TALES FROM THE GERMAN, COMPRISING SPECIMENS FROM THE MOST CELEBRATED AUTHORS. TRANSLATED BY JOHN OXENFORD AND C. A. FEILING. LONDON: CHAPMAN AND HALL, 186, STRAND. 1844. C. WHITING, BEAUFORT HOUSE, STRAND. TABLE OF CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION LIBUSSA. BY J. H. MUSÆUS. (J. O.) THE CRIMINAL FROM LOST HONOUR. BY FRIEDRICH SCHILLER. (J. O.) THE COLD HEART. BY WILHELM HAUFF. (C. A. F.) THE WONDERS IN THE SPESSART. BY KARL IMMERMANN. (J. O.) NOSE, THE DWARF. BY W. HAUFF. (C. A. F.) AXEL. BY C. F. VAN DER VELDE. (C. A. F.) THE SANDMAN. BY E. T. W. HOFFMANN. (J. O.) MICHAEL KOHLHAAS. BY HEINRICH VON KLEIST. (J. O.) THE KLAUSENBURG. BY LUDWIG TIECK. (C. A. F.) THE MOON. BY JEAN PAUL FRIEDRICH RICHTER. (J. O.) THE ELEMENTARY SPIRIT. BY E. T. W. HOFFMANN. (J. O.) ST. CECILIA; OR, THE POWER OF MUSIC. BY H. VON KLEIST. (J. O.) THE NEW PARIS. BY J. W. GOETHE. (J. O.) ALI AND GULHYNDI. BY ADAM OEHLENSCHLAEGER. (C. A. F.) ALAMONTADE. BY HEINRICH ZSCHOKKE. (C. A. F.) THE JESUITS’ CHURCH IN G----. BY E. T. W. HOFFMANN. (J. O.) THE SEVERED HAND. BY W. HAUFF. (C. A. F.) INTRODUCTION. The object of the translators of the following tales was to present the English public with a collection, which should combine effectiveness with variety, and at the same time should contain specimens of the most celebrated writers of prose fiction whom Germany has produced. The names of the authors will, they think, be a sufficient guarantee that they have not failed in this last respect, and if the reader finds himself amused or interested by the series, they will have succeeded entirely. It will be remembered that the collection is a collection of tales only, and that it was absolutely necessary, according to the plan of the book, that these tales should be numerous. Any thing like a lengthened novel was therefore excluded, as it would have exceeded the prescribed limits, or rendered impossible that variety which the translators considered an essential of their work. That short tales, from their very nature, cannot often promote any very high purpose, and that amusement for a leisure hour is their principal purpose, the translators are perfectly aware, admitting that their collection, generally speaking, does not convey that amount of instruction in life and thought, which might be obtained from more elaborate works, such as, for example, the _Wilhelm Meister_ of Göthe. At the same time they trust that Kleist’s _Michael Kohlhaas_, Zschokke’s _Alamontade_, Schiller’s _Criminal from Lost Honour_[1] and even Hauff’s fanciful _Cold Heart_, will be acceptable to those who look for something beyond mere amusement, and that some readers will be found to appreciate the psychological truth and profundity of Hoffmann’s tales beneath their fantastic exterior.