Selected Prose of Heinrich Von Kleist by Heinrich von Kleist Read Free Book Online Page A

lying there on the bed with her arms crossed beneath her, crying her eyes out, he did his best to try and comfort her. He took off the little golden cross, a gift from his faithful Marianne, his dead bride; and leaning over Toni, whispering endless words of endearment, hung it around her neck as an engagement gift, as he called it. And since she kept weeping, heedless of his words, he sat himself down on the edge of the bed, strokingher hand, covering her with kisses, and said that he would speak to her mother the next morning and ask for her hand in marriage. He described for her the small property he possessed on the shore of the Aar River; a house comfortable and big enough to accommodate her and her mother, if the old woman’s age would still allow for the journey; fields, gardens, meadows and vineyards; and a venerable old father who would receive her with gratitude and love, since she had saved his son. And since her never-ending flood of tears drenched the pillow, he took her in his arms and asked her, himself gripped by emotion: “What have I done to hurt you? Can you not find it in your heart to forgive me?” He swore that his love for her would never fade from his heart and that it was only the mad frenzy of emotions, a mingling of desire and the shock of fear she had aroused, that could have induced him to do what he had done. Finally he reminded her that the morning stars sparkled and that if she remained lying in his bed her mother would come and surprise her there; he implored her, for the sake of her health, to get up and rest for a few more hours in her own bed; worried sick by her condition, he asked if perhaps he should pick her up and carry her to her room; but since she made no reply to all his entreaties and lay, quietly sobbing, with her head pressed into her folded arms on the wrinkled pillow, as the light of dawn was already streaming in through both windows, he finally had no choice but, without any further words, to pick her up; he carried her, hanging like a lifeless corpse from his shoulders, up the stairs to her room, and after laying her in her bed and repeating with a thousand endearments all that he had said before, once again calling her his beloved bride, he pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead and rushed back to his room.
    As soon as daylight had completely swept away the dark, old Babekan made her way up to her daughter’s room, and sitting herself down on the edge of her bed, revealed what she had in mind for the stranger as well as his traveling companions. She said that, since the Negro Congo Hoango would only be back in two days, everything depended on their keeping the stranger in the house for that time, without, however, welcoming his relatives, whose presence, on account of their number, might, in her opinion, jeopardize their plans. To this end, she said, she intended to make out as if she had just learned that General Dessalines was headed this way with his army, and consequently, because the risk was too great, they would have to wait three days, until the general’s army had passed, to safely bring his family into the house as he wished. The travelers would, in the meantime, have to be supplied with provisions so that they stayed put, and also, to lure them into the trap, would have to be kept under the illusion that they would find safe haven in the house. She remarked, furthermore, upon the importance of the matter at hand, since the family’s possessions would probably bring them rich booty; and insisted that her daughter do everything in her power to aid in this endeavor. Propping herself up in bed, her face flushed with the blush of her reluctance, Toni replied: “It’s scandalous and contemptible to abuse the laws of guest friendship with innocent people lured into the house.” She added that a fugitive who sought their protection ought to be doubly safe; and she assured Babekan that if she did not give up the bloody plan she’d just