The shock had acted chiefly upon that part of his mental
being which had been so absorbed. He would sit for hours without doing
anything, apparently plunged in meditation.--Several weeks elapsed without
any change, and both Lilith and Karl were getting dreadfully anxious about
him. Karl paid him every attention; and the old man, for he now looked
much older than before, submitted to receive his services as well as those
of Lilith. At length, one morning, he said in a slow thoughtful tone:
"'Karl Wolkenlicht, I should like to paint you.'
"'Certainly, sir,' answered Karl, jumping up, 'where would you like me to
sit?'
"So the ice of silence and inactivity was broken, and the painter drew and
painted; and the spring of his art flowed once more; and he made a
beautiful portrait of Karl--a portrait without evil or suffering. And as
soon as he had finished Karl, he began once more to paint Lilith; and when
he had painted her, he composed a picture for the very purpose of
introducing them together; and in this picture there was neither ugliness
nor torture, but human feeling and human hope instead.
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