the day of separation approached. It was on the night previous that
John, in his white cloak, ascended from stone to stone, holding by his
silk ladder, until he at length entered the window; here they would
converse for hours in all modesty and honour, speak about his return
and their nuptials the following year; and whilst they sat there the
door was hewn down with axes. Prince Erik entered, and raised the
murderous weapon to slay the young Lord of East Friesland, when
Cecilia threw herself between them. But Erik commanded his menials to
seize the lover, whom they put in irons and cast into a low, dark
hole, that cold frosty night, and the next day, without even giving
him a morsel of bread or a drop of water, he was thrown on to a
peasant's sledge, and dragged before the King to receive judgment.
Erik himself cast his sister's fair name and fame into slander's
babbling pool, and high dames and citizens' wives washed unspotted
innocence in calumny's impure waters.
It is only when the large wooden shutters of the saloons are opened,
that the sunbeams stray in here; the dust accumulates in their twisted
pillars, and is only just disturbed by the draught of air. In here is
a warehouse for corn. Great fat rats make their nests in these halls.
The spider spins mourning banners under the beams. This is Vadstene
Palace!
We are filled with sad thoughts. We turn our eyes from this place
towards the lowly house with the grass-turf roof, where the little
lamb crops the grass under the cherry-tree, which strews its fragrant
leaves over it. Our thoughts descend from the rich cloister, from the
proud palace, to the grassy turf, and the sun fades away over the
grassy turf, and the old dame goes to sleep under the grassy turf,
below which lie the mighty memorials of Vadstene.
THE PUPPET-SHOWMAN.
* * * * *
There was an elderly man on the steam-boat, with such a contented face
that, if it did not lie, he must be the happiest man on earth. That he
indeed said he was: I heard it from his own mouth. He was a Dane,
consequently my countryman, and was a travelling theatrical manager.
He had the whole _corps dramatique_ with him; they lay in a large
chest--he was a puppet showman. His innate good-humour, said he, had
been tried by a polytechnic candidate,[D] and from this experiment on
his patience he had become completely happy. I did not understand him
at the moment, but he soon laid the who
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