Ontario Teachers' Manuals: Literature Part 25

Why? The precipice towers perpendicularly many hundred feet above you. He wishes you to imagine you are standing on this road and the scene is taking place before your eyes.

What do you see? A hunter in pursuit of a chamois.

Describe this hunter. He is lofty and chivalrous in his bearing.

What happens? He is bounding on after a chamois toward the edge of a precipice, when he loses his footing and falls.

How does the author make you see this plainly?

He uses the present tense, as if the scene were happening now--"is bounding", "loses his footing", "rolls helplessly".

Any other way? Yes, he utters exclamations, "Mark!" "Ah!" Every act is told in the form of an exclamation.

"What is it that arrests him?" This is a question. Does the author expect an answer? No, he asks the question as I would ask it of myself if I saw the hunter stopped in his descent.

Why does he not tell you who this hunter is? I see now for the first time that it is the great Emperor Maximilian who is in such peril.

Does any one else see him? Yes, the Abbot, or head of a neighbouring monastery.

Why does the author mention him? To indicate that, apparently, human aid could not save the Emperor.

What has been told us in this first paragraph?

The peril of the Emperor.

What is told us in the next? His rescue.

Who else sees the danger? Zyps of Zirl.

Who is he? A famous hunter and outlaw.

Do you see him at first? No, I hear his cry.

The author says "Hark! there is a wild cry!"

Then I recognize the outlaw.

Why does he utter the cry? To encourage the Emperor and let him know there is some one coming to his rescue.

Again how does the author make the picture vivid? By the use of the present tense, by commands, questions, and exclamations, and by making the spectator, in his excitement, address the mountaineer directly; for example, "thou hunted and hunting outlaw, art thou out upon the heights?" etc.

By what means does the author show how the outlaw comes to the Emperor's aid? By comparing him with the chamois, the insect, and the squirrel. This man combines in himself all their powers of movement.

What does the spectator now do? He fears that all may yet be lost, so he shouts to the Emperor to have courage, that the hunter is coming.

How does the author show his relief from the strain of the last few moments? His sentences are now longer and smoother.

How was this event afterwards regarded? The peasants maintained that an angel came down to their master's rescue.

What does the author seem to think? That his rescue was due to the interposition of Providence.

What is told in the next paragraph? Zyps'

reward.

What did he receive? He was created a Count and received a pension from the Emperor.

What was his t.i.tle? "Count Hallooer von Hohenfeldsen."

To what does this refer? To his "wild cry" from the high peaks, when he saw the Emperor in danger.

How can you prove that this story is true? By inspecting the pension list of the Royal House of Hapsburg and by looking at a cross in the mountains that has been erected on the very spot where Maximilian was rescued.

II

Whom do you see in the second vision? The Emperor Charles V. pursued by his enemies.

Who was he? One of the greatest monarchs in Europe, greater even than his grandfather, Maximilian I. In this scene he is ill; his army has met with reverses; he has made his escape from Innsbruck, the capital of the Tyrol, and is being conveyed through the mountains to a place of safety, closely pursued by Maurice of Saxony.

Describe the scene. It is at night, the wind is high, and is driving the rain against the Emperor's litter, which is borne by mountaineers and surrounded by his faithful officers.

What is given in the first paragraph? A description of the storm.

How does the author prepare you for the scene?

The night suggests danger and mystery, and the moon looks out from a cloud, as though at something taking place in the gorge. The spectator hears something besides the roar of the wind.

Select all the words that show what a fearful night it is. "Night", "dark", "wild", "gusty winds", "howling", "sheets of blinding rain", "whirling", "hissing eddies", "rent asunder", "ravings of the tempest".

Notice all the details the author has made use of to convey the idea of terror and danger.

What is described in the next paragraph? The pa.s.sage of the litter through the dark gorge.

Is the spectator forgotten in this scene? No, he first hears the "tramp of feet", then he sees the torches, and, lastly, the Emperor's litter surrounded by his attendants.

What words show you the difficulty of their situation? "Hurried", "crowding", "crus.h.i.+ng", "steep and narrow gorge", "suppressed voices", "fitful glancing of torches", "anxiously s.h.i.+elded", "melee", "struggle onward".

Why are their voices suppressed? As a natural result of their perilous position.

Why do they keep their torches burning? To find their way through the enemy's country amid the dangers by which they are surrounded.

What do the lamps look like? A "constellation"

of stars moving on in the same relative position.

Does the author still refer to the storm? Yes, in "derisive laughter", "rude wrath of the tempest", and "plumes streaming on the wind".

The author wishes to picture continuously the fitting surroundings for this adventure, and so emphasizes these details.

Why does he speak of the "derisive laughter of the storm"? He compares it to a fiend who mocks the attempts of man to battle against his power.

Who is described in the third paragraph of this vision? The Emperor himself.

Why is he not described before, as he is more important than either the storm or his comrades? The story runs in a natural order.

First are seen the figures surrounding the litter, and, as it approaches, the Emperor's face is distinguishable.