See, there is the goddess Diana crossing the wood breathlessly, and
hurriedly, looking anxiously around her, as if she feared the
approach of some pursuers; then seeing that no one is near, she
hastens forward toward the hut, which stands amidst those bushes.
The ivy wreath is hanging before this cabin, but Diana does not
notice this, she knows what it means and, besides, no one has a
right to enter this hut but herself, for it bears the number which
she drew.
As she entered, Endymion, the beautiful hunter, advanced to greet
her. "At length you have come, Camilla," he whispered, gently; "at
length you grant me the happiness of a private interview. Oh, it is
an eternity since I beheld you. You are very cruel to me to refuse
me all intercourse with you, and to leave me languishing in the
distance for one glance from you."
"As if it depended on me to allow you to approach me. As if I was
not guarded with argus eyes as a prisoner that is expected to break
loose and vanish at any moment. How much trouble, how much cunning
and deftness have I been compelled to exercise to come here now. It
was a detestable idea of the princess to give me the /role/ of
Diana, for I have behind me a band of spies, and I assure you that
my coy huntresses are so fearfully modest, that the sight of a man
fills them with dread, and they flee before him into the wildest
thicket of the woods.
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