Delphi Collected Works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe \(Illustrated\) pdfdrive com

BOOK I.

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CHAPTER I.

THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT.

IN  the  shadow  of  a  mighty  rock  sat  Wilhelm,  at  a  gloomy  and  striking  spot,

where the steep mountain-path turned sharply round a corner, and rapidly wound

down into the chasm below. The sun was still high, and illuminated the tops of

the  firs  in  the  rocky  valleys  at  his  feet.  He  was  just  entering  something  in  his

memorandum-book,  when  Felix,  who  had  been  clambering  about,  came  up  to

him with a stone in his hand. “What do they call this stone?” said the boy.

“I do not know,” replied Wilhelm.

“Is it gold that sparkles so in it?” said the former.

“Nothing  of  the  kind!”  replied  the  other;  “and  now  I  remember  that  people

call it ‘cats’-gold.’ “

“Cats’-gold!” said the boy, laughing; “why?”

“Probably because it is false, and because cats are thought to be false.”

“I will remember that,” said his son, and put the stone into his leathern wallet;

but at the same time pulled out something else, and asked, “What is this?”

“A fruit,” replied his father; “and to judge by its scales it ought to be akin to

the fir-cones.”

“It does not look like a cone; why it is round.”

“Let us ask the huntsmen: they know the whole forest and all sorts of fruits;

they  know  how  to  sow,  to  plant,  and  to  wait;  then  they  let  the  stems  grow  and

become as big as they can.”

“The  hunters  know  everything;  yesterday  the  postman  showed  me  where  a

stag had crossed the road; he called me back and made me observe the track, as

he called it. I had jumped across it, but now I saw plainly a pair of claws printed;

it must have been a big stag.”

“I heard how you were questioning the postman.”

“He  knew  a  great  deal,  and  yet  he  is  not  a  huntsman.  But  I  want  to  be  a

huntsman.  It  is  glorious  to  be  the  whole  day  in  the  forest,  and  to  listen  to  the

birds, to know their names and where their nests are; how to take the eggs or the

young  ones;  how  to  feed  them,  and  when  to  catch  the  old  ones:  all  this  is  so

splendid!”

Scarcely  had  this  been  said,  when  there  appeared  coming  down  the  rugged

path an unusual phenomenon. Two boys, beautiful as the day, in colored tunics,

which one might rather have taken for small shirts girt up, sprang down one after

the other; and Wilhelm found an opportunity of inspecting them more closely, as

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they  faltered  before  him,  and  for  a  moment  stood  still.  Around  the  head  of  the

elder one waved an abundance of fair locks, which one must needs see first on

looking at him; and next his light-blue eyes attracted the glance which lost itself

with pleasure in his beautiful figure. The second, who looked more like a friend

than a brother, was adorned with smooth brown hair, which hung down over his

shoulders, and the reflection of which seemed to mirror itself in his eyes.

Wilhelm  had  not  time  to  contemplate  more  closely  these  two  extraordinary,

and in such a wilderness quite unexpected beings, when he heard a manly voice

shouting  down  in  a  emptory  yet  kindly  manner  from  behind  the  corner  of  the

rock: “Why are you standing still? Do not stop the way for us!”

Wilhelm looked up; and if the children had caused him to wonder, what now

met  his  eyes  filled  him  with  astonishment.  A  strong  and  vigorous,  but  not  too

tall,  young  man,  lightly  clad,  with  brown  complexion  and  black  hair,  stepped

firmly yet carefully down the rocky path, leading after him a donkey, which first

displayed  its  own  sleek  and  well-trimmed  head,  and  then  the  beautiful  burden

which it carried. A gentle, lovable woman was sitting in a large finely-mounted

saddle;  within  a  blue  mantle,  which  was  wrapped  round  her,  she  held  a  lately-

born  infant,  which  she  pressed  to  her  bosom  and  regarded  with  indescribable

love. The same thing occurred to the guide as to the children: he hesitated for a

moment when he saw Wilhelm. The animal slackened its pace, but the descent

was  too  steep  —  the  passers-by  could  not  stop,  and  Wilhelm  with  wonder  saw

them disappear behind the projecting wall of rock.

Nothing  was  more  natural,  than  that  this  unwonted  sight  should  snatch  him

from his meditations. He stood up in curiosity and looked down from his place

into the depth to see whether they would not somewhere or other come into sight

again. And he was just on the point of descending himself to greet these strange

wanderers, when Felix came up and said:

“Father, may I not go with these children to their house? They want to take me

with  them.  You  must  come  too,  the  man  said  to  me.  Come!  They  are  waiting

down yonder.”

“I will speak to them,” answered Wilhelm.

He  found  them  at  a  place  where  the  road  was  less  precipitous,  and  he

devoured  with  his  eyes  the  wonderful  forms  which  had  so  much  attracted  his

attention.  But  there  were  one  or  two  other  special  circumstances,  which  before

now it had not been possible for him to observe.

The  young  and  active  man  had  in  fact  an  adze  on  his  shoulder,  and  a  long,

thin, iron measuring-square.

The  children  carried  tall  bunches  of  bulrushes,  as  if  they  were  palms;  and  if

from  this  point  of  view  they  resembled  angels,  on  the  other  hand  they  dragged

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along  small  baskets  with  eatables,  and  in  this  resembled  the  daily  messengers,

such  as  are  accustomed  to  go  to  and  fro  across  the  mountain.  The  mother,  too,

when  he  looked  at  her  more  closely,  had  beneath  her  blue  mantle  a  reddish

delicately-tinted  under-garment,  so  that  our  friend,  with  astonishment,  was  fain

to find the Flight into Egypt, which he had so often seen painted, actually here

before his eyes.

They  greeted  one  another;  and  whilst  Wilhelm,  what  with  astonishment  and

absorption, could not utter a single word, the young man said:

“Our  children  have  already  made  friends  just  now.  Will  you  come  with  us,

that we may see whether the grown-up people may not come to an understanding

too.”

Wilhelm bethought himself a little, and then replied:

“The sight of your little family procession inspires confidence and kindliness,

and — I may as well confess it at once — no less curiosity, and a lively desire to

know  more  of  you.  For  at  the  first  moment  one  might  almost  ask  one’s  self

whether you are real travellers, or only spirits who take a pleasure in animating

this inhospitable mountain with pleasant visions.”

“Then come with us to our dwelling,” said the other.

“Come along!” shouted the children, already dragging Felix along with them.

“Come with us!” said the lady, turning her amiable kindly look from her babe

towards the stranger.

Without hesitation, Wilhelm said:

“I  am  sorry  that  I  cannot  follow  you  immediately.  This  night  at  least  I  must

pass at the frontier-house above. My wallet, papers and everything are still lying

up  there  unpacked  and  unattended  to.  But,  that  I  may  show  myself  ready  and

willing to do justice to your kind invitation, I will hand you over my Felix as a

pledge. To-morrow I shall be with you. How far is it from here?”

“Before sunset we shall reach our dwelling,” said the carpenter, “and from the

frontier-house  it  will  be  only  an  hour  and  a  half  more  for  you.  Your  boy  will

augment our family for this night; to-morrow we shall expect you.”

The  man  and  the  beast  set  themselves  in  motion.  Wilhelm  with  visible

pleasure  saw  his  Felix  in  such  good  company;  he  could  compare  him  with  the

dear little angels, from whom he differed so markedly. For his years he was not

tall, but robust, with a broad chest and strong shoulders. In his nature there was a

peculiar mixture of authority and obedience; he had already laid hold of a palm-

branch  and  a  little  basket,  whereby  he  seemed  to  express  both.  The  procession

was already on the point of disappearing a second time round a rocky wall, when

Wilhelm collected himself, and shouted after them:

“But how shall I inquire for you?”

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“Only  ask  for  St.  Joseph’s!”  rang  from  the  depth,  and  the  whole  vision  had

disappeared behind the blue walls of shadow. A solemn religious hymn, sung in

parts,  arose  and  died  away  in  the  distance,  and  Wilhelm  thought  that  he

distinguished the voice of his Felix.

He mounted upwards, and in so doing retarded for himself the sunset. The star

of heaven which he had lost more than once, shone on him again as he ascended

higher,  and  it  was  still  day  when  he  arrived  at  his  lodging.  Once  more  he

gladdened  himself  with  the  grand  mountain  view,  and  then  withdrew  to  his

chamber, where he at once seized a pen, and spent a part of the night in writing.