"When winter howls across the wold,
And all the gates are fast,
Then is thine heart, shut from the cold,
Safe from the blast,
And safe from whomsoe'er goes past.
"When Spring makes lovely all the land,
And casements4 open wide,
Beware lest some gay wandering band
Should slip inside,
And steal thine heart, and thee deride5!
"When once 'tis gone, to win it back
Full vainly mayst thou try;
Nor golden bribes6 nor tears, alack!
Lost hearts can buy,
Since who loves once, loves till he die."
Baron Albrecht listened to her singing with a smile on his face.
"Now, by my beard," he said, "a song like that is worth a reward."
And he put his great shapely hand beneath her white chin, and kissed her full upon her red lips. At that very moment the Countess Erna came into the hall. Her cheek flushed as the damsel uttered an exclamation7 and fled hastily, and she looked at the baron in the evident expectation of seeing him also covered with confusion. But Albrecht merely smiled, and smoothed his chestnut8 beard.
"The damsel sings passing sweetly," he said, unmoved by her glance.
"Is it for that that thou hast kissed her?" demanded Erna, scornfully.
"Truly," replied he.
Erna regarded him with a look in which amazement9 struggled with disapprobation. She could not comprehend his strange indifference10 at being discovered.
"And hast thou no shame," she demanded, "to be seen trifling11 with the girl?"
"Shame?" he echoed. "Why should I have?"
"Nor any fear of my displeasure?"
"Thy displeasure?" he repeated. "Why shouldst thou be displeased12?"
She regarded him in silence a moment; and as she did not speak, he continued:
"Surely thou canst not be jealous of a serving-wench?"
She drew herself up proudly, all the blood of her ancestors aflame in her clear pale cheek.
"The Von Rittenbergs are jealous neither of serving-wenches nor on account of strangers," she returned haughtily13.
Albrecht looked at her in a perplexity that it was impossible not to believe genuine.
"Then what is my offence?" he asked. "I did but kiss the maid. I meant her no harm. Why should not one kiss a smooth cheek if it likes him?"
He spoke14 humbly15, yet with no air either of bravado16 or of conscious guilt17. She felt that his ignorance was not feigned18, yet could hardly bring herself to believe that he did not understand what her feeling must be at discovering him in the act she had seen. Moreover, she found herself strangely at a loss how to reply to his question, if it were in reality serious. If he did not perceive the impropriety of his conduct, it was not easy for her to explain it to him. She stood a moment in silence, regarding him with a penetrating19 glance under which he showed no sign of wavering, and then instead of turning away to leave him as had at first been her intention, she smiled faintly, and with an expression of doubt still in her eyes.
"One would think, Sir Knight20," she said, "that thy father's house must needs be a rude place if it is there held proper to kiss the damsels that please one, without hindrance21."
"In thy father's castle," he answered slowly, "we have perhaps lived in a fashion that would seem to thee rude, for that my mother died at my birth, and there has been no one but men to make the rules of the house; but why it is wrong to kiss a comely woman if she please thee, is one of the things that I have never been told there or here."
Erna's tender heart was at once touched by the thought of her companion's orphanage22, her own motherless childhood being still too fresh in her mind not to render her susceptible24 to this plea. She took up her whip from the bench, and turned quickly, that he might not see the tears that sprang to her eyes whenever one mentioned the loss of a mother.
"Well," she said, "I will leave it to Father Christopher to deal with thy transgression25."
The change in her tone did not escape his quick ears, and he hastened to follow her to the courtyard, where the horses were waiting.
Their way that morning led them over hill and dale, until they came at length to a wide meadow, where the knight was minded to fly his falcon26. A stream ran through the midst of the valley, and along its banks the grass was as vividly27 green as the emeralds which sparkled in the hilt of Albrecht's dagger28; while all through it the golden buttercups were set as thickly as the stars in the sky of a summer's night. Here and there grew clusters of tall reeds and water grasses gently swaying in the soft breeze; and as Albrecht took his falcon from the wrist of his squire29, who carried the bird, a splendid white heron rose with smooth, steady flight from amid the rushes, and went soaring upward. The baron quickly and deftly30 pulled the hood23 from the falcon's head; but just as he was loosening the jess Erna leaned forward and laid her hand on his arm.
"Let the heron go unharmed," she said. "Why shouldst thou strike him down?"
"Because," he responded, "thou art to wear his plumes31 in thy cap after I am gone, in memory of me."
"After thou art gone?" she repeated softly, drawing back.
He smiled and shook off the hawk32, which rose in graceful33 circles until it was far overhead, and hung dizzily above the meadow. It sailed to and fro a moment until its prey34, which had discovered it and in dismay was straining every nerve to quicken its flight, was just beneath it; then suddenly, with the rapidity of a thunderbolt, it fell straight upon the beautiful heron. Erna uttered a cry of dismay, and covered her eyes with her hand.
"It is too cruel!" she exclaimed.
Albrecht struck his hands together in glee.
"It is a brave bird!" he cried. "I would rather lose a gold mine than that falcon. He is as sure of his quarry35 as the rain is to fall to the ground."
Erna did not answer, but she regarded him with the look of one who strove to understand his pleasure, and to understand is almost to share. She said nothing while the squire rode off to bring in the game; and when the noble heron, its glistening36 throat stained with blood, was brought to them, she not only strove to restrain the involuntary shudder37 which seized her, but she did not remonstrate38 when her companion continued the praises of his bird.
"Did one ever see a more rich plumage?" Albrecht demanded. "It will set off thy cap bravely; and I have always been told that womenkind are fond of gay attire39."
"It is indeed a beautiful bird," Erna responded; "but dost thou know that there is always something very amusing in the way thou speakest, as if thou hadst never seen human beings till now."
A faint flush crossed Albrecht's cheek. He looked at the dead heron.
"I never thought of it before," he said; "but it does seem hard that he should have to be killed just to please me."
Erna flushed in her turn. She thought she had offended him by her criticism of his manner of speech.
"I beg thy pardon," she began; but he interrupted her.
"Thou hast no need," he said. "Besides, thou art right. I know nothing of women. I do not even know, it seems, how they should be treated, or how to please them. Otherwise," he added with his warm smile, "I should not have offended thee this morning by kissing the damsel who sang so sweetly."
The countess smiled, and turned toward him with her face full of light. They had not dismounted, but had halted their horses near the margin40 of the brook41 on the banks of which the heron had been feeding lower down.
"That," she said, "is not a thing to be taught. It is learned from the air and from the birds."
"Then why has it not been revealed to me? I have been much in the forest."
"To kill the birds! In good sooth, I know not that one may learn of the air and the woods who goes as thou goest, with falcon and boar-spear. But at least," she added, regarding him with a smile, "thou must know that when one loves—"
She broke off suddenly, and turned away her face, with a flush creeping up into her cheek.
"Well," Albrecht demanded eagerly, "what then?"
"I was but thinking," she returned, in a voice lower than before, "that certainly every man knoweth that when one truly loveth another, he will care for the caress42 of none save only the loved one."
"I had never thought of that," the knight responded gravely.
"Then of a surety thou hast never known what it is to love."
"By that token, never," he answered, smiling; "albeit43 it were possible that the test would not hold; and in any case it were not difficult, perchance, for thee to teach me."
The Countess Erna looked into his face all flushed and radiant, and there was that in her eyes which no man could see and fail to understand; and although the squire waiting hard by might not note that aught had been said or done out of the ordinary course, none the less had their hearts spoken each to each from that moment. Erna wheeled her horse, and began to move toward the entrance of the valley; and as Albrecht rode beside her, he suddenly leaned forward and caught her palfrey's rein44, so that the beast was almost thrown upon his haunches with the abruptness45 of his arrest.
"Do not ride toward the upper ford46," he said; "the nix is in an evil mood to-day, and mayhap might do thee a mischief47 in her spitefulness."
Erna looked at him with astonishment48 and alarm.
"And how knowest thou of the moods of the nix?" she demanded.
His eyes fell, and a flush stained his swarthy cheek. Then he seemed to recover his self-possession.
"It is a knowledge," he replied, "that is learned from the air and from the birds, but only by those who are in sympathy with the woodland creatures so that they may comprehend it."
Erna laughed merrily, and turned her palfrey toward the lower ford.
"In sober sooth, thou knowest no more of the nix than do I," she told him; "but I mind not if I please thy fancy."
But when alone in her chamber49 she thought of this, she crossed herself and shivered a little with a not unpleasing awe50.
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1
comely
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| adj.漂亮的，合宜的 | |
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wholesome
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| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
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3
baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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casements
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| n.窗扉( casement的名词复数 ) | |
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5
deride
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| v.嘲弄，愚弄 | |
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6
bribes
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| n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
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7
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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8
chestnut
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| n.栗树，栗子 | |
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9
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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10
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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11
trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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12
displeased
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| a.不快的 | |
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13
haughtily
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| adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地 | |
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14
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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15
humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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16
bravado
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| n.虚张声势，故作勇敢，逞能 | |
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17
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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18
feigned
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| a.假装的，不真诚的 | |
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19
penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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20
knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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21
hindrance
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| n.妨碍，障碍 | |
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22
orphanage
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| n.孤儿院 | |
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23
hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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24
susceptible
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| adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的 | |
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25
transgression
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| n.违背；犯规；罪过 | |
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26
falcon
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| n.隼，猎鹰 | |
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27
vividly
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| adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地 | |
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28
dagger
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| n.匕首，短剑，剑号 | |
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29
squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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30
deftly
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| adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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31
plumes
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| 羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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32
hawk
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| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
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33
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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34
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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35
quarry
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| n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找 | |
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36
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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37
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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38
remonstrate
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| v.抗议，规劝 | |
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39
attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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40
margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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41
brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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42
caress
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| vt./n.爱抚，抚摸 | |
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43
albeit
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| conj.即使；纵使；虽然 | |
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44
rein
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| n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治 | |
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45
abruptness
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| n. 突然，唐突 | |
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46
Ford
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| n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过 | |
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47
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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48
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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49
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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50
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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