Foxholme Hall, and Other Tales
Page 26
the ocean, I reached the shores of a lovely islandclothed with beautiful shrubs and trees and sweet-scented flowers, andcanopied by skies of purest blue. Never have I seen a spot morebeautiful; and yet it is but the setting of a precious jewel--a pearl ofmatchless price. That jewel is a lovely and youthful maiden, aprincess, the daughter of the mortal sovereign of that island. As Islept, concealed beneath the rocks, she and her maidens, she outshiningthem all, came to sport upon the sands. Their laughter, sweet as themurmuring of the breeze upon the summer waves, roused me from myslumber; but no sooner did I present myself before them, than they fledwith shrieks of terror, fast as the fleet dolphin from the voraciousshark. She alone remained behind. I gazed delighted. I endeavoured toapproach her, to behold her nearer; but no sooner did I move, than,affrighted, she fled far away from me into the woods, where I could notfollow. I endeavoured to shout to her, to entreat her to tarry, tolisten to what I had to say; but my voice (it was somewhat loud, Iconfess) only made her fly the faster. When she and her attendants haddisappeared, I sat me down on a rock, disconsolate, to consider thestate of the case, when I by degrees began to suspect that she wasfrightened by the form I am doomed to wear, which I fear is somewhatmore hideous than she is accustomed to see. I meditated still further,and at length I came to the conclusion that I am what human beings calldesperately in love. Yes, dread Sovereign, the fierce Borasco is inlove!"
On hearing this confession of Borasco, all the Kings of the Sea andTritons lifted up their hands with surprise, and a smile of incredulityrested on their countenances, while a murmur ran through the hall,"Borasco in love! Borasco in love! oh, oh!" for no one would haveguessed that he could have become a slave to the tender passion. Theysmiled, too, at his only then having discovered his own ugliness, for,frightful as they were themselves, they all fancied that he was more so.
Britannia was the only spirit who compassionated him, and she pleadedhis cause with Neptune so successfully, that the Monarch expressed hiswillingness to assist him, if means so to do could be found. "Tell meby what rules, in thy favoured island, youths manage to win the heartsof the maidens they love?" said Neptune, addressing Britannia.
The Spirit smiled and replied: "In the first place, the youths wearforms somewhat more attractive than that of Borasco; but as to rules, Ican lay down none, so various are the means by which the hearts ofmaidens are won, and of such different materials do they appear to bemade. Some seem to me to be composed of iron or adamant, some of glass,some of wax, some of lead, and some of stuff not more consistent thanbutter, while a few, I suspect, have no hearts at all. Sighs and timidlooks attract some, laughter and bold admiration others, and gold has nolittle influence in affairs of that description; but the man whorequires rules to make love has but small chance indeed."
Borasco sat in a very melancholy and downcast mood, with his chinresting on his hand, while several deep sighs, which sounded somewhatlike thunder, burst from his heaving bosom, and echoed round and roundthe hall. At last he looked up and said, "It is very well for you,brother Kings, who are fancy free, to laugh; but let me tell you, if youfelt as I do you would find it no laughing matter. And thou, O mightyNeptune, if thou canst not help me to win the lovely in aid, I know notwhat I shall do, while I remain as hideous as I own I am."
Neptune, on hearing this, thought deeply for some minutes; he thenspoke:--
"Be not, my brave Borasco, thus dismay'd, You know my love, and I will give thee aid. I grant thee leave to seek some human form In which the life-blood yet is flowing warm, Which from some sea-tossed, shattered wreck is torn, And on the shore by raging billows borne. Such you may enter, while your present form Returns to mingle with the air and storm. But also learn, the force of fire or steel, Like other mortals, you'll be doomed to feel; And if of mortal life you are bereft, You must resume the native form you left, And thence for ever in that shape remain, Nor e'er in human semblance shine again; And also, every year you most repair To this my court in that same form you wear, Leaving your mortal shape in seeming sleep, While for one day you stay beneath the deep. Such is, Borasco, tried and faithful friend, The best assistance which I now can lend."
On hearing these words, the looks of the Spirit of the Storm brightened.He rose and made obeisance. "Thanks, mighty Sovereign," he exclaimed;"my hopes brighten, my courage returns. I will, with your permission,at once hasten and put into execution this most excellent plan. It mustsucceed, and cannot fail to secure my happiness; and I here promise toobey your mandates, and faithfully to return once a year, to pay myrespects at your court."
"Do so," replied Neptune; "but remember that I can give you power onlyover the form of a human being who in his lifetime has been guilty ofmany crimes. With the innocent and virtuous no Spirit must interfere.Now let our court break up; and, Kings of the Sea, and ye, great Spiritsof the Wind and Air, disperse yourselves across the billowy main."
On hearing these words the Spirits answered:
"We fly, mighty Monarch, we fly at thy will, With tempest and tumult the ocean to fill; Where rocks and where sandbanks and whirlpools abound, And barks are hurled onward, we there shall be found."
When the Spirits ceased speaking they dispersed, with a loud rushingsound, in all directions, while the Kings of the Sea, the Islands, andRocks, retired with a more dignified pace, and the vast hall was left,as before, in solitude and silence.
STORY SIX, CHAPTER FOUR.
The seas were, in those days, infested by a band of pirates, who werepossessed of several large ships, with which they defied all efforts todestroy them. The chief of the pirates was called Don Alonzo. Thoughvery blood-thirsty and wicked, for he robbed all he met, and spared noone who made any resistance, he was very brave, and young, and handsome;indeed, on looking at him, few would believe that he could commit thecrimes of which he was guilty. It happened that his ship, havingseparated from her consorts, was sailing across the Pacific.
Now, as Borasco was returning from Neptune's conclave to his own palace,he espied her in the far distance floating calmly on the waves. He soonknew her to be the ship of the pirate Alonzo, and instantly summoningall his wildest spirits to his aid, a violent tempest began to rage, andthus the Spirit of the Storm sang, as, riding on his foam-crested steed,he followed the doomed bark:--
"'Tis now that the billows are covered with foam-- 'Tis now my wild spirit rejoices to roam, When waves tossing high with dark clouds are at play, To dim the pale moon with their bright frothy spray; When loud-rolling thunder resounds thro' the skies, And fast through the night air the northern mist flies; Oh! now is the time when my spirit is free, And wildly I ride o'er the fathomless sea.
"Yon tempest-toss'd vessel before me now flies, And loudly I echo the mariners' cries, As sadly they gaze on the breakers before, Which madly leap over the iron-bound shore, When hope has deserted, and, pallid with fear, The stoutest heart trembles at death drawing near. Oh! now is the time I shout loudest with glee, And gaily ride over the foam-covered sea."
Onward sailed the sea-robbers, thoughtless of coming danger, whensuddenly the gentle breeze, which had hitherto been wafting them ontheir course, rose to a furious gale. Over the ship heeled to its rage.The tall masts bent and cracked, and one by one, with crash upon crash,they were carried away, till the ship drove before the tempest ahelpless wreck on the waste of waters. The wild cries of the seamen, asthey saw their doom approach, rose above the shrieks of the sea-bird, orthe mocking laughter of the Spirits of the Storm. Their chief alonestood undaunted, youth in his eye, and manly vigour in every limb;though the lightning flashed around his head--though the foaming billowswashed over the frail planks on which his feet were planted, and deathwith all its horrors frowned upon him.
On, on drove the ship--dark clouds above, the yawning waves below--tillthe land (it was the Island of Gracia), at that part fringed with sharp,threatening rocks, appeared ahead. On she went. The eager waves leapedround her; they lifted her to their summit, and then
down she came,crashing upon the rocks. Her timbers were riven asunder and scatteredfar and wide, and of the human beings who lately trod her deck but onealone was washed on shore, and from his body life had departed, thoughit was uninjured, either by the rocks or shattered planks and spars. Itwas that of Alonzo, the captain of the pirate crew. No sooner didBorasco behold the work which his powers had accomplished, than hehastened to the beach, and there he found, stretched on the sand, thebody of the pirate. He looked at it delighted, for the form was veryhandsome; and though life was gone, it yet retained its warmth. Highrocks surrounded the spot, so that no human being could observe what washappening. A voice (it seemed to come from the air) then uttered, in anawful tone, the following spell:--
"Dark form! my mystic words obey, To thin air vanish, haste away! Go, wander o'er the boundless