Part 4 (1/2)
Our travellers mingled with them, and joined in their conversation. The attention of the company was particularly directed to an old man strangely dressed, who sat by a table and answered pleasantly whatever questions of curiosity were put to him. He had come from foreign lands, and early that day had been examining the surrounding country. He was now explaining his business, and the discoveries he had made during the day. The people here called him a treasure-digger. But he spoke very modestly of his power and knowledge; yet what he said bore the impress of quaintness and novelty. He said that he was born in Bohemia. From his youth he had been very curious to know what might be hidden in the mountains, whence water poured its visible springs, and where gold, silver, and precious stones were found, so irresistibly attractive to man. He had often in the neighboring cloister-chapel beheld their solid light appended to the pictures and relics, and only wished that they would speak to him in explanation of their wonderful origin. He had indeed sometimes heard that they came from far distant regions; but had always wondered why such treasures and jewels might not also be found in his own land. The mountains would not be so extensive and lofty, and so closely guarded, without some purpose; he also imagined that he had found s.h.i.+ning and glimmering stones upon them. He had climbed about industriously among the clefts and caves, and had peered into their antiquated halls and arches with unspeakable pleasure.
At length he met a traveller who told him that he must become a miner in order to satisfy his curiosity. There were miners in Bohemia, and he needed only descend the river for ten or twelve days, to Eula, where to gratify his desire he had only to mention it. He waited for no further confirmation of this, but set off on the next day. After a fatiguing journey of several days he reached Eula.
”I cannot describe how gloriously I felt, when I saw from the hill the piles of rock overgrown with thickets, upon which stood the board huts, and watched the smoke-wreaths rising over the forest from the valley below. A distant murmur increased my eager antic.i.p.ations. With incredible curiosity and full of silent reverence, I soon stood over a steep descent, which led precipitously down into the mountain, from among the huts. I hastened towards the valley, and soon met some men dressed in black, with lamps in their hands, whom I not improperly took to be miners, and to whom I told my desire with anxious timidity. They listened to me kindly, and told me that I must go to the smelting-houses and inquire for the overseer, who supplied the place of director and master, and who would tell me whether I could be admitted.
They thought my request would be granted, and told me that 'good luck'
was the customary form of greeting the overseer. Full of joyous expectations I pursued my way, constantly repeating to myself the new and significant greeting. I found a venerable old man who received me with kindness, and after telling him my history and my warm desire to be instructed in his rare and mysterious art, he readily promised to fulfil my wishes. He seemed pleased with me, and entertained me in his own house. I could scarcely wait for the moment when I should descend the pit, and behold myself in the long-coveted apparel. That very evening he brought me a mining-dress, and explained to me the use of some tools which were kept in a chamber. At evening the miners came to him, and not a word of their conversation did I lose, however foreign and unintelligible the chief part of their language appeared to me. The little, however, that I seemed to understand heightened the ardor of my curiosity, and busied me at night with strange dreams. I awoke early, and found myself at the house of my new host, where the miners were gradually collecting to receive orders. A little side-room was fitted up as a chapel. A monk appeared and read ma.s.s, and afterwards p.r.o.nounced a solemn prayer, in which he invoked Heaven to give the miners its holy protection, to a.s.sist them in their dangerous labors, to defend them from the temptations and snares of evil spirits, and to grant them abundant ore. I never prayed more fervently, and never realized so vividly the deep significance of the ma.s.s. My companions appeared to me like heroes of the lower earth, who were obliged to encounter a thousand perils, but possessing an enviable fortune in their precious knowledge, and prepared, by grave and silent intercourse with the primeval children of nature, in their sombre, mystic chambers, for the reception of heavenly gifts, and for a blessed elevation above the world and its troubles. When the service was concluded, the overseer, giving me a lamp and a small wooden crucifix, accompanied me to the shaft, as we are accustomed to call the steep entrance into the subterraneous abodes. He taught me the method of descent, acquainted me with the necessary precautions, as well as with the names of the various objects and divisions. He led the way, and slid down a round beam, grasping with one hand a rope, which was knotted to a transverse bar, and with the other his lamp. I followed his example, and in this manner we soon reached a considerable depth. I have seldom felt so solemnly; and the distant light glimmered like a happy star, pointing out the path to the secret treasures of nature. We came below to a labyrinth of paths. My kind master was ever ready to answer my inquisitive questions, and to teach me concerning his art. The roaring of the water, the distance from the inhabited surface, the darkness and intricacy of the paths, and the distant hum of the working miners, delighted me extremely, and I joyfully felt myself in full possession of all that for which I had most ardently sighed. This complete satisfaction of our innate taste, this wonderful delight in things which perhaps have an intimate relation to our secret being, and in occupations for which one is destined from the cradle, cannot be explained or described. Perhaps they might appear to every one else common, insignificant, and unpleasant; but they seemed to me necessary as air to the lungs, or food to the stomach. My good master was pleased at my inward delight, and promised me that, with such zeal and attention, I should advance rapidly and become an able miner. With what reverence did I behold for the first time in my life, on the sixteenth of March, more than five-and-forty years ago, the king of metals in small, delicate leaves between the fissures of the rocks! It seemed as if, having been doomed here to close captivity, it glittered kindly towards, the miner, who with so many dangers and labors breaks a way to it through its strong prison-walls, that he may remove it to the light of day, and exalt it to the honor of royal crowns, vessels, and holy relics, and to dominion over the world in the shape of genuine coin, adorned with emblems, cherished by all. From that time I remained at Eula, and advanced gradually from the business of removing the hewn pieces of ore in baskets, to the degree of hewer, who is the real miner, and who performs the observations upon the stone.”
The old man paused a moment in his narration, and drank, while the attentive listeners pledged his good luck, as they drained their cups.
Henry was delighted with the old man's discourse, and was desirous to hear still more from him.
His listeners related descriptions of the dangers and strangeness of the miner's life, and had many marvels to tell, at which the old man often smiled, and endeavored to correct their odd representations.
After a while Henry said, ”you must have experienced much that is wonderful since then, I hope you have never repented your selection of a mode of life. Be kind enough to tell us how you have employed yourself since, and why you are now travelling. You must have looked farther into the world, and I am certain that you are now something more than a common miner.”
”I take great pleasure,” said the old man, ”in the recollection of past times, in which I find cause to bless the divine mercy and goodness.
Fate has led me through a joyful and serene life, and not a day has pa.s.sed, at the close of which I could not retire to rest with a thankful heart. I have always been fortunate in my undertakings, and our common Father in Heaven has guarded me from evil, and brought me to a gray old age with honor. Next to him I must thank my old master for all these blessings, who long since was gathered to his fathers, and of whom I never can think without tears. He was a man of the old school, after G.o.d's own heart. He was gifted with deep penetration, yet childlike and humble in every action. Through his means mining has become in high repute, and has helped the duke of Bohemia to immense treasures. The whole region has become by its influence settled and prosperous, and is now a blooming land. All the miners honored him as a father, and as long as Eula stands, his name will be mentioned with emotion and grat.i.tude. His name was Werner, and he was a Lausatian by birth. His only daughter was a mere child when I came to his house. My industry, faithfulness, and devoted attachment daily won his affection.
He gave me his name and adopted me as his son. The little girl grew to be an open-hearted, merry creature, whose countenance was as beautifully clear and pure as her own mind. The old man, when he saw that she was attached to me, that I loved to play with her, and that I could never cease gazing at her eyes, which were as blue and open as heaven and glittering as crystal, often told me that when I became a worthy miner, he would not refuse her to me. He kept his word. The day I became hewer he laid his hands upon us, blessed us as bride and bridegroom, and a few weeks afterward I called her my wife. Early on that day, although a mere apprentice, I struck upon a rich vein. The Duke sent me a golden chain, with his likeness engraven on a large medallion, and promised me the office of my father-in-law. How happy was I when on my marriage day I hung the chain around the neck of my bride, and the eyes of all were turned upon her. Our old father lived to see some merry grand-children, and his declining years were more joyous than he had ever antic.i.p.ated. With joy could he finish his task, and fare forth from the dark mine of this world, to rest in peace, and await the final day.
”Sir,” said the old man, as he turned his gaze upon Henry, and wiped some tears from his eyes, ”it must be that mining is blessed by G.o.d; for there is no art, which renders those who are occupied in it happier and n.o.bler, which awakens a deeper faith in divine wisdom and guidance, or which preserves the innocence and childlike simplicity of the heart more freshly. Poor is the miner born, and poor he departs again. He is satisfied with knowing where metallic riches are found, and with bringing them to light; but their dazzling glare has no power over his simple heart. Untouched by the perilous delirium, he is more pleased in examining their wonderful formation, and the peculiarities of their origin and primitive situation, than in calling himself their possessor. When changed into property, they have no longer any charm for him, and he prefers to seek them amid a thousand dangers and travails, in the fastnesses of the earth, rather than to follow their vocation in the world, or aspire after them on the earth's surface, with cunning and deceitful arts. These severe labors keep his heart fresh and his mind strong; he enjoys his scanty pay with inward thankfulness, and comes forth every day from the dark tombs of his calling, with new-born enjoyment of life. He now appreciates the pleasure of light and of rest, the charms of the free air and prospect; his food and drink are right refres.h.i.+ng to one, who enjoys them as devoutly as if at the Lord's Supper; and with what a warm and tender heart he joins his friends, or embraces his wife and children, and thankfully shares the delights of heart-felt intercourse.”
”His lonely occupation cuts off a great part of his life from day and the society of man. Still he does not harden himself in dull indifference as to these deep-meaning matters of the upper world; and he retains a childlike simplicity, which recognises the interior essence, and the manifold, primitive energies of all things. Nature will never be the possession of any single individual. In the form of property it becomes a terrible poison, which destroys rest, excites the ruinous desire of drawing everything within the reach of its possessor, and carries with it a train of wild pa.s.sions and endless sorrows. Thus it undermines secretly the ground of the owner, buries him in the abyss which breaks beneath him, and so pa.s.ses into the hands of another, thus gradually satisfying its tendency to belong to all.
”How quietly, on the contrary, the poor miner labors in his deep solitudes, far from the restless turmoil of day, animated solely by a thirst for knowledge and a love of harmony. In his solitude he tenderly thinks of his friends and family, and his sense of their value and relations.h.i.+p is continually renewed. His calling teaches indefatigable patience, and forbids his attention to be diverted by useless thoughts.
He deals with a strange, hard, and unwieldly power, which will yield only to persevering industry and continual care. But what a glorious flower blooms for him in these awful depths,--a firm confidence in his heavenly Father, whose hand and care are every day visible to him in signs not easily mistaken! How often have I sat down, and by the light of my lamp gazed upon the plain crucifix with the most heart-felt devotion! Then for the first time I clearly understood the holy meaning of this mysterious image, and struck upon a heart-vein of the richest golden ore, and which has yielded me an everlasting reward.”
After a pause the old man continued:--
”Truly must he have been divine, who first taught men the n.o.ble art of mining, and who has hidden in the bosom of the rock this sober emblem of human life. In one place the veins are large, easily broken, but poor; in another a wretched and insignificant cleft of rock confines it; and here the best ores are to be found. It often splits before the miner's face into a thousand atoms, but the patient one is not terrified; he quietly pursues his course, and soon sees his zeal rewarded, whilst working it open in a new and more promising direction.
”A specious lump often entices him from the true direction; but he soon discovers that the way is false, and breaks his way by main strength across the grain of the rock, until he has found the true path that leads to the ore. How thoroughly acquainted does the miner here become with all the humors of chance, and how a.s.sured that energy and constancy are the only sure means of overcoming them and of raising the hidden treasure.”
”Certainly you are not without cheering songs,” said Henry. ”I should think that your calling would involuntarily inspire you with music, and that songs would be your welcome companions.”
”There you have spoken the truth,” said the old man. ”The song and the guitar belong to the miner's life, and no occupation can retain their charm with more zest than ours. Music and dancing are the pleasures of the miner; like a joyful prayer are they, and the remembrance and hope of them help to lighten weary labor and shorten long solitude.
”If you would like it now, I will give you a song for your entertainment, which was a favorite in my youth.
”Who fathoms her recesses, Is monarch of the sphere,-- Forgetting all distresses, Within her bosom here.
”Of all her granite piling The secret make he knows, And down amid her toiling Unweariedly he goes.
”He is unto her plighted, And tenderly allied,-- Becomes by her delighted, As if she were his bride.
”New love each day is burning For her within his breast, No toil or trouble shunning, She leaveth him no rest.
”To him her voice is swelling In solemn, friendly rhyme, The mighty stories telling Of long-evanished time.
”The Fore-world's holy breezes Around his temples play, And caverned night releases To him a quenchless ray.
”On every side he greeteth A long familiar land, And willingly she meeteth The labors of his hand.