Composers -- Fiction; German fiction -- Translations into English; Germany -- Fiction
She ran into two army officers, or they into her; this put an end for
the time being to the inspired grace of her movement. When she started
off a second time, drawing a beautiful circle, she saw Daniel and came
over to him. She smiled in a confidential way, chatted with him, glided
backwards in a circle about him, laughed at his impatience because she
would not stand still, threw her muff over to him, asked him to throw it
back, and, with arms raised to catch it, cut an artistic figure on the
ice.
The picture she offered filled Daniel with reverence for the harmony of
her being.
II
They frequently took walks after sunset out to the suburbs and up to the
castle. Gertrude was pleased to see that Daniel and Eleanore were good
friends again.
One time when they walked up the castle hill, Eleanore told Daniel that
there was where she had taken leave of Eberhard von Auffenberg. She
could recall everything he said, and she confessed with marked candour
what she had said in reply. The story about the old herb woman Daniel
did not find amusing. He stopped, and said: “Child, don’t have anything
to do with spirits! Never interfere with your lovely reality.”
“Don’t talk in that way,” replied Eleanore. “I dislike it. The tone of
your voice and the expression on your face make me feel as if I were a
woman of worldly habits.”
They went into the Church of St. Sebaldus, and revelled in the beauty
of the bronze castings on the tomb of the saint. They also went to the
Germanic Museum, where they loved to wander around in the countless
deserted passage-ways, stopped and studied the pictures, and never tired
of looking at the old toys, globes, kitchen utensils, and armour.
Eleanore’s greatest pleasure, however, was derived from sauntering
through the narrow alleys. She like to stand in an open door, and look
into the court at some weather-beaten statue; to stand before the window
of an antique shop, and study the brocaded objects, silver chains, rings
with gaudy stones, engraved plates, and rare clocks. All manner of
roguish ideas came to her mind, and around every wish she wove a fairy
tale. The meagrest incident sufficed to send her imagination to the land
of wonders, just as if the fables and legends that the people had been
passing on from hearth to hearth for centuries were leading a life of
reality over there.
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