Page:The genius - Carl Grosse tr Joseph Trapp 1796.djvu/181

 of the fleeting breeze. Sometimes when I was with him, he would pluck a nosegay, divide it conscientiously into equal shares, and present one half to me; but then he hung his head, and of the other half, flower after flower, dropt from his hands. He sobbed aloud, pickt them up again, and with a trembling arm held them towards the sky, because Elmira had told him, she should one day ascend thither. Thus withered gradually the blossom of a once blest union, and two moons had not quite revolved over my devoted head, than this darling of my soul was entombed with his mother in the same grave.

The few friends, whom I had gained in the vicinage of my desolate cot, did all they could to soothe my sorrow. Their kind offices were not misbestowed, since I saw myself not quite abandoned to solitude. By several innocent fêtes they imperceptibly revived my languid spirits, and by man!y and salutary conversations, relieved my mind from the heavy load that must otherwise have crushed it.