ndow showed him Olimpia still in her former posture. Urged by an
irresistible impulse he jumped up and seized Coppola's perspective; nor
could he tear himself away from the fascinating Olimpia until his
friend and brother Siegmund called for him to go to Professor
Spalanzani's lecture. The curtains before the door of the all-important
room were closely drawn, so that he could not see Olimpia. Nor could he
even see her from his own room during the two following days,
notwithstanding that he scarcely ever left his window, and maintained a
scarce interrupted watch through Coppola's perspective upon her room.
On the third day curtains even were drawn across the window. Plunged
into the depths of despair,--goaded by longing and ardent desire, he
hurried outside the walls of the town. Olimpia's image hovered about
his path in the air and stepped forth out of the bushes, and peeped up
at him with large and lustrous eyes from the bright surface of the
brook. Clara's image was completely faded from his mind; he had no
thoughts except for Olimpia. He uttered his love-plaints aloud and in a
lachrymose tone, "Oh! my glorious, noble star of love, have you only
risen to vanish again, and leave me in the darkness and hopelessness of
night?"

Returning home, he became aware that there was a good deal of noisy
bustle going on in Spalanzani's house. All the doors stood wide open;
men were taking in all kinds of gear and furniture; the windows of the
first floor were all lifted off their hinges; busy maid-servants with
immense hair-brooms were driving backwards and forwards dusting and
sweeping, whilst within could be heard the knocking and hammering of
carpenters and upholsterers. Utterly astonished, Nathanael stood still
in the street; then Siegmund joined him, laughing, and said, "Well,
what do you say to our old Spalanzani?" Nathanael assured him that he
could not say anything, since he knew not what it all meant; to his
great astonishment, he could hear, however, that they were turning the
quiet gloomy house almost inside out with their dusting and cleaning
and making of alterations. Then he learned from Siegmund that
Spalanzani intended giving a great concert and ball on the following
day, and that half the university was invited. It was generally
reported that Spalanzani was going to let his daughter Olimpia, whom he
had so long so jealously guarded from every eye, make her first
appearance.

Nathanael received an invitation. At