The Involuntary Journey

== THE INVOLUNTARY JOURNEY ==
=== By Heinrich Zschokke ===
=== Translated from the German for Putnam's Library of Choice Reading by F. B. G.  in 1892 ===
The
Involuntary Journey, though lacking the power and depth of some of Zschokke's
other stories, is so charming a tale and so brilliant an example of his easy,
graceful style and remarkable equipment as a writer of romance that we gladly
give it place in our reproduction of famous stories. ''
That the first of the following letters may
be better understood, I must make known that the writer and his sister were
invited by the Countess Amelia von St y, on the 20th of 
January, 1807, to a ball at her palace in . They went thither
and had a merry evening, although the joy that shone on. the faces of all came
not from the heart. For 
at that time was full of alarm and of Frenchmen, and a week had scarcely
elapsed since the transitory regency had been appointed, at whose head stood
the brave but much injured Malachosky. 
The Countess of St Y was as beautiful as an
angel that night. A magnificent necklace of pearls glittered around her neck.
It was the New Year's present of her uncle. 
The writer's sister had received a similar
New Year's gift, but had neglected putting it on. The young rivals soon entered
into a dispute as to which was the most beautiful necklace, each wishing that
her own should bear away the triumph. The upshot of it was that both commanded
the writer of these letters to go immediately and bring the missing necklace.
His sister having given him the key of her jewelry box, he ordered his coach
and hastened home. 
=== FIRST LETTER, ===
Blonie 21st January, 1807. My Dear
Countess: 
By all the Graces, among whom you stand the
first, I beg that you will not be angry with me. Instead of bringing you
Sophia's necklace yesterday, I carried it to Blonie. But today I return to , and this evening
I shall lay it at your feet. I make use of a tedious hour to send you my
excuses by a courier who hastens to .
You will certainly declare my ofifence unpardonable in having postponed your
yesterday's triumph, and will think it can never be atoned for. But I beg you
to have mercy enough to deign to glance at these lines, and you will have
compassion on the offender, who only sinned toward you for friendship's sake. 
Yesterday I had put up Sophia's necklace,
and was on the point of stepping into the carriage to return to you, at the
ball to which your beauty gave the greatest charm, when my servant announced a
French officer. I was obliged to receive him. He brought me a letter. Only
think, they were the first lines I had received for twelve years from the only
dear friend of my youth, noble Felix L y, who has during that time been in all
Napoleon's campaigns, and now stands at the head of the Polish regiment. He
wrote me but a few words: “ I have just arrived at Blonie, and learn, my dear
Joseph, that thou yet livest. My hopes of embracing thee in are frustrated, now that I stand
almost* before the gates of the dear city. I come from Posa, and here I find a
courier from the army with commands to hasten immediately to Thorn. If it is
impossible, come immediately to Blonie, where I shall rest at least several
hours. Who knows whether we shall ever approach each other again so nearly in
this world! We have so much to say to each other! Early in the morning I shall
travel onward." 
Will you now blame me, dear countess, for
taking advantage of the important moment ? To think of seeing a dear friend
from whom I had been so long separated! I begged the officer to take a seat in
my carriage, letting his horses follow. I then threw my cloak around me, and
thus, instead of going to the temple of love, I went to the feast of
friendship. 
After a shocking ride, for the road was
wretched and the night pitch-dark, I arrived at Blonie, and my Felix was
already at Sochazew, where some French generals were awaiting him. But he left
a note for me, begging that I would follow him to Sochazew, where he would wait
for me at all events. Now that I have come this far, for his sake, I will even
go a few miles farther. But everything goes wrong. One of my horses was lamed
last night, and I must take the post, and I must wait until the postman finds
horses, for his are all in use now. But they give me hope of departing in one
hour. Farewell, lovely one. This evening I shall kiss your hands. 
Your true 
Count of W. 
=== SECOND LETTER, ===
Kutno, January 23rd. 
In truth, my most gracious, you will not be
less astonished, on opening this letter, to find that I write from Kutno, than
I am astonished at being here. Fate will make me a liar toward you, and I am
inconsolable. What will you think of me ? And yet I am the most innocent man
under the sun. 
The only thing in my adventure that pleases
me is that happily I overtook Felix at Sochazew. We embraced each other with
mute ardor ; an overwhelming sweet sorrow suddenly seized us; and it seemed to
me as if in another world I again held to my heart a loved one who had long
since died. 
You must have known him. The Fire-brains
has become quite sedate. Egyptian and Spanish suns have browned his face
finely, and the slash on the forehead, over the left eye, that he carried away
from a battle, to the honor of a Calabrian sword, is so becoming that he would
make me jealous, were I to know that he were quartered near you at Warsaw. 
I intend when I am with you to relate to
you the whole story of his military expeditions, and that will be day after
to-morrow. Heavens, how men are thrown about to all corners of the earth in
these days! It is the general wandering time of nations, and no one can say
whether he shall eat his last mouthful in 
or ,
 or .
Felix was attached to the general's staff for a long time, but now he commands
his own regiment. He believes that he is destined to the corps of General Lannes,
and asserts that Napoleon will be in next summer, particularly now that the
Turks have shown themselves by no means indifferent, and have declared war.
This much is certain : that the Russian ambassdor has left .
The French generals that Felix found in Sochazew assured him that, since the
battle at Pultusk and Golomyn, the French arms had been masters in a far
bloodier day at Ostralenska. 
But enough of politics. You will be much
more curious to know how, instead of being in , I have finally arrived in this most
pitiful little city. Only listen. He that has felt the damage must not mind the
ridicule. You will laugh heartily, and nothing will remain for me to do but to
laugh aloud, notwithstanding that I have the greatest inclination to doubt
whether I am not even now with you. 
We remained together in Sochazew till late
in the evening before we separated for heaven knows how long ! As I could not
count upon obtaining post-horses in a short time, and as I wished to return
immediately to ,
notwithstanding my fatigue, that I might make atonement to you, Felix was kind
enough to use his military power to procure me a conveyance that would take me
to Blonie. A chaise appeared, which was harnessed to three fine nags. I again
pressed the noble Felix to my heart ; he rode off, and I soon did the same. 
Being wearied with the journey of the night
before, in which I had not closed an eye, and also with the affairs of the day,
I protected myself from the snowstorm by drawing the curtains of the chaise. I
then wrapped my cloak about me, squeezed myself into a corner of the carriage,
and went to sleep, in spite of its jolting. It was a happy thought of mine,
that of putting on a great-coat over my ball dress. My feet, being only covered
with silk stockings and slippers, were sheltered by a whole load of hay. 
I slept uneasily, but my dreams were
pleasant, for they were of you. Oh, how lovely, how kind the god of Fancy made
you! What blessed words did I read in your eyes! My soul was with yours, I knew
what you felt, and yet I felt unspeakably more than you. Oh, that it shotilJ
only be a dream! Did you but know, enchanting Amelia, what a heaven you have to
dispense, you would not act otherwise in reality than you did in my dreams! 
No matter how often I was startled from my
Elysium by the merciless blows on my head or on my ribs, yet I always shut my
heavy eyes properly, and it was always you who led me back again to that lost
Elysium. As soon as I had aroused myself from this enchanting sleep, I remarked
with affright that it was already morning, and I had counted upon being in
Blonie shortly after .
I tore back the curtains of the chaise, and saw that we were entering a city
that I had not had the honor of seeing before. " Where are we ? " I
asked the driver. 
"In Kutno," said the fellow
drily, and kept on his way. 
" In Kutno ! " I exclaimed, out
of my senses with rage. " Does the evil one possess you to drag me to
Kutno ? I will go to Blonie, to Blonie! " 
The villain behaved as if he had no ears,
and kept on, stopping finally at an inn. I got out, it is true, for my whole
body was stiff; but I felt the greatest temptation to cudgel the rascal in the
street. 
He maintained, in the mean time, that the
French officer who ordered him to go had named Kutno to him ; at least he had
understood it so. On this he insisted, and, whipping his tired horses, he
hurried away. 
I ascertained from the innkeeper that my
wicked coachman had been absent from Kutno, where he lived, for eight days,
upon requisition probably (it being the custom with the military to drive about
the world dealing blows and hunger), and he had now probably. taken advantage
of the night to come home with his wagon, particularly as he saw that I was a
Pole, and neither an officer nor a Frenchman. 
This information, which my knowing host
gave me so candidly, might be true, but it did me no good. I now sat in Kutno,
and was not in ,
nor even in Blonie. The innkeeper comforted me with a miserable breakfast, and
with the hope that an opportunity would be found to take me back again to
Sochazew. He gave himself a great deal of trouble to procure me a wagon. I
myself ran over the miry little city in my silk stockings, and had my labor for
my pains. Everything had been seized for the service of the army. I even
humbled myself so much as to seek out the rascal who had brought me to Kutno.
In my distress I forgave him all his sins, and, holding up a purse, begged him
to take me back to Sochazew. But he declared that his horses and carriages had
been taken from him that same morning. On the contrary, my sagacious host
thought that the wicked knave had hid his carriage in some safe place, so that
it should not be put in requisition again. 
To-day, however, I struck a bargain with a
French engineer officer, who is quartered on my host. He travels to Kladova; I
accompany him there, and then he gives me the wagon, with the power of using it
as a requisition wagon as far as Sochazew, and even to Blonie or , if I will. To
make the matter more certain, I have not only acquainted the driver with our
contract, but also that I shall not use it as a requisition wagon, but shall
pay him well as far as I use it. So, in the worst of weathers, I must first go
to Kladova, then be brought back to Kutno to get a carriage. For if I do not
accompany the carriage to Kladova, I run the danger of losing it altogether. 
The misery in this land is indescribable.
Our deliverers make us pay dear for our enfranchisement. Money will hardly find
a man bread. 
But I must close, else I shall lose the
current post. Oh, how I envy this happy sheet, that will be within your room
two days sooner than I can! At the same time with this letter, I send one to my
sister, to whom I wrote yesterday. Calm the dear girl, and say to her that,
positively, I shall be in 
day after to-morrow. 
Adieu! I am almost dying with impatience to
see you again. More than once yesterday I was on the point of running back to , through snow and
mud, in my dancingshoes. But my reason was kind enough to make my homesickness
the apposite remark that I should have eighteen or nineteen miles to run. 
Fare you well! May you feel the warm kiss
that I spiritually press upon your hand! 
THIRD LETTER, 
Posen, January 26th. 
I am certainly bewitched. I now believe in
all possible enchantments, whereas I have never believed in any but that of
your charms until now. Now I doubt no longer the power of hobgoblins and of
malicious spirits. To-day I would, should have been in , in your boudoir, and at the feet of
you whom I adore. But misfortunes multiply and bring me to Posen, to which I
may add that I made my entrance as a prisoner. Do not be frightened. I stand
already on my free feet. 
I feel as one does in a nightmare. The
faster I would go foward, the farther I find myself behind. Since man was born,
has a child of man never had the unlucky chance, as I have, of leaving a ball
for a pearly necklace, and then be driven out forty miles into the wide world ?
All my longings, my impatience, or eagerness, my wisdom, my foresight, have
been of no use to me, but to bring me backward, still farther backward ; as the
storm at sea drives the most skilful and active sailor far from the port for
which he strives. 
Day before yesterday, the engineer and I
rode together to Kladova, as we had proposed. In this miserable nest there was
a sort of governor to whom the engineer announced himself immediately after his
arrival. There he found orders to go to Sempolno without delay. He came back
and told me the misfortune, shrugging his shoulders, and with a million of
regrets at not being able to keep his word ; but the service must have
precedence over everything else. I became almost speechless with horror. I
begged, raved, placed my distress before him — all was in vain. He shrugged his
shoulders and would go to Sempolno. While the groom was feeding the horses, the
engineer ran to the governor, and accompanied by soldiers, visited stalls and
stables, to procure another conveyance. I followed him, but we could find
nothing but a large dirt cart. 
To keep possession of my wagon, I resolved
to travel in it myself to Sempolno, where I had the hope of obtaining, far more
easily, another relay of horses and more endurable inns than in the wretched,
dirty town of .
The engineer approved of my determination. But I was out of temper, and on the
journey we were neither of us so friendly and talkative as before. Yes, there
were even disagreeable altercations, and in Sempolno we coldly separated from
each other. 
I was so much the more friendly toward my
coachman. We concluded to stay over night in order to let the horses rest, and
to journey back at the very earliest moment the next day. My generosity
increased, and as a reward I sat at break of day in the wagon with my face
toward . 
We were scarcely half an hour's ride from
Sempolno, when we saw three French chasseurs running after us at full speed. My
driver, full of apprehensions and forebodings, whipped his horses with all his
strength. I thought his distress was as superfluous as his haste was fruitless.
The French soon reached us, ordered us to stop, and cursed the driver, who, as
they said, had stolen away from the requisition without due permission. They
commanded him to turn back, and even talked of shooting. My Phaeton did not
comprehend a word, but he understood the pantomime of the " conquerors of
the world," and cast a piteous glance on me. I now interfered. This the
fellows seemed to have expected, and, turning to me, they inquired with much politeness
who I was, and then inquired for my passport. I had none. In the most agreeable
phrases they remarked that I was a suspicious person, and hoped I would have
the goodness to make myself known to the governor of the city. 
The polite clowns, who now turned the wagon
and horses about without further ceremony, were, without doubt, fully convinced
of my innocence. The governor, as soon as he understood that I had procured one
of the requisition carriages in a deceitful manner and had not even a passport
for myself, first declared me a suspicious person, secondly an enemy of
Napoleon, and thirdly a prisoner. For my consolation, the objections that I
made to this helped to send me to headquarters in order to give my
justification; and two hours afterward I had the honor of going to Posen, in
the company of a corporal and a lieutenant, though not by my wish did they go
thither, or rather, ride. 
So long as we suffer from the little
annoyances and unexpected provocations of fate, we easily lose patience, probably
because we always hope to overcome them ; but when misery comes too palpably,
we are merry again, for man, when he sees himself conquered, and feels that all
resistance is vain, turns to his native pride, and, while he fears naught,
despises all things. 
Thus the vexations of the preceding days
made me as angry then, as it now appears amusing to me to go as a prisoner in
ball dress, it is true) to Posen, and be kicked on to the very borders of
Poland. In fact, my misfortune is not so very great, and I am certain that you
will laugh as heartily over my adventures as I do myself. I have nothing to
regret, my amiable countess, but the loss of the moments that I might live in
your presence. You now see what a misfortune can be brought about through a strife
between two beautiful women. Sophia's necklace must bear all the blame, and yet
it drives about the world with me. 
I am now truly happy to be in Posen. I was
very kindly received at headquarters. They made many excuses on the score of
strictness in the service, and could not refrain from laughing at the merciless
caprice of destiny which had brought me, in the midst of winter, from a
ballroom in the capital, to the tumult of war on the borders. My first business
here is to equip myself anew, for I look wretchedly. I shall no longer rely
upon a requisition coach, for I have bought myself a fine riding-horse that is
to carry me back to you. I am having a warm travelling-coat made, whose
military cut will produce a sensation among the commanding corporals of the
world-conquerors. And I have also a passport, by means of which I«hall reach
your ante-chamber without hindrance. 
Nothing keeps me now from flying to your
feet, but the tailor and shoemaker. I cannot come away before day after
to-morrow, that I see. We poor mortals are most dependent in the smallest
matters. 
Time is tediously long to me, and I have
already had quite enough of the warlike tumult that reigns here, the hundreds
of different uniforms, and the marching backward and forward of troops. It is
one of the most remarkable contradictions in enigmatical mankind, that the
whole world dreads war as the greatest trouble of life, the world detests toil,
and fears death ; and yet gives itself willingly in a thousand ways to war,
toil, and death. 
My only enjoyment is in thinking of you, in
conversing with you, unfortunately in thought alone! — to admire 3'ou now in
the dance, now at the piano, now at the toilet, now in the charming negligence
of domestic life, now as the queen of beauty in that enchantment which nature
and art shed around you. 
Postscript of the 28th of January. — I
could not send this letter to the post till to-day. I am ready to travel, and
early to-morrow I take myself away. I travel in the company of several Polish
and French officers who are well known to me. Say to my sister that I shall
certainly arrive in 
on Tuesday. 
FOURTH LETTER, 
, April 2nd. 
Heavens knows, my dear countess, whether
you have received the letter that I scribbled to you with a pencil from ; and Heavens
knows whether you will ever receive these lines! I will therefore repeat in few
words what I wrote from ,
and renew my request, that you use all your influence, combined with that of my
relations, with our government, and also with the French authorities, that I
may receive my freedom. 
I have already made known to you that when
some miles from Posen, between Schwersens and Kostrzyn, we were very
unexpectedly attacked by a heavy body of Prussians, surrounded, and made
prisoners. Of the Frenchmen in whose company I was riding, one officer and one
soldier lost their lives. We were all plundered, and I only saved myself from
ill-treatment by saying to the Prussian commander, in the German language, that
I was no soldier, but merely a travelling citizen who had been thrown among the
French by chance. My passport, which confirmed my declarations, and the
announcement which I wisely made, in my trepidation, that, far from making one
of the French party, I was a Prussian subject, and longed for nothing more than
emancipation of Poland from the French deluge, did me great service. 
The Prussian officer was a humane man. When
I told him, in answer to his questions concerning the number of troops in
Posen, that without doubt several regiments would that same day take the road
to Warsaw, he determined immediately to retire into Silesia, but signified to
me that he could not set me free that moment, because his own position forbade
it. 
Without being treated as a prisoner, yet I
was the same as a prisoner. After several days' travel on miserable roads, we
arrived in 
by passing over the , half starved and
half frozen. Neither complaining nor laughing did me any good. I hid Sophia's
necklace as cautiously as I could, together with my little money, for I much
distrusted the fortunes of war; and I did wisely. Our commander, who bore the
title of major, claimed me on the following day to serve as a true Prussian
subject under the banner of the king. It was impossible for me to reject this
honorable offer without either injuring my character or having my patriotism
suspected. I therefore did the service of an adjutant, in the character of a
lieutenant, longing with impatience for a convenient opportunity to get rid of
it. The deeper we penetrated into ,
the lower my courage sunk. 
We suffered unspeakably from frost, snow,
and want of provisions. Wherever we went, we were obliged to take what we
needed by force. Our prisoners of war, who. were still driving about with us,
were the most to be pitied. Notwithstanding this, the Poles, whose hard fate I
most wished to relieve, declined my attentions proudly and indignantly. I read
in the eyes of my countrymen that they took me for a betrayer, and this
reproach was more painful to me than all the other miseries. I also felt soon
enough the effects of their hate. 
The major turned his troops toward Golgau,
but we had not reached the place when, one morning, as our companies were
taking their stand for marching out of a village, some French hussars rode up.
They started at seeing us, and quickly retreated. As we marched out of the
village, we were attacked and surrounded by a squadron of light French cavalry.
This gave our commander no fear, but we were soon encompassed by several
companies of infantry. We had fallen into a column of the Vend^ean body of the
army, and our bravery was useless. The Prussians fought with unexampled
courage, and even won two of the field-pieces with which we had been shot at.
Notwithstanding, the end of the play was that we were beaten, and forced by
their superior power to surrender. On our side, we had several killed and many
wounded. 
None were so happy as the French and Polish
prisoners who had been liberated by the fight. The Poles immediately pointed me
out to the French general, as a renegade Pole and an enemy to the French, who
had betrayed them into the hands of the Prussians into whose service I
immediately went. As the Prussian major named me as his lieutenant in counting
out the prisoners to the victors, and called me a volunteer, he did not aid me
in my justification. The passport from Posen only added to my guilt, and my
horse, watch, and money were good booty for the world-conquerors. I was obliged
to wade through snow and mire, on foot, with the other prisoners, by the way of
Liegnitz to .
Here I wrote to you of my misfortune. In we rested several
days, and then, with a number of other prisoners, we came through Leipsic here
to .
It is now eight days that I have been in this fortress. The inhabitants show
much pity and kindness toward us, at the same time that they are to be pitied
in the highest degree themselves. In no place have I seen the people so cast
down as in this city. They all detest the French, the citizens adhere with ardor
to their unfortunate king, and they do not give up the hope of yet seeing the
Prussian eagle upon their ramparts. 
As far as I can see, unless my cause is
pursued in 
with untiring zeal, I must remain a prisoner till the end of the war. My
well-hidden store of money begins to melt down. At all events, I beg of my dear
sister, in the enclosed note, to send me a remittance to the subjoined address.
The governor is an obliging man. I had an
opportunity of telling him my confounded adventures from beginning to end. He
found them so curious that he laughed continually, and would scarcely believe
me. He is personally well acquainted with my friend Felix. As to giving me my
freedom, that, he says, is quite out of his power, and refers me to bitter
patience. In the mean time he has told me to forward a letter to Felix, as well
as this letter to you. 
This joke of fate is almost too harsh to be
amusing, but my despair would be useless. I am therefore as merry as I can be
under the circumstances, and my health is inexhaustible. So you must be quiet
on my account, and comfort my good Sophia. I shall now count the days, the
hours, the minutes, till I receive an answer from you. When I see a line from
you, it will seem as if I saw yourself, etc. 
FIFTH LETTER, 
, May 20th. 
Joy! my affairs are going on excellently.
My magical star, or rather my evil star, I believe, will finally take me
unexpectedly to Paris, to Lisbon, St. Domingo, Otaheite, the Tropics, the
Esquimaux, the Hottentots, over Asia, to the smalUfooted Chinese, past the
pious children of the Brahmas, and through the Persian gardens back to Warsaw.
I have no doubt about the matter ; my affairs are going on excellently well,
nowithstanding I always wished that they would come to a stand. I am already in
.
It is not farther to 
than to 
; and if I am once in ,
what is it to me whether I go to you through 
or ? 
But neither the German maidens (and yet
there are some lovely faces among them), nor* the French ladies, nor the
Spanish, nor the voluptuous beauties of the can make me faithless to you. So far as I have already
gone, I have nowhere seen so many charms, such grace and dignity, as I left at
the ball at .
Ah ! if I had but one line from you ! 
Who knows but that the letters for me are
lying now in ,
both from you and Sophia ? And who knows in where I am stuck ? After my letter
was despatched to you, I was taken away with a great multitude of other
prisoners of war. It was said that we were to go to Mayence ; in Mayence we
were told that 
was our destination ; and when we are in ,
what will then be our destination ? 
The host of prisoners with whom I came over
the is scattered into a hundred
portions. They go to all parts of the world. As I said before, I do not now
doubt a moment but that I must go round the world. Were I only in Thibet with
the Lama, or with the Prophet at ,
or on the , I would make a jubilee,
for I should then be returning to you. 
What miserable creatures we are! We are
like ants, whose houses are destroyed by the uncertain tread of a horse ; like
insects, which the stormwind carries away, and then deposits in distant lands.
Why am I in 
? What is the war to me ? 
I send you these lines that you may not
fear, at least for my life. Good heavens! It seems as though I had been absent
from you twenty years. How many countries, mountains, streams, nations, lie
between us! 
No one can be certain that I shall not yet
have the honor of being your Antipode. Ah, my charming Antipode, what then
would become of life ? How easily you might die under my feet, without my
knowing a word about the matter! If you lived for another, would you not be
dead for me ? I say to myself, I have never yet read of two 
loving each other faithfully. 
Since we captured heroes wander on this
side of the , they allow us many more
liberties than on German soil. I can go where I will, if I only show myself to
the commander at the proper hour. I can live, eat, and drink as suits my
pleasure, with my own money — that is understood. 
When I rode to your ball would I had but
taken out more than the usual amount of gambling money, such as I have spent —
I believe for these twenty years ! 
Next month I shall write to you again, and
it shall be from the place I hope to keep within till peace, and where I can
await answers from .
But probably, my beautiful Antipode, I shall send you my first letter from the or . Adieu. 
SIXTH LETTER. 
Aix, June 27th. 
Finally I have reached my goal. I am
destined to remain here till an exchange of prisoners, or until peace is
announced. This information has been more painful to me than I had at first
expected. To be hustled from 
to the Spanish borders is truly no small matter. I shall therefore neither see
Otaheite nor the , notwithstanding
there is in all probability much more to see there than in these deserts on the
. 
All the French that I have seen in cursed
my fatherland. I can sincerely give it all back to them in their own. What a
miserable, barren, flat, beggarly country theirs is! I strongly suspect that
the French government carries on the war that it may people these immense
solitudes. There are almost as many prisoners of war as inhabitants here. 
This little town has almost fallen to the
ground, but my host prides himself not a little upon its great antiquity. It is
a pleasure that I will give up to him. He has a young daughter who appears to
me much prettier than the oldest town. And he recommends the warm baths of the
city to me as a great luxury, believing there never were such miraculous baths
in the whole world. But the man is a born fool — warm baths while the weather
is hot enough already to suffocate one ! I am burnt as black by the sun as a
mulatto, and I can scarcely comprehend how the young maiden of this old city
has preserved such a dazzling, pure hand. 
The prisoners are quartered on the
citizens; but we receive nothing free but lodging. Everything else is left for
us to buy, if we would not starve. My money has come to the dregs. My fortune
consists of Sophia's necklace alone, that I should have brought to you at the
ball, and that must now be consumed in the neighborhood of the . I hope my good Sophia will bear with patience
the present loss of her necklace, and be happy that her ornament can preserve
the life of her poor brother from death by hunger and thirst. I have already
sold some large diamonds and pearls to a jeweller of the city, but he was not
in a position to pay down cash. He was obliged to get the gold from , a town about
twelve French miles distant from here. 
Since then I have again lived very
comfortably, kept a servant, taken rides in the neighborhood, received visits,
and lightened the fate of my fellow-prisoners. Adieu. 
SEVENTH LETTER, 
, July 13th. 
Te Deum Laudamus! There is peace! Every one
comes to congratulate me upon approaching deliverance, and my return home. And
in fact, the journey from Aix to 
needs a felicitation, for I put little trust in my fortune. The French speak of
naught but Tilsit, and raise their Napoleon up to the gods. They think that if
Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great lived at the present day, they would scarcely
perform the service of adjutant beside the great Napoleon. The mayor of the
city asserted, in a speech which he made in honor of the peace, that without
doubt Tilsit was on the borders of Asiatic Tartary, and far to the north, and
that the left wing of the great army had pushed its advance guard far on to the
eternal ice of the North Pole, where no mortal had dared to place his foot
before. The good people of Aix (who are called asses) froze at the mere
suggestion of the mayor. No doubt after listening to the speech, they had
immediate recourse to their warm baths to ward off the polar cold. 
I am now awaiting the command to return, as
an effect of the Tilsit peace; and still more impatiently a few letters from
your beautiful hand, my lovely countess, before I leave. 
I shall procure a comfortable and strong
travellingwagon, and as soon as I am free I shall fly over the with the extra post to the dear .
My servant, an honest fellow of a Gascon, I shall bring with me. He is much
attached to me, and bears the great Roman name of Pompey. The strange fellow
has no fault but that of chattering incessantly without regard to the subject.
He can talk three hours about salt soap. Sometimes I like to be overwhelmed by
this ocean of words, that is, when I cannot forget myself in sleep, and would
not think, and would tear myself away from my longing for you. 
Do not write any answers to this, or any
chance letters sent in future. They would arrive too late. 
With this letter I send you my journal. It shall
be my forerunner, and relate to you my experiences, remarks, and adventures,
more circumstantially than I have been able to do till now in my hasty letters.
I wrote it in weary moments, and of those I had not a few. You will recognize
my inmost thoughts therein, and in the sanctuary of my inmost soul you will
always find me your adorer! 
Perhaps your eyes weep a tear in pity for
the unfortunate on the — perhaps ere you
have left off reading and weeping I shall kiss the beautiful tears from your blushing
cheeks. 
EIGHTH LETTER. 
Pampelona, July 28th. My Sweet Countess: 
Take the first good map of , seek
there the kingdom of ;
in the kingdom of ,
the capital, Pampelona, at the foot of the 
and consider — I am there ! 
I have an actual hobgoblin of a genius that
withdraws me farther from you, when I am most certain in my hopes of soon being
with you. The whole world is making peace. I alone must remain at war with the
whole world, struggling with alcayades, regidores, procuratores, escrivanos,
and heavens knows how many more honorable people. Now that I have passed the (certainly with little good will on my part), a
journey may yet be made to , , Ispahan, and . Put no longer any trust in aught that I
may write concerning my returning to .
I had received your package, enclosing some
letters from dear Sophia, from Uncle St , from my friend W , and Count S . Your
words had charmed me into the highest heaven — I enjoyed the sweetest reward
for past sufferings, when misfortune brought the tipstave of the mayor of Aix
to me; the tipstave led me to the mayor; the mayor to the judge ; the judge
into a room where there were several people, among whom I only knew the
jeweller or goldsmith to whom I had sold a good part of the jewels of Sophia's
necklace, three weeks before, to pay my travelling expenses. They showed me the
precious stones and pearls in a little box, with the question, " whether I
acknowledged having truly sold these jewels to the man in ." They pointed out the goldsmith
to me. I examined the stones, recognized them, answered yes, giving them
several additional circumstances. 
They declared me guilty, sealed up my
effects, carried me to ,
gave me a second trial, and asked me in a most innocent manner for the
hiding-place of my companions in the robbery. I then learned, for the first
time, that a princess of high rank had been plundered by robbers on the highway
as she touched the Spanish borders at Trun. I proved my innocence to the
judges, by bringing forth the rest of Sophia's necklace, to which the stones
and pearls exactly matched. 
They clapped their hands, took the necklace
from me, put me in closer confinement, and let me know incidentally that the necklace
answered exactly to that described as having been stolen from the princess.
Their decision only gave me hopes of getting off with the punishment of the
galleys for life if I would procure also a jewelry-box, with ten valuable rings
and a diamond cross, belonging to the pillaged lady. I answered all there was
to answer. 
At the end of a week I was packed on a
donkey, and, well bound and well watched, I was led to Pampelona, where the
viceroy (as he is called) had imprisoned some of my accomplices. He wanted to
see the necklace, and to confront me with the highwaymen. 
Let come what may of this absurd affair, I
now only write to you that you may know what has become of me. More I cannot
write, for I must deliver this letter open to the police, and let it be read,
before it goes to you. Console my sister. If I am hung in it is
your fault, for sending me from the ball to fetch that wicked necklace. But
even on the gallows, I have the honor of being, etc., etc. 
NINTH LETTER, 
, August 14th. 
I hope you have not been anxious on account
of my last adventure. I was released on the second day after arriving at
Pampelona; for the princess being there, she saw immediately that it was not
her necklace which I had. The confronting me with other prisoners, the hanging,
and a life in the galleys readily passed away from my mind. Apologies were made
to me, and the viceroy even invited me to dinner, and I was presented to the
princess. 
But the Spanish ground burnt like fire
under my feet. The viceroy had me conveyed to , on his own equipage. Here I find
that my passports are ready for ,
and my chaise brought Pompey from Aix yesterday. Everything is ready for
departure. 
Whether I shall go forward to , or backward
through , , Tangiers, and — that,
my adored, I will not decide. Some enchanter must be in love with you, and
jealous of me. Beyond all question there is magic in the game. In the natural
state of the world, one is not required to go from one street in to another, by way
of the . But if my enemy bewitches me
into the moon, I shall even love you there. My next letter will probably be
dated from .
I am full of resignation. 
TENTH LETTER, 
, October 3d. I 
I have just recovered from my first rapture
of joy in the arms of my dear Sophia — having arrived within the last halfhour.
O Amelia! Amelia! I tremble with delight as I announce myself to you in these
lines. Let me know when I and my sister may come to you. Amen. 
==
Category:Zschokke
Category:ShortStories