The two friends
reverently pressed their lips upon the still feet of the fettered Form;
together listened to the faint breathing from the icy lips, catching it
even through the veil of snow shrouding the sacred face; together they
ascended the frozen hill, bowing their heads in their hands to hide
their tears.
I saw them again as they were returning by the same road, and overheard
them binding themselves with fearful oaths. The Wanderer took leave of
the young man at the entrance of the church, saying with wonderfully
tender and conjuring tones: 'Be not deceived by those who would fain
ruin thy soul, and blot out thy name from the number of honorable sounds
on earth! Remember, whatsoever the splendor of the things thou shalt
this night see, they are but deceptions from the lowest Hell! Then
placing his hand on the heart of the young man, he prayed: 'O Heavenly
Father! have mercy upon him and upon me, for if he withstands not this
terrible Temptation, Thou knowest we shall both have lived in vain, and
our part on earth is done forever! After this they parted, and went
their way on different routes.
* * * * *
It was already night in the great city. Innumerable throngs were
crowding the streets, all moving in the same direction, to the palace
lighted with a thousand lamps, sounding with music, and gay with the
dance. Old and young, men and women thronged the brazen stairs leading
to the upper saloons; hurrying on as eagerly, as unceasingly as if
ascending into Heaven!
The hours of the night passed slowly by, seeming longer to me than the
whole of the preceding day.
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