" The student Anselmus actually found the clear
speziesthaler in the pocket indicated; but he took no joy in it. "What
is to come of all this," said he to himself, "I know not; but if it
be some mad delusion and conjuring work that has laid hold of me, the
dear Serpentina still lives and moves in my inward heart, and rather
than leave her I will perish altogether; for I know that the thought
in me is eternal, and no hostile Principle can take it from me; and
what else is this thought but Serpentina's love?"
EIGHTH VIGIL
The Library of the Palm-trees. Fortunes of an unhappy Salamander.
How the Black Quill caressed a Parsnip, and Registrator Heerbrand
was much overcome with Liqueur.
The student Anselmus had now worked several days with Archivarius
Lindhorst; these working hours were for him the happiest of his life;
ever encircled with the lovely tone of Serpentina's encouraging words,
he was filled and overflowed with a pure delight, which often rose
to highest rapture. Every strait, every little care of his needy
existence, had vanished from his thoughts; and in the new life which
had risen on him as in serene sunny splendor, he comprehended all
the wonders of a higher world, which before had filled him with
astonishment, nay, with dread. His copying proceeded rapidly and
lightly, for he felt more and more as if he were writing characters
long known to him; and he scarcely needed to cast his eye upon the
manuscript, while copying it all with the greatest exactness.
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