The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
Chapter 10 : This I hope therefore of thee, my Hermann, that into our dwelling Thou wilt be bringing

This I hope therefore of thee, my Hermann, that into our dwelling Thou wilt be bringing ere long a bride who is handsomely dowered; For it is meet that a gallant young man have an opulent maiden.

Great is the comfort of home whene'er, with the woman elected, Enter the useful presents, besides, in box and in basket.

Not for this many a year in vain has the mother been busy Making her daughter's linens of strong and delicate texture; G.o.d-parents have not in vain been giving their vessels of silver, And the father laid by in his desk the rare pieces of money; For there a day will come when she, with her gifts and possessions, Shall that youth rejoice who has chosen her out of all others.

Well do I know how good in a house is a woman's position, Who her own furniture round her knows, in kitchen and chamber; Who herself the bed and herself the table has covered.

Only a well-dowered bride should I like to receive to my dwelling.

She who is poor is sure, in the end, to be scorned by her husband; And will as servant be held, who as servant came in with her bundle.

Men will remain unjust when the season of love is gone over.

Yes, my Hermann, thy father's old age thou greatly canst gladden, If thou a daughter-in-law will speedily bring to my dwelling, Out of the neighborhood here,--from the house over yonder, the green one.

Rich is the man, I can tell thee. His manufactures and traffic Daily are making him richer; for whence draws the merchant not profit?

Three daughters only he has, to divide his fortune among them.

True that the eldest already is taken; but there is the second Still to be had, as well as the third; and not long so, it may be.

I would never have lingered till now, had I been in thy place; But had fetched one of the maidens, as once I bore off thy dear mother."

Modestly then did the son to the urgent father make answer: "Truly 'twas my wish too, as well as thine own, to have chosen One of our neighbor's daughters, for we had been brought up together; Played, in the early days, about the market-place fountain; And, from the other boys' rudeness, I often have been their defender.

That, though, is long since past: the girls, as they grew to be older, Properly stayed in the house, and shunned the more boisterous pastimes.

Well brought up are they, surely! I used sometimes to go over, Partly to gratify thee, and because of our former acquaintance: But no pleasure I ever could take in being among them; For I was always obliged to endure their censures upon me.

Quite too long was my coat, the cloth too coa.r.s.e, and the color Quite too common; my hair was not cropped, as it should be, and frizzled.

I was resolved, at last, that I, also, would dress myself finely, Just as those office-boys do who always are seen there on Sundays, Wearing in summer their half-silken flaps, that dangle about them; But I discovered, betimes, they made ever a laughing-stock of me.

And I was vexed when I saw it,--it wounded my pride; but more deeply Felt I aggrieved that they the good-will should so far misinterpret That in my heart I bore them,--especially Minna the youngest.

It was on Easter-day that last I went over to see them; Wearing my best new coat, that is now hanging up in the closet, And having frizzled my hair, like that of the other young fellows.

Soon as I entered, they t.i.ttered; but that not at me, as I fancied.

Minna before the piano was seated; the father was present, Hearing his daughters sing, and full of delight and good-humor.

Much I could not understand of all that was said in the singing; But of Pamina I often heard, and oft of Tamino: And I, besides, could not stay there dumb; so, as soon as she ended, Something about the words I asked, and about the two persons.

Thereupon all were silent and smiled; but the father made answer: 'Thou knowest no one, my friend, I believe, but Adam and Eve?'

No one restrained himself longer, but loud laughed out then the maidens, Loud laughed out the boys, the old man held his sides for his laughing.

I, in embarra.s.sment, dropped my hat, and the giggling continued, On and on and on, for all they kept playing and singing.

Back to the house here I hurried, o'ercome with shame and vexation, Hung up my coat in the closet, and pulled out the curls with my fingers, Swearing that never again my foot should cross over that threshold.

And I was perfectly right; for vain are the maidens, and heartless.

E'en to this day, as I hear, I am called by them ever 'Tamino.'"

Thereupon answered the mother, and said: "Thou shouldest not, Hermann, Be so long vexed with the children: indeed, they are all of them children.

Minna, believe me, is good, and was always disposed to thee kindly.

'Twas not long since she was asking about thee. Let her be thy chosen!"

Thoughtfully answered the son: "I know not. That mortification Stamped itself in me so deeply, I never could bear to behold her Seated before the piano or listen again to her singing."

Forth broke the father then, and in words of anger made answer: "Little of joy will my life have in thee! I said it would be so When I perceived that thy pleasure was solely in horses and farming: Work which a servant, indeed, performs for an opulent master, That thou doest; the father meanwhile must his son be deprived of, Who should appear as his pride, in the sight of the rest of the townsmen.

Early with empty hopes thy mother was wont to deceive me, When in the school thy studies, thy reading and writing, would never As with the others succeed, but thy seat would be always the lowest.

That comes about, forsooth, when a youth has no feeling of honor Dwelling within his breast, nor the wish to raise himself higher.

Had but my father so cared for me as thou hast been cared for; If he had sent me to school, and provided me thus with instructors, I should be other, I trow, than host of the Golden Lion!"

Then the son rose from his seat and noiselessly moved to the doorway, Slowly, and speaking no word. The father, however, in pa.s.sion After him called, "Yes, go, thou obstinate fellow! I know thee!

Go and look after the business henceforth, that I have not to chide thee; But do thou nowise imagine that ever a peasant-born maiden Thou for a daughter-in-law shalt bring into my dwelling, the hussy!

Long have I lived in the world, and know how mankind should be dealt with; Know how to entertain ladies and gentlemen so that contented They shall depart from my house, and strangers agreeably can flatter.

Yet I'm resolved that some day I one will have for a daughter, Who shall requite me in kind and sweeten my manifold labors; Who the piano shall play to me, too; so that there shall with pleasure All the handsomest people in town and the finest a.s.semble, As they on Sundays do now in the house of our neighbor." Here Hermann Softly pressed on the latch, and so went out from the chamber.

THALIA

THE CITIZENS

Thus did the modest son slip away from the angry up-braiding; But in the tone he had taken at first, the father continued: "That comes not out of a man which he has not in him; and hardly Shall the joy ever be mine of seeing my dearest wish granted: That my son may not as his father be, but a better.

What would become of the house, and what of the city if each one Were not with pleasure and always intent on maintaining, renewing, Yea, and improving, too, as time and the foreigner teach us!

Man is not meant, forsooth, to grow from the ground like a mushroom, Quickly to perish away on the spot of ground that begot him, Leaving no trace behind of himself and his animate action!

As by the house we straightway can tell the mind of the master, So, when we walk through a city, we judge of the persons who rule it.

For where the towers and walls are falling to ruin; where offal Lies in heaps in the gutters, and alleys with offal are littered; Where from its place has started the stone, and no one resets it; Where the timbers are rotting away, and the house is awaiting Vainly its new supports,--that place we may know is ill governed.

Since if not from above work order and cleanliness downward, Easily grows the citizen used to untidy postponement; Just as the beggar grows likewise used to his ragged apparel.

Therefore I wished that our Hermann might early set out on some travels; That he at least might behold the cities of Strasburg and Frankfort, Friendly Mannheim, too, that is cheerful and evenly builded.

He that has once beheld cities so cleanly and large, never after Ceases his own native city, though small it may be, to embellish.

Do not the strangers who come here commend the repairs in our gateway, Notice our whitewashed tower, and the church we have newly rebuilded?

Are not all praising our pavement? the covered ca.n.a.ls full of water, Laid with a wise distribution, which furnish us profit and safety, So that no sooner does fire break out than 'tis promptly arrested?

Has not all this come to pa.s.s since the time of our great conflagration?

Builder I six times was named by the council, and won the approval, Won moreover the heartfelt thanks of all the good burghers, Actively carrying out what I planned, and also fulfilling What had by upright men been designed, and left uncompleted.

Finally grew the same zeal in every one of the council; All now labor together, and firmly decided already Stands it to build the new causeway that shall with the high-road connect us.

But I am sorely afraid that will not be the way with our children.

Some think only of pleasure and perishable apparel; Others will cower at home, and behind the stove will sit brooding.

One of this kind, as I fear, we shall find to the last in our Hermann."

Straightway answered and said the good and intelligent mother: "Why wilt thou always, father, be doing our son such injustice?

That least of all is the way to bring thy wish to fulfilment.

We have no power to fas.h.i.+on our children as suiteth our fancy; As they are given by G.o.d, we so must have them and love them; Teach them as best we can, and let each of them follow his nature.

One will have talents of one sort, and different talents another.

Every one uses his own; in his own individual fas.h.i.+on, Each must be happy and good. I will not have my Hermann found fault with; For he is worthy, I know, of the goods he shall one day inherit; Will be an excellent landlord, a pattern to burghers and builders; Neither in council, as I can foresee, will he be the most backward.

But thou keepest shut up in his breast all the poor fellow's spirit, Finding such fault with him daily, and censuring as thou but now hast."

And on the instant she quitted the room, and after him hurried, Hoping she somewhere might find him, and might with her words of affection Cheer him again, her excellent son, for well he deserved it.

Thereupon when she was gone, the father thus smiling continued: "What a strange folk, to be sure, are these women; and just like the children; Both of them bent upon living according as suiteth their pleasure, While we others must never do aught but flatter and praise them.

Once for all time holds good the ancients' trustworthy proverb: 'Whoever goes not forward comes backward.' So must it be always."

Thereupon answered and said, in a tone of reflection, the doctor: "That, sir neighbor, I willingly grant; for myself I am always Casting about for improvement,--things new, so they be not too costly.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE MOTHER DEFENDING HERMANN Ludwig Richter]

But what profits a man, who has not abundance of money, Being thus active and stirring, and bettering inside and outside?

Only too much is the citizen cramped: the good, though he know it, Has he no means to acquire because too slender his purse is, While his needs are too great; and thus is he constantly hampered.

Many things I had done; but then the cost of such changes Who does not fear, especially now in this season of danger?

Long since my house was smiling upon me in modish apparel!

Long since great panes of gla.s.s were gleaming in all of the windows!

But who can do as the merchant does, who, with his resources, Knows the methods as well by which the best is arrived at?

Look at that house over yonder,--the new one; behold with what splendor 'Gainst the background of green stand out the white spirals of stucco!

Great are the panes in the windows; and how the gla.s.s sparkles and glitters, Casting quite into the shade the rest of the market-place houses!

Yet just after the fire were our two houses the finest, This of the Golden Lion, and mine of the sign of the Angel.

So was my garden, too, throughout the whole neighborhood famous: Every traveller stopped and gazed through the red palisadoes, Caught by the beggars there carved in stone and the dwarfs of bright colors.

Then whosoever had coffee served in the beautiful grotto,-- Standing there now all covered with dust and partly in ruins,-- Used to be mightily pleased with the glimmering light of the mussels Spread out in beautiful order; and even the eye of the critic Used by the sight of my corals and potter's ore to be dazzled.

So in my parlor, too, they would always admire the painting, Where in a garden are gaily dressed ladies and gentlemen walking, And with their taper fingers are plucking and holding the flowers.

But who would look at it now! In sooth, so great my vexation Scarcely I venture abroad. All now must be other and tasteful, So they call it; and white are the laths and benches of woodwork; Everything simple and smooth; no carving longer or gilding Can be endured, and the woods from abroad are of all the most costly.

Well, I, too, should be glad could I get for myself something novel; Glad to keep up with the times, and be changing my furniture often; Yet must we all be afraid of touching the veriest trifle.

For who among us has means for paying the work-people's wages?

Lately I had an idea of giving the Archangel Michael, Making the sign of my shop, another fresh coating of gilding, And to the terrible dragon about his feet that is winding; But I e'en let him stay browned as he is: I dreaded the charges."