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 Hell 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 dickens, 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 nobility. (_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 noblest of those creatures on all fours Who daily bring contentment to our doors. In Egypt cats were gods, 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 gods of yore to grace them. If cats be gods, 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.