Still in his absence she would sigh,
As though of peace fate had bereft her;
It wasn't often, by-the-bye,
Because he scarcely ever left her.
Stretched on the green turf at her feet,
He sang and piped in rustic fashion:
The maiden own'd his piping sweet,
And caught the air, if not the passion."
"Ah, this is too much!" exclaimed Brilliante, bursting into tears. "Imprudent shepherd, thou hast boasted of the innocent favours I have accorded thee! Thou hast dared to suppose that my weak heart was influenced by thy passion more than by my own sense of duty. Thou hast made others the confidants of thy mistaken hopes, and art the cause of my being thus made the theme of idle songs throughout the woods and plains!" She was so exceedingly annoyed by this circumstance, that she believed she could look on Sans-pair with indifference, and perhaps with aversion. "It is unnecessary," continued she, "for me to go further in search of remedies for my pain; I have nothing to fear from a shepherd in whom I see so little merit. I will return to the village in company with the shepherdess whose song I have been listening to." She called to her as loudly as she could; but nobody answered her, and yet she heard the voice every now and then singing very near her. She became uneasy and alarmed; in fact, the wood belonged to the Enchanter, and nobody could pass through it without meeting with some adventure.
Brilliante, more bewildered than ever, hastened to make her way out of the wood. "Has the shepherd I feared become so little alarming to me that I should venture to see him again? Is it not rather that my heart, in league with him, attempts to deceive me? Oh, let me fly! let me fly!—It is the wiser course for a princess so unfortunate as I am!" She resumed her journey to the Enchanter's castle, arrived at it, and entered without any obstacle. She traversed several large courts, so overgrown by grass and brambles, that it seemed as if no one had walked in them for a hundred years. She made a way through them with her hands, which got scratched in several places. She entered a hall, into which the light was admitted only through a small hole. The walls were hung with the wings of bats, a dozen live cats were dangling from the ceiling in lieu of chandeliers, squalling
