The Deans Watch

The Dean's Watch, by
Erckmann-Chatrian

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Title: The Dean's Watch 1897
Author: Erckmann-Chatrian
Translator: Ralph Browning Fiske
Release Date: October 17, 2007 [EBook #23054]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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DEAN'S WATCH ***

Produced by David Widger

THE DEAN'S WATCH
By Erckmann-Chatrian

Translated by Ralph Browning Fiske
Copyright, 1897, by The Current Literature Publishing Company

I
On the day before Christmas of the year 1832, my friend Wilfred, with
his double-bass slung over his back, and I, with my violin under my
arm, started to walk from the Black Forest to Heidelberg. It was
unusually snowy weather; as far as we could see across the great,
deserted plain, there was no trace of road nor path. The wind kept up its
harsh aria with monotonous persistency, and Wilfred, with his flattened
wallet at his belt, and the vizor of his cap drawn over his eyes, moved
on before me, straddling the drifts with his long, heron legs, and
whistling a gay tune to keep up his spirits. Now and then, he would turn
around with a waggish smile, and cry: "Comrade, let's have the waltz
from 'Robin,' I feel like dancing." A burst of laughter followed these
words, and then the good fellow would resume his march courageously.
I followed on as well as I could, up to my knees in snow, and I felt a
sense of melancholy take possession of me.
The spires of Heidelberg began to appear on the extreme horizon, and
we hoped to reach there before nightfall. It was then about five o'clock
in the afternoon, and great flakes of snow were whirling through the
gray atmosphere. Suddenly we heard the sound of a horse approaching
from behind us. When the rider was within twenty yards of us, he
moderated his speed, studying us meanwhile with a sidelong glance.
We returned his gaze.
Picture to yourself a large man, with reddish hair and beard, in a
three-cornered hat and loose fox-skin pelisse; his arms buried to the
elbows in fur gloves. He carried a handsome valise behind him, resting
on the haunches of his powerful stallion. He was evidently some
alderman or burgomaster or personage of like importance.
"Ho! Ho! my good fellows!" he cried; "you are on your way to

Heidelberg to perform, I see." Wilfred surveyed the traveler from the
corner of his eye, and replied briefly: "Is that of any interest to you,
sir?" "Yes, for in that case I wish to give you a bit of advice."
"Advice?" "Precisely; if you wish it." Wilfred started on without
replying. I noticed that the traveler's appearance was like that of an
enormous cat; his ears wide apart, his eyelids half closed, with a
bristling mustache, and a fatherly, almost caressing manner. "My
friend," he continued, addressing himself to me, "frankly, you will do
well to retrace your steps." "Why so, sir?" "The great Maestro Pimenti
has just now announced a concert to take place at Heidelberg on
Christmas day. The entire city will be there, and you will not earn a
kreutzer." At this point, Wilfred turned around ill-humoredly: "We care
not a sou for your Maestro nor all the Pimentis in Christendom," he
said; "look at this young fellow here, without even the sign of a beard
on his chin! He has never yet played outside of the ale-houses of the
Black Forest, for the woodcutters and charcoal-women to dance; and
yet this boy, with his long yellow curls and big blue eyes, defies all
your Italian impostors. His left hand is possessed of inimitable melody,
grace, and suppleness, and his right of a power to draw the bow, that
the Almighty rarely accords us mortals."
"Oh! ho! Indeed!" returned the other. "It is just as I tell you," Wilfred
replied, and he resumed his pace, blowing on his fingers that were red
with the cold, I saw that he was ridiculing the horseman, who continued
to follow us at an easy trot. We continued thus for a full half mile in
silence. Suddenly the stranger said to us abruptly: "Whatever skill you
may possess, go back to the Black Forest; we have vagabonds enough
in Heidelberg without you to increase the number. I give you good
advice, particularly under the existing circumstances; you will do well
to profit by it."
Wilfred, now thoroughly out of patience, was about to reply, but the
traveler, urging his horse into a