A Tour Through The Pyrenees

of the day. Rosy hues, of an inexpressible softness, rest on the summits, then steal down along the slopes. One could never have believed that these gaunt old creatures were capable of an expression so timid and so tender. The light broadens,

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ly beaches. On the right, far away in a veil of luminous mist, the Pyrenees lift their jagged tops, and the naked points of thei

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grasses, pretty heaths, tufts of yellow sedum, and above all tiny pink geraniums, that shine in the sun like clusters of rubies. You are quite ready to seek for nymp

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stle has its legend, which Froissart recounts in a style so flowing and agreea

s if they were determined to destroy all within it: and they gave such loud raps at the door of the chamber of the knight, that the lady was exceedingly frightened. The knight heard it all, but did not say a word, as he would not have it appear that he was alarmed, for he was a man of sufficient courage for any adventure. These n

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e kitchen had been broken. He began to laugh, and said, 'It was nothing, that they had dreame

u hast deprived him of the rights of his benefice; I will, therefore, never leave thee quiet, until thou hast rendered him a just account, with which he shall be contented.'-'What art thou called,' said the knight, 'who art so good a messenger?'-'My name is Orthon.'-'Orthon,' said the knight, 'serving a clerk will not be of much advantage to thee; for if thou believest him he will give thee great trouble: I beg thou wilt therefore leave him and serve me, and I shall think myself obliged to thee.' Orthon was

Well,' said the knight, 'and what news hast thou brought me?' Orthon replied, 'I am come from England, Hungary, or some other place, which I left yesterday, and such and such things have happened.' Thus did the Lord de Coarraze know by means of Orthon all things that were passing in different parts of the world; and this connection continued for five years; but he could not keep it to himself, and discovered it to the Count de Foix, in the manner I will tell you. The first y

er?'-'No, by my faith, never, nor have I ever pressed him on this matter.'-'I wonder at that,' replied the count, 'for had he been so much attached to me, I should have begged of him to have shown himself in his own proper form; and I entreat you will do so, that you may tell how he is made, and what he is like. You have said that he speaks Gascon as well as you or I do.'-'By my faith,' said the Lord de Coar-raze, 'he converses just as well and as properly, and, since you request it, I will do all I can to see him.' It fell out when the Lord de Coarraze, as usual, was in bed with his lady (who was now accustomed to hear Orthon without being frightened), Orthon arrived and shook the pillow of the knight, who was asleep. On waking, he asked who was there. Orthon replied, 'It is I.'-'And where dost thou come from?'-'I come from Prague, in Bohemia.

Lord de Coarraze was in bed, Orthon came and began to talk in his usual manner. 'Go,' said the knight; 'thou art a liar. Thou oughtest to have shown thyself to me this morning, and hast not done so.'-'No!' replied Orthon; 'but I have.'-'I say, no.'-'And did you see nothing at all when you leaped out of bed?' The Lord de Coarraze was silent, and, having considered awhile, said, 'Yes; when sitting on my bedside, and thinking of thee, I saw two straws which were turning and playing together on the floor.'-'That was myself,' replied Orthon, 'for I had taken that form.' The Lo

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r, she seemed only skin and bone, with long hanging ears all spotted, and a sharp-pointed, lean snout. The Lord de Coarraze was disgusted at such a sight, and, calling to his servants, said, 'Let the dogs loose quickly, for I will have that sow killed and devoured.'

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peasant. A great state religion then overshadowed all thoughts; doctrine ready-made was imposed upon them; men could no longer, as in Greece or Scandinavia, build the great poem which suited their manners and mind. They received it from above, and repeated the litany with docility, yet not very well understanding it. Their invention produced only legends of saints or churchyard superstitions. Since they could not reach God, they struck out for themselves goblins, hermits, and gnomes, and by these simple and fantastic figures they expressed their rustic life or their vague terrors. This Orthon, who storms

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elves maliciously in sticking together the manes of the horses, or in souring the milk, yet sometimes become tender and domesticated, attached

s, like to those mineral forces which, deep down in the heart of the

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V

are free to admire the edifice, a liberty which we are careful not to abuse. On the portal, indeed, there is a pretty enough virgin in the style of the seventeenth century, four evangelists in marble, and in the interior several tolerable pictures; but the bl

ptly checked, makes a curve and crosses the Gave. The pretty bridge of a single arch rests its feet upon the naked rock and trails its ivy drapery in the blue-green eddies of the stream.

seemed to swim in a living blackness. All at once comes a clatter of cracking whips, of rolling and grinding wheels, of hoofs that strike fire from the pavement; then the endless hedge of white w

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ndscape sad. Lourdes is only a mass of dull, l

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rock lifts its back, corroded by mosses, above the enclosure of a slight wall that winds to shut it in, an

n the mutilated summits and into the gray crevices. Bands of beggars, in relays, hooked themselves on to the carriage with hoarse inarticulate noises, with idiotic air, wr

bleeds from multiplied blows. Half-detached, bluish masses hung in sharp points over our heads; a thousand feet higher up, layers of blocks leaned forward, overhanging the way. At a prodigious height, the black, battlemented summits pierced the vapors, while, with every step forward, it seemed as if the narrow passage were coming to an end. The darkness was growing, and, under that livid light with its threatening reflexes, i

of polished mahogany. Turbid water went boiling down the swollen cascades; the depths of the gorge were still darkened by the storm; but a tender light played over the wet summits, like a smile bathed

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