The Complete Short Works of Georg EbersEbers, Georg
General
The Complete Short Works of Georg Ebers
Ebers, Georg
German fiction -- Translations into English
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 her; but a gentle
tinkling through the palace betrayed her presence, and when that ceased,
the grey lock on the infant's temple was always found to have twisted
itself into a curl.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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