pe the
threatened blow.

"Overpowered to his very inmost soul by the most fearful anguish,
the bell appeared to him the jaws of some immense serpent; the
clapper was the poisonous tongue, which it extended towards him.
Confused imaginations pressed upon him; feelings similar to the
anguish which he felt when the godfather had dived with him beneath
the water, took possession of him; but here it roared far stronger
in his ears, and the changing colours before his eyes formed
themselves into gray figures. The old pictures in the castle
floated before him, but with threatening mien and gestures, and
ever-changing forms; now long and angular, again jelly-like, clear
and trembling; they clashed cymbals and beat drums, and then
suddenly passed away into that fiery glow in which every thing had
appeared to him, when, with Naomi, he looked through the red
window-panes. It burned, that he felt plainly. He swam through a
burning sea, and ever did the serpent exhibit to him its fearful
jaws. An irresistible desire seized him to take hold on the clapper
with both hands, when suddenly it became calm around him, but it
still raged within his brain. He felt that all his clothes clung
to him, and that his hands seemed fastened to the wall. Before him
hung the serpent's head, dead and bowed; the bell was silent. He
closed his eyes and felt that he fell asleep. He had
fainted."--(Vol. i. p. 59.)

Are these some of the "beautiful thoughts" which Mrs Howitt finds it the
greatest delight of her literary life to translate? One is a little
curious to know how far this beauty has been increased or diminished by
their admiring translator; but unfortunately we can boast no
Scandinavian scholarship. This novel, however, is not without some
striking passages, whether of description of natural scenery, or of
human life. Of these, the little episode of the fate of Steffen-Margaret
recurs most vividly to our recollection. Mrs Howitt, in her translation
of "The True Story of my Life," draws our attention, in a note, to this
character of Steffen-Margaret, informing us that it is the reproduction
of a personage whom Andersen becomes slightly acquainted with in the
early part of his career. She thus points out a striking passage in the
novel; but the translator of the Autobiography and of "Only a Fiddler,"
might have found more natural opportun