looking at his book, as the other had been; and he
did not wait to be spoken to; for as soon as he saw the light which
played round her figure, he began to speak to her, and asked who she was.
She told him that her name was "Pleasure;" and forthwith she shewed to
him her crystal cup and fruits; and she brought before the charmed eyes
of the wanderer all the gay show with which she had tried before to
mislead the faithful Gottlieb. There was the bright sunshine, and the
green path, and the waving trees, and the rustling of the wind, and the
song of birds, and the sweet resting-shade. Irrgeist looked eagerly at
all she shewed him, and in his haste to reach out his hand for the cup,
he dropped altogether the trusty staff of "Church-truth." Then the cup
seemed to draw away from him, just as it had done from Gottlieb; but he
followed thoughtlessly after it. And soon I saw that he left the path
upon which he had been set; and though he started suddenly as soon as he
was off it, yet it was but a moment's start,--the cup was close before
him, the shadowy form led him on, the grass was green, and the trees and
the sunlight but a little farther.

And now I saw him drink some of the enchanted water; and as he drank it,
his look grew wild, and his cheek burnt like the cheek of one in a fever;
and he walked after the deceitful figure with a quicker step than ever:
but I saw that his lamp was almost out, that the book of living light had
fallen from his hands, and the golden vial hung down, ready, as it
seemed, to fall from him altogether.

Still he walked on; and a strange flitting light, from the form which was
before him, lightened the darkness of the valley, so that he could pass
on quickly; the meadow, also, was smooth and even, and there was a
rustling breeze, which played around him: so that he got on faster than
he had ever done upon the narrow path, and thought that he was getting
well on to his journey's end. Many times did he put forth his hand for
the sparkling cup, and drank of it again and again.

But now I saw, as I thought, a strange change which was coming over him;
for he drank oftener of the bowl, but appeared each time to find it less
refreshing. Sometimes it seemed almost bitter, and yet he could not but
take it the very moment he had thrust it from him. The shadowy form,
also, before him seemed altogether altering; he looked again, and her
beautiful features and pleasant countenance had changed into a s