Hawthorne_Twice_Told_Tales.txt topic ['13', '324', '378', '393']
morning and dreamed a
day-dream till the twilight, and then turned back again. his heart
grew cold because the village did not remember him as he remembered
the village.
" is the change," sighed he, striking his hand upon his breast.
" is this man of thought and care, weary with world-wandering and
heavy with disappointed hopes? youth returns not who went forth so
joyously."
now was at his mother's gate, in front of the
small house where the old lady, with slender but sufficient means, had
kept herself comfortable during her son's long absence.
himself within the enclosure, he leaned against a great old tree,
trifling with his own impatience as people often do in those intervals
when years are summed into a moment. took a minute survey of the
dwelling--its windows brightened with the sky-gleam, its doorway with
the half of a millstone for a step, and the faintly-traced path waving
thence to the gate. made friends again with his childhood's
friend--the old tree against which he leaned--and, glancing his eye
down its trunk, beheld something that excited a melancholy smile.
was a half-obliterated inscription--the word "__"--which
he remembered to have carved in the bark of the tree with a whole
day's toil when he had first begun to muse about his exalted destiny.
might be accounted a rather singular coincidence that the bark just
above the inscription had put forth an excrescence shaped not unlike a
hand, with the forefinger pointing obliquely at the word of fate.
, at least, was its appearance in the dusky light.
", a credulous man," said , carelessly, to himself,
"might suppose that the treasure which have sought round the world
lies buried, after all, at the very door of my mother's dwelling.
would be a jest indeed."
he thought not about the matter, for now the door was opened and
an elderly woman appeared on the threshold, peering into the dusk to
discover who it might be that had intruded on her premises and was
standing in the shadow of her tree. was 's mother.
we over their greeting, and leave the one to her joy and the
other to his rest--if quiet rest he found.
when morning broke, he arose with a troubled brow, for his sleep
and his wakefulness had alike been full of dreams. the fervor was
rekindled with which he had burned of yore to unravel the threefold
mystery of his fate. crowd of his early visions seemed to have
awaited him beneath his mother's roof and thronged riotously around to
welcome his return. the well-remembered chamber, on the pillow
where his infancy had slumbered, he had passed a wilder night than
ever in an tent or when he had reposed his head in the ghastly
shades of a haunted forest. shadowy maid had stolen to his bedside
and laid her finger on the scintillating heart; a hand of flame had
glowed amid the darkness, pointing downward to a mystery within the
earth; a hoary sage had waved his prophetic wand and beckoned the
dreamer onward to a chair of state. same phantoms, though fainter
in the daylight, still flitted about, the cottage and mingled among
the crowd of familiar faces that were drawn thither by the news of
's return to bid him welcome for his mother's sake.
they found him, a tall, dark, stately man of foreign aspect,
courteous in demeanor and mild of speech, yet with an abstracted eye
which seemed often to snatch a glance at the invisible.
, the widow went bustling about the house full of
joy that she again had somebody to love and be careful of, and for
whom she might vex and tease herself with the petty troubles of daily
life. was nearly noon when she looked forth from the door and
descried three personages of note coming along the street through the
hot sunshine and the masses of elm-tree shade. length they reached
her gate and undid the latch.
", !" exclaimed she, with maternal pride; "here is
and the two other selectmen coming on purpose to see you.
, do tell them a good long story about what you have seen in
foreign parts."
foremost of the three visitors, , was a very
pompous but excellent old gentleman, the head and prime-mover in all
the affairs of the village, and universally acknowledged to be one of
the sagest men on earth. wore, according to a fashion even then
becoming antiquated, a three-cornered hat, and carried a silver-headed
cane the use of which seemed to be rather for flourishing in the air
than for assisting the progress of his legs. two companions were
elderly and respectable yeomen who, retaining an ante-
reverence for rank and hereditary wealth, kept a little in the
squire's rear.
they approached along the pathway sat in an oaken
elbow-chair half unconsciously gazing at the three visitors and
enveloping their homely figures in the misty romance that pervaded his
mental world. "," thought he, smiling at the conceit--"here come
three elderly personages, and the first of the three is a venerable
sage with a staff. if this embassy should bring me the message of
my fate?"
and his colleagues entered, rose from his
seat and advanced a few steps to receive them, and his stately figure
and dark countenance as he bent courteously toward his guests had a
natural dignity contrasting well with the bustling importance of the
squire. old gentleman, according to invariable custom, gave an
elaborate preliminary flourish with his cane in the air, then removed
his three-cornered hat in order to wipe his brow, and finally
proceeded to make known his errand.
" colleagues and myself," began the squire, "are burdened with
momentous duties, being jointly selectmen of this village. minds
for the space of three days past have been laboriously bent on the
selection of a suitable person to fill a most important office and
take upon himself a charge and rule which, wisely considered, may be
ranked no lower than those of kings and potentates. whereas you,
our native townsman, are of good natural intellect and well cultivated
by foreign travel, and that certain vagaries and fantasies of your
youth are doubtless long ago corrected,--taking all these matters,
say, into due consideration, we are of opinion that hath
sent you hither at this juncture for our very purpose."
this harangue gazed fixedly at the speaker, as if he
beheld something mysterious and unearthly in his pompous little
figure, and as if the squire had worn the flowing robes of an ancient
sage instead of a square-skirted coat, flapped waistcoat, velvet
breeches and silk stockings. was his wonder without sufficient
cause, for the flourish of the squire's staff, marvellous to relate,
had described precisely the signal in the air which was to ratify the
message of the prophetic sage whom had sought around the
world.
" what," inquired , with a tremor in his
voice--"what may this office be which is to equal me with kings and
potentates?"
" less than instructor of our village school," answered
, "the office being now vacant by the death of the venerable
after a fifty years' incumbency."
" will consider of your proposal," replied ,
hurriedly, "and will make known my decision within three days."
a few more words the village dignitary and his companions took
their leave. to 's fancy their images were still present,
and became more and more invested with the dim awfulness of figures
which had first appeared to him in a dream, and afterward had shown
themselves in his waking moments, assuming homely aspects among
familiar things. mind dwelt upon the features of the squire till
they grew confused with those of the visionary sage and one appeared
but the shadow of the other. same visage, he now thought, had
looked forth upon him from the of ; the same form had
beckoned to him among the colonnades of the ; the same figure
had mistily revealed itself through the ascending steam of the
. every effort of his memory he recognized some trait of the
dreamy messenger of destiny in this pompous, bustling, self-important,
little-great man of the village. such musings sat
all day in the cottage, scarcely hearing and vaguely answering his
mother's thousand questions about his travels and adventures.
sunset he roused himself to take a stroll, and, passing the aged elm
tree, his eye was again caught by the semblance of a hand pointing
downward at the half-obliterated inscription.
walked down the street of the village the level sunbeams
threw his shadow far before him, and he fancied that, as his shadow
walked among distant objects, so had there been a presentiment
stalking in advance of him throughout his life. when he drew near
each object over which his tall shadow had preceded him, still it
proved to be one of the familiar recollections of his infancy and
youth. crook in the pathway was remembered. the more
transitory characteristics of the scene were the same as in by-gone
days. company of cows were grazing on the grassy roadside, and
refreshed him with their fragrant breath. " is sweeter," thought he,
"than the perfume which was wafted to our ship from the
." round little figure of a child rolled from a doorway and
lay laughing almost beneath 's feet. dark and stately man
stooped down, and, lifting the infant, restored him to his mother's
arms. " children," said he to himself, and sighed and smiled--"the
children are to be my charge." while a flow of natural feeling
gushed like a well-spring in his heart he came to a dwelling which he
could nowise forbear to enter. sweet voice which seemed to come from
a deep and tender soul was warbling a plaintive little air within.
bent his head and passed through the lowly door. his foot sounded
upon the threshold a young woman advanced from the dusky interior of
the house, at first hastily, and then with a more uncertain step, till
they met face to face. was a singular contrast in their two
figures--he dark and picturesque, one who had battled with the world,
whom all suns had shone upon and whom all winds had blown on a varied
course; she neat, comely and quiet--quiet even in her agitation--as if
all her emotions had been subdued to the peaceful tenor of her life.
their faces, all unlike as they were, had an expression that
seemed not so alien--a glow of kindred feeling flashing upward anew
from half-extinguished embers.
" are welcome home," said .
did not immediately answer, for his eye had, been caught
by an ornament in the shape of a heart which wore as a brooch
upon her bosom. material was the ordinary white quartz, and he
recollected having himself shaped it out of one of those
arrowheads which are so often found in the ancient haunts of the red
men. was precisely on the pattern of that worn by the visionary
maid. departed on his shadowy search, he had bestowed
this brooch, in a gold setting, as a parting gift to .
", , you have kept the heart?" said he, at length.
"," said she, blushing deeply; then, more gayly, " what else
have you brought me from beyond the sea?"
"," replied , uttering the fated words by an
uncontrollable impulse, " have brought you nothing but a heavy heart.
rest its weight on you?"
" token which have worn so long," said , laying her
tremulous finger on the heart, "is the assurance that you may."
", !" cried , clasping her in his arms; "you have
interpreted my wild and weary dream!"
, the wild dreamer was awake at last. find the mysterious
treasure he was to till the earth around his mother's dwelling and
reap its products; instead of warlike command or regal or religious
sway, he was to rule over the village children; and now the visionary
maid had faded from his fancy, and in her place he saw the playmate of
his childhood.
all who cherish such wild wishes but look around them, they
would oftenest find their sphere of duty, of prosperity and happiness,
within those precincts and in that station where itself has
cast their lot. they who read the riddle without a weary
world-search or a lifetime spent in vain!