登陆注册
5419700000227

第227章

And Gottlieb!--he is at work all day, In the sunny field, or the forest murk, But I know that his thoughts are far away, I know that his heart is not in his work!

And when he comes home to me at night He is not cheery, but sits and sighs, And I see the great tears in his eyes, And try to be cheerful for his sake.

Only the children's hearts are light.

Mine is weary, and ready to break.

God help us! I hope we have done right;

We thought we were acting for the best!

Looking through the open door.

Who is it coming under the trees?

A man, in the Prince's livery dressed!

He looks about him with doubtful face, As if uncertain of the place.

He stops at the beehives;--now he sees The garden gate;--he is going past!

Can he be afraid of the bees?

No; he is coming in at last!

He fills my heart with strange alarm!

Enter a Forester.

FORESTER.

Is this the tenant Gottlieb's farm?

URSULA.

This is his farm, and I his wife.

Pray sit.What may your business be?

FORESTER.

News from the Prince!

URSULA.

Of death or life?

FORESTER.

You put your questions eagerly!

URSULA.

Answer me, then! How is the Prince?

FORESTER.

I left him only two hours since Homeward returning down the river, As strong and well as if God, the Giver, Had given him back his youth again.

URSULA, despairing.

Then Elsie, my poor child, is dead!

FORESTER.

That, my good woman, I have not said.

Don't cross the bridge till you come to it, Is a proverb old, and of excellent wit.

URSULA.

Keep me no longer in this pain!

FORESTER.

It is true your daughter is no more;--

That is, the peasant she was before.

URSULA.

Alas! I am simple and lowly bred, I am poor, distracted, and forlorn.

And it is not well that you of the court Should mock me thus, and make a sport Of a joyless mother whose child is dead, For you, too, were of mother born!

FORESTER.

Your daughter lives, and the Prince is well!

You will learn erelong how it all befell.

Her heart for a moment never failed;

But when they reached Salerno's gate, The Prince's nobler self prevailed, And saved her for a noble fate.

And he was healed, in his despair, By the touch of St.Matthew's sacred bones;Though I think the long ride in the open air, That pilgrimage over stocks and stones, In the miracle must come in for a share.

URSULA.

Virgin! who lovest the poor and lowly, If the loud cry of a mother's heart Can ever ascend to where thou art, Into thy blessed hands and holy Receive my prayer of praise and thanksgiving!

Let the hands that bore our Saviour bear it Into the awful presence of God;For thy feet with holiness are shod, And if thou hearest it He will hear it.

Our child who was dead again is living!

FORESTER.

I did not tell you she was dead;

If you thought so 't was no fault of mine;At this very moment while I speak, They are sailing homeward down the Rhine, In a splendid barge, with golden prow, And decked with banners white and red As the colors on your daughter's cheek.

They call her the Lady Alicia now;

For the Prince in Salerno made a vow That Elsie only would he wed.

URSULA.

Jesu Maria! what a change!

All seems to me so weird and strange!

FORESTER.

I saw her standing on the deck, Beneath an awning cool and shady;Her cap of velvet could not hold The tresses of her hair of gold, That flowed and floated like the stream, And fell in masses down her neck.

As fair and lovely did she seem As in a story or a dream Some beautiful and foreign lady.

And the Prince looked so grand and proud, And waved his hand thus to the crowd That gazed and shouted from the shore, All down the river, long and loud.

URSULA.

We shall behold our child once more;

She is not dead! She is not dead!

God, listening, must have overheard The prayers, that, without sound or word, Our hearts in secrecy have said!

Oh, bring me to her; for mine eyes Are hungry to behold her face;My very soul within me cries;

My very hands seem to caress her, To see her, gaze at her, and bless her;Dear Elsie, child of God and grace!

Goes out toward the garden.

FORESTER.

There goes the good woman out of her head;And Gottlieb's supper is waiting here;

A very capacious flagon of beer, And a very portentous loaf of bread.

One would say his grief did not much oppress him.

Here's to the health of the Prince, God bless him!

He drinks.

Ha! it buzzes and stings like a hornet!

And what a scene there, through the door!

The forest behind and the garden before, And midway an old man of threescore, With a wife and children that caress him.

Let me try still further to cheer and adorn it With a merry, echoing blast of my cornet!

Goes out blowing his horn.

THE CASTLE OF VAUTSBERG ON THE RHINE

PRINCE HENRY and ELSIE standing on the terrace at evening.

The sound of tells heard from a distance.

PRINCE HENRY.

We are alone.The wedding guests Ride down the hill, with plumes and cloaks, And the descending dark invests The Niederwald, and all the nests Among its hoar and haunted oaks.

ELSIE.

What bells are those, that ring so slow, So mellow, musical, and low?

PRINCE HENRY.

They are the bells of Geisenheim, That with their melancholy chime Ring out the curfew of the sun.

ELSIE.

Listen, beloved.

PRINCE HENRY.

They are done!

Dear Elsie! many years ago Those same soft bells at eventide Rang in the ears of Charlemagne, As, seated by Fastrada's side At Ingelheim, in all his pride He heard their sound with secret pain.

ELSIE.

Their voices only speak to me Of peace and deep tranquillity, And endless confidence in thee!

PRINCE HENRY.

Thou knowest the story of her ring, How, when the court went back to Aix, Fastrada died; and how the king Sat watching by her night and day, Till into one of the blue lakes, Which water that delicious land, They cast the ring, drawn from her hand:

And the great monarch sat serene And sad beside the fated shore, Nor left the land forevermore.

ELSIE.

That was true love.

PRINCE HENRY.

For him the queen Ne'er did what thou hast done for me.

ELSIE.

Wilt thou as fond and faithful be?

Wilt thou so love me after death?

PRINCE HENRY.

In life's delight, in death's dismay, In storm and sunshine, night and day, In health, in sickness, in decay, Here and hereafter, I am thine!

同类推荐
  • 南本大般涅槃经

    南本大般涅槃经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • The Boy Captives

    The Boy Captives

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 卫公兵法辑本

    卫公兵法辑本

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 述报法兵侵台纪事残辑

    述报法兵侵台纪事残辑

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 镜换杯

    镜换杯

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 爱你有3千亿光年

    爱你有3千亿光年

    这一世夏君心重生势要逆天改命,却被孩子的亲生父亲寻上门。他是权倾一世令人闻风丧胆的冷血阎王,砸了可以买下整个地球重金把自己送到了过去,只为了把这个女人弄到手。夏君心一直以为他有人格分裂,直到亲眼看见两个同样高大帅气矜贵卓尔不凡的老公站在她面前。亮明身份的厉三爷:“老婆,我走后,第二只老公半价销售......”厉司阎:“老婆,乖,别哭,余生六十年都给你。”疼她宠她的厉三爷消失了,全世界都说她惨了,要被扫地出门了......可是那个冰冷的从不黏也不爱她男人忽然再次在她面前化成小奶狗,宠她爱她,各种甜蜜喂养。“为什么忽然喜欢我?”“其实很爱你,可能从很久很久那时起。”
  • 万界之独霸天下

    万界之独霸天下

    信者,诚也。常言道,人而无信,不知其可,在本书中,诚信值,可以用来换取丹药、灵技、功法、灵兽、天赋……等等一切你可以想象的到的修道外物,在这里,诚信,真的可以化为一种力量,在这里,拥有了足够的诚信值后,真的可以为所欲为!
  • 玄凡视界

    玄凡视界

    视就是“看”的意思,视界自然就是眼睛能看到的世界。世界自然是无边无际的,但是如果眼睛所能看到的距离无限,那么视界之内便是整个世界!我这样说可能有些像一本正经的胡说八道,但你别忘了这里可是玄凡视界――奇迹般地玄幻魔法世界!如果这里有你做不到的事,那只是因为——你还是太弱了!
  • 天刀秦时行

    天刀秦时行

    一个无人知何时、何地、何人统率、何时渗入江湖的组织,当某宅男带着修改后的天刀商城闯入秦时明月的世界里,在这里创建了青龙会,在青龙会的阴影之下,这个世界最终会走向何方?前几章可能有毒,但是请认真看下去,因为后面的照样很毒…………这是一个新人作者的执念
  • 感时上卢相

    感时上卢相

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 豪门嫁娶:新娘来自娱乐圈

    豪门嫁娶:新娘来自娱乐圈

    叶姝的前世是一名一线演员,因爆出被包养的丑闻之后,把心脏捐给了自己的情敌,自杀。今世的叶姝,注定是要斗渣男,斗小三,斗渣父母的。曾经有一抹清泉缓缓的注入在叶姝的内心深处,一朝重生,她要去找那个让她感动的男人。不过她最后才发现,原来啊,无论是前世还是今生,她爱的都只有那个男人。--情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 颜氏家训(中华国学经典)

    颜氏家训(中华国学经典)

    《颜氏家训》作为中国传统社会的典范教材,《颜氏家训》直接开后世“家训”的先河,是我国古代家庭教育理论宝库中的一份珍贵遗产。这是中国历史上第一部著名的传世“家训”,颜之推根据自己的人生经历、处世哲学,在生活、仕宦、处世、文章、修养等各个方告诫子孙,这也促使《颜氏家训》一书内容丰富,见解独特,成为家庭教育的典范。本书对颜氏家训进行注释,翻译帮助读者理解古代文献。
  • 无所畏与无所谓

    无所畏与无所谓

    《无所畏与无所谓》从历史与现实的细节着笔,展示与分析中国的难题,拆解出其中的文化因素,继续批判国民性。历史往事暗示着今日依然存在的痼疾,提醒着未被注意到的重要细节;对于合作化运动以来农村变迁的分析研究;社会批评,着重评论时事风气与官僚制度的种种现象;个人的记忆折射着社会与时代的细节。[
  • 傲世圣尊

    傲世圣尊

    原始之地,五劫降世,一个身世如迷的少年,身带诡异神纹,自万古封禁之地而出。自此,新的格局开启。美女神魂换胎易体相伴,助少年屠妖魔,斩神皇,破神界万族,搅天地乱局,一步一步,踏上至尊之路!
  • 总裁老公不请自来

    总裁老公不请自来

    第一次见面,苏浅浅被男友甩,情敌一杯水淋过来,不偏不倚的淋到沈彦的脸上。沈彦只是淡定的道:“没事,就当洗脸吧。”第二次见面,苏浅浅被公司扫地出门,临出门时,广告牌砸下来,没砸中正好在下面的苏浅浅,却好巧不巧砸到刚刚过来的沈彦。沈彦只是低沉的说了句:“死不了”结果住院一星期。第三次见面,苏浅浅:总裁,你帮了我这么大忙,我真不知道该怎么谢你呢。沈彦(很淡定):那就以身相许,嫁给我吧。苏浅浅一下子不淡定了,这总裁老公还不请自来了啊。不管有没有阴谋,她还是毫不犹豫的嫁给他,只为他给的倚靠的肩膀。他以王者之姿给予她世人羡慕嫉妒的婚礼,让她成为高高在上的沈夫人。婆婆刁难,小姑难缠,她不屑。她只要守着自己的这片小天地。只是有一天,亲眼见到情敌与他并肩走进内.衣店,她不淡定了。偶遇前任和他谈笑风生,她不明白了。那个他夜半呢喃的名字究竟是谁?新文《裴少的娃娃亲》http://m.wkkk.net/a/960292/已经开始更新,超逗文文,请从简介里的链接进入。