The Rider on the White Horse

The Rider on the White Horse
Theodor Storm
WHAT I am about to tell I learned nearly half a century ago in the
house of my great-grand-mother, old Madame Fedderson, widow of the
senator, while I was sitting beside her armchair, busy reading a
magazine bound in blue pasteboard--I don't remember whether it was a
copy of the "Leipzig" or of "Pappes Hamburger Lesefruchte." I still
remember with a shudder how meanwhile the light hand of the past
eighty-year-old woman glided tenderly over the hair of her
great-grandson. She herself and her time are buried long ago. In vain
have I searched for that magazine, and therefore I am even less able to
vouch for the truth of the statements in it than I am to defend them if
anyone should question them; but of so much I can assure anyone, that
since that time they have never been forgotten, even though no outer
incident has revived them in my memory.
It was in the third decade of our century, on an October afternoon--thus
began the story-teller of that time--that I rode through a mighty storm
along a North Frisian dike. For over an hour I had on my left the dreary
marshland, already deserted by all the cattle; on my right, unpleasantly
near me, the swamping waters of the North Sea. I saw nothing,
however, but the yellowish-grey waves that beat against the dike
unceasingly, as if they were roaring with rage, and that now and then
bespattered me and my horse with dirty foam; behind them I could see
only chaotic dusk which did not let me tell sky and earth apart, for even
the half moon which now stood in the sky was most of the time covered
by wandering clouds. It was ice cold; my clammy hands could scarcely
hold the reins, and I did not wonder that the croaking and cackling
crows and gulls were always letting themselves be swept inland by the
storm. Nightfall had begun, and already I could no longer discern the
hoof of my horse with any certainty. I had met no human soul, heard
nothing but the screaming of the birds when they almost grazed me and
my faithful mare with their long wings, and the raging of the wind and

water. I cannot deny that now and then I wished that I were in safe
quarters.
It was the third day that this weather had lasted, and I had already
allowed an especially dear relative to keep me longer than I should
have done on his estate in one of the more northern districts. But to-day
I could not stay longer. I had business in the city which was even now a
few hours' ride to the south, and in spite of all the persuasions of my
cousin and his kind wife, in spite of the Perinette and Grand Richard
apples still to be tried, I had ridden away.
"Wait till you get to the sea," he had called after me from his house
door. "You will turn back. Your room shall be kept for you."
And really, for a moment, when a black layer of clouds spread
pitch-darkness round me and at the same time the howling squalls were
trying to force me and my horse down from the dike, the thought shot
through my head: "Don't be a fool! Turn back and stay with your
friends in their warm nest." But then it occurred to me that the way
back would be longer than the way to my destination; and so I trotted
on, pulling the collar of my coat up over my ears.
But now something came toward me upon the dike; I heard nothing,
but when the half moon shed its spare light, I believed that I could
discern more and more clearly a dark figure, and soon, as it drew nearer,
I saw that it sat on a horse, on a long-legged, haggard, white horse; a
dark cloak was waving round its shoulders, and as it flew past me, two
glowing eyes stared at me out of a pale face.
Who was that? What did that man want? And now it came to my mind
that I had not heard the beating of hoofs or any panting of the horse;
and yet horse and rider had ridden close by me!
Deep in thought over this I rode on, but I did not have much time to
think, for straightway it flew past me again from behind; it seemed as if
the flying cloak had grazed me, as if the apparition, just as it had done
the first time, had rushed by me without a sound. Then I saw it farther
and farther away from me, and suddenly it seemed as if a shadow were

gliding down