Czytaj książkę: «Foxholme Hall, and Other Tales», strona 10
Story 6-Chapter III
King Neptune, in great state, sat on his throne; the Tritons stood before him, but the chief seats were empty. Waving his trident round his head, he spoke. The words were those which reached the ears of Borasco, then thousands of miles away: —
“Haste hither, wild Spirits,
Who wandering roam
The wide-rolling ocean,
When covered with foam.
Abandon your fierce work
Of death and dismay;
Haste, fly o’er the billows,
My mandate obey.
From where the north gales
So ragingly blow,
On whiten’d wing flying
From frost and from snow;
Ye, in the storm striving,
To swell the loud blast,
The helpless bark driving,
While shivers the mast,
When a shriek is heard sounding
Mid ocean’s wild roar,
And the doom’d bark is grounding
Upon the dark shore,
Haste hither, Sea Spirits,
I bid ye appear;
Haste, haste, at my call;
I summon ye here!”
Even while Neptune was speaking, troops of sea-monsters of every wonderful form, and of every colour, came rushing into the hall, and having made their obeisance to him, took their seats on their respective thrones. In they came, till the edifice, vast as it was, was almost full of them. There were the King of the Whales, the King of the Sharks, the King of the Porpoises, and the King of the Dolphins, the King of the Cat-fish, and the King of the Big Sea Serpents; the Kings of Ice and Snow, of Tempests and Whirlpools, and there were the guardian spirits of every headland and bay, and of every island and river in the universe; so that it is not surprising that their number should have been so considerable. Neptune then inquired in a loud voice how each had been occupied since the last convocation.
“I,” answered the King of the Whales, “have been engaged in protecting my subjects by hurling together large masses of ice, and by crushing the ships which come to attack them, even to the very heart of my kingdom.” “And I,” said the King of the Sharks, “have been engaged in sinking all the ships I could meet, so that I might give to my subjects an abundance of the food they like best.” The King of the Porpoises replied, that he had been teaching his subjects to keep in the deep sea out of harm’s way; and the King of the Cat-fish said, he had advised his to make themselves as disagreeable as possible, so that no one would wish to catch them; while the tall monarch of the Big Sea Serpents observed that he had strictly enjoined his to keep out of sight altogether, which fully accounts, for so few of them having ever been seen. Among the Spirits there was one who, in beauty of form, surpassed them all, for it was almost that of a human being, but more grand and majestic. The Spirit rose and spoke: —
“I have, mighty sovereign, been engaged in watching over the island of which you have made me guardian. I found the women good and beautiful, and the men brave and hardy, true sons of the ocean, their barks roving to every distant clime, and bringing back the produce of each to their sea-girt shore.”
“’Tis well, Britannia,” said the sovereign of the ocean; “let them understand, that as long as they remain faithful to me – as long as they keep their fleets well manned, their sea-barks ready to repel any aggression – as long as they refuse to submit to the slightest interference of any foreign prince or potentate, Albion shall be my favoured isle, the land of peace and liberty.”
When Neptune had ceased speaking, all the Kings of the Sea and Tritons signified their desire to support their sovereign’s wishes. Neptune then looked round, and seeing Borasco’s throne vacant, inquired what had become of him. Before any one could answer, the Spirit of the Storm entered the hall, and making a low obeisance, walked with a dejected air to his seat.
To the customary inquiry, Borasco informed his sovereign of all the storms which had blown, and the shipwrecks which had occurred.
“Now tell me, Borasco,” asked the monarch, “why have you the downcast look I see you wear?”
Borasco replied, “Dread chief, I come to crave your aid for a cause in which all the power I possess I find of no avail. As I was lately wandering over the ocean, I reached the shores of a lovely island clothed with beautiful shrubs and trees and sweet-scented flowers, and canopied by skies of purest blue. Never have I seen a spot more beautiful; and yet it is but the setting of a precious jewel – a pearl of matchless price. That jewel is a lovely and youthful maiden, a princess, the daughter of the mortal sovereign of that island. As I slept, concealed beneath the rocks, she and her maidens, she outshining them all, came to sport upon the sands. Their laughter, sweet as the murmuring of the breeze upon the summer waves, roused me from my slumber; but no sooner did I present myself before them, than they fled with shrieks of terror, fast as the fleet dolphin from the voracious shark. She alone remained behind. I gazed delighted. I endeavoured to approach her, to behold her nearer; but no sooner did I move, than, affrighted, she fled far away from me into the woods, where I could not follow. I endeavoured to shout to her, to entreat her to tarry, to listen to what I had to say; but my voice (it was somewhat loud, I confess) only made her fly the faster. When she and her attendants had disappeared, I sat me down on a rock, disconsolate, to consider the state of the case, when I by degrees began to suspect that she was frightened by the form I am doomed to wear, which I fear is somewhat more hideous than she is accustomed to see. I meditated still further, and at length I came to the conclusion that I am what human beings call desperately in love. Yes, dread Sovereign, the fierce Borasco is in love!”
On hearing this confession of Borasco, all the Kings of the Sea and Tritons lifted up their hands with surprise, and a smile of incredulity rested on their countenances, while a murmur ran through the hall, “Borasco in love! Borasco in love! oh, oh!” for no one would have guessed that he could have become a slave to the tender passion. They smiled, too, at his only then having discovered his own ugliness, for, frightful as they were themselves, they all fancied that he was more so.
Britannia was the only spirit who compassionated him, and she pleaded his cause with Neptune so successfully, that the Monarch expressed his willingness to assist him, if means so to do could be found. “Tell me by what rules, in thy favoured island, youths manage to win the hearts of the maidens they love?” said Neptune, addressing Britannia.
The Spirit smiled and replied: “In the first place, the youths wear forms somewhat more attractive than that of Borasco; but as to rules, I can lay down none, so various are the means by which the hearts of maidens are won, and of such different materials do they appear to be made. Some seem to me to be composed of iron or adamant, some of glass, some of wax, some of lead, and some of stuff not more consistent than butter, while a few, I suspect, have no hearts at all. Sighs and timid looks attract some, laughter and bold admiration others, and gold has no little influence in affairs of that description; but the man who requires rules to make love has but small chance indeed.”
Borasco sat in a very melancholy and downcast mood, with his chin resting on his hand, while several deep sighs, which sounded somewhat like thunder, burst from his heaving bosom, and echoed round and round the hall. At last he looked up and said, “It is very well for you, brother Kings, who are fancy free, to laugh; but let me tell you, if you felt as I do you would find it no laughing matter. And thou, O mighty Neptune, if thou canst not help me to win the lovely in aid, I know not what I shall do, while I remain as hideous as I own I am.”
Neptune, on hearing this, thought deeply for some minutes; he then spoke: —
“Be not, my brave Borasco, thus dismay’d,
You know my love, and I will give thee aid.
I grant thee leave to seek some human form
In which the life-blood yet is flowing warm,
Which from some sea-tossed, shattered wreck is torn,
And on the shore by raging billows borne.
Such you may enter, while your present form
Returns to mingle with the air and storm.
But also learn, the force of fire or steel,
Like other mortals, you’ll be doomed to feel;
And if of mortal life you are bereft,
You must resume the native form you left,
And thence for ever in that shape remain,
Nor e’er in human semblance shine again;
And also, every year you most repair
To this my court in that same form you wear,
Leaving your mortal shape in seeming sleep,
While for one day you stay beneath the deep.
Such is, Borasco, tried and faithful friend,
The best assistance which I now can lend.”
On hearing these words, the looks of the Spirit of the Storm brightened. He rose and made obeisance. “Thanks, mighty Sovereign,” he exclaimed; “my hopes brighten, my courage returns. I will, with your permission, at once hasten and put into execution this most excellent plan. It must succeed, and cannot fail to secure my happiness; and I here promise to obey your mandates, and faithfully to return once a year, to pay my respects at your court.”
“Do so,” replied Neptune; “but remember that I can give you power only over the form of a human being who in his lifetime has been guilty of many crimes. With the innocent and virtuous no Spirit must interfere. Now let our court break up; and, Kings of the Sea, and ye, great Spirits of the Wind and Air, disperse yourselves across the billowy main.”
On hearing these words the Spirits answered:
“We fly, mighty Monarch, we fly at thy will,
With tempest and tumult the ocean to fill;
Where rocks and where sandbanks and whirlpools abound,
And barks are hurled onward, we there shall be found.”
When the Spirits ceased speaking they dispersed, with a loud rushing sound, in all directions, while the Kings of the Sea, the Islands, and Rocks, retired with a more dignified pace, and the vast hall was left, as before, in solitude and silence.
Story 6-Chapter IV
The seas were, in those days, infested by a band of pirates, who were possessed of several large ships, with which they defied all efforts to destroy them. The chief of the pirates was called Don Alonzo. Though very blood-thirsty and wicked, for he robbed all he met, and spared no one who made any resistance, he was very brave, and young, and handsome; indeed, on looking at him, few would believe that he could commit the crimes of which he was guilty. It happened that his ship, having separated from her consorts, was sailing across the Pacific.
Now, as Borasco was returning from Neptune’s conclave to his own palace, he espied her in the far distance floating calmly on the waves. He soon knew her to be the ship of the pirate Alonzo, and instantly summoning all his wildest spirits to his aid, a violent tempest began to rage, and thus the Spirit of the Storm sang, as, riding on his foam-crested steed, he followed the doomed bark: —
“’Tis now that the billows are covered with foam —
’Tis now my wild spirit rejoices to roam,
When waves tossing high with dark clouds are at play,
To dim the pale moon with their bright frothy spray;
When loud-rolling thunder resounds thro’ the skies,
And fast through the night air the northern mist flies;
Oh! now is the time when my spirit is free,
And wildly I ride o’er the fathomless sea.
“Yon tempest-toss’d vessel before me now flies,
And loudly I echo the mariners’ cries,
As sadly they gaze on the breakers before,
Which madly leap over the iron-bound shore,
When hope has deserted, and, pallid with fear,
The stoutest heart trembles at death drawing near.
Oh! now is the time I shout loudest with glee,
And gaily ride over the foam-covered sea.”
Onward sailed the sea-robbers, thoughtless of coming danger, when suddenly the gentle breeze, which had hitherto been wafting them on their course, rose to a furious gale. Over the ship heeled to its rage. The tall masts bent and cracked, and one by one, with crash upon crash, they were carried away, till the ship drove before the tempest a helpless wreck on the waste of waters. The wild cries of the seamen, as they saw their doom approach, rose above the shrieks of the sea-bird, or the mocking laughter of the Spirits of the Storm. Their chief alone stood undaunted, youth in his eye, and manly vigour in every limb; though the lightning flashed around his head – though the foaming billows washed over the frail planks on which his feet were planted, and death with all its horrors frowned upon him.
On, on drove the ship – dark clouds above, the yawning waves below – till the land (it was the Island of Gracia), at that part fringed with sharp, threatening rocks, appeared ahead. On she went. The eager waves leaped round her; they lifted her to their summit, and then down she came, crashing upon the rocks. Her timbers were riven asunder and scattered far and wide, and of the human beings who lately trod her deck but one alone was washed on shore, and from his body life had departed, though it was uninjured, either by the rocks or shattered planks and spars. It was that of Alonzo, the captain of the pirate crew. No sooner did Borasco behold the work which his powers had accomplished, than he hastened to the beach, and there he found, stretched on the sand, the body of the pirate. He looked at it delighted, for the form was very handsome; and though life was gone, it yet retained its warmth. High rocks surrounded the spot, so that no human being could observe what was happening. A voice (it seemed to come from the air) then uttered, in an awful tone, the following spell: —
“Dark form! my mystic words obey,
To thin air vanish, haste away!
Go, wander o’er the boundless main,
Nor dare this shape resume again,
Till by dark spells of potent might,
I summon thee to re-unite.”
As he spoke the hideous form began gradually to expand into vast proportions, growing each moment more mist-like and indistinct. Signs of animation now returned to the body of Alonzo, who speedily arose, and while he waved his arm, the shape Borasco had lately worn mingled with the surrounding atmosphere, till it finally disappeared like a mist blown off from the sea.
Alonzo, or rather Alonzo’s form animated by Borasco’s spirit, walked slowly on, for he felt weary, as a person does who has long buffeted with the waves, for with the form so he partook in a measure of the human feelings of the pirate. His nature, however, in other respects was not altered; his love for Serena was rather increased than lost, and he was still the same bold Spirit he had before been, with the same power, only softened and refined by the magic influence of love.
He looked into a mirror-like pool of water among the rocks, and there, seeing his new figure reflected, he drew himself up, and stretching out his arms proudly, he exclaimed, “Ah, I now look like a man indeed; I feel the life-blood rush fleetly through my veins, my pulses beat steadily; methinks when the maiden sees me she will not fly from me as she did before. Ah, now in truth I have a chance of winning her. Thanks, thanks, mighty Neptune! for the aid you have afforded me. The dawn approaches; she will soon be here! and then once more, lovely Princess! I shall again behold thy matchless beauty.” As he spoke a few faint streaks, the harbingers of the rising sun, appeared, in the eastern sky, the wind went down, and the sea grew perfectly smooth.
After wandering along the sea beach for some distance to stretch his legs, for he naturally felt somewhat strange in his new form, he at length, overcome with fatigue and a desire for repose, laid himself down on the dry sand under the shade of an overhanging rock. Here, in the course of a few minutes, he fell fast asleep; and so sound was his sleep that he appeared like some shipwrecked mariner who had been drowned and washed on shore by the stormy waves.
Story 6-Chapter V
The bright sun was shedding his beams across the dancing waves, when the lovely Serena and her maidens, tempted by the beauty of the morning, left the palace to enjoy the fresh air on the beach, no longer dreading to meet the hideous monster who had once so frightened them in the same spot. As they walked on they talked of the storm which had raged during the night. “And, my Princess,” said Linda, one of the maidens, “they say that there was seen last night, by those who were on the watch, a huge black mass driving towards the shore, but that it burst asunder, and only fragments of wood and some extraordinary-shaped things were found among the rocks. Some people think it was a big canoe, and others a monster, but no one is certain.”
“There are many strange things happening,” replied Serena. “Last night my father dreamed a dream; he dreamed that one of the sages of our people came to him, and reminded him of a prophecy which was uttered years ago: it ran thus: —
”‘In hour of danger
Saved by a stranger,
The King and state
Give him guerdon great,
But a Sea-monster will prey
On his reward that day.’
“My sire awoke repeating the words, and the sage was gone, but the storm was raging with greater fury than before.”
“Since the day we saw the dreadful monster, wonders have never ceased,” observed Linda; “now, I should not be surprised if some other wonder was going to happen.”
While they were speaking they happened to approach the very spot where the form of Alonzo was sleeping. The Princess and her maidens started with surprise, and then cautiously drew near, curious to know what strange being he was; for, from his dress, which was the costume of Spain, and from his appearance being so totally different to that of the islanders, they did not at first suppose that he was a human being.
Remembering the fright they had had before, from the strange monster which had appeared so suddenly out of the sea, they approached very cautiously, thinking this might do them some harm if they were not careful. Hand-in-hand they advanced, treading lightly, and uttering no sound, and ready every instant to run away. At last they all got close up to him, and began to examine him with curious eyes, their fears gradually growing less and less. Linda was the first to make the wonderful discovery, that instead of a strange monster, he was a young and handsome man. “Oh, my dear mistress, I am sure he must be a Prince, for he is so very good-looking and prince-like,” she exclaimed, bending over him; as she did so she uttered an exclamation of sorrow, and wrung her hands; “Alas, alas!” she cried, “but I fear he is dead!”
The maidens now all drew near, and knelt mournfully round him, when at last the Princess ventured to take his hand. Instead of letting it drop, she exclaimed joyfully, “Oh, no! he is not dead; his pulse yet beats with life, and look, the colour mantles on his cheeks.”
Her touch, or the voices of her maidens expressing their satisfaction, awoke Alonzo, as Borasco now called himself, out of his deep sleep. He opened his eyes, and fixing them on her, he said in a low voice, expressive of his surprise, “Do I dream? Are you a mortal? or have the skies sent some being radiant with beauty to dwell on earth?”
The Princess was not insensible to the compliment, though it was rather high-flown; but she was so astonished at hearing him speak, that, instead of answering him, and not knowing what else to say, she asked, “What are you? whence do you come?”
Before Alonzo could answer these questions he had to collect his thoughts sufficiently to frame a story; for he had had till then no idea that they would naturally be put to him. He therefore rose, and, kneeling at the feet of the Princess, took her hand, and replied, “I come from the sea, fair Princess! My ship was dashed to pieces last night on those pointed rocks, while I, her chief, was cast on shore, and am the sole survivor of her crew. My name is Alonzo, and I am your humble slave, fair lady.”
The Princess, though she did not comprehend all the stranger said, and certainly did not understand his compliments, had not the slightest doubt of the truth of the story. She entreated him to rise, and then retired with her maidens to consult what should be done; for there existed in Gracia a law which condemned to death any stranger who should venture to the island, of whose character and history the chiefs and magistrates were not fully satisfied. Without, therefore, their permission, she could not venture to invite him to her father’s palace. At this juncture a number of the islanders appeared from the wood close by, and seeing a strange person standing by himself, for the Princess and her maidens were hid from them by the rocks, they rushed down and seized him, demanding who he was. The Princess heard their voices, but before she could interfere, overwhelmed by numbers, the stranger was borne to the ground. He struggled in vain, and was surprised to find how easily he was overcome; for he forgot that with a mortal form he possessed only the strength of a mortal, and had at first supposed that he could drive them off with as much ease as he would have done had he retained the form of Borasco.
The Princess hurried forward. “Oh, spare him! spare him!” she exclaimed; “I am certain he will do no harm. See how amiable and gentle he looks!”
The islanders loved their Princess, and therefore refrained from offering further violence to the stranger, but still they held him tight, and insisted on carrying him into the presence of King Zaphor. Now, Serena, as she felt that she might more successfully plead his cause before her indulgent father than any one else, gladly consented to this arrangement.
King Zaphor sat in state, with his wise men and councillors around him, when Alonzo was brought bound before him by a large concourse of his subjects. The Princess, attended by her maidens, also appeared in court, for there was no one else to plead his cause; and as she had been the first to discover him, she considered that she was in duty bound to protect him. Alonzo stood before the King with a dignified air, and his arms folded on his bosom, his personal appearance gaining him many friends; but when he was questioned as to his occupation and calling, he began to reflect whether he had not done an unwise thing in entering the form of so wicked a person as the pirate captain, handsome though he was; for he feared that should the Princess discover that his form was that of Alonzo, nothing that he could say to the contrary would persuade her that he was not Alonzo himself. He felt, indeed, the truth that beauty, without real goodness and a good character, is worthless indeed. He, however, gave the same account of himself that he had done to the Princess, in so clear and concise a way, that he gained much in the good opinion of the wise men. He then vowed so earnestly, that far from wishing to injure any of the inhabitants of the Island of Gracia, he would devote himself to their service, that he made a still further advance; and when the Princess spoke in his favour, it was unanimously decreed that, not only should his life be spared, but that full permission should be given him to remain in the island.
The fair Serena was delighted at her success, and consequently took greater interest than before in the stranger. King Zaphor, with great courtesy and kindness, invited him to his palace, where a feast was prepared, and a chamber made ready for him. All the chiefs of the island attended the feast, and were much pleased, as was the King, with his wisdom and general information. The King, indeed, confessed that he was superior to any of the councillors who sat at his council-table; and this made them not a little jealous of him, as people of small minds are apt to be of strangers who surpass them in intellect. Meantime the Princess listened attentively to all Alonzo said, and the interest she felt ripened into a still warmer feeling – a feeling with which Borasco in his proper shape would never have inspired her. The stranger rapidly gained his way into her good graces, and days, weeks, and months passed happily away without their finding them an hour too long.
