CHAPTER 4.VII.
Cernis, custodia qualis Vestibulo sedeat?
facies quae limina servet?
"Aeneid," lib.vi.

574.
(See you what porter sits within the vestibule ?--what face watches at the threshold ?) And it is profound night.

All is at rest within the old castle,--all is breathless under the melancholy stars.

Now is the time.

Mejnour with his austere wisdom,--Mejnour the enemy to love; Mejnour, whose eye will read thy heart, and refuse thee the promised secrets because the sunny face of Fillide disturbs the lifeless shadow that he calls repose,--Mejnour comes to-morrow! Seize the night! Beware of fear! Never, or this hour! So, brave youth,--brave despite all thy errors,--so, with a steady pulse, thy hand unlocks once more the forbidden door.
He placed his lamp on the table beside the book, which still lay there opened; he turned over the leaves, but could not decipher their meaning till he came to the following passage:-- "When, then, the pupil is thus initiated and prepared, let him open the casement, light the lamps, and bathe his temples with the elixir.