The Nightingale Valley at Honnef
Honnef is one of the most lovely little spots on
the
earth, nestling sweetly at the foot of the old Drachenfels. The
mountain
protects it from the icy winds of the north, and the breezes blow
gently
in the valley, which may be called the German Nice.
When the setting sun reminds the wanderer on the
Drachenfels
of coming darkness, and he strolls down through the valley of Honnef,
the
songs of numerous nightingales sound in his ears. This has been the
meeting-place
of these songsters for many a long year, and there is an old legend
which
gives us the reason.
There was a time when they used to sing in the
forest
round the old Abbey Himmerode, as they now do in the valley of Honnef.
The pious monks, walking about in the cloister
gardens
in holy contemplation heard their seductive songs: the penitents in
their
cells, mortifying the flesh heard them also. Their alluring warble
mingled
itself with their murmured prayers; and in the heart of many a monk,
who
had long since renounced the world and its pleasures, the remembrance
of
them was gently awakened, and sweet sinful things were whispered into
the
holy brothers' ears.
Then one day it happened that St. Bernhard came to
the
Abbey Himmerode, to examine the brothers' hearts. He was greatly
distressed
to find that many a holy soul had turned from the path of peace, and
the
cause of this also became known to him. In a violent passion the holy
man
strode out into the forest surrounding the cloister, and raising his
hand
angrily towards the seductive singers, he cried.
"Go from here! Ye are a curse to us." St. Bernhard
had
spoken threateningly, and lo! with a great stir in the branches, a
throng
of numberless nightingales rose from the bushes, filled the forest once
more
with their glorious song, and fled with a great flapping of wings.
They settled down in the valley of Honnef, and no
excommunication has driven them from there. Those who wander there are
not
averse to the pleasures of the world like St. Bernhard, and every one
after
his own manner reads a different meaning in their song.
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