Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 12.djvu/90

80 is returned from Airolo, so frozen, that, on his arrival, he could scarcely utter a word. Although here the Capuchins are allowed to clothe themselves a little more comfortably than the rest of their order, still their style of dress is by no means suited to such a climate as this. All the way up from Airolo, the road was frozen perfectly smooth, and he had the wind in his face. His beard was quite frozen, and it was a long while before he recovered. We had some conversation together on the hardships of their residence: he told us how they managed to get through the year, their various occupations, and their domestic circumstances. He could speak nothing but Italian, and so we had an opportunity of putting to use the exercises which we had taken in this language during the spring. Toward evening, we went for a moment outside the house-door, that the good father might point out to us the peak which is considered to be the highest summit of Mount Gothard. But we could scarcely endure to stay out a very few minutes, so searching and pinching was the cold. This time, therefore, we shall remain close shut up within doors, and shall have time enough, before we start to-morrow, to travel again, in thought, over all the most remarkable parts of this region.

A brief geographical description will enable you to understand how remarkable the point is at which we are now sitting. St. Gothard is not, indeed, the highest mountain of Switzerland (in Savoy, Mont Blanc has a far higher elevation); and yet it maintains above all others the rank of a king of mountains, because all the great chains converge together around it, and all rest upon it as on their base. Indeed, if I do not make a great mistake, I think I was told at Berne, by Herr Wyttenbach, who from its highest summit had seen the peaks of all the others, that the latter all leaned toward it. The mountains of Schweitz and Unterwalden, joined by those of Uri, range from the north;