Undine | Page 6

he heard a rushing in the darkness
of the wood, that resembled the tramping of a mounted steed, and the
noise continued every instant drawing nearer and nearer to his little
territory.
What he had fancied, when abroad in many a stormy night, respecting
the mysteries of the forest, now flashed through his mind in a moment,
especially the figure of a man of gigantic stature and snow- white
appearance, who kept nodding his head in a portentous manner. And
when he raised his eyes towards the wood, the form came before him in
perfect distinctness, as he saw the nodding man burst forth from the
mazy web-work of leaves and branches. But he immediately felt
emboldened, when he reflected that nothing to give him alarm had ever
befallen him even in the forest; and moreover, that on this open neck of
land the evil spirit, it was likely, would be still less daring in the
exercise of his power. At the same time he prayed aloud with the most
earnest sincerity of devotion, repeating a passage of the Bible. This
inspired him with fresh courage, and soon perceiving the illusion, and
the strange mistake into which his imagination had betrayed him, he
could with difficulty refrain from laughing. The white nodding figure
he had seen became transformed, in the twinkling of an eye, to what in
reality it was, a small brook, long and familiarly known to him, which
ran foaming from the forest, and discharged itself into the lake.
But what had caused the startling sound was a knight arrayed in

sumptuous apparel, who from under the shadows of the trees came
riding toward the cottage. His doublet was violet embroidered with
gold, and his scarlet cloak hung gracefully over it; on his cap of
burnished gold waved red and violet-coloured plumes; and in his
golden shoulder-belt flashed a sword, richly ornamented, and extremely
beautiful. The white barb that bore the knight was more slenderly built
than war-horses usually are, and he touched the turf with a step so light
and elastic that the green and flowery carpet seemed hardly to receive
the slightest injury from his tread. The old fisherman, notwithstanding,
did not feel perfectly secure in his mind, although he was forced to
believe that no evil could be feared from an appearance so pleasing,
and therefore, as good manners dictated, he took off his hat on the
knight's coming near, and quietly remained by the side of his nets.
When the stranger stopped, and asked whether he, with his horse, could
have shelter and entertainment there for the night, the fisherman
returned answer: "As to your horse, fair sir, I have no better stable for
him than this shady meadow, and no better provender than the grass
that is growing here. But with respect to yourself, you shall be welcome
to our humble cottage, and to the best supper and lodging we are able
to give you."
The knight was well contented with this reception; and alighting from
his horse, which his host assisted him to relieve from saddle and bridle,
he let him hasten away to the fresh pasture, and thus spoke: "Even had I
found you less hospitable and kindly disposed, my worthy old friend,
you would still, I suspect, hardly have got rid of me to-day; for here, I
perceive, a broad lake lies before us, and as to riding back into that
wood of wonders, with the shades of evening deepening around me,
may Heaven in its grace preserve me from the thought."
"Pray, not a word of the wood, or of returning into it!" said the
fisherman, and took his guest into the cottage.
There beside the hearth, from which a frugal fire was diffusing its light
through the clean twilight room, sat the fisherman's aged wife in a great
chair. At the entrance of their noble guest, she rose and gave him a
courteous welcome, but sat down again in her seat of honour, not

making the slightest offer of it to the stranger. Upon this the fisherman
said with a smile:
"You must not be offended with her, young gentleman, because she has
not given up to you the best chair in the house; it is a custom among
poor people to look upon this as the privilege of the aged."
"Why, husband!" cried the old lady, with a quiet smile, "where can
your wits be wandering? Our guest, to say the least of him, must belong
to a Christian country; and how is it possible, then, that so well-bred a
young man as he appears to be could dream of driving old people from
their chairs? Take a seat, my young master," continued she, turning to
the knight; "there is still quite a snug little chair on the other