A few steps further on led me to the spot the climber had
reached, when soon among the lengthened shadows of the pines, I descried
a shadow which was not that of a tree. I approached, and as the moon lit up the object in my path, I beheld a
sight that made my blood freeze to look upon. It was one of those
hideous crêtins which inhabit the valleys of all mountainous countries. I started, and the idiot, who gazed at me vacantly at first, seemed to
have sense enough to be aware of the impression he had made, and to take
a fiendish delight in the effect that he had produced. The aspect of
this being was the most frightful of anything I had ever seen in human
shape. He could not have exceeded four feet in height, but the breadth
of his shoulders was such as to make his figure a complete square. His
neck was short, and his head, which was enormous, was covered over with
scant sandy hair. The complexion was ghastly; the lips thin and livid,
the nose flat and spreading, and the eyes, which were an immense
distance apart, pale green and fishy; the face was round and broad, and
though generally idiotic in expression, was lit up at times with a look
of intelligence, mixed with the most preternatural cunning and
malignity. The muscular development of the upper part of this strange
figure was prodigious, and the arms were so long that the fingers all
but touched the ground, but the legs were extremely short and misshapen,
the feet being monstrous. His back was round as a camel's, and from his
throat down to his waist hung a huge goître, which gave a still more
disgusting look to his _tout ensemble_; added to this, his ears were
large and shaggy, his fingers short and stunted, the palms of his hands
hard and horny. He was dressed after the usual fashion of the Swiss
peasantry in that part of Switzerland, but his clothes were so patched
and tattered, that the masterpiece was barely discernible. I gazed for some moments in silent horror at the spectacle before me,
when the monster blocking up my path clapped his hands suddenly on his
thighs, and burst into a loud discordant laugh, exhibiting two rows of
black, uneven teeth. My blood curdled as the echo of those fiendish
tones broke on my ear. I recoiled, but, mastering my fear, I said in his
own native tongue--or, rather, in better German than is spoken among the
peasantry--"Well, my friend, does my appearance amuse you? Are strangers
so rare in your country that they are found worthy of so much notice?" The idiot gazed at me awhile with vacant stare, then pointed to his
mouth, to signify that he was dumb. "Poor wretch," I muttered to myself; "and yet he seems to understand a
little." I thought I would ask him by signs where he lived. I read by his eye,
which suddenly grew intelligent, much to my surprise, that he understood
my question, and he answered by gestures, which seemed to say, "My home
is here, there, and everywhere. On the black mountain top, in the pine
forest, by the still lake--anywhere where there is earth and sky." "Poor wanderer," thought I; "houseless, like myself, and yet how
infinitely more contented. Who knows but that that stunted form may
contain the soul of a philosopher." "Idiot," I said, with all possible
meekness in my outward bearing, "I am hungry. Can you lead me to a
châlet where I may get food and shelter?" He nodded his head. "Bravo!" said I. "Lead on." The dwarf gave me a peculiar look, which I understood to mean, "What
will you give me if I show you the way?" "Oh, don't be afraid," said I; "I'll pay you well; only make haste; I'm
starving." I put my finger in my waistcoat pocket to make him comprehend that I was
willing to reward him, but he glanced contemptuously at my gesture, and,
thrusting his hand into his pocket, he brought out a handful of
good-sized gold nuggets, which he threw towards me with a disdainful
air. I was amazed, and seeing them glitter in the moonlight, I stopped to
pick them up. At this the creature burst out again into a loud laugh. I
felt somewhat abashed at this reproof of my covetousness from one who
evidently despised filthy lucre himself, but I consoled my conscience
with the thought that I looked upon the nuggets more from a geologist's
point of view than from a miser's. "Where did he find the gold?" I asked myself. "Could it really be a
great philosopher who stood before me, who despised the yellow metal, or
was it an idiot who did not know the value of it?" These reflections of mine were silent. Nevertheless, the cripple gave me
to understand with a nod of his head and an unmistakable look in his
eye, that he very well understood what they were worth to such men as
myself; but with another gesture he expressed that for himself he was
above it. "Indeed," said I, "then what would you of me, if not gold?" He gave me a malicious smile, and nodded his head slightly, but I
understood not the gesture. I was impatient, and wanted to put an end to our mummery, so I said,
"Come, lead on; I am hungry. Since you despise gold, I suppose you will
do so much for me as an act of friendship?" He grinned from ear to ear and nodded. "It is well," said I, and I followed my guide. We began slowly to descend the mountain, my guide running nimbly on in
front, then standing still at intervals and beckoning to me. This he
continued to do until we arrived at the foot of the mountain, and I
remember feeling an irresistible and unaccountable impulse to follow my
guide more quickly than before. As the steel is attracted to the magnet, so I felt irresistibly
attracted towards the monster. It was as if he possessed some strange
magnetic power over me, for whenever he lifted up his finger to beckon
to me I felt it impossible to resist following him. I thought the feeling might be fancy at first, and I attributed my
quickened pace against my own will to the impetus given by the steep
declivity of the mountain, but afterwards I found that it was exactly
the same on level ground. We walked on further, till we found ourselves at the foot of a glacier,
where stood the châlet which I sought. I knocked and entered, and was welcomed by the owner of the hut, a
middle-aged and portly dame with a goître that hung over her breast, and
some young children with incipient goîtres. I told the hostess that I was a hungry traveller, and asked her to give
me the best that she had in the house. Whilst waiting for my supper I warmed myself by the fire and scrutinised
the inmates of the cottage. The children seemed very healthy, and not
bad looking, if they had not been all disfigured with the family goître,
which they all inherited in a greater or less degree. They seemed to be
great friends with my guide, gambolling around him and buffeting him
unmercifully. At length my supper arrived, consisting of poached eggs, cold sausage
and ham, Swiss cheese, stale bread, and some sort of spirit drunk in the
mountains.