Alfaleith.org

"But thou thyself, lady," said Frida, "hast shown him little favor lately. We were the first whom he greeted so honorably, and for three long days thou hast avoided speaking to him. The man will blame thee as unfriendly and hard-hearted, and he has not the boldness to venture to accost thee, as he comes in such miserable plight; therefore do thou offer him a greeting at last."

"Let us do what is proper," answered Irmgard.

She moved with calm self-possession toward the troop of proud youths who were in the habit of following the Prince when he rode through the villages, or in the front of the battle. But when she came near the stranger, she became shy of speaking to him before others, and stopped by Theodulf, saying, "I heard your hunting horn late yesterday; had you good sport, cousin?"

Theodulf colored with joy because the Prince's child had greeted him before the others. He related to her his good fortune in the chase, and led her to a wooden partition, where a two-year-old bear was sitting very discontentedly. "The hounds seized him by the skin, I bound him with thongs, and brought him alive to the house; he will become a playfellow for the children in the village."

When Irmgard had looked at the brown bear, and gone away with Frida, the latter exclaimed indignantly, "Truly, you have spoken politely to the stranger."

"I was near enough to him," answered Irmgard, "and yet he was silent."

"He knows better what is due to the Prince's daughter," replied Frida.

But Irmgard watched the stranger after that, and when she saw him leaning apart from the others, against the fence of the courtyard, she went over to him alone, stopped, as if accidentally, and said, "On the elder tree over thy head a small gray bird dwells --- the nightingale. The maidens exorcise every evening the weasel and the screech-owl, that they may not destroy the nest. If he sing to thee, listen to him kindly, that he may delight thy friendly spirit. They say that in his songs he reminds every one of what is dear to him."

Ingo answered cordially, "All birds --- the hawk in the air and the singer in the bush --- sing the same song to the ear of the stranger; they remind him of home. There the dear mother once scattered winter food for the birds, that they might sing to her son good omens for his life. They have since then kept faith with him. Many a time have the wild feathered messengers warned the restless man, on the heath and in the forest, of dangers; they have been the companions of his destiny; like him they wander homeless over the earth, and like him feeding themselves either upon the prey which they seize, or on the gifts bestowed on them by an hospitable friend."

"And yet they find everywhere materials from which to build their nest," replied Irmgard.

"But where can the homeless make his house?" asked the guest, earnestly. "He who stands on his own threshold, and counts the horses on the inheritance of his father, he knows not how poverty gnaws at the heart of the proud man, when he must accept the gifts he himself would like to bestow on others."

"Thou complainest of the hospitality of the house at whose hearth thou hast been received," answered Irmgard, reproachfully.

<< Previous Page | Back | Next Page >>