"Auriola shook her head in silence, poured water again into her hand, and blew it again along her fingers into the air. A lofty, many-towered castle was visible. A rope-ladder was fastened to a gallery. A man was climbing up. As soon as he reached the gallery, the vision was lost.
"'It is the castle of my ancestors!' cried Bolko.
"'Thou art mistaken,' answered Auriola. 'But tell me—canst thou love?'
"Her voice was again mournful.
"The youth drew the fair questioner to his heart. His lips fastened on hers, and hallowing fire streamed through his frame.
"Auriola heaved a melancholy sigh, and once more filled her hand with water. At the usual signal there arose a brilliantly illuminated hall. Dancers, gaily dressed, were in happy motion. Music was heard, and then the strains and the colours died away in the twilight.
"'I smart!' exclaimed Bolko. 'I am tortured! My soul is gnawed with agony!'
"'Hush, and listen,' said Auriola, in a tone of command—filling her hand, and impelling the crystal water into the air, as before. A roaring was heard, like the course of a hurricane sweeping through a forest. The air grew black. Then the moon broke through night and mist, and lit up a hilly region, surrounded by wood and cliff. Out of the wood issued a carriage and four, making at full speed for a solitary open space, that looked dismal and deserted. The form of a maiden floated before the carriage, her painfully smiling countenance ever turned towards it until she evaporated, like a cloud, in the wood. A flash of lightning from the murky sky struck a beech-tree, near whose flames the carriage slowly disappeared into the ground.
"This vision at an end, Auriola bent her head, and tears fell upon her bosom.
"'Lovely enchantress,' said Bolko, 'why perform these miracles if they afflict thee?'