Page:Story of the bitter wedding (1).pdf/4

 one leg and a half, and propped upon a crutch, with a nose as long as one's thumb, came hobbling up quite out of breath, and making half-a-dozen wry faces, from a foot path on the left side of the road. Behind him he trailed an enormous fiddle, on which lay a large wallet--appurtenances which seemed to be attached to such a little odd figure by way of ballast, lest the rush of the wind down the valley should sweep it away.

'Good morning!' Berthold at last roared out, 'you are a merry fellow, Master fiddler, and will prove heart's case to me to-day. In spite of my misfortunes I could not help laughing at the sight of you and your hugeous fiddle. Pray take it not amiss; a laugh has been a rare thing with me for many a day.'

'Has it indeed,' rejoined the dwarf; 'and yet so young! Perhaps you are heart-sick, my son?'

'Yes, if you choose to call it so,' replied the herdsman. 'Here in our mountains and valleys, you will find a great many clouts of fellows who will be fancying themselves in love, while they are all the time eating, drinking, and sleeping, as sound as any marmot, and in one year's time can as easily pass from Margaret to Rosomund, as I from this town to the other. That is all a mockery; I would much rather die than forget