Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Part IV - V
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THE CONFESSION OF A FOOL 283
behind, and begun the ascent, I came upon some sights
which were so striking that they made a lasting impres-
sion on me. Close to the first curve of the road grew
a walnut tree, to which were nailed a crucifix and a tablet ;
the inscription on the latter informed the passer-by that
farmer Seppi, while busy with the harvest, fell from the
tree and was killed. God have mercy on his soul ! Pray
for him ! Amen !
At the next corner there was a queer little shrine built
of whitewashed bricks, small like a child’s dolls’-house.
A peep through the railings disclosed pictures of the Holy
Family, painted, perhaps, in the sixteenth century, and
a legend to the effect that criminals on their way to
execution were allowed a few minutes’ respite before the
shrine to utter a last prayer. I was, therefore, on the
road which led to the gallows, and a few minutes later
I arrived at the place of execution, a pleasant open spot
on the top of an overhanging cliff which jutted out in
the direction of the lake. From this point one had a
magnificent view. To bid farewell to life with a last
look at such a picture as greets the eye from the summit
of Pilatus, Buechserhorn or Buergenstock is quite con-
ceivably a genuine pleasure. Even Voltaire could have
felt none of the repugnance which was excited in him by
the idea of being hanged in secret, a contingency which
filled him with such extreme disgust, that he was quite
consistent in accusing Rousseau of a vanity so great that
it would permit him to submit cheerfully to being hanged,
if he could be sure of his name being nailed to the
gallows.
In the distance, near the shore, I could dimly discern
a faint outline of a haunted little church, called " Kindli-
mord " because a grief-stricken father is said there to
have killed his starving child.
I left these four melancholy landmarks behind me in
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