I had nothing to say to that, but paid my bill and got into the carriage with the casket. This time I drove out into the world firmly determined to heed my mysterious lady’s warning, but I had scarcely reached the next big town when I found myself surrounded by attractive women from whom I simply could not tear myself away. They seemed determined to make me pay dearly for their favors, for they managed to keep me at a distance yet plunge me into one expenditure after the other, and since I had nothing on my mind but to keep them amused, I again gave no thought to what I was spending, but paid and played host whenever the opportunity arose. You can imagine my astonishment and delight when I discovered a few weeks later that my sack of gold was as round and full as ever.
I had to assure myself of this wonderful characteristic of my purse, so I sat down and counted the money, then memorized the sum total carefully, and went on living as merrily and sociably as ever. I didn’t miss an excursion into the country or a boat trip, singing, dancing or any other pleasures. But it soon became quite evident that now my purse was growing smaller, as if with my accursed counting, I had robbed it of its virtue of being countless! By now though, my pursuit of pleasure was in full swing again, and there seemed to be no way back, although I was again almost at the end of my resources. I cursed the situation I found myself in; I ranted against the beautiful creature who had led me into this temptation and was offended because she did not put in an appearance again.
Angrily I renounced all my obligations to her and decided to open the casket and see if I couldn’t find some assistance in it. For, although it was not heavy enough to contain money, there could have been jewels in it, and they would have been most welcome too. I was about to carry out my intention, then decided to wait for the night in order to be able to do so undisturbed, and hurried off to a banquet that was being held.
There was the usual carousing, and all of us were wildly excited by wine and trumpet blast, when something very unpleasant happened. The meal was almost over when an older friend of my favorite beauty at table entered the hall quite unexpectedly, having returned from a journey. He sat down beside her without much ado and tried to assert his old rights. The result was bad feeling, dispute, and strife. We drew swords, and I was carried home more dead than alive.
A surgeon bound my wounds and left me. It was already past midnight and my attendant was asleep, when the door to the next room opened, and my mysterious lady walked into my room and sat down at my bedside. She asked me how I felt. I didn’t reply because I was too weak and miserable. She went on speaking to me with much compassion and rubbed my temples with a certain balm that made me feel stronger at once—so strong, in fact, that I could become angry and upbraid her.
In a violent speech, I laid all the blame for my misfortune at her feet, railed against the passion with which she filled me, against her appearing and disappearing, and the boredom and longing that had to be the result. I became more and more vehement, as if attacked by a fever. Finally I swore that if she still refused to be mine and would not submit to me, I no longer wished to live; and I demanded an immediate reply. When she hesitated with some sort of excuse, I was beside myself and tore off my bandages with the intention of bleeding to death. Imagine my astonishment when I found my wounds healed, my body in as fine condition as ever, and her in my arms!
Now we were the happiest couple in the world. Alternately we begged each other’s forgiveness without really knowing what for. She promised to travel with me from now on, and soon we were sitting side by side in the carriage, the casket opposite us like a third person. I had never spoken of it in her presence, and it didn’t occur to me to do so now, although there it was before our eyes. In a tacit understanding, both of us looked after it whenever necessary, but I was the one who put it in the carriage and lifted it out again, and I was also the one who attended to the locking of the doors.
As long as there was still something in the purse, I paid, and when all the money was gone, I said so. “We can soon remedy that,” she said, pointing to two small bags hanging on either side of the carriage. I had noticed them before, but we had never made any use of them. She put her hand into one and drew out a few pieces of gold, out of the other some silver, thus demonstrating to me how it would be possible for us to continue to live as we pleased.
And so we traveled from city to city, from country to country, were gay whether we were alone or with others, and it never occurred to me that she might leave me again, especially since she had been pregnant for some time now, a circumstance that only served to increase our joy and love for each other. But alas, one morning I could not find her, and since I didn’t like the idea of remaining without her, I proceeded on my way, with the casket. I tried both moneybags and found them full.
The trip was a pleasant one, and although I had no desire to reflect on my recent fantastic adventures—I expected them to come to a quite natural end somehow—something happened now that amazed and worried me. Yes, I would go so far as to say that it frightened me. Since, to get away from a place, I was accustomed to traveling by day and night, I quite often found myself driving in the dark.
Then, if the lanterns happened to fail, it was black as night in the carriage. Once, on such a dark night, I had fallen asleep. When I awoke, I saw a ray of light above me on the hood of the carriage. I followed its course down and discovered that it came from the casket, which evidently had a crack, as if it had split a little in the hot, dry summer weather that had just set in. I thought again of jewels—a diamond might be in the casket—I had to find out if I was right.
I moved so as to bring my eye down to the crack and was overwhelmed with astonishment when I found myself looking into a brilliantly lit room that was richly furnished in excellent taste. It was as if I were looking through an archway into a palatial hall. Of course, I could see only a part of the room, but I could guess what the rest must look like. A fire was burning on the hearth; an armchair was standing beside it. I held my breath and went on looking. Now a woman came from another side of the room, a book in her hand, and I immediately recognized my beautiful lady, although she was minute.
She sat down in the armchair beside the fire to read, first fixing some branches that were burning with the prettiest little fire tongs, in the course of which I could see quite clearly that this darling little creature was pregnant too. But now I simply had to move—my position was so cramped—and soon after that, when I wanted to look again and convince myself that I had not been dreaming, the light was gone, and I found myself staring into the dark.
You can imagine how shocked I was. I couldn’t stop thinking about what I had discovered, yet couldn’t think clearly about it at all. At last I fell asleep, and when I awoke, I was sure I had dreamed the whole thing, yet I also felt a little estranged from my lovely lady; and the more carefully I carried the casket, the less I could say whether I wanted her to reappear again full size or not.
One evening, some time later, she really did appear, dressed all in white. Since the room was twilit, she looked taller than usual, and I recalled having read that all water sprites and elves grew taller when night was falling. As usual, she flew into my arms, but I could not embrace her with my customary carefree fervor.
“My beloved,” she said, “I can tell by your reception what, alas, I already know. You have seen me since last we met and know what shape I must assume at certain times, and this knowledge has affected your happiness and mine. In fact, our happiness is in danger of being utterly destroyed. I must leave you, and I don’t know if I shall ever see you again.”
Her presence, and the graciousness with which she spoke, succeeded in almost completely eradicating from my memory that other shape of hers that had haunted me until now. I embraced her ardently and convinced her of my love; I
