Univalve

“ Queen! — Ho! ho! Princess! Do you fancy you can break your promises to my friend the Yellow Dwarf! I am the Fairy of the Desert! But for him and his orange-tree, know you not that my great lions would have devoured you?” “Ah! Princess,” exclaimed the Queen, bursting into tears, “what promise have you made?” “Ah! Mother,” cried Toutebelle, sorrowfully, “what promise have you made?” The King of the Gold Mines,
enraged at this interruption, advanced upon the old woman, sword in hand, and cried, “Quit this palace for ever, or with thy life thou shalt atone for thy malice!” ”

“ Take it, Eve, for it is a promise of better things to come. Never again doubt your Father's love. You have only to wait, and when the winter's snows have gone and the summer sun shines once more, the flowers will bloom again as beautiful as ever."
Then Eve watched the angel return to Heaven, until the gleam of her silver wings was no longer to be seen. She still carried in her hand his tiny gift and as she turned away she saw that where the angel's feet had rested the snow had melted away, and on the green grass beneath was growing a lovely cluster of snowdrops. ”

“ All night long Avenant never ceased sighing. "Where can I hope to find a ring that fell a month ago into a great river?" said he; "it would be folly to attempt looking for it. The princess only named this condition to me because she knew it was impossible for me to fulfil it." And then he sighed again and was very sorrowful. Cabriolle, who heard him, said, "My dear master, I entreat you not to despair of your good fortune: you are too amiable not to be happy. Let us go to the river side as soon as it is daylight." ”

“ The gloom behind us increases; we know not what is about to happen to our beloved but now distant Ulva—what sudden rumble of thunder is about to startle the silence of the dark Loch-na-Keal. But ahead of us the south is still shining clear: blow, winds, that we may gain the quiet shelter of Polterriv before the evening falls! And is it not full moon to-night?—to-night our new guest may see the yellow moon shining on the still waters of Iona Sound. ”

“ In the falling of a summer night, I walk by Ullswater. The sky is still warm with the afterglow of sunset, a dusky crimson smouldering above the dark mountain line. Below me spreads a long reach of the lake, steel-grey between its dim colourless shores. In the profound stillness, the trotting of a horse beyond the water sounds strangely near; it serves only to make more sensible the repose of Nature in this her sanctuary. I feel a solitude unutterable, yet nothing akin to desolation; the heart of the land I love seems to beat in the silent night gathering around me ”

“ Undine is beautiful as the dawn stealing across the waters, beautiful as the spray of the crystal waves.
Yet when she comes to earth she comes to seek for that without which her beauty will be for ever cold, cold and chill as the surge of the salt, salt sea.
Look deep into her blue eyes and you will see why her beauty is so cold, so chill.
In the eyes of every mortal you may see a soul. In the gay blue eyes of Undine, look you long and never so deep, no soul will look forth to meet your gaze. ”

“ The sea was his mother, and the mother of his race. Her arms were about him; her spirit entered into his. How pure she was, how strong, how good! He kissed her cool brow and dropped his head upon her bosom. Turning on his back, he saw the wall of the Downs, black beneath glorious stars. On the top of the wall poised the moon, peeping over the brim of the world at him. He waved to her, laughing: she too was a friend. And the moon, wise as innocent, smiled back.
He swam leisurely, without splash, almost without ripple, quiet as the tide.
He had the world to himself, and loved the loneliness. ”

“ There the merry little water-spirits play their games and gambol all the glad long days, until they leave their childhood far behind. [51]
'Pure and fair, more fair even than the race of mortals are the spirits of the water. Fishermen have chanced to see these water-nymphs or mermaidens, and they have spoken of their wondrous beauty. Mortals too have named these strange women Undines. Look upon me, Huldbrand, look long and well, for I, your wife, am an Undine!'
The knight gazed sadly upon his beautiful wife. ”

“ Autumn turned a questioning glance towards him; and Spring unfastened his lute again and played and hummed. But the Prince of Summer nodded in assent.
“We are princes by the grace of God,” said Winter. “We have shared the earth among us by turns, according to agreement, so that each of us reigned for a quarter of the year. We [176] have kept the covenant which we made with one another, but the land is no longer ours.”
“That is true,” said Summer.
“We are no longer lords in the land,” said Winter. “Men have seized upon the power.” ”

“ But the fisherman looked at her with a smile. "What strange creatures we are," quoth he. "Even were it so, things would not be very different–at least not for thee, dear wife–than they are now. For many years past hast thou ever been further than the edge of the forest? And hast thou seen any human beings other than Undine and myself? The knight and this holy man are but recent visitors; and they will stay with us even if this become a forgotten island. ”

“ Altogether it is a scene of which no words can convey the smallest idea, and as we pass suddenly from the glaring sunlight into that cool deep shade, and look down into the wondrous depths of that world of clear crystalline green, we cannot choose but believe that we have invaded the chosen home of some pure spirit of the sea—some dainty Undine, whose low musical notes we can almost think we discern, mingling with the voice of the waves. ”

“ I know you well, Queen, and I know the fear you are in that the lions will devour you; and not without reason are you alarmed, for they have devoured many before you, and to complete your misfortune you have no cake."
"I must submit to die!" said the Queen, sighing. "Alas, I should do so with less pain if my dear daughter were but married!" "How? you have a daughter!" exclaimed the Yellow Dwarf. (He was so called from the colour of his skin, and his living in an orange-tree.) ”

“ Thus calling aloud, he again moved deeper into the stream. “Look round you—ah, pray look round you, beautiful young stranger! why rush on death so madly?” cried the voice a second time close by him; and looking on one side he perceived, by the light of the moon, again cloudless, a little island formed by the flood; and crouching upon its flowery turf, beneath the branches of embowering trees, he saw the smiling and lovely Undine. ”

“ But the next moment she saw Avenant enter, bearing the giant's head, which still impressed her with terror, although there was no longer any occasion for alarm. "Madam," said Avenant to the princess, "your enemy is dead: I trust you will no longer refuse the king my master." "Ah! pardon me," said the Fair with Golden Hair; "but, indeed, I must refuse him, unless you can find means, before my departure, to bring me some water from the Gloomy Grotto. Hard by there is a deep cavern, full six leagues in extent. ”

“ With as much haste as possible they rolled the cask towards the cottage, for the western sky was overcast with heavy storm-clouds, and they might see in the twilight the waves of the lake lifting their foamy crests as if looking for the rain which must shortly come down. Undine helped the men all she might, and when the storm threatened to burst on their heads, she uttered a laughing reproof to the clouds. ”

“ Urvasî, then, was an immortal being, a kind of fairy, who fell in love with Purûravas, a hero and a king; and she married him, and lived with him, on this condition—that she should never see him unless he was dressed in his royal robes. Now there was a ewe, with two lambs, tied to the couch of Urvasî and Purûravas; and the fairies—or Gandharvas, as the kinsfolk of Urvasî were called—wished to get her back amongst them; and so they stole one of the lambs. Then Urvasî reproached her husband, and said, "They take away my darling, as if I lived in a land where there is no hero and no man." ”

“ The footsteps approached with cautious expedition. And as Inverawe listened with breathless attention, the door of the hall was thrust open,—a human countenance appeared for an instant in [233] the dusky aperture—and then a man, with a naked dirk in his hand,—his clothes dripping wet—his long hair hanging streaming over his shoulders, and half veiling his glaring eyes, and pale and haggard countenance, rushed in, and made straight up to him. ”

“ The idea that Undine had been only a mere apparition of the forest, again gained ascendancy over him; indeed, amid the howling of the waves and the tempest, the cracking of the trees, and the complete transformation of a scene lately so calmly beautiful, he could almost have considered the whole peninsula with its cottage and its inhabitants as a mocking illusive vision; but from afar he still ever heard through the tumult the fisherman's anxious call for Undine, and the loud praying and singing of his aged wife. ”

“ Bellissima was sitting in a little thicket by a brook, leaning her head upon her hand and weeping bitterly, but just as they passed she looked up and saw the King and the Fairy of the Desert. Now, the Fairy was so clever that she could not only seem beautiful to the King, but even the poor Princess thought her the most lovely being she had ever seen. ”

“ And then, hark, 'twas Undine's voice which rang through the uproar; 'twas Undine herself who, as the moon swam clear of the clouds, was seen standing on the heights above the valley. 'Twas she, in sooth, who rebuked and threatened the floods below; and the menacing column of water vanished, murmuring and muttering, and the streams flowed gently away in the moonlight. Like a white dove Undine flew down from the height; she laid hold on the knight and Bertalda, and bore them with her to a green and grassy spot on the hill. There she refreshed their weariness and dispelled their fears ”

“ At this period I have neither seen, read, nor heard of any locality under heaven that can offer a more cheerless abode to civilized man than Ungava. The rumbling noise created by the ice, when driven to and fro by the force of the tide, continually stuns the ear; while the light of heaven is hidden by the fog that hangs in the air, shrouding everything in the gloom of a dark twilight. ”

“ He looked all around him, and could see nobody: he thought he was dreaming. He resumed his walk, when again the voice called, "Avenant! Avenant!" "Who calls me?" he asked. Cabriolle, who was very little and was looking close down into the water, replied, "Never trust me if it be not a golden carp that I see here." Immediately the carp appeared on the surface, and said to Avenant, "You saved my life in the nettle-tree meadow, [3] where I must have perished but for your assistance. I promised to do as much for you. Here, dear Avenant, is the ring of the Fair with Golden Hair. ”

“ The stream, as you know, had already overflowed its bank, and as the moon suddenly shone through the dark clouds, Huldbrand saw that the water was rushing back toward the forest. In this way the little bit of meadow-land on which the fisherman's cottage stood was turned into an island.
A terrible thought struck the knight. Had Undine strayed into the fearful forest she could not now return to the cottage, save across the raging stream, nay, she might even now be surrounded by the spirits of the wood. She would be among them alone, helpless. ”

“ Do not refuse it to me, my lovely little creature; for I should die of grief, if I should have to return without the singing-apple; and as I obtained the dancing water through your means, I hope that you will find some other that will enable me to succeed in my present enterprise." "You touch me nearly," replied the Dove, "follow me—I will fly before you—I hope all will be well." ”

“ When a hard winter comes, and freezes the ground, and covers it with snow, they die for want of hemp or millet-seed, and every year they have the trouble of seeking a fresh mistress."
"You think, then, Chevalier," said the Queen, smiling, "that it is a trouble? There are men who have a fresh one each month in the year ”

“ It was these very monstrous forms which urged him to cross the flood, as he bethought him that Undine might be among them, alone in her agony.
Now, as he grasped the stout branch of a pine and stood, supporting himself by it in the midst of the current, which only with all his force could he withstand; and while yet with unblenching courage he pressed further into the stream: he heard a soft voice which said to him, "Venture not, venture not; full crafty is that old man, the stream!" ”

“ Towards the morning, Tourmentine again called the Princess; but the bean was baked, and did not answer. This silence made her uneasy,—she got up very angry; looked about her; called; alarmed everybody; and searched in every direction. No Princess! no Prince! no little wand! She shrieked so loudly, that the rocks and valleys echoed again. "Wake up, my poppet; awake, dear Ravagio; thy Tourmentine is betrayed. Our fresh-meat has run away." Ravagio opened his eye, and bounded into the middle of the cavern like a lion ”

“ Uvedale of Enfield is a great lover of plants, and, having an extraordinary art in managing them, is become master of the greatest and choicest collection of exotic greens that is perhaps anywhere in this land. His greens take up six or seven houses or roomsteads. His orange-trees and largest myrtles fill up his biggest house, and ... those more nice and curious plants that need closer keeping are in warmer rooms, and some of them stoved when he thinks fit. ”