Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 6.djvu/534

500 strife and care: but returning to the dwellings of man, be they the cottage or the palace, be they roomy or circumscribed, we find that there is, in truth, ever something to subdue, to struggle with, to quiet and allay."

Honorio, in the meantime, had directed the telescope toward the town, and now exclaimed, "Look, look! the town is on fire in the market-place."

They looked, and saw some smoke; but the glare of daylight eclipsed the flames. "The fire increases!" they exclaimed, still looking through the instrument. The princess saw the calamity with the naked eye: from time to time they perceived a red flame ascending amid the smoke. Her uncle at length exclaimed, "Let us return: it is calamitous! I have always feared the recurrence of such a misfortune."

They descended; and, having reached the horses, the princess thus addressed her old relative: "Ride forward, sir, hastily, with your attendant, but leave Honorio with me, and we will follow."

Her uncle perceived the prudence and utility of this advice, and, riding on as quickly as the nature of the ground would allow, descended to the open plain. The princess mounted her steed, upon which Honorio addressed her thus: "I pray your Highness to ride slowly; the fire-engines are in the best order, both in the town and in the castle; there can surely be no mistake or error, even in so unexpected an emergency. Here, however, the way is dangerous, and riding is insecure, from the small stones and the smooth grass; and, in addition, the fire will no doubt be extinguished before we reach the town."

But the princess indulged in no such hope: she saw the smoke ascend, and thought she perceived a flash of lightning and heard a thunder-clap; and her mind was filled with the frightful pictures of the conflagration her uncle's oft-repeated narrative had impressed on her.