ad
stupefied the whole crowd. They had heard a statue speak--had seen a
figure of bronze walk. For them it was the ancestor of their prince; it
was the famous dead old warrior of a hundred and seventy years ago set
thus in motion. Imagine the behaviour of people round a slain tiger that
does not compel them to fly, and may yet stretch out a dreadful paw!
Much so they pressed for a nearer sight of its walnut visage, and shrank
in the act. Perhaps I shared some of their sensations. I cannot tell:
my sensations were tranced. There was no warmth to revive me in the
gauntlet I clasped. I looked up at the sky, thinking that it had fallen
dark.

CHAPTER XVII. MY FATHER BREATHES, MOVES, AND SPEAKS

The people broke away from us like furrowed water as we advanced on each
side of the ropes toward the margravine's carriage.

I became a perfectly mechanical creature: incapable, of observing, just
capable of taking an impression here and there; and in such cases the
impressions that come are stamped on hot wax; they keep the scene fresh;
they partly pervert it as well. Temple's version is, I am sure, the
truer historical picture. He, however, could never repeat it twice
exactly alike, whereas I failed not to render image for image in clear
succession as they had struck me at the time. I could perceive that the
figure of the Prince Albrecht, in its stiff condition, was debarred from
vaulting, or striding, or stooping, so that the ropes were a barrier
between us. I saw the little Princess Ottilia eyeing us with an absorbed
comprehensive air quite unlike the manner of a child. Dots of heads,
curious faces, peering and starting eyes, met my vision. I heard sharp
talk in German, and a rider flung his arm, as if he wished to crash the
universe, and flew off. The margravine seemed to me more an implacable
parrot than a noble lady. I thought to myself: This is my father, and I
am not overjoyed or grateful. In the same way, I felt that the
daylight was bronze, and I did not wonder at it: nay, I reasoned on the
probability of a composition of sun and mould producing that colour. The
truth was, the powers of my heart and will were frozen; I thought
and felt at random. And I crave excuses for dwelling on such trifling
phenomena of the sensations, which have been useful to me by helping me
to realize the scene, even as at the time they obscured it.

According to Temple's description, when the statue moved its head toward
him, a shudder