The Greylock | Page 4

which you are to
be the progenitor, is blessed with offspring, I will stand godmother to
every first-born. All the sons of your house from first to last, whether
they be dark or fair, or brown, shall bear the grey lock. It will be a sign
unto your posterity that much good fortune awaits them. My authority,
however, is limited, and if at any time a higher power should hinder me
from exerting my influence in behalf of one of your grandsons, then
will the grey lock be missing from his head, and it will depend
altogether on himself how his life unfolds itself. One thing more. Give
me back my ring and take instead this mirror, which will always show
to you and yours whatever you hold most dear, even when you are far
away from it."
"Then it will ever be granted to me to bring your face before my eyes,
oh! lovely lady!" the knight exclaimed.
The fairy laughed and answered: "No, Duke Greylock--the mirror can
only reflect the forms of mortals. I know a wife awaiting you, whom
you will rather see than any picture in the glass, even were it that of a
fairy. Receive my thanks once more! you are duke, enter now into your
dukedom!"
With these words she disappeared. A gentle rustling and tinkling was
heard through the air, the waste ground covered itself with fresh green,
the dry river beds filled with clear running water, and on their banks
appeared blooming meadows, shady groves and forests. The broken
walls against the hillsides fitted themselves together, rose higher and
supported once more the terraces covered with vine stocks and fruit-
trees. Villages and cities grew into form and lay cradled in the
landscape. Beautiful gardens bloomed forth, full of gay flowers, olive-

trees, orange-trees, citron, and fig, and pomegranate-trees, each covered
with its golden fruit of many-seeded apples. In the neighbourhood of
the grotto in which the fairy had been imprisoned a park of
incomparable beauty grew into view, where brooks whispered and
fountains played, and shady pergolas appeared, formed of gold and
silver trellises, over which a thousand luxuriant creepers clambered,
holding by their little tendril hands.
The fallen columns stood up again, the mutilated marble statues found
new noses and arms, and in the background of all this growing
magnificence the young duke perceived-at first dimly, as if obscured by
mists, then more distinctly-the outline of a palace with loggia,
balconies, columned halls, and statues in bronze and marble around the
cornice of its flat roof.
George, the squire, gazed in openmouthed wonder, and his mouth
remained open until he entered the fore-court of the palace. Then he
only closed it to give his jaws a little rest before their future labours
began, for such a good smell from the kitchen greeted him that he
ordered the willing cook to satisfy immediately the demands of his
appetite, as his hunger was greater than his curiosity.
Sir Wendelin continued his way through the passages, chambers, halls,
and courts. Everywhere servants, guards, and heyducks swarmed, and
from the stables he heard the stamping of many horses, and the jingle
of their halter chains as they rattled them against their well-filled
mangers. Choruses of trumpeters played inspiriting fanfares, and from
the assembled people in the forecourt a thousand voices shouted again
and again: "Hail to his Grace Duke Greylock, Wendelin the First! Long
may he live!"
The knight bowed graciously to his good people, and when the
Chancellor stepped forward, and after a deep reverence set forth in a
carefully prepared speech the great services which the duke had
rendered to the country, Wendelin listened with polite attention, though
he himself was quite ignorant of what the old man was talking about.
Sir Wendelin had lived through so many adventures that it pleased him
now to sit peacefully on his throne, and he did his best to be worthy of
the honours which the fairy had conferred upon him. After he had
learned the duties of a ruler from A to Z, he returned to Germany to
woo his cousin Walpurga. He led her back to his palace, and for many

years they governed the beautiful land together. All of the five sons
which his wife bore to him, came into the world with the grey lock.
They all grew to be brave men and loyal subjects of their father, whom
they served faithfully in war, holding fraternally together and greatly
enlarging the boundaries of his dukedom by their prowess.
A long time passed and generation after generation of the descendants
of the worthy Sir Wendelin followed one another. The first-born son
always bore the name of the progenitor of the family, and the fairy
Clementine always appeared at the baptism. No one ever saw