FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   329   330   331   332   333   334   335   336   337   338   339   340   341   342   343   344   345   346   347   348   349   350   351   352   353  
354   355   356   357   358   359   360   361   362   363   364   365   366   367   368   369   370   371   372   373   374   375   376   377   378   >>   >|  
ay in a large pewter dish. I laughed, and, to the great delight of the peasants looking through the open windows into the room, ate a large piece, while the girls outside sang with the voices of larks." "And the omelet constituted the whole entertainment?" asked the crown prince, laughing. "Oh, no, my little epicure; there was also a dessert: bread, and fresh butter wrapped in green leaves, and more fragrant than we ever have it." "That is a good dessert," exclaimed the prince. "It seems to me the entertainment was not so bad, and--" At this moment the door opened. High-Chamberlain von Schiaden entered and approached the king. "Pardon me, sire, for venturing to disturb you," he said. "A peasant and a peasant-woman have just arrived. They ask urgently and imploringly to see your majesty; and, on being told that you were at dinner, the woman insisted only the more to be at once admitted to her majesty, for she had brought her something necessary to a good dinner. I confess, the bearing of these persons is so simple and kind-hearted that I ventured to disturb you, even at the risk of being rebuked for it." "Where do they come from?" asked the king, musingly. "From the lowlands of the Vistula, near Culm, sire, and it seems to me they belong to the sect of the Mennonites, for they never take off their hats, and address everybody with 'thee.'--These patriotic persons have performed their journey on foot, and say that their eyes have known no slumber, and their feet no rest, since they left their village in order to see the king and queen." "Oh, my husband," exclaimed the queen, "pray do not make them wait any longer. They come hither to manifest their love for us, and love must never be kept waiting in the anteroom." "That is not my intention," said the king, smiling. "We will admit them at once. Come, Lousia, let us go to your sitting-room, and M. von Schladen will be so kind as to conduct them thither." He offered his arm to Louisa, she wrapped herself more closely in the Turkish shawl that covered her shoulders, and, taking leave of the two princes with a tender smile, repaired with the king to her own room. A few minutes afterward the door opened, and M. von Schladen ushered in Abraham Nickel and his wife. The queen sat on a sofa; and the king, supporting his hand on the back of it, stood by her side. Both of them saluted the peasants, who approached slowly, and who, in their simple, neat costume, with
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   329   330   331   332   333   334   335   336   337   338   339   340   341   342   343   344   345   346   347   348   349   350   351   352   353  
354   355   356   357   358   359   360   361   362   363   364   365   366   367   368   369   370   371   372   373   374   375   376   377   378   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

exclaimed

 

disturb

 
opened
 

Schladen

 

approached

 
dinner
 

persons

 

majesty

 

peasant

 

simple


peasants

 

entertainment

 
dessert
 

wrapped

 
prince
 
longer
 
supporting
 

manifest

 

saluted

 

journey


performed

 

patriotic

 
costume
 

slumber

 

slowly

 

husband

 
village
 

Nickel

 

shoulders

 

covered


taking

 

sitting

 

conduct

 

thither

 

Louisa

 

closely

 

Turkish

 
offered
 

princes

 

ushered


afterward

 

minutes

 
Abraham
 
intention
 

anteroom

 

smiling

 

Lousia

 
tender
 

repaired

 

waiting