Page:Hoffmann's Strange Stories - Hoffman - 1855.djvu/139

 "Dost thou think, then," said he, "that thy life has the least value for me, if it pleases thee to stake it upon a miserable threat? What hast thou to do with the baron's wife! By what right wouldst thou go to place thyself in a funeral chamber, from which thy ridiculous conduct excludes thee more than ever?"

I fell crushed, annihilated, into a seat. My great uncle took pity on me.

"Now," continued he, "I wish you to know that the pretended illness of the baroness was nothing but a dream. Adelheid becomes distracted when there is a thunder-storm, and the old aunts, attracted by the noise, are fatiguing poor Seraphine with their care and their elixirs. It is nothing but a fainting fit, a nervous crisis, attributed by the baron to the effects of music. Now, then, since thou art, as I hope, sufficiently tranquillized, I am going, with thy permission, to smoke a good pipe; for all the gold in the world I would not shut my eyes again until daylight. Look thou, cousin," continued he, after a pause, and blowing out enormous clouds of smoke, "I advise thee not to take seriously the heroic figure that thou hast had put upon thee since thy adventure at the wolf-hunt. A poor little devil like thee is often exposed to many misunderstandings, when he has the vanity to quit his own sphere. I remember that at the time when I was attending the university, I had for a friend a young man of a character mild, peaceable, and always equal. A chance having thrown him into an affair of honor, he conducted himself with such vigor that everybody was astonished. Unfortunately this success and the admiration with which he was caressed, changed his character completely. From firm and serious as he ought to have remained, he became a quarrelsome man and a bully: briefly, one fine day he insulted a comrade for the miserable pleasure of boasting; but he was killed like a fly. I only relate this story to thee to kill time; but it might be that thou wouldst have occasion to profit by it. And with that, here is my pipe finished; the sky is still covered with darkness, but we shall yet have two hours to sleep."