The only visible inhabitant of the valley, however, was a hermit, who welcomed Huon, and showed him a short and convenient way to bring Amanda thither.  After listening attentively to the story of Huon’s adventures, the hermit bade him endeavor to recover the favor of Oberon by voluntarily living apart from his wife, and leading a life of toil and abstinence.

    “‘Blest,’ says the hermit, ’blest the man whom fate
    Guides with strict hand, but not unfriendly aim! 
    How blest! whose slightest fault is doom’d to shame! 
    Him, trained to virtue, purest joys await,—­
    Earth’s purest joys reward each trying pain! 
    Think not the fairy will for aye remain
    Inexorable foe to hearts like thine: 
    Still o’er you hangs his viewless hand divine;
    Do but deserve his grace, and ye his grace obtain.” 
                         WIELAND, Oberon (Sotheby’s tr.).

[Sidenote:  Huon’s penance.] Huon was ready and willing to undergo any penance which would enable him to deliver his beloved Amanda from the isle, and after building her a little hut, within call of the cell he occupied with the hermit, he spent all his time in tilling the soil for their sustenance, and in listening to the teachings of the holy man.

Time passed on.  One day Amanda restlessly wandered a little way up the mountain, and fell asleep in a lovely grotto, which she now for the first time discovered.  When she awoke from a blissful dream she found herself clasping her new-born babe, who, during her slumbers, had been cared for by the fairies.  This child, Huonet, was, of course, a great comfort to Amanda, who was devoted to him.

When the babe was a little more than a year old the aged monk died.  Huon and Amanda, despairing of release from the desert island, were weary of living apart; and Titania, who foresaw that Oberon would send new misfortunes upon them to punish them in case they did not stand the second test, carried little Huonet off to fairyland, lest he should suffer for his parents’ sins.

[Sidenote:  Amanda and the pirates.] Huon and Amanda, in the mean time, searched frantically for the missing babe, fancying it had wandered off into the woods.  During their search they became separated, and Amanda, while walking along the seashore, was seized by pirates.  They intended to carry her away and sell her as a slave to the Sultan.  Huon heard her cries of distress, and rushed to her rescue; but in spite of his utmost efforts to join her he saw her borne away to the waiting vessel, while he was bound to a tree in the woods, and left there to die.

    “Deep in the wood, at distance from the shore,
    They drag their victim, that his loudest word
    Pour’d on the desert air may pass unheard. 
    Then bind the wretch, and fasten o’er and o’er
    Arm, leg, and neck, and shoulders, to a tree. 
    To heaven he looks in speechless agony,
    O’ercome by woe’s unutterable weigfit. 
    Thus he—­the while, with jocund shout elate
    The crew bear off their prey, and bound along the sea.” 
                                   WIELAND, Oberon (Sotheby’s tr.).