Page:Three stories by Vítězslav Hálek (1886).pdf/279

 And yet there were two small souls who kept it still in mind—Frank and Staza, who from the inner hall among the musicians, looked at all that was passing in the dining room.

And so, during an interval, while there was a pause in the dance and only the sound of whistling was to be heard in the dining room, a kind of consultation here took place between Frank and the musicians, and before any one expected what was toward, Frank and Staza struck up with the hymn “Odpocinte vpokjiv pokoji [sic] verne dusicky.” (Rest in peace ye faithful spirits).

The musicians, fiddlers and harpers, accompanied them. Staza’s little voice penetrated like silver, Frank’s voice faithfully seconded hers, and then the music accompanied it all—it was as though tears were falling.

If you are well versed in tales of magic you will recollect how all at once everything in a castle was turned to stone. And thus at this song everything was turned to stone in the dining room. Here some one stretched out his hand to his neighbour and the hand remained stretched out, here another had raised his hand to tootle with it and the hand remained raised above his head, and the tootling died away in his throat. Here another wanted to turn to his neighbour, he had not quite turned towards him, neither was he altogether turned away from him. And when Joseph wanted to drink with