The Golden Pot by E. T. A. Hoffmann

Author:E. T. A. Hoffmann [Hoffmann, E. T. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Steerforth Press
Published: 2023-10-17T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

—

When Nathaniel awakened, as though from an oppressive and terrible dream, he batted his eyes open and felt himself infused with an indescribable sense of well-being and heavenly warmth. He lay in his bed in his room in his father’s house, and Clara was bent over him while his mother and Lothar stood close by. “At last, at last, oh, my dearly beloved Nathaniel, you’ve pulled through at last, and now you’re mine again!” Clara spoke the words with all her heart and took Nathaniel in her arms. Bright, burning tears of sadness and rapture poured from his eyes and he moaned deeply, “My Clara, my Clara!”

Siegmund, who had faithfully stood by his friend in dire moments, then entered the room. Nathaniel held out his hand. “You, my faithful brother in need, you never abandoned me.”

Every last trace of madness was gone, and soon Nathaniel got better in the painstaking care of his mother, his beloved, and his friends. Fortune had, in the meantime, returned to the house; a miserly old uncle, from whom no one hoped to inherit a red cent, had died and left Nathaniel’s mother a considerable fortune, as well as a small estate in a pleasant district not far from the city. There they intended to move together, Nathaniel with his Clara, whom he now planned to marry, and his mother and Lothar. Nathaniel had become gentler and more childlike than ever, and only now really recognized the heavenly purity of Clara’s radiant spirit. No one reminded him, not even breathing the slightest hint, of the recent past. It was only when Siegmund prepared to leave that Nathaniel remarked, “By God, my brother, I was headed down the path of no return, but in the nick of time an angel made me find the right way! It was my Clara, after all!” Siegmund cut him off, fearing that bitter memories might once again make him start raving.

The time came when the four happy people planned to move out to the small country estate. As they went walking through the streets of the city at midday, after buying some things here and there, the tall town-hall tower cast a long shadow over the marketplace.

“Hey,” said Clara, “let’s climb it one last time and gaze out at the distant mountains!” No sooner said than done. Nathaniel and Clara both climbed the steps, Mother went home with the maid, and Lothar, who was disinclined to mount the many steps, stayed down below. Now the two lovers stood arm in arm at the tower’s highest lookout gallery and peered at the sweet-scented ring of woods, and the blue mountains loomed beyond like a giant city.

“Will you look at that strange little gray bush that seems to be slowly drawing near?” asked Clara. Nathaniel mechanically reached into his coat pocket, where he found Coppola’s spyglass, and looked to the side. There was Clara standing in the eye of the lens. A spasmodic quiver started up in his veins and arteries.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.