he entreated. "Reflect; think how long and sad the life has been that has made your grandfather so hard, and be you all the gentler. ”

“ I have made great sacrifices to my convictions, and I feel that I have thereby purchased the right, so long as my eyes are open to the light, to provide for Dönninghausen according to the dictates of my reason and my conscience. If you think I do too much—well, I must endure that reproach."
The old lady went up to her brother. "Dear Johann," she said, laying her hand upon his arm, "how can you suppose that any one of us would reproach you? We know that you always do what is best, and we thank you from our hearts."
"That I don't believe, neither is it necessary," the Freiherr interrupted her. ”

“ And you, Johanna,"—his tone grew louder and sharper,—"you have proved to me that you do not possess a spark of filial piety. Family jewels like your grandmother's bridal parure are not to be thrown away for the sake of such a scoundrel."
Otto started forward. "Sir," he cried, "pray control yourself. I am an officer——"
"You have been an officer," the Freiherr corrected him. "To-morrow morning you will hand in your resignation. The man who forfeits his word as you have done can no longer wear the king's uniform; or do you dare deny that you have been gambling again?" ”

“ When Magelone and Otto, who had been taking leave of the guests, came up the stairs chatting gayly, they were confronted by Aunt Thekla and Johanna.
"Do you not know," the old lady asked, "that your grandfather is here?"
"The deuce he is! Then I'm off!" cried Otto.
"It would be just like you!" the Freiherr called out in tones of thunder from the threshold of the drawing-room door, where his tall figure appeared at this moment. "Falsehood and cowardice belong together. But come in; I wish to speak with you all." ”

“ I cannot at the eleventh hour be false to what has been my principle of action during my life." And after a pause, he said, more gently, "We must submit, Thekla. Solitude is the sad dowry of age. We no longer understand the young, nor do they understand us."
But the Freiherr did not find it easy to practise the submission which he enjoined upon his sister. Long as he had been deprived of Otto's and Magelone's presence, he felt really separated from them only when he could no longer hope to see them vindicate, according to his ideas, the honour of the family. ”

“ I have something to say to you," the Freiherr ordered, as he turned to leave the room. Johann Leopold changed colour; the Freiherr noticed it, and the veins in his forehead began to swell. "Why do you turn so pale?" he asked, angrily. "Do me the favour to sit down, or I shall have you fainting away shortly. You are ill, nervous, and must be treated cautiously, Thekla says. Deuce take it! Brace yourself, my lad, and cheer up! The heir of Dönninghausen must not go lagging about like an hysterical girl!" ”

“ Hedwig whispered to her discomfited sister, "Rather awkward of you, my dear." Otto asked his brother-in-law, Karl, how he could allow Hildegard to display such want of tact, and was answered by a shrug of the shoulders, whilst Aunt Thekla tried to dispel every one's embarrassment by reminding them that it was time to make ready for church.
"Come, let us go together!" said Magelone, putting her arm through Johanna's and leaving the room with her. "Let me entreat you not to look so grieved," she went on. "Don't let that stupid woman vex you; you know how the others love you." ”

“ Since you vowed fidelity to your lover before his death, I respected your vow, much as it went against the grain with me."
"Dear Johann, will you not likewise respect the desire of Johann Leopold's heart?" asked Aunt Thekla.
The Freiherr turned short and stood before her. "Has the lad complained,—taken refuge behind a petticoat——?"
"Not at all," his sister interposed. "He has not said a word; I heard it from Magelone. And I know Johann Leopold's heart; I know that he has not yet recovered Albertine's loss."
"Nonsense!" cried the Freiherr. "It is his duty, as the heir, to marry. ”

“ Then Otto comes to Dönninghausen, and, in spite of the formality which is the rule here, there are sure to be opportunities for delightful tête-à-têtes in the linden avenue, on the terrace, or, as yesterday, when it rained, in a window-recess of the drawing-room, while my grandfather and Aunt Thekla were playing piquet and Magelone was seated at the piano. Then we can talk freely of all that life has brought us to make us what we are, and look forward to a future which seems almost too rich in blessings! No, Ludwig, it is positively wicked to ask for more ”

“ Indeed, dear Johann, you must forbid her riding so much."
"Nonsense!" cried the Freiherr. "What has riding to do with it? You women could not exist without your headaches. Johanna is following the fashion. But what the deuce is the matter with you, lad?" he blurted out, turning to Otto, half laughing, half vexed. "Letting every dish pass you untasted, and looking like——have you a headache out of pure sympathy? Don't drive me altogether wild!"
Otto tried to control himself; but Aunt Thekla's suspicions had been aroused and would not be laid to rest. ”

“ And now, my dear good Cousin Glumdalkin, I want you to lend me a helping paw, if you please.'
'Well, what now?' grumbled Glumdalkin.
'Why, you know they always give us our dinner behind the laurel trees, on the grass, and you know, too, that they give us more than we want; indeed, more than is good for us—for don't you remember, when you were ill last autumn, the doctor said you ought to live more sparingly? and they [29] never take away the bits when we have done ”