“Doth the king require thy aid,
Thou’rt a friend can ne’er be paid;
Hast them help’d him through his trouble,
Friendship’s grown an empty bubble.
Yes; my whole life has been wasted in vain. Why did he make me great, to cast me down the deeper? The friendship of princes is like a deadly poison, which can only be employed against our enemies, and with which at last we unwarily kill ourselves.”
“I will to the Duke,” cried Conrad: “I will call back into his soul all that thou hast done, that thou hast suffered for him; and he will again be as of old.”
“Thou hast forgot,” said Eckart, “that they look on us as traitors. Therefore let us fly together to some foreign country, where a better fortune may betide us.”
“At thy age,” said Conrad, “wilt thou turn away thy face from thy kind home? I will to Burgundy; I will quiet him, and reconcile him to thee. What can he do to me, even though he still hate and fear thee?”
“I let thee go unwillingly,” said Eckart; “for my soul forebodes no good; and yet I would fain be reconciled to him, for he is my old friend; and fain save thy brother, who is pining in the dungeon beside him.”
The sun threw his last mild rays on the green Earth: Eckart sat pensively leaning back against a tree; he looked long at Conrad, then said: “If thou wilt go, my little boy, go now, before the night grow altogether dark. The windows in the Duke’s Castle are already glittering with lights, and I hear afar off the sound of trumpets from the feast; perhaps his son’s bride may have arrived, and his mind may be friendlier to us.”
Unwillingly he let him go, for he no longer trusted to his fortune: but Conrad’s heart was light; for he thought it would be an easy task to turn the mind of Burgundy, who had played with him so kindly but a short while before. “Wilt thou come back to me, my little boy?” sobbed Eckart: “if I lose thee, no other of my race remains.” The boy consoled him; flattered him with caresses: at last they parted.
Conrad knocked at the gate of the Castle, and was let in; old Eckart stayed without in the night alone. “Him too have
