Wolfert's Roost, and MiscellaniesIrving, Washington
General
Wolfert's Roost, and Miscellanies
Irving, Washington
American essays; Short stories, American
"When I recovered consciousness, it was broad day, and I found myself in
a small chamber, attended by the warder and the hermit. The former told
me that on the previous night, he had awakened long after the midnight
hour, and perceiving that I had not come to his chamber, he had
furnished himself with a vase of holy water, and set out to seek me. He
found me stretched senseless on the pavement of the armory, and bore me
to this room. I spoke of my wound, and of the quantity of blood that I
had lost. He shook his head, and knew nothing about it; and to my
surprise, on examination, I found myself perfectly sound and unharmed.
The wound and blood, therefore, had been all delusion. Neither the
warder nor the hermit put any questions to me, but advised me to leave
the castle as soon as possible. I lost no time in complying with their
counsel, and felt my heart relieved from an oppressive weight, as I left
the gloomy and fate-bound battlements of Têtefoulques behind me.
"I arrived at Bayonne, on my way to Spain, on the following Friday. At
midnight I was startled from my sleep, as I had formerly been; but it
was no longer by the vision of the dying commander. It was old Foulques
Taillefer who stood before me, armed cap-à-pie, and presenting the point
of his sword. I made the sign of the cross, and the spectre vanished,
but I received the same red-hot thrust in the heart which I had felt in
the armory, and I seemed to be bathed in blood. I would have called out,
or have arisen from my bed and gone in quest of succor, but I could
neither speak nor stir. This agony endured until the crowing of the
cock, when I fell asleep again; but the next day I was ill, and in a
most pitiable state. I have continued to be harassed by the same vision
every Friday night; no acts of penitence and devotion have been able to
relieve me from it; and it is only a lingering hope in divine mercy,
that sustains me, and enables me to support so lamentable a visitation."
* * * * *
The Grand Prior of Minorca wasted gradually away under this constant
remorse of conscience, and this horrible incubus. He died some time
after having revealed the preceding particulars of his case, evidently
the victim of a diseased imagination.
The above relation has been rendered, in many parts literally, from the
French memoir, in which it is given as a true story: if so, it is one of
those instances in which truth is more romantic than fiction.
* * * * *
LEGEND OF
THE ENGULPHED CONVENT.
BY GEOFFREY CRAYON, GENT.
At the dark and melancholy period when Don Roderick the Goth and his
chivalry were overthrown on the banks of the Guadalete, and all Spain
was overrun by the Moors, great was the devastation of churches and
convents throughout that pious kingdom. The miraculous fate of one of
those holy piles is thus recorded in one of the authentic legends of
those days.
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