5
To wrap himself in his cloak and lie down at the foot of a tree was altogether unsafe; the wolves would inevitably make a meal of him; though, if he escaped them he would perish of cold. His two hands resting on his staff, he remained some minutes in a painful anxiety, when a light suddenly appeared in the distance. 'It comes from some wood-cutters’ cottage,' said he, 'God be praised!' He was on the point of directing his steps towards it, but it had vanished. The anger of the fiddler knew no bounds. He struck the earth with his staff, and uttered the most shocking blasphemies. His lips were still pronouncing them, when the light re-appeared.
It was with the greatest difficulty, and after much time, that Matthew arrived at the spot from which the light had first proceeded. His surprise was extreme on finding there a magnificent chateau of which he had never before heard. Brilliant music was resounding from all parts of it, and the dancers who were passing every moment before the windows, cast their dark and rapid shadows upon the curtains, which a reddish light rendered transparent.
He went round and round this immense building several times to find an entrance, but in vain. He had given it up in despair, when an old man suddenly appeared and
