The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Volume Iv Part 47

No, I will not appear.

PLAYWR.

But why not, pray?

PEACEMAK.

Why, I have already undressed.

PLAYWR.

That doesn't matter. (_He pushes him forward by force_.)

PEACEMAKER (_appearing in his ordinary dress, with, the set of bells_).

Well, you may take the responsibility. (_He plays on the bells and sings_.)

These sacred halls of beauty Revenge have never known.

For love guides back to duty The man who vice has sown.

Then he is led by friendly hand, Glad and content, to a better land.

[_The pit begins to applaud; meanwhile the scene is changed, the fire and water taken from the_ MAGIC FLUTE _begin to play, above appears the open temple of the sun, the sky is clear and Jupiter sits within it, beneath h.e.l.l with Terkaleon, cobalds and witches on the stage, many lights, etc. The audience applauds excessively, everything is astir_.]

WIESENER.

Now the cat has only to go through fire and water and then the play is finished.

[_Enter the_ KING, _the_ PRINCESS, GOTTLIEB, HINZE _and servants_.]

HINZE.

This is the palace of the Count of Carabas. Why, the d.i.c.kens, how this has changed!

KING.

A beautiful palace!

HINZE.

As long as matters _have_ gone thus far (_taking Gottlieb by the hand_) you must first walk through the fire here and then through the water there.

GOTTLIEB (_walks through fire and water to the sound of flute and drum_.)

HINZE.

You have stood the test; now, my prince, you are altogether worthy of the government.

GOTTLIEB.

Governing, Hinze, is a curious matter.

KING.

Accept, now, the hand of my daughter.

PRINCESS.

How happy I am!

GOTTLIEB.

I, likewise. But, my king, I would desire to reward my servant.

KING.

By all means; I herewith raise him to the n.o.bility. (_He hangs an order about the cat's neck_.) What is his actual name?

GOTTLIEB.

Hinze. By birth he is of but a lowly family--but his merits exalt him.

LEANDER (_quickly stepping forward_).

After the King I rode with due submission, And now implore his Majesty's permission To close with laudatory lines poetic This play so very wondrous and prophetic.

In praise of cats my grateful anthem soars-- The n.o.blest of those creatures on all fours Who daily bring contentment to our doors.

In Egypt cats were G.o.ds, and very nice is The Tom-cat who was cousin to Great Isis.

They still protect our cellar, attic, kitchen, And serve the man who this world's goods is rich in.

Our homes had household G.o.ds of yore to grace them.

If cats be G.o.ds, then with the Lares place them!

[_Drumming. The curtain falls_.]

FAIR ECKBERT (1796)

BY LUDWIG TIECK

TRANSLATED BY PAUL B. THOMAS

In a region of the Hartz Mountains there lived a knight whom people generally called simply Fair Eckbert. He was about forty years old, scarcely of medium height, and short, very fair hair fell thick and straight over his pale, sunken face. He lived very quietly unto himself, and was never implicated in the feuds of his neighbors; people saw him but rarely outside the encircling wall of his little castle. His wife loved solitude quite as much as he, and both seemed to love each other from the heart; only they were wont to complain because Heaven seemed unwilling to bless their marriage with children.

Very seldom was Eckbert visited by guests, and even when he was, almost no change on their account was made in the ordinary routine of his life. Frugality dwelt there, and Economy herself seemed to regulate everything. Eckbert was then cheerful and gay--only when he was alone one noticed in him a certain reserve, a quiet distant melancholy.

n.o.body came so often to the castle as did Philip Walther, a man to whom Eckbert had become greatly attached, because he found in him very much his own way of thinking. His home was really in Franconia, but he often spent more than half a year at a time in the vicinity of Eckbert's castle, where he busied himself gathering herbs and stones and arranging them in order. He had a small income, and was therefore dependent upon no one. Eckbert often accompanied him on his lonely rambles, and thus a closer friendship developed between the two men with each succeeding year.