Stranica 157 [157]
Lan THREE CTTRONS
was loaded with great stones in order to resist the fury of
the winds. The prince approached the hut, and was about
to enter it, when he stopped short, struck with surprise and
terror at the spectacle which presented itself.
At the end of the room was a great web of cloth, on which
were pictured all the conditions of life. There were kings,
soldiers, farmers, and shepherds, with ladies richly dressed,
and peasant women spinning by their side. At the bottom
boys and girls were dancing gaily, holding each other by
the hand. Before the web walked the mistress of the
house—an old woman, if the name woman can be given to
a skeleton with bones scarcely hidden by a skin yellower
and more transparent than wax. Like a spider ready to
pounce upon its prey, the old woman, armed with a great
pair of shears, peered at all the figures with a jealous eye,
then suddenly fell upon the web and cut it at random, when,
lo! a piercing wail rose from it that would have moved a
heart of stone. The tears of children, the sobs of mothers,
the despair of lovers, the last murmurs of old age, all human
sorrow seemed mingled in this wail. At the sound the old
woman burst into a loud laugh, and her hideous face lighted
up with ferocious delight, while an invisible hand mended
the web, eternally destroyed and eternally repaired.
The hag, again opening her shears, was already approach¬
ing the web anew, when she saw the shadow of Carlino.
“Fly, unhappy man,” cried she, without turning round;
121]