from mine own self i shrink with horror back, if in a brook i see my ill-starr'd form!
if you have pity or a human heart--
[falls down before him.]
tell.
stand up, stand up! i say.
john.
not till you give your hand in promise of assistance to me.
tell.
can i assist you? can a sinful man?
yet get ye up--how black soe'er your crime--you are a man.i, too, am one.from tell shall no one part uncomforted.i will do all that lies within my power.
john (springs up and grasps him ardently by the hand).
oh, tell, you save me from the terrors of despair.
tell.
let go my hand! you must away.you can not remain here undiscover'd, and, discover'd, you cannot count on succour.which way, then, would you be going? where do you hope to find a place of rest?
john.
alas! i know not where.
tell.
hear, then, what heaven unto my heart suggests.
you must to italy,--to saint peter's city--there cast yourself at the pope's feet,--confess your guilt to him, and ease your laden soul!
john.
will he not to the avengers yield me up?
tell.
whate'er he does, accept it as from god.
john.
but how am i to reach that unknown land?
i have no knowledge of the way, and dare not attach myself to other travellers.
tell.
i will describe the road, so mark me well!
you must ascend, keeping along the reuss, which from the mountains dashes wildly down.
john (in alarm).
what! see the reuss? the witness of my deed!
tell.the road you take lies through the river's gorge, and many a cross proclaims where travellers have been by avalanches done to death.
john.
i have no fear for nature's terrors, so i can appease the torments of my soul.