once, without any reason, he burst into song. He sang a song at the
top of his voice, there in the woods, that he had learned from the
gardeners. At noon he thought he had reached the top of the mountain,
but behind again a yet higher peak arose, and so, after he had eaten the
bread and butter which the blacksmith's wife had given him, he continued
his way and, as the sun was setting, attained the summit of the second
mountain, which was the highest far and near.

Once more he beheld the river which, sparkling and bright, wound through
the green plain like a silver snake. Smaller hills covered with forests
fell away on all sides and the tops of the trees caught the radiance of
the sinking sun. Over the snow-fields of the further mountain-ranges, a
rosy shimmer spread that made him think of the peach blossoms at home;
a purple mist obscured the rocky peaks behind him and there, far away
to the south, was a tiny speck of blue. That might be his own dear lake,
which he was never to see again. It was all so wonderfully beautiful and
his heart filled to overflowing with memories and hopes. Neither to
the right nor to the left, whither he turned his eyes, were there any
boundaries to be seen. How wide, how immeasurably wide was the world
which, in the future, was to be his home, in the place of the small
walled garden of the castle. Two eagles were floating round in circles
under the softly-glowing fleecy clouds, and George said to himself that
he was as free and untrammelled on the earth as they were in the air;
suddenly a feeling of delight in his liberty overcame him, he snatched
his cap from his head and, waving it aloft, tore down the mountain, as
if he were running for a wager. That night he found hospitable housing
in the cell of a hermit.

After this he derived much pleasure from his wanderings. He was a child
born to bad luck--no denial could change that--nevertheless a child
destined to good fortune could hardly have been more contented than
he. On the thirtieth day of his journeying he met with a travelling
companion in the lower countries, which he had reached some time before.
This was a stone-mason's son, who was much older than George, but who
accepted the gay young vagabond as his comrade. The youth was returning
home after his wanderings as a journeyman and, as he soon discovered
that George was a clever, trustworthy boy with all his wits about him,
he persuaded him to offer himself as apprentice to the ston