CHAPTER VIII.ON THE LAKE OF SILS.

 Stineli did not recover herself during the entire week, her joy was so great; but it seemed as if that week were ten days longer than any other, for Sunday seemed never to come.

 

At last it did come, and a golden sun shone over the harvest fields, and she and Rico went up under the fir-trees, where the sparkling lake lay spread out at their feet; and the girl's heart was so overflowing¹ with happiness, that she had to dance about and shout aloud before she seated herself on the moss², on the very edge of the slope. There she could see every thing round about,—the sunny heights and the lake, and, stretched over all, the blue heavens.

 

Suddenly she called out, "Come now, Rico; we will sing,—sing for ever so long."

 

So the lad seated himself by Stineli's side, and placed his fiddle³ in position,—for he had, of course, brought that too,—and began to play, and the children sang,—

 

"Little lambkins, come down

From the bright, sunny height,"

 

until they had sung all the verses; but Stineli had not had half enough.

 

"We will sing more," she said, and went on,—

 

"Little lambkins, above

On the bright, pleasant hill,

The sunlight is sparkling,

The winds are not still."

 

And then Rico sang the verse and was pleased and said, "Sing some more."

 

Stineli was quite excited: thought a bit, and looked up, then down, and sang again,—

 

"And the lambkins, and the lambkins,

And the heavens so blue;

And red and white flowers,

And the green grasses, too."

 

Then Rico fiddled⁴ and sung the verse with her, and said again, "Some more."

 

Stineli laughed, and, glancing at Rico, sang,—

 

"And a sad little boy,

And a very gay maid;

And a lake like another,

That from water is made."

 

Laughing and singing, Stineli went on,—

 

"And the lambkins, and the lambkins,

They jumped up so high,

And all were most merry,

And did not know why.

 

"And a boy and a girl

By the lake-side did sit,

And because they forgot it,

It hurt not a bit."

 

Now they began at the very beginning, and sang the whole thing through again, and made merry over it, and were so happy that they sang it at least ten times over; and the more they repeated it, the better it sounded to their ears.

 

After this Rico played several tunes⁵ that he had learned from his father; but they soon came back to their own song, and began that again.

 

In the midst of it the girl stopped and said, "It has just come into my head how you can go down to the other lake, and will not need any money either."

 

Rico paused suddenly and gazed at his companion, awaiting what was coming next.

 

"Don't you see," she said earnestly, "now you have a fiddle, and you know a song. You can go and play your song, and sing before the taverns⁶; then the people will give you something to eat and to drink, and let you sleep there, for they will see that you are not a beggar. So you can go on until you reach the lake; and, coming home, you can do the same thing again."

 

Rico reflected over these words, but Stineli would give him no time for dreaming: she wanted to go on with the song.

 

They made so much noise themselves, that they did not hear the prayer-bell at all; and did not notice what time it was until reminded by the growing darkness, and perceived the grandmother looking about anxiously for them before they reached the houses.

 

But Stineli was too much excited to be subdued⁷ by any thing. She ran on towards her grandmother, and said, "You have no idea how beautifully Rico can fiddle; and we have made a song of our own, for ourselves only. We will sing it to you this very moment."

 

And before there was time to answer, they began and sang it all through; and the good grandmother listened with real pleasure to their sweet, clear voices.

 

She seated herself on the log; and, when the children had finished, said, "Come now, Rico, I want you to play for me; and you and I will sing together. Do you know the song that begins,—

 

"'I sing to thee with heart and voice?'"

 

Rico had probably heard the hymn⁸, but he did not know it correctly, and said that he wished first to hear it from the grandmother, and he would follow her softly on his violin, and then he would be sure of it.

 

So they began; and first the grandmother repeated the words of a verse to the children, and then they all sang it together,—

 

"I sing to thee with heart and voice,

Lord, whom my soul obeys.

I sing, and bid all earth rejoice:

Thou teachest me thy praise.

 

 

"I know that thou the fountain art

Of joy,—the eternal spring

Which, into every willing heart,

Healing and good dost bring.

 

 

"Why do we worry over sin?

Why sorrow night and day?

Come, bring thy load, cast it on Him

Who fashioned thee from clay.

 

 

"He never yet has done amiss;

And, perfect in His sight,

All that He does or orders is

Sure to be finished right.

 

 

"Now only let His will be done,

Nor clamor constantly,

Peace to thy heart on earth will come,

And joy eternally."

 

"It is well," said the grandmother. "Now we know a proper evening hymn, and you may go quickly to rest, my children."

1 overflowing   

n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The stands were overflowing with farm and sideline products. 集市上农副产品非常丰富。
• The milk is overflowing. 牛奶溢出来了。

2 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

3 fiddle   

n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动

参考例句：

• She plays the fiddle well.她小提琴拉得好。
• Don't fiddle with the typewriter.不要摆弄那架打字机了。

4 fiddled   

v.伪造( fiddle的过去式和过去分词 )；篡改；骗取；修理或稍作改动

参考例句：

• He fiddled the company's accounts. 他篡改了公司的账目。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He began with Palestrina, and fiddled all the way through Bartok. 他从帕勒斯春纳的作品一直演奏到巴塔克的作品。 来自辞典例句

5 tunes   

n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• a potpourri of tunes 乐曲集锦
• When things get a bit too much, she simply tunes out temporarily. 碰到事情太棘手时，她干脆暂时撒手不管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 taverns   

n.小旅馆，客栈，酒馆( tavern的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They ain't only two taverns. We can find out quick." 这儿只有两家客栈，会弄明白的。” 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• Maybe ALL the Temperance Taverns have got a ha'nted room, hey, Huck?" 也许所有的禁酒客栈都有个闹鬼的房间，喂，哈克，你说是不是？” 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

7 subdued   

adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
• I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候，我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。

8 hymn   

n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌

参考例句：

• They sang a hymn of praise to God.他们唱着圣歌，赞美上帝。
• The choir has sung only two verses of the last hymn.合唱团只唱了最后一首赞美诗的两个段落。