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

CHAPTER VI.

This  mingled  feeling  of  vexation  and  gratitude  spoiled  the  remainder  of  his

day;  till,  towards  evening,  he  once  more  found  employment.  Melina  informed

him that the count had been speaking of a little prelude, which he wished to have

produced in honor of the prince, on the day of his Highness’s arrival. He meant

to have the great qualities of this noble hero and philanthropist personified in the

piece. These Virtues were to advance together, to recite his praises, and finally to

encircle  his  bust  with  garlands  of  flowers  and  laurels;  behind  which  a

transparency  might  be  inserted,  representing  the  princely  Hat,  and  his  name

illuminated  on  it.  The  count,  Melina  said,  had  ordered  him  to  take  charge  of

getting  ready  the  verses  and  other  arrangements;  and  Wilhelm,  he  hoped,  to

whom it must be an easy matter, would stand by him on this occasion.

“What!”  exclaimed  our  friend,  in  a  splenetic  tone,  “have  we  nothing  but

portraits,  illuminated  names,  and  allegorical  figures,  to  show  in  honor  of  a

prince,  who,  in  my  opinion,  merits  quite  a  different  eulogy?  How  can  it  flatter

any reasonable man to see himself set up in effigy, and his name glimmering on

oiled  paper?  I  am  very  much  afraid  that  your  allegories,  particularly  in  the

present  state  of  the  wardrobe,  will  furnish  occasion  for  many  ambiguities  and

jestings. If you mean, however, to compose the play, or have it composed, I can

have nothing to object; only I desire to have no part or lot in the matter.”

Melina excused himself; alleging this to be only a casual hint of his lordship

the count, who for the rest had left the arrangement of the piece entirely in their

own hands. “With all my heart,” replied our friend, “will I contribute something

to  the  pleasure  of  this  noble  family:  my  Muse  has  never  had  so  pleasant  an

employment  as  to  sing,  though  in  broken  numbers,  the  praises  of  a  prince  who

merits so much veneration. I will think of the matter: perhaps I may be able to

contrive some way of bringing out our little troop, so as at least to produce some

effect.”

From  this  moment  Wilhelm  eagerly  reflected  on  his  undertaking.  Before

going  to  sleep  he  had  got  it  all  reduced  to  some  degree  of  order;  early  next

morning  his  plan  was  ready,  the  scenes  laid  out;  a  few  of  the  most  striking

passages and songs were even versified and written down.

As soon as he was dressed, our friend made haste to wait upon the baron, to

submit  the  plan  to  his  inspection,  and  take  his  advice  upon  certain  points

connected  with  it.  The  baron  testified  his  approbation  of  it,  but  not  without

considerable  surprise.  For,  on  the  previous  evening,  he  had  heard  his  lordship

---

talk of having ordered some quite different piece to be prepared and versified.

“To  me  it  seems  improbable,”  replied  our  friend,  “that  it  could  be  his

lordship’s wish to have the piece got ready, exactly as he gave it to Melina. If I

am not mistaken, he intended merely to point out to us from a distance the path

we were to follow. The amateur and critic shows the artist what is wanted, and

then leaves to him the care of producing it by his own means.”

“Not at all,” replied the baron: “his lordship understands that the piece shall be

composed according to that and no other plan which he has himself prescribed.

Yours  has,  indeed,  a  remote  similarity  with  his  idea;  but  if  we  mean  to

accomplish  our  purpose,  and  get  the  count  diverted  from  his  first  thought,  we

shall need to employ the ladies in the matter. The baroness especially contrives

to  execute  such  operations  in  the  most  masterly  manner:  the  question  is  now,

whether  your  plan  shall  so  please  her,  that  she  will  undertake  the  business;  in

that case it will certainly succeed.”

“We need the assistance of the ladies,” said our friend, “at any rate; for neither

our  company  nor  our  wardrobe  would  suffice  without  them.  I  have  counted  on

some  pretty  children,  that  are  running  up  and  down  the  house,  and  belong  to

certain of the servants.”

He  then  desired  the  baron  to  communicate  his  plan  to  the  ladies.  The  baron

soon  returned  with  intelligence  that  they  wished  to  speak  with  Wilhelm

personally.  That  same  evening,  when  the  gentlemen  sat  down  to  play,  which,

owing to the arrival of a certain general, was expected to be deeper and keener

than  usual,  the  countess  and  her  friend,  under  pretext  of  some  indisposition,

would  retire  to  their  chamber,  where  Wilhelm,  being  introduced  by  a  secret

staircase, might submit his project without interruption. This sort of mystery, the

baron said, would give the adventure a peculiar charm; in particular the baroness

was rejoicing like a child in the prospect of their rendezvous, and the more so,

because  it  was  to  be  accomplished  secretly,  and  against  the  inclination  of  the

count.

Towards evening, at the appointed time, Wilhelm was sent for, and led in with

caution. As the baroness advanced to meet him in a small cabinet, the manner of

their  interview  brought  former  happy  scenes  for  a  moment  to  his  mind.  She

conducted  him  along  to  the  countess’s  chamber,  and  they  now  proceeded

earnestly  to  question  and  investigate.  He  exhibited  his  plan  with  the  utmost

warmth  and  vivacity,  so  that  his  fair  audience  were  quite  decided  in  its  favor.

Our readers also will permit us to present a brief sketch of it here.

The play was to open with a dance of children in some rural scene, — their

dance  representing  that  particular  game  wherein  each  has  to  wheel  round,  and

---

gain  the  other’s  place.  This  was  to  be  followed  by  several  variations  of  their

play; till at last, in performing a dance of the repeating kind, they were all to sing

a merry song.

Here  the  old  harper  with  Mignon  was  to  enter,  and,  by  the  curiosity  which

they  excited,  gather  several  country-people  round  them;  the  harper  would  sing

various songs in praise of peace, repose, and joy; and Mignon would then dance

the egg-dance.

In  these  innocent  delights,  they  are  disturbed  by  the  sound  of  martial  music;

and  the  party  are  surprised  by  a  troop  of  soldiers.  The  men  stand  on  the

defensive, and are overcome: the girls flee, and are overtaken. In the tumult all

seems going to destruction, when a person (about whose form and qualities the

poet was not yet determined) enters, and, by signifying that the general is near,

restores  composure.  Whereupon  the  hero’s  character  is  painted  in  the  finest

colors; security is promised in the midst of arms; violence and lawless disorder

are  now  to  be  restrained.  A  universal  festival  is  held  in  honor  of  the  noble-

minded captain.

The  countess  and  her  friend  expressed  great  satisfaction  with  the  plan;  only

they  maintained  that  there  must  of  necessity  be  something  of  allegory

introduced,  to  make  it  palatable  to  his  lordship.  The  baron  proposed  that  the

leader  of  the  soldiers  should  be  represented  as  the  Genius  of  Dissension  and

Violence; that Minerva should then advance to bind fetters on him, to give notice

of the hero’s approach, and celebrate his praise. The baroness undertook the task

of  persuading  the  count  that  this  plan  was  the  one  proposed  by  himself,  with  a

few  alterations;  at  the  same  time  expressly  stipulating,  that  without  fail,  at  the

conclusion  of  the  piece,  the  bust,  the  illuminated  name,  and  the  princely  Hat

should be exhibited in due order; since otherwise, her attempt was vain.

Wilhelm  had  already  figured  in  his  mind  how  delicately  and  how  nobly  he

would  have  the  praises  of  his  hero  celebrated  in  the  mouth  of  Minerva,  and  it

was not without a long struggle that he yielded in this point. Yet he felt himself

delightfully  constrained  to  yield.  The  beautiful  eyes  of  the  countess,  and  her

lovely demeanor, would easily have moved him to sin against his conscience as

a poet; to abandon the finest and most interesting invention, the keenly wished-

for unity of his composition, and all its most suitable details. His conscience as a

burgher had a trial no less hard to undergo, when the ladies, in distributing the

characters, pointedly insisted that he must undertake one himself.

Laertes  had  received  for  his  allotment  the  part  of  that  violent  war-god;

Wilhelm was to represent the leader of the peasants, who had some very pretty

and  tender  verses  to  recite.  After  long  resistance  he  was  forced  to  comply:  he

could  find  no  excuse,  when  the  baroness  protested  that  their  stage  was  in  all

---

respects to be regarded as a private one, and that she herself would very gladly

play  on  it,  if  they  could  find  her  a  fit  occasion.  On  receiving  his  consent,  they

parted  with  our  friend  on  the  kindest  terms.  The  baroness  assured  him  that  he

was an incomparable man: she accompanied him to the little stairs, and wished

him good-night with a squeeze of the hand.

---