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

CHAPTER XI.

Wilhelm  had  scarcely  read  one  or  two  of  Shakspeare’s  plays,  till  their  effect

on  him  became  so  strong  that  he  could  go  no  farther.  His  whole  soul  was  in

commotion. He sought an opportunity to speak with Jarno; to whom, on meeting

with him, he expressed his boundless gratitude for such delicious entertainment.

“I clearly enough foresaw,” said Jarno, “that you would not remain insensible

to the charms of the most extraordinary and most admirable of all writers.”

“Yes!” exclaimed our friend: “I cannot recollect that any book, any man, any

incident of my life, has produced such important effects on me, as the precious

works  to  which  by  your  kindness  I  have  been  directed.  They  seem  as  if  they

were  performances  of  some  celestial  genius,  descending  among  men,  to  make

them,  by  the  mildest  instructions,  acquainted  with  themselves.  They  are  no

fictions!  You  would  think,  while  reading  them,  you  stood  before  the  unclosed

awful Books of Fate, while the whirlwind of most impassioned life was howling

through  the  leaves,  and  tossing  them  fiercely  to  and  fro.  The  strength  and

tenderness,  the  power  and  peacefulness,  of  this  man,  have  so  astonished  and

transported  me,  that  I  long  vehemently  for  the  time  when  I  shall  have  it  in  my

power to read farther.”

“Bravo!” said Jarno, holding out his hand, and squeezing our friend’s. “This is

as  it  should  be!  And  the  consequences,  which  I  hope  for,  will  likewise  surely

follow.”

“I wish,” said Wilhelm, “I could but disclose to you all that is going on within

me  even  now.  All  the  anticipations  I  have  ever  had  regarding  man  and  his

destiny, which have accompanied me from youth upwards, often unobserved by

myself, I find developed and fulfilled in Shakspeare’s writings. It seems as if he

cleared up every one of our enigmas to us, though we cannot say, Here or there

is the word of solution. His men appear like natural men, and yet they are not.

These, the most mysterious and complex productions of creation, here act before

us  as  if  they  were  watches,  whose  dial-plates  and  cases  were  of  crystal,  which

pointed out, according to their use, the course of the hours and minutes; while, at

the  same  time,  you  could  discern  the  combination  of  wheels  and  springs  that

turned  them.  The  few  glances  I  have  cast  over  Shakspeare’s  world  incite  me,

more  than  any  thing  beside,  to  quicken  my  footsteps  forward  into  the  actual

world, to mingle in the flood of destinies that is suspended over it, and at length,

if I shall prosper, to draw a few cups from the great ocean of true nature, and to

distribute them from off the stage among the thirsting people of my native land.”

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“I  feel  delighted  with  the  temper  of  mind  in  which  I  now  behold  you,”

answered  Jarno,  laying  his  hand  upon  the  shoulder  of  the  excited  youth:

“renounce  not  the  purpose  of  embarking  in  active  life.  Make  haste  to  employ

with alacrity the years that are granted you. If I can serve you, I will with all my

heart. As yet I have not asked you how you came into this troop, for which you

certainly were neither born nor bred. So much I hope and see, — you long to be

out  of  it.  I  know  nothing  of  your  parentage,  of  your  domestic  circumstances:

consider what you shall confide to me. Thus much only I can say: the times of

war we live in may produce quick turns of fortune; did you incline devoting your

strength and talents to our service, not fearing labor, and, if need were, danger, I

might even now have an opportunity to put you in a situation, which you would

not afterwards be sorry to have filled for a time.” Wilhelm could not sufficiently

express his gratitude: he was ready to impart to his friend and patron the whole

history of his life.

In the course of this conversation, they had wandered far into the park, and at

last came upon the highway that crossed it. Jarno stood silent for a moment, and

then said, “Deliberate on my proposal, determine, give me your answer in a few

days, and then let me have the narrative you mean to trust me with. I assure you,

it has all along to me seemed quite incomprehensible how you ever could have

any thing to do with such a class of people. I have often thought with spleen and

disgust,  how,  in  order  to  gain  a  paltry  living,  you  must  fix  your  heart  on  a

wandering ballad-monger, and a silly mongrel, neither male nor female.”

He had not yet concluded, when an officer on horseback came hastily along; a

groom following him with a led horse. Jarno shouted a warm salutation to him.

The  officer  sprang  from  his  horse;  Jarno  and  he  embraced  and  talked  together;

while  Wilhelm,  confounded  at  the  last  expressions  of  his  warlike  friend,  stood

thoughtfully  at  a  side.  Jarno  turned  over  some  papers  which  the  stranger  had

delivered to him; while the latter came to Wilhelm, held out his hand, and said

with  emphasis,  “I  find  you  in  worthy  company:  follow  the  counsel  of  your

friend,  and,  by  doing  so,  accomplish  likewise  the  desire  of  an  unknown  man,

who  takes  a  genuine  interest  in  you.”  So  saying,  he  embraced  Wilhelm,  and

pressed him cordially to his breast. At the same instant Jarno advanced, and said

to the stranger, “It is best that I ride on with you: by this means you may get the

necessary  orders,  and  set  out  again  before  night.”  Both  then  leaped  into  their

saddles, and left our astonished friend to his own reflections.

Jarno’s  last  words  were  still  ringing  in  his  ears.  It  galled  him  to  see  the  two

human  beings  that  had  most  innocently  won  his  affections  so  grievously

disparaged by a man whom he honored so much. The strange embracing of the

officer, whom he knew not, made but a slight impression on him; it occupied his

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curiosity  and  his  imagination  for  a  moment:  but  Jarno’s  speech  had  cut  him  to

the heart; he was deeply hurt by it: and now, in his way homewards, he broke out

into reproaches against himself, that he should for a single instant have mistaken

or  forgotten  the  unfeeling  coldness  of  Jarno,  which  looked  out  from  his  very

eyes, and spoke in all his gestures. “No!” exclaimed he, “thou conceivest, dead-

hearted worldling, that thou canst be a friend! All that thou hast power to offer

me  is  not  worth  the  sentiment  which  binds  me  to  these  forlorn  beings.  How

fortunate that I have discovered in time what I had to expect from thee!”

Mignon  came  to  meet  him  as  he  entered:  he  clasped  her  in  his  arms,

exclaiming,  “Nothing,  nothing,  shall  part  us,  thou  good  little  creature!  The

seeming  prudence  of  the  world  shall  never  cause  me  to  forsake  thee,  or  forget

what I owe thee!”

The  child,  whose  warm  caresses  he  had  been  accustomed  to  avoid,  rejoiced

with  all  her  heart  at  this  unlooked-for  show  of  tenderness,  and  clung  so  fast  to

him that he had some difficulty to get loose from her.

From this period he kept a stricter eye on Jarno’s conduct: many parts of it he

did  not  think  quite  praiseworthy;  nay,  several  things  came  out  which  totally

displeased  him.  He  had  strong  suspicions,  for  example,  that  the  verses  on  the

baron, which the poor Pedant had so dearly paid for, were composed by Jarno.

And  as  the  latter,  in  Wilhelm’s  presence,  had  made  sport  of  the  adventure,  our

friend thought here was certainly a symptom of a most corrupted heart; for what

could be more depraved than to treat a guiltless person, whose griefs one’s self

had  occasioned,  with  jeering  and  mockery,  instead  of  trying  to  satisfy  or  to

indemnify  him?  In  this  matter  Wilhelm  would  himself  willingly  have  brought

about  reparation;  and  erelong  a  very  curious  accident  led  him  to  obtain  some

traces of the persons concerned in that nocturnal outrage.

Hitherto his friends had contrived to keep him unacquainted with the fact, that

some  of  the  young  officers  were  in  the  habit  of  passing  whole  nights  in

merriment and jollity, with certain actors and actresses, in the lower hall of the

old  castle.  One  morning,  having  risen  early,  according  to  his  custom,  he

happened to visit this chamber, and found the gallant gentlemen just in the act of

performing rather a singular operation. They had mixed a bowl of water with a

quantity  of  chalk,  and  were  plastering  this  gruel  with  a  brush  upon  their

waistcoats  and  pantaloons,  without  stripping;  thus  very  expeditiously  restoring

the  spotlessness  of  their  apparel.  On  witnessing  this  piece  of  ingenuity,  our

friend was at once struck with the recollection of the poor Pedant’s whited and

bedusted  coat:  his  suspicions  gathered  strength  when  he  learned  that  some

relations of the baron were among the party.

To  throw  some  light  on  his  doubts,  he  engaged  the  youths  to  breakfast  with

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him. They were very lively, and told a multitude of pleasant stories. One of them

especially,  who  for  a  time  had  been  on  the  recruiting-service,  was  loud  in

praising the craft and activity of his captain; who, it appeared, understood the art

of  alluring  men  of  all  kinds  towards  him,  and  overreaching  every  one  by  the

deception  proper  for  him.  He  circumstantially  described  how  several  young

people of good families and careful education had been cozened, by playing off

to them a thousand promises of honor and preferment; and he heartily laughed at

the simpletons, who felt so gratified, when first enlisted, at the thought of being

esteemed and introduced to notice by so reputable, prudent, bold, and munificent

an officer.

Wilhelm blessed his better genius for having drawn him back in time from the

abyss to whose brink he had approached so near. Jarno he now looked upon as

nothing  better  than  a  crimp:  the  embrace  of  the  stranger  officer  was  easily

explained. He viewed the feelings and opinions of these men with contempt and

disgust;  from  that  moment  he  carefully  avoided  coming  into  contact  with  any

one that wore a uniform; and, when he heard that the army was about to move its

quarters,  the  news  would  have  been  extremely  welcome  to  him,  if  he  had  not

feared, that, immediately on its departure, he himself must be banished from the

neighborhood of his lovely friend, perhaps forever.

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