Page:Legends of Rubezahl, and Other Tales (1845).djvu/101

 mortal before him. But the organs of sprites are so fine, so ethereal, that they can retain, while in their own form, no clear or lasting impression of objects, and Rubezahl well knew that it was necessary for him to assume some bodily shape ere he could so realize that of the fair image he gazed upon, by passing it through the chamber of the eyes, as to fix it in his imagination. He therefore took the shape of a great raven, and flying towards the lovely group, perched on a tall ash that overshadowed the waterfall. But, alas! this expedient by no means answered the purpose, for he now saw everything with the eyes of a raven; so that a nest of wood-mice would have been far more interesting to him than all the handsome women in the world,—the thoughts and desires of the soul taking their form and pressure entirely from the body in which it is placed.

This psychological reflection no sooner occurred to the gnome than he hastened to remedy the blunder he had committed. The raven flew away into the wood, and there became a handsome young man, by which means alone, the spirit knew, could he attain a perfect idea of female beauty. In a moment there sprung up in his bosom sensations he had never before experienced; all his thoughts took a new flight; a pleasing commotion agitated the region of the heart, and aspirations found a place there of which he knew not even the name. An irresistible