The Old Man of the Mountain, The Lovecharm and Pietro of Abano: Tales from the German of TieckTieck, Ludwig
General
The Old Man of the Mountain, The Lovecharm and Pietro of Abano: Tales from the German of Tieck
Tieck, Ludwig
German fiction -- Translations into English
Antonio paid her all that he had about him, and then gave her the
jewels from his hat and clothes, some pearls, and a gold chain. She
swept it all in laughing, while she said: "Don't be surprised that I
am in such haste, and so easily satisfied. The wench has run away from
me, because she was determined not to have any lover, and has stuck
herself into the nunnery beside Trajan's column: the abbess would not
give her up to me; but only send in your name, and the young chit will
jump into your arms; for she dreams and thinks of nothing but you; you
have so bewitcht her silly heart, that ever since that night, which
you will probably remember, she has not spoken a single word of sense,
and can't bear to hear the mention of a lover or a husband. I am glad
to be quit of her in this way; I am going with my noble cousin, Signor
Beresynth, who came of his own accord to invite me, this very night to
his villa. Fare thee well young man! good luck attend you with your
Crescentia!"
Antonio took all the letters, the baby clothes, and every proof of
Crescentia's birth. At the door he was met by the terrible being that
called itself Beresynth. He hastened on, and was so light of heart, so
winged on his way, that he did not notice the storm behind him, which
threatened to lay the country waste, and to heave the houses from
their foundations.
During the night the overhappy parents examined the letters; and
these, as well as the clothes, convinced them that this second
Crescentia was their child, the twin sister of her that died, whom at
her christening they had named Cecilia. In the morning the father
fetcht the lovely pale girl from the convent; and she felt as though
in heaven at belonging to such noble parents, and at having again
found a youth who adored her, and to whom on that perilous night she
could not help giving up her whole heart for ever.
Rome talkt for some time of the two unfortunate persons whom the storm
had slain: and Ambrosio lived thenceforward with his wife, his
recovered daughter, and his son-in-law, Antonio, in the neighbourhood
of Naples. The youth amid the bliss of love ceast to mourn over the
sorrows of his younger days; and the parents were comforted by their
children and grandchildren for the loss of their beautiful and most
dearly loved Crescentia.
* * * * *
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:
Contemporary spellings were retained, especially past tense endings on
t rather than ed.
The translation was checked against the 1853 German edition of Tieck's
collected works. The following sentence was missing from the original
translation:
Er war ueberzeugt, der Juengling habe ihn und sich selbst mit den
Fieber-Phantasien jener Nacht getaeuscht.
It has been added as:
He was convinced the young man had misled him and himself been
deceived by the fevered dreams of that night.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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