登陆注册
5272900000035

第35章 CHAPTER XVIII. HOW THE KNIGHT HULDBRAID IS MARRIED

If I were to tell you how the marriage-feast passed at castle Ringstetten, it would seem to you as if you saw a heap of bright and pleasant things, but a gloomy veil of mourning spread over them all, the dark hue of which would make the splendor of the whole look less like happiness than a mockery of the emptiness of all earthly joys.

It was not that any spectral apparitions disturbed the festive company, for we know that the castle had been secured from the mischief of the threatening water-spirits. But the knight and the fisherman and all the guests felt as if the chief personage were still lacking at the feast, and that this chief personage could be none other than the loved and gentle Undine. Whenever a door opened, the eyes of all were involuntarily turned in that direction, and if it was nothing but the butler with new dishes, or the cup-bearer with a flask of still richer wine, they would look down again sadly, and the flashes of wit and merriment which had passed to and fro, would be extinguished by sad remembrances. The bride was the most thoughtless of all, and therefore the most happy; but even to her it sometimes seemed strange that she should be sitting at the head of the table, wearing a green wreath and gold-embroidered attire, while Undine was lying at the bottom of the Danube, a cold and stiff corpse, or floating away with the current into the mighty ocean.

For, ever since her father had spoken of something of the sort, his words were ever ringing in her ear, and this day especially they were not inclined to give place to other thoughts.

The company dispersed early in the evening, not broken up by the bridegroom himself, but sadly and gloomily by the joyless mood of the guests and their forebodings of evil. Bertalda retired with her maidens, and the knight with his attendants; but at this mournful festival there was no gay, laughing train of bridesmaids and bridesmen.

Bertalda wished to arouse more cheerful thoughts; she ordered a splendid ornament of jewels which Huldbrand had given her, together with rich apparel and veils, to be spread out before her, in order that from these latter she might select the brightest and most beautiful for her morning attire. Her attendants were delighted at the opportunity of expressing their good wishes to their young mistress, not failing at the same time to extol the beauty of the bride in the most lively terms. They were more and more absorbed in these considerations, till Bertalda at length, looking in a mirror, said with a sigh: "Ah, but don't you see plainly how freckled I am growing here at the side of my neck?"

They looked at her throat, and found the freckles as their fair mistress had said, but they called them beauty-spots, and mere tiny blemishes only, tending to enhance the whiteness of her delicate skin. Bertalda shook her head and asserted that a spot was always a defect.

"And I could remove them," she sighed a last, "only the fountain is closed from which I used to have that precious and purifying water. Oh! if I had but a flask of it to-day!"

"Is that all? "said an alert waiting-maid, laughing, as she slipped from the apartment.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 九平太世之半壁书

    九平太世之半壁书

    传说得半壁石者可得半壁江山,空悸被师父派去人间寻找机缘,却碰到一大堆让人啼笑皆非的事,看神医空悸如何玩转人界。
  • 神魂无敌我怕谁

    神魂无敌我怕谁

    一位青春期骚动的少年在不小心中重生于异界且看他是如何成为一代神魂传说!
  • 长官你好呀

    长官你好呀

    新书《重生八零美食开道》正在连载中,美食宠文,不极品不纠结。苏因小姐姐满脑子都是如何赚钱,如何做好吃的。 欢迎各位来尝尝哦! 何小姐只是一时兴起撩了一下这位不苟言笑的张长官,可没想到那人却一脸严肃,表示求包养,求负责...何小姐脸上笑嘻嘻,心里MMP。不过还是很愉快的接受了,谁让张长官长得那么和自己的心意呢?1V1,强强,不虐
  • 废物逆天:特工十三少

    废物逆天:特工十三少

    现代,她翻手为云,覆手为雨,她的话就是圣旨,她的命令就是全世界的规矩。一次特殊任务使她意外的来到了异大陆,却发现这个身体的本尊是个废材,然,金麟岂是池中物,一遇风云便化龙。异世大陆,神秘的母亲家族,奇异的苏家血脉,这个世界等着她一步步的攀登。有友情、亲情、爱情环绕在身边的她,这条强者之路,并不孤单,且看她如何在异世大陆成为至尊。
  • 雷神惊天

    雷神惊天

    武天阁,云荒域最古老的武典藏书楼。废武魂少年,从此走出,手持噬雷珠,重新让整个大陆侧目震惊!任少卿站在九天之巅,手掌雷霆,发誓要重新找回属于万年世家的那份荣耀!魔乱天下,诛伐伪邪,雷神惊天,最终成就武天雷神!
  • 麒麟印

    麒麟印

    盛名之下无虚士,强将手下无弱兵!在这二十二世纪高科技发展的年代仍没有武器能破得了凌云心经的“无敌气盾”!且看他如何依靠“无敌气盾”虐遍天下强者,享尽齐人之福。--情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 绾天下

    绾天下

    乱世烽烟,少年热血,爱恨情仇,悲欢离合......她是翼国历史上年龄最小的长公主,是王兄王嫂的掌上明珠,可算命的却说,她是祸国殃民的妖孽。她生于庙堂高宇,渴望风花雪月,却遭逢家国剧变。乱世纷争之中,人们何去何从......
  • 战神王爷狂宠倾城医妃

    战神王爷狂宠倾城医妃

    夏依依是一名军医、特种兵。在一次对抗境外恐怖分子时牺牲,当她醒来的时候发现自己穿越到了东朔国,成为了护国公府的嫡小姐。被庶妹陷害,夏依依被迫嫁给了如阎王般残暴冷血的还残疾重病的轩王,在大婚当日居然不露面,拿一只公鸡代替与依依拜堂,还当夜就将依依迁入偏冷的后院。此处不留爷自有留爷处,依依出了王府,爱情事业风生水起,此时轩王想起来吃醋了,想重得美人归?门都没有,不,连窗户都没有,本姑娘做得了手术,上得了战场,本姑娘瞧不上你。某人说“本王保证后院只有你一个女主人”。多年以后,看着整个后宫就那么一个嚣张跋扈的女人整日颐指气使的时候,后悔也来不及了。
  • 写作

    写作

    这是玛格丽特·杜拉斯晚年的一部随笔集,一九九三年出版。虽题名为“写作”,但并不局限于写作本身。作家的点滴回忆与感受:孤独、酒精、情人、独居的乡村别墅、电影、乃至对小哥的爱都融入其中。全书收录了五个短篇,分别为《写作》、《年轻的英国飞行员之死》、《罗马》、《纯洁的数字》、《画展》。
  • 学霸调教中

    学霸调教中

    以前她是一个嚣张狂妄的学渣人设,自从遇上了好好学习系统,她开始了学霸之旅。她:冲冲冲!我爱学习!系统:呵,女人。吃撑狗粮的众人怒骂:你究竟是学习系统还是恋爱系统!