what have I done? I have poisoned the mind of that dear young man—have made him forget the excellent lessons of his virtuous mother, and perverted him to the perpetration of a crime for which he has forfeited his life.”
“Thou!” exclaimed the Gnome, with emphatic earnestness.
“Yes, sir, I am his murderess, his corrupter; for I am the cause of his having committed a highway robbery—of his having plundered a rogue of a Jew. He has fallen into the hands of the magistracy of Hirschberg, has been condemned, and, O heart’s misery! to-morrow he dies!”
“And this was thy fault?” inquired the amazed Rubezahl.
“Yes, sir, his young blood lies at my door.”
“How can that be?”
“When he set out on his journeymen’s travels, as, bidding me farewell he held me to his heart, he said: ‘Dear love, be true to me. When the apple tree shall bloom for the third time, and the swallow for the third time build her nest, I shall have returned from my wanderings; and then I swear by all I hold sacred thou shalt be my wife.’ The apple tree bloomed for the third time, the swallow for the third time had built her nest, Benedict came back, reminded me of my promise, and asked me to marry. But I flouted and mocked him, as girls often do their lovers, and said:
