Her afflicted parents reluctantly acquiesced in this proposal.  Daily they beheld their daughter waving her hand to them as she entered the chapel.

Suddenly there appeared before the gates of Drachenfels a troop of cavaliers, whose armour shone brilliantly in the sun.  Roland had returned home from the wars, crowned with glory, to claim his bride.  But when he heard that she had taken the veil his buoyant spirits sank.  The Lord of Drachenfels told him that they had believed the report of his death to be true.

A cry of despair broke from the hero of a hundred fights.  He crossed the Rhine to the castle of Rolandseck, where he remained for many weeks, abandoned to grief.

Frequently he looked toward the convent which held his beloved.  One evening he heard the bells tolling and saw a funeral procession of nuns carrying a coffin to the chapel.  His page told him that his love was dead, but Roland had already divined that she who had mourned his supposed death had died through grief for him who was still alive to mourn her death.

Time rolled on and Roland went again to the wars and achieved greater conquests, but at length he fell fighting against the Moors at Roncevaux, dying on the battlefield as he had wished.  His valorous deeds and his glorious death were sung by minstrels throughout all Christendom, and his fame will never die.

LEGENDS OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE

Aix-la-Chapelle was the ancient seat of the Empire of Charlemagne, and many legends cluster around it, several of which have already been noticed in connexion with its great founder.  The following legends, however, deal with the town itself, and not with any circumstance connected with the mighty Karl.

The Hunchbacked Musician

In Aix-la-Chapelle dwelt two hunchbacked musicians.  Friedel was a lively fellow with a pleasant face and an engaging manner.  Heinz had red hair, green eyes, and a malevolent expression.  Friedel was a better player than Heinz; that, combined with his agreeable looks, made him a general favourite.

Friedel loved Agathe, the daughter of a rich wine-merchant.  The lovers’ prospects were not encouraging, for Agathe’s father sought a son-in-law from higher circles.  The poor musician’s plight was rendered desperate by the wine-merchant compelling his daughter to accept a rich but dissipated young man.  When the hunchback approached the merchant to declare his feelings toward the maiden, he was met with derision and insult.  Full of bitterness, he wandered about, till midnight found him in the fish-market, where the Witches’ Sabbath was about to take place.  A weird light was cast over everything, and a crowd of female figures quickly gathered.  A lady who seemed to be at the head of the party offered the hunchback refreshment, and others handed him a violin, desiring him to play for them.  Friedel played, and the witches danced; faster and faster, for the violin was bewitched.  At last the violinist fell exhausted, and the dancing ceased.  The lady now commanded him to kneel and receive the thanks of the company for his beautiful playing.  Then she muttered strange words over the kneeling hunchback.