The bell rings a gentle ring... Then a gentle voice speaks through the door:
— Ho! Ho! Open, my fair young girl! Are you waking or sleeping? Lost in joy, or choking on tears?
— What! Wilhelm! Is it you? At this late hour of the night! I have been awake, weeping... alas! How I have suffered!... And from where do you come, riding your horse?
— We mount our horse only at midnight. I have come from the farthest reaches of Bohemia. That is the reason I have reached you so late — to carry you away with me.
— But, Wilhelm! Will you not come in here first? For I hear the wind whistling in the forest...
— Let the wind whistle in the forest, my fair young girl; what is the whistling of the wind to us? My horse paws the ground with his hooves, and the spur rings at his flanks; it is not possible for me to stay here. Come, put on your shoes, Lenora, and come, mount behind me on the horse's back, for before us lie a hundred leagues to cross before we reach our abode.
— Alas! How would you have us cross a hundred leagues tonight to reach our abode? Listen — these strokes of the bell are even now tolling midnight.
— See! See! The moon is bright and shining... and how swift we are on the night journey, we ghosts. I wager I shall bring you there this very night.
— Tell me then, where is your abode, and what is your wedding bed like?
— Far. Very far from here... still, damp, narrow; it is made of six large boards and two of smaller size.
— And is there room in it for me?
— For us both. So come, Lenora. Mount behind me on the
horse's back, for the wedding feast is prepared, and the guests are awaiting us.
So the girl put on her shoes and hastened out, and leaped up behind on the horse, and wound two arms white as lilies about the rider she loved; and the horse sprang off at a gallop, devouring the ground. The beat of his hooves thundered. Horse and rider were nearly out of breath, and the pebbles struck sparks beneath them.
Ah! How swiftly the meadows, the woods, and the farms flew past, right and left, as they charged! How loudly the bridges rattled beneath them!
— Are you afraid, my beloved? The moon is bright and shining... Hurrah! Such is the speed of ghosts. Do you fear the ghosts of the dead?
— No... but what have you to do with the dead? Leave them in peace... But what is this din, and these chants? And where are those flocks of ravens heading? Hush!... Those are the strokes of a bell, and these are funeral chants.
— It is a dead man of ours, to be buried.
The funeral drew near, and the chants rose, sending back echoes like hoarse croaking along the ponds and swamps.
— After midnight you shall bury the corpse, attended with wailing and mournful chants. As for me, I am carrying off my wife, and I invite you all to the wedding feast. Come, chanter, you and your choir; come forward and sing out the hymn of the bridal procession. And you, priest, come bless our marriage.
At that the wailing and the chanting ceased... the coffin vanished, and the funeral procession fell in behind the bridal pair, answering the invitation...
Hurrah! They press hard upon the horse's heels.
And the horse sprang off at a gallop, devouring the ground, and the beat of his hooves thundered... horse and rider nearly out of breath, and the pebbles striking sparks beneath them.
Ah! How swiftly the meadows, the woods, and the farms flew past, right and left, as they charged — and how swiftly flew the villages, the hamlets, and the towns!
— Are you afraid, my beloved? The moon is bright and shining... Hurrah! Such is the speed of ghosts. Do you fear the ghosts of the dead?
— Ah, what have you to do with the dead? Leave them in peace.
— Look! Look! Do you see, beside those gallows, phantoms moving, fine as air, silvered by the light of the moon and shown plain to the eye? They are dancing around the torture wheel. Ho, you filthy, ill-starred wretches! Come, follow me, and dance at my wedding celebration... We are going to the splendid wedding feast.
And the whole troop rushed after them, jostling along like the rustling of wind in dry leaves; and the horse sped on, devouring the ground... horse and rider nearly out of breath, and the pebbles striking sparks beneath them.
Ah! How swiftly everything flew — everything the moonlight revealed around them!... How swiftly the Bear and the stars streamed past above their heads!
— Are you afraid, my beloved? The moon is bright and shining... Hurrah! Such is the speed of ghosts...
— Ah, my Lord! What have you to do with the dead? Leave them in peace.
— Bear up, my black steed! I seem to hear the cock crowing, announcing that light is about to