Out of the crystal thou wilt
never come unless I help thee; up thither I cannot clamber; but my
cousin gossip the Rat, that lives close above thee, will gnaw in two
the shelf on which thou standest; thou shalt jingle down, and I catch
thee in my apron, that thy nose be not broken, or thy fine sleek face
at all injured; then I will carry thee to Mam'sell Veronica, and thou
shalt marry her when thou art Hofrat."
"Avaunt, thou devil's brood!" cried the student Anselmus, full of
fury; "it was thou alone and thy hellish arts that brought me to the
sin which I must now expiate. But I bear it all patiently; for only
here can I be, where the kind Serpentina encircles me with love and
consolation. Hear it, thou beldam, and despair! I bid defiance to
thy power; I love Serpentina, and none but her forever; I will not
be Hofrat, will not look at Veronica, who by thy means entices me
to evil. Can the green Snake not be mine, I will die in sorrow and
longing. Take thyself away, thou vile rook! Take thyself away!"
The crone laughed till the chamber rung: "Sit and die then," cried
she, "but now it is time to set to work; for I have other trade to
follow here." She threw off her black cloak, and so stood in hideous
nakedness; then she ran round in circles, and large folios came
tumbling down to her; out of these she tore parchment leaves, and,
rapidly patching them together in artful combination and fixing
them on her body, in a few instants she was dressed as if in strange
party-colored scale harness.
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