en the moon
rose, like a bright silver twentypence--so rare an appearance in those
days (not the moon, but the twentypence), and poor Hornyicsek gazed at
St. David and his harp in the bright planet, and bethought him of the
happy times when he used to watch it from his marble bench, with his
head in a state of brilliant clairvoyance, illuminated by beer. The
mild evening breeze sighed softly through the leaves of the maize, and
the crickets chirped around him. If Vendel had been a poet, he could
not have desired more; but unfortunately, as it was, all this was lost
to him, and he would readily have been excused the enjoyment of such
romantic scenes.

The good man now discovered that his clothes were growing wider every
day, and that he mounted the hillock with much less difficulty than
formerly. He began to think that he might now with safety return to
the village; but Hanzli dissuaded him, declaring that he was still
much too fat, though he put him on stricter diet every day.

Thus several weeks passed by, which were unmarked by any incident of
great importance in regard to Vendel. True, the ants sometimes took
his residence by storm, causing him considerable inconvenience by day
and night; once a fearful hurricane nearly terrified him to death; and
a mad buffalo kept beating about the maize-ground one afternoon,
bellowing fearfully round the shed, while Vendel did not dare to
breathe or stir. But there was one adventure which very much disturbed
the good man's equanimity; and as it had, besides, some influence on
his future proceedings, we shall relate it more in detail.

We have already mentioned that Vendel was haunted by some _uncanny_
spirit, which seemed to converse in German, was cold to the touch, and
moved. This visit had been frequently repeated, and Vendel had as
often covered the intruder with his cap; but next morning, when he
raised it carefully, there was nothing to be seen but a hole in the
ground, which was quite dark, and seemed to descend into the depths of
the earth.

One evening, as he was musing over the mysteries of this secret
passage, he thought he heard steps outside the shed, accompanied by
low whisperings. Shortly after, a strange phenomenon took place at the
mysterious hole; it seemed as if trying to speak--gurgling,
hickupping, and sobbing, exactly like a human throat; he thought he
heard it sigh, too. By degrees it grew louder and louder; a gulping
sound followed, then a terrible scr