Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women
below. As soon as we entered the hall, the elder turned to me, and I
saw that a glow of satisfaction shone on both their faces. To my
surprise and great pleasure, he addressed me thus:
“Brother, will you sit by the fire and rest, till we finish this part
of our work?”
I signified my assent; and, resolved to await any disclosure they might
be inclined to make, seated myself in silence near the hearth.
The elder brother then laid the sword in the fire, covered it well
over, and when it had attained a sufficient degree of heat, drew it out
and laid it on the anvil, moving it carefully about, while the younger,
with a succession of quick smart blows, appeared either to be welding
it, or hammering one part of it to a consenting shape with the rest.
Having finished, they laid it carefully in the fire; and, when it was
very hot indeed, plunged it into a vessel full of some liquid, whence a
blue flame sprang upwards, as the glowing steel entered.
There they left it; and drawing two stools to the fire, sat down, one
on each side of me.
“We are very glad to see you, brother. We have been expecting you for
some days,” said the dark-haired youth.
“I am proud to be called your brother,” I rejoined; “and you will not
think I refuse the name, if I desire to know why you honour me with
it?”
“Ah! then he does not know about it,” said the younger. “We thought you
had known of the bond betwixt us, and the work we have to do together.
You must tell him, brother, from the first.”
So the elder began:
“Our father is king of this country. Before we were born, three giant
brothers had appeared in the land. No one knew exactly when, and no one
had the least idea whence they came. They took possession of a ruined
castle that had stood unchanged and unoccupied within the memory of any
of the country people. The vaults of this castle had remained uninjured
by time, and these, I presume, they made use of at first. They were
rarely seen, and never offered the least injury to any one; so that
they were regarded in the neighbourhood as at least perfectly harmless,
if not rather benevolent beings. But it began to be observed, that the
old castle had assumed somehow or other, no one knew when or how, a
somewhat different look from what it used to have. Not only were
several breaches in the lower part of the walls built up, but actually
some of the battlements which yet stood, had been repaired, apparently
to prevent them from falling into worse decay, while the more important
parts were being restored. Of course, every one supposed the giants
must have a hand in the work, but no one ever saw them engaged in it.
The peasants became yet more uneasy, after one, who had concealed
himself, and watched all night, in the neighbourhood of the castle,
reported that he had seen, in full moonlight, the three huge giants
working with might and main, all night long, restoring to their former
position some massive stones, formerly steps of a grand turnpike stair,
a great portion of which had long since fallen, along with part of the
wall of the round tower in which it had been built. This wall they were
completing, foot by foot, along with the stair. But the people said
they had no just pretext for interfering: although the real reason for
letting the giants alone was, that everybody was far too much afraid of
them to interrupt them.
“At length, with the help of a neighbouring quarry, the whole of the
external wall of the castle was finished. And now the country folks
were in greater fear than before. But for several years the giants
remained very peaceful. The reason of this was afterwards supposed to
be the fact, that they were distantly related to several good people in
the country; for, as long as these lived, they remained quiet; but as
soon as they were all dead the real nature of the giants broke out.
Having completed the outside of their castle, they proceeded, by
spoiling the country houses around them, to make a quiet luxurious
provision for their comfort within. Affairs reached such a pass, that
the news of their robberies came to my father’s ears; but he, alas! was
so crippled in his resources, by a war he was carrying on with a
neighbouring prince, that he could only spare a very few men, to
attempt the capture of their stronghold. Upon these the giants issued
in the night, and slew every man of them. And now, grown bolder by
success and impunity, they no longer confined their depredations to
property, but began to seize the persons of their distinguished
neighbours, knights and ladies, and hold them in durance, the misery of
which was heightened by all manner of indignity, until they were
redeemed by their friends, at an exorbitant ransom. Many knights have
adventured their overthrow, but to their own instead; for they have all
been slain, or captured, or forced to make a hasty retreat. To crown
their enormities, if any man now attempts their destruction, they,
immediately upon his defeat, put one or more of their captives to a
shameful death, on a turret in sight of all passers-by; so that they
have been much less molested of late; and we, although we have burned,
for years, to attack these demons and destroy them, dared not, for the
sake of their captives, risk the adventure, before we should have
reached at least our earliest manhood. Now, however, we are preparing
for the attempt; and the grounds of this preparation are these. Having
only the resolution, and not the experience necessary for the
undertaking, we went and consulted a lonely woman of wisdom, who lives
not very far from here, in the direction of the quarter from which you
have come. She received us most kindly, and gave us what seems to us
the best of advice. She first inquired what experience we had had in
arms. We told her we had been well exercised from our boyhood, and for
some years had kept ourselves in constant practice, with a view to this
necessity.
“‘But you have not actually fought for life and death?’ said she.
“We were forced to confess we had not.
“‘So much the better in some respects,’ she replied. ‘Now listen to me.
Go first and work with an armourer, for as long time as you find
needful to obtain a knowledge of his craft; which will not be long,
seeing your hearts will be all in the work. Then go to some lonely
tower, you two alone. Receive no visits from man or woman. There forge
for yourselves every piece of armour that you wish to wear, or to use,
in your coming encounter. And keep up your exercises. As, however, two
of you can be no match for the three giants, I will find you, if I can,
a third brother, who will take on himself the third share of the fight,
and the preparation. Indeed, I have already seen one who will, I think,
be the very man for your fellowship, but it will be some time before he
comes to me. He is wandering now without an aim. I will show him to you
in a glass, and, when he comes, you will know him at once. If he will
share your endeavours, you must teach him all you know, and he will
repay you well, in present song, and in future deeds.’
“She opened the door of a curious old cabinet that stood in the room.
On the inside of this door was an oval convex mirror. Looking in it for
some time, we at length saw reflected the place where we stood, and the
old dame seated in her chair. Our forms were not reflected. But at the
feet of the dame lay a young man, yourself, weeping.
“‘Surely this youth will not serve our ends,’ said I, ‘for he weeps.’
“The old woman smiled. ‘Past tears are present strength,’ said she.
“‘Oh!’ said my brother, ‘I saw you weep once over an eagle you shot.’
“‘That was because it was so like you, brother,’ I replied; ‘but
indeed, this youth may have better cause for tears than that—I was
wrong.’
“‘Wait a while,’ said the woman; ‘if I mistake not, he will make you
weep till your tears are dry for ever. Tears are the only cure for
weeping. And you may have need of the cure, before you go forth to
fight the giants. You must wait for him, in your tower, till he comes.’
“Now if you will join us, we will soon teach you to make your armour;
and we will fight together, and work together, and love each other as
never three loved before. And you will sing to us, will you not?”
“That I will, when I can,” I answered; “but it is only at times that
the power of song comes upon me. For that I must wait; but I have a
feeling that if I work well, song will not be far off to enliven the
labour.”
This was all the compact made: the brothers required nothing more, and
I did not think of giving anything more. I rose, and threw off my upper
garments.
“I know the uses of the sword,” I said. “I am ashamed of my white hands
beside yours so nobly soiled and hard; but that shame will soon be
wiped away.”
“No, no; we will not work to-day. Rest is as needful as toil. Bring the
wine, brother; it is your turn to serve to-day.”
The younger brother soon covered a table with rough viands, but good
wine; and we ate and drank heartily, beside our work. Before the meal
was over, I had learned all their story. Each had something in his
heart which made the conviction, that he would victoriously perish in
the coming conflict, a real sorrow to him. Otherwise they thought they
would have lived enough. The causes of their trouble were respectively
these:
While they wrought with an armourer, in a city famed for workmanship in
steel and silver, the elder had fallen in love with a lady as far
beneath him in real rank, as she was above the station he had as
apprentice to an armourer. Nor did he seek to further his suit by
discovering himself; but there was simply so much manhood about him,
that no one ever thought of rank when in his company. This is what his
brother said about it. The lady could not help loving him in return. He
told her when he left her, that he had a perilous adventure before him,
and that when it was achieved, she would either see him return to claim
her, or hear that he had died with honour. The younger brother’s grief
arose from the fact, that, if they were both slain, his old father, the
king, would be childless. His love for his father was so exceeding,
that to one unable to sympathise with it, it would have appeared
extravagant. Both loved him equally at heart; but the love of the
younger had been more developed, because his thoughts and anxieties had
not been otherwise occupied. When at home, he had been his constant
companion; and, of late, had ministered to the infirmities of his
growing age. The youth was never weary of listening to the tales of his
sire’s youthful adventures; and had not yet in the smallest degree lost
the conviction, that his father was the greatest man in the world. The
grandest triumph possible to his conception was, to return to his
father, laden with the spoils of one of the hated giants. But they both
were in some dread, lest the thought of the loneliness of these two
might occur to them, in the moment when decision was most necessary,
and disturb, in some degree, the self-possession requisite for the
success of their attempt. For, as I have said, they were yet untried in
actual conflict. “Now,” thought I, “I see to what the powers of my gift
must minister.” For my own part, I did not dread death, for I had
nothing to care to live for; but I dreaded the encounter because of the
responsibility connected with it. I resolved however to work hard, and
thus grow cool, and quick, and forceful.
The time passed away in work and song, in talk and ramble, in friendly
fight and brotherly aid. I would not forge for myself armour of heavy
mail like theirs, for I was not so powerful as they, and depended more
for any success I might secure, upon nimbleness of motion, certainty of
eye, and ready response of hand. Therefore I began to make for myself a