and so I
said, boldly, "To Vienna." The two ladies then talked together in a
strange tongue which I did not understand. The younger shook her head
several times, but the other only laughed, and finally called to me,
"Jump up behind; we too are going to Vienna." Who more ready than I!
I made my best bow, and sprang up behind the carriage, the coachman
cracked his whip, and away we bowled along the smooth road so swiftly
that the wind whistled in my ears.

Behind me vanished my native village with its gardens and
church-tower, before me appeared fresh villages, castles, and
mountains, beneath me on either side the meadows in the tender green
of spring flew past, and above me countless larks were soaring in the
blue air. I was ashamed to shout aloud, but I exulted inwardly,
and shuffled about so on the foot-board behind the carriage that I
well-nigh lost my fiddle from under my arm. But when the sun rose
higher in the sky, while heavy, white, noonday clouds gathered on the
horizon, and the air hung sultry and still above the gently-waving
grain, I could not but remember my village and my father, and our
mill, and how cool and comfortable it was beside the shady mill-pool,
and how far, far away from me it all was. And the most curious
sensation overcame me; I felt as if I must turn and run back; but I
stuck my fiddle between my coat and my vest, settled myself on the
foot-board, and went to sleep.

When I opened my eyes again, the carriage was standing beneath tall
linden-trees, on the other side of which a broad flight of steps led
between columns into a magnificent castle. Through the trees beyond
I saw the towers of Vienna. The ladies, it appeared, had left the
carriage, and the horses had been unharnessed. I was startled to find
myself alone, and I hurried into the castle. As I did so I heard some
one at a window above laughing.

An odd time I had in this castle. First, as soon as I found myself in
the cool, spacious vestibule, some one tapped me on the shoulder with
a stick. I turned quickly about, and there stood a tall gentleman in
state apparel, with a broad bandolier of silk and gold crossing his
breast from his shoulder to his hip, a staff in his hand, gilded at
the top, and an extraordinarily large Roman nose; he strutted up to
me, swelling like a ruled-up turkey-cock, and asked me what I wanted
there. I was taken entirely aback, and in my confusion was unable
to utter a word. Several servants passed, going u