WIELAND, _Oberon_ (Sotheby's tr.).

[Sidenote: Huon's penance.] Huon was ready and willing to undergo any
penance which would enable him to deliver his beloved Amanda from the isle,
and after building her a little hut, within call of the cell he occupied
with the hermit, he spent all his time in tilling the soil for their
sustenance, and in listening to the teachings of the holy man.

Time passed on. One day Amanda restlessly wandered a little way up the
mountain, and fell asleep in a lovely grotto, which she now for the first
time discovered. When she awoke from a blissful dream she found herself
clasping her new-born babe, who, during her slumbers, had been cared for by
the fairies. This child, Huonet, was, of course, a great comfort to Amanda,
who was devoted to him.

When the babe was a little more than a year old the aged monk died. Huon
and Amanda, despairing of release from the desert island, were weary of
living apart; and Titania, who foresaw that Oberon would send new
misfortunes upon them to punish them in case they did not stand the second
test, carried little Huonet off to fairyland, lest he should suffer for his
parents' sins.

[Sidenote: Amanda and the pirates.] Huon and Amanda, in the mean time,
searched frantically for the missing babe, fancying it had wandered off
into the woods. During their search they became separated, and Amanda,
while walking along the seashore, was seized by pirates. They intended to
carry her away and sell her as a slave to the Sultan. Huon heard her cries
of distress, and rushed to her rescue; but in spite of his utmost efforts
to join her he saw her borne away to the waiting vessel, while he was bound
to a tree in the woods, and left there to die.

"Deep in the wood, at distance from the shore,
They drag their victim, that his loudest word
Pour'd on the desert air may pass unheard.
Then bind the wretch, and fasten o'er and o'er
Arm, leg, and neck, and shoulders, to a tree.
To heaven he looks in speechless agony,
O'ercome by woe's unutterable weigfit.
Thus he--the while, with jocund shout elate
The crew bear off their prey, and bound along the sea."
WIELAND, _Oberon_ (Sotheby's tr.).

Oberon, however, had pity at last upon the unfortunate knight, and sent one
of his invisible servants, who not only unbound him, but transported him,
with miraculous rapidity, over land and sea, and d