Transcriber's Notes:

1. Page scan source:
http://www.archive.org/details/talesfromgerman00greegoog
2. Footnote is located at the end of the book.

TALES

FROM THE GERMAN

TRANSLATED

BY NATHANIEL GREENE.

VOLUME I.

BOSTON:
AMERICAN STATIONERS' COMPANY,

JOHN B. RUSSELL.

1837.

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

Most men, whatever the nature of their avocations, have, or may have, occasional hours of leisure and relaxation. To spend those hours profitably as well as pleasantly, should be a study: to spend them harmlessly, is a duty. Among other recent employments of the little leisure afforded me by absorbing official occupations, has been an attempt to gain some knowledge of the language and literature of Germany; and among the results of that attempt, are manuscript translations of several pleasant and interesting tales from various German authors, some of which I have been led to suppose might prove acceptable to our reading public. Those now presented are taken almost at random from the thirteen volumes of Van der Velde's works, of which they are a fair specimen. Their principal value consists in their faithful illustration of interesting portions of history not generally familiar. They have, besides, the merit of a peculiarly simple and unpretending style, that gives them an additional charm, and which I have endeavored to preserve in the translation. Whether that endeavor has been successful, however, and whether the English dress I have substituted for the graceful German garb, is worthy of the author and suited to the public taste, are questions upon which I feel somewhat doubtful and apprehensive. Should the reader answer them in the affirmative, I shall have the consolation of feeling that the leisure devoted to the work has been harmlessly, if not profitably, employed.

It is proper to add, that in a few cases I have taken the liberty to omit some passages, and to alter others, that were deemed incompatible with the ideas of propriety and decorum prevalent in this country.

Boston, November, 1837.

ARWED GYLLENSTIERNA.

A TALE OF THE EARLY PART OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.

BY C. F. VAN DER VELDE,

PART FIRST.

CHAPTER I.

In October of the year 1718, the royal counsellor, Nils count Gyllenstierna, was sitting before his desk in his cabinet at Stockholm. Behind him stood Arwed, his son, a tall Swedish youth with blue eyes and golden hair, whose rosy countenance wore a decided expression of courage and resolution. The father suddenly turned his moveable chair so as to face the youth.

'One word is as good as a thousand!' cried he, angrily; 'dismiss for the present your heroic aspirations. You are too young for this war.'

'Not younger than our king was,' quickly answered Arwed, 'when he beat the Danes by Humblebeck and the Muscovites by the Narva!'

'It is a great misfortune for a land when its king is a Don Quixote,' grumbled the senator; 'every fool in the kingdom quotes his example as authority.'

'O, do not calumniate the hero,' entreated Arwed, feelingly. 'Sweden has had no greater king since Gustavus Adolphus.'

'Nor has she had one who has brought more misery upon the land replied the senator. 'Do not suppose, my son,' proceeded he, calmly, 'that I underrate the qualifications of our lord the king. He has given proof of many, any one of which would render some other princes immortal. He is firm, liberal, brave, just, and knows how to maintain the royal dignity. But all these heroic virtues have, by excess, become more dangerous in him than would be their opposite vices. His firmness, becoming obstinacy, caused his misfortune at Pultowa and rendered him for five painful years the dependant and prisoner of the Turks; his liberality, degenerated into wastefulness, has ruined Sweden; his courage, carried in most cases to the utmost extent of foolhardiness, has led hundreds of thousands of his subjects to butchery or the Siberian mines; his justice has often become cruelty, and the maintenance of his royal prerogative, tyranny.'

'Cruelty and tyranny!' repeated Arwed. 'Surely you judge the greatest man in Europe too severely.'

'Do you remember the Livonian, Patkul?' asked the father--'Patkul, who was compelled, contrary to private right and international law, to make such dreadful atonement for what he had done in behalf of his native land? His horrible death is a dark stain upon Charles's character, and no laurel wreath will ever so conceal the deed that posterity will not discover it on the tablets of history.'

'So also are there spots upon the sun,' said Arwed with some degree of irritation. 'The spirit of the party to which you have attached yourself, my father, permits you to see only the dark side of his character.'

'My party spirit will never sway my judgment,' indignantly replied the senator. 'The true patriot is governed only by a desire to promote his country's welfare, in choosing and adhering to his party. Were the government of our king less arbitrary I would joyfully unite myself with his party; but with monarchs like him, the public good requires an opposition, and every honest-minded nobleman should take his stand upon that side.'

'It does not become me to dispute with you upon such topics,' said Arwed, soothingly. 'As yet I have no voice in public affairs. My arm only is needed. To that, however, in my opinion, my country has a righteous claim; and the question now is, not whether, the king has always chosen the best course for the welfare of his realm, but whether the decision which he has now irrevocably made shall be maintained with blood and treasure. Therefore permit me to go this time, my dear father.'

'Well argued, my son,' said the elder Gyllenstierna gruffly, turning his attention again to his papers; 'but the father has a will of his own, and considers himself as much a sovereign in his own house, as Charles XII is in his kingdom. The king's sinful passion for war has already made a sufficient number of childless parents. I will not make to it the offering of my only son.'

'What is my insignificant life in comparison with Sweden's welfare?' cried Arwed with enthusiasm.

'Sweden's welfare!' said the father, turning towards him again. 'How can Sweden's welfare be promoted by this unholy war? Instead of attempting to regain our blessed German territories, which our enemies have divided among themselves, we go forth to the conquest of Norway, which can never repay the blood and treasure she must cost, and will never be truly loyal unless when garrisoned by our troops.'

'To me it appears to be a noble attempt,' said Arwed, 'to conquer a part of his own states from an enemy who has taken so much from us.'

'It appears so to you,' answered his father, 'because you are a young simpleton, who are dazzled by the brilliancy of the enterprise. Would to God there were not even older fools who hold the same opinions. However wise or foolish this expedition may be, you can take no part in it. You have your answer, with which you will please retire and leave me alone. I have pressing