Andreas Hofer: An Historical NovelMühlbach, L. (Luise)
History
Andreas Hofer: An Historical Novel
Mühlbach, L. (Luise)
Hofer, Andreas, 1767-1810 -- Fiction; Tyrol (Austria) -- History -- Uprising of 1809 -- Fiction
The valley was still wrapped in the gloom of twilight, but behind
the flat and gently-rounded mountains yonder rose the flaming glow
of radiant crimson, and sent a few purple clouds as heralds of the
approaching majesty into the azure sky. A rosy hue covered the
glaciers of the Venediger and Gross-Glockner, which looked down in
proud majesty on the mountains bordering the valley, and which had
hitherto wrapped their summits in veils of glistening silver. On
beholding the divine majesty of the sun, they dropped their veils,
their summits crimsoned and loomed up to the sky in dazzling
splendor. The rays gilding them shed a lustre on the lower wooded
mountains, greeted the spires of the churches rising amidst the
villages, dissipated the mist which had hitherto filled the valley,
and converted the waters of the foaming Isel, meandering through the
valley, into liquid gold. The gloom entirely disappeared, and the
whole landscape was radiant in its morning beauty. God had willed
that there should be light, and the earth lay smiling and
surpassingly beautiful under the first glowing rays of the sun.
Eliza gazed with a rapt smile upon the sublime scene; the clouds had
disappeared from her brow also, and the gloom had vanished from her
eyes.
"Oh, how beautiful is the world! how beautiful is my dear Tyrol!"
she exclaimed, fervently. "I greet you, beloved mountains guarding
our frontiers! I greet you, Gross-Glockner and Venediger! Yes, gaze
upon the Tyrol, for now you may rejoice over it! The enemy is no
longer in the country, and I am bringing you the last Bavarian who
is still here, that you may send him across the border. Sir," she
added, turning her face, illuminated by the sun, slowly to the young
man, who had not contemplated the sun, but only her face, "we must
part here. I only intended to conduct you hither, to the Kalser
Thoerl. You will now descend to the village of Kals, which you see
in the valley yonder. Look, back there, its red roofs are rising out
of the green shrubbery. You will go to the inn there, and give this
letter to Lebrecht Panzl, the innkeeper. He is my mother's brother,
and she writes him in this letter to give you a reliable guide, who
is to conduct you over the Pruschler Thoerl and the Katzenstein to
Heiligenblut. You will reach Heiligenblut in seven hours. Its
inhabitants speak Bavarian German; your Bavarian dialect will not be
suspicious to them, and you will easily find there a guide to
conduct you wherever you wish to go. You will find some food for to-
day in the haversack here, and also some money, and powder and lead.
Take it, sir; here is the rifle, and here the haversack. Unless you
have them with you, no one will take you for a genuine Tyrolese.
There. Put your clothes into the sack, you can carry them better
that way; hang the rifle round your shoulder, and then adieu?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account