Das landhaus am Rhein. English by Berthold Auerbach
CHAPTER I.
A FAIRY STORY AT THE AGRICULTURAL FAIR.
Eric and Roland walked inland over the hills, keeping step together.
There is no better time for a pedestrian journey, than some bright dayof the early autumn; the cows are pasturing in the meadows, thevegetable products are being harvested in the fields, the foliageassumes variegated colors on the trees, and all day there is a dewy,morning, or rather, evening freshness in the air, for the evening ofsummer is now coming on. All nature appears sated, and like one who hasaccomplished his work.
Eric and Roland wandered on, as if they must so wander on forever, withno rest, no goal, always keeping step. And yet they had a goal, Ericespecially. Roland had never yet seen a life of active endeavor, andnow he was to be made acquainted with one.
Eric related to him, as they were going along, his own life-history,but in a wholly different way from his narration to Clodwig, andafterwards to Sonnenkamp, dwelling principally upon the failure of hismilitary career. This must have its influence upon Roland.
Eric had the feeling that this was the last journey he should make withRoland; and the latter confirmed this feeling when he related thatPranken had already bespoken a uniform for him; late in the autumn hewould enter the military school.
Roland also spoke particularly, for the first time, of Knopf, theteacher at Mattenheim. He frankly said that before he entered adifferent course of life, he should like to become reconciled with him.And Eric now learned how deeply Roland had wounded his former tutor. Heand a former valet, who had been the instigator, had cut off the beardon one side of Knopf's face, while he was asleep; he sincerelyregretted this now, and wanted to acknowledge it to Herr Knopf.
And so this journey had a variety of ends in view.
They were all the time going farther away from the Rhine, and thecountry had a poorer look. They now met cows decked with gay ribbons;hogs and sheep, and also choice products of the fields, were carriedalong, arranged in excellent order.
"What's going on?"
"It's the District Agricultural Fair at Mattenheim."
They reached the village at a short distance from Weidmann's property;it was adorned with flags, and peasants stood in their wagons decoratedwith garlands, and imitated in sport their different occupations.
Here was one wagon with threshers, another with reapers, and otherswith weavers, vine-dressers, shinglers, and woodcutters; every sort ofheavy work had been turned for once into play. The horses and oxen thatwere harnessed to the wagons wore garlands and ribbons, and everybodywas shouting, rejoicing, and welcoming the fresh arrivals.
They entered the village.
Flags were streaming from the Rathhaus; they said that Weidmann wasthere delivering a discourse.
They went in.
In the great hall Weidmann was standing behind a table, and giving tothe people a scientific and at the same time a perfectly comprehensibleand directly practical essay on the best method of "making flesh;" forsuch was the term he continually used in speaking of feeding. "Makingflesh" was his constantly recurring theme; and he pointed out thedifferent kinds and quantities of food, how roots and oil-cakes must bealternated and supplied so as to give the most nourishment, laying aspecial emphasis upon the necessity of accurate calculation in order toreceive the proper returns.
He had a thermometer in his stable, and the heat there was neverallowed to be above 63 1-2 deg. Fahrenheit; he had also a telegraphicclock which communicated from the stable to his study, so that he couldknow, to a minute, whether the servants foddered the cattle at theproper time.
He represented to the people how much better off they were with a smallamount of landed property, for they could have it all under their owneye, while he had to be at the mercy of hired laborers; and one couldknow very well when Monday came, for on Sunday there was always badfoddering. Each cow has its own name, and a register is kept of theamount of milk from each, and any one that does not come up to therequisite standard to yield a profit is got rid of.
He repeated to his hearers often, how, within the circuit of a fewmiles, more than a million was thrown away by cutting the grass toolate, and not getting it in until it had become dead ripe. And hesucceeded in setting all this off in a humorous way.
If he had occasion to show that his method was profitable pecuniarily,he would strike his hand upon his pantaloons' pocket, and say:--
"Then there's something goes in here."
There was much merriment when he illustrated with his hand theremark:--
"Profit--profit is the whole Story. Just look at this! The human handmoves its fingers inward towards us, not outwards to give away."
He was strongly opposed to pasturing in common; and everything went toshow that people were foolish and wasteful, since they would notunderstand how to procure good food for themselves by means of theircattle.
Roland listened with astonishment, wondering at this man's sphere ofinfluence, who showed such zeal in teaching people how to feedthemselves well.
Eric also had something to think about; for when Weidmann declared thatthe particular breed was not of so much account, that the food ofanimals was a far more vital matter than what blood they were of, Ericcast down his eyes. Perhaps he made a particular application of theremark.
When the address was over, Eric and Roland were warmly welcomed by HerrWeidmann; and on Eric's expressing his satisfaction at the address,Weidmann said:
"I was intended once for a parson, and the son of a parson still sticksto me."
Eric replied, smiling:--
"There are so many who preach about spirit, that it is well for you,for once, to preach about flesh."
Weidmann answered very seriously:--"But I do not at all deny thespirit; it is even incomprehensible to me how people can manage not tobelieve in a God. I find traces of him everywhere. But we will speak ofthis by and by. Let us go."
The audience went out into the street, where the procession was nowpassing along. First came the fire-companies of that and theneighboring villages, fine fresh-looking young fellows in drab linenclothes, with gleaming, yellow helmets on their heads.
"This is a new order of things," Eric said to Weidmann.
Weidmann rejoined, nodding:--"Yes, no age before ours has had the like,and who knows what will come of it!"
Now the wagons came along with their merry occupants, and occasionallythe female hemp-dressers would scatter chopped straw upon the gazingcrowd. New wine was handed out from the wagon, and a joyous hilaritywas everywhere seen. Weidmann again welcomed his guests, saying that hewould take them home with him at evening, and that Herr Knopf would beparticularly delighted. He introduced them also to his nephew, Dr.Fritz, adding that Herr Knopf held himself back for the dance.
They next proceeded to the fair-grounds, where the prizes were beingawarded, and Weidmann took his guests to the exhibition of agriculturalimplements. He pointed out that there was no perfect shovel and noperfect plough, and commended the plan of distributing the improvedimplements by lot among the people.
"It is difficult," he declared, "to get the peasant to adopt any newinvention; the husbandman cannot be an innovator, he must not be; he isto be the representative of the conservative element, and yet he mustkeep pace with the progress of the new age. This is difficult, andgreat patience is needed."
He spoke of a long cherished plan he had entertained of sending outagricultural missionaries, or rather, of making missionaries out ofsome of the peasants themselves; for the peasantry always had aprejudice against a man who made use of learned words.
Roland went into the exhibition, and round among the multitude, as ifhe were suddenly transported into a wholly new world. Here was a man,living only a few hours' distance from Villa Eden, who was laboringwith such zeal and such devotion, in order to supply good nourishmentto his fellow human beings. And what are we trying to do? Something ofthis was apparent when he said to Eric:--
"Herr Weidmann has a nob
Among all those who were shouting and rejoicing, there was not one sohappy as Eric was, when he heard his pupil say this. Thisacknowledgment,--that none of the material substances on which humanactivity was employed were impure, if one considered the real thoughtthereby unfolded,--this was a result far beyond his expectation. Hecongratulated himself on having come here; here must Roland find histrue vocation, he must devote himself to agriculture, for in that thereis a direct means of benefiting the many.
"You must see my pigs," urged Weidmann, "Yorkshire pigs, six weeks old,splendid creatures! Have you too an antipathy to pigs? I can veryeasily imagine it. But, my young friend, of the meat that goes for foodin our country, seventy per cent. is pork, twenty per cent. beef andveal, and only ten per cent. mutton, lamb, fowl, game, etc., is eaten."
The Yorkshire pigs were, in fact, very pretty-looking animals.
Roland did not go to see them, but remained a long time looking at theso-called Hercules' Clubs, or the Serpent's Gourds, as they are alsotermed, a huge growth, half as long as a man, and double the thicknessof his arm.
The prizes were awarded, the rejoicing of the people became tumultuous,and it was a continual delight to Eric to point out to his pupil, thatthis was a festival got up by the people themselves, and wasestablished neither by Church nor State. Weidmann, who heard somethingof this, added smiling:--
"Yes, this is our new self-government in all matters, high and low. Wehave no overseers, neither consecrated nor unconsecrated."
The sun shone down brightly upon the lively scene of joyous festivity,and Roland, standing upon the now empty platform, said to Eric:--
"If my father were only here! Suppose now that to each one of themultitude here, all of them,--how many do you think there are?"
"At least a thousand."
"A thousand persons," he repeated. "Then, if one should give this veryminute a thousand gulden to each one of them?"
"This would be very well for a day, a year, or even several years, butnot for life. You have been told that the way to help people is, to putgood tools into their hands, and good tools into their souls, so thatthey may get their own living--that's the thing."
"Yes, yes, it was only a dream," said Roland, and his countenance fell.
Why had Eric not shared with him in the joy of this dream?
It was time for them to go to the dance; they heard the sound of music.They entered the Raven Inn, where a green garland was hanging outside,and inside, peasants and peasant girls were dancing merrily. On alittle platform among the musicians there was a man playing the flute,who nodded to them as they came in; it was Knopf. Roland seized Eric'shand, trembling, and pointing to a table covered with a red cloth whereseveral well-dressed people were sitting, he cried:--
"There she is! There she is!"
A child of slender form, and of a blooming, rosy countenance, withlong, flowing hair, was standing on the knee of a handsome, powerfullybuilt man, with a massive head, who was addressed as Doctor Fritz.
Knopf gave a signal to the trumpeter near him, and the dance ceased. Hecame down, and shook Eric and Roland by the hand. Tears stood in hiseyes under his huge spectacles, and fell upon the glasses, so that hehad to doff his spectacles, and look at the new-comers with blinkingeyes.
"You come at a good time, at the best. We are celebrating the DistrictFair."
"Forgive me," exclaimed Roland.
"I did that a long while ago. Dear--you have grown very tall. Come withme."
He conducted them to the large table, and introduced Eric to FrauWeidmann. And another person, who was sitting behind the table, shookEric and Roland by the hand; it was the Russian, who was now livingwith Weidmann as a pupil. Weidmann's two sons, Dr. Fritz, from America,and his child, were also introduced. Roland and the maiden gazed ateach other as if they were in a dream.
"Father, this is the Forest-prince whom I saw," said the maiden to thehandsome, strongly-built man.
Her voice made Roland look round; so would the lilies of the valleyhave rung out their soft tones, if their little bells could haveemitted any sound.
The adventure in the wood was now gaily narrated, and Knopf wasespecially delighted.
"Miracles still take place! Miracles still take place!" he keptexclaiming, flourishing at the same time his flute. "But now, children,follow me; do not speak--not a single word. Roland can dance, and youcan dance too, Lilian. I beg you would be quiet!" he cried aloud to theassembly. "Our children are going to dance--our children are going todance by themselves."
He stationed himself again on the platform, and played a waltz on hisflute; the children danced, and all eyes were fixed upon them, as if itwere a fairy spectacle.
Roland and Lilian had not yet spoken a word, and they had so much tosay to each other; but they were dancing together. Who knows how longKnopf would have kept on playing, had not Dr. Fritz called out:--
"That'll do for the present, Herr Candidate!" Knopf flinched; the wordcandidate, in the midst of this fairy tale, seemed to annoy him, itsounded so horribly prosaic.
Roland and Lilian took their seat with the others at the table. Knopfexhorted Lilian to give her partner something to drink, but FrauWeidmann insisted upon the children's waiting awhile before they drank.They sat quietly, looking at each other without speaking.
Eric begged that his coming should make no interruption in their plans,but Weidmann declared that he wanted to leave, at any rate; he hadalready been obliged to answer hundreds of questions. Frau Weidmannregretted that the best rooms in the house were already occupied, andthat Eric and Roland would have to put up with such pooraccommodations.
"Don't be uneasy," interposed Weidmann; "all women, even the best, makeapologies for their housekeeping, however good it may be."
The whole company adjourned from the table to the courtyard. Dr. Fritzleading his little daughter by the hand; and now it was learned that heand his child were going to start the next day for America.
Knopf took Roland's arm, and Eric walked between Weidmann and his wife;the Russian had gone out into the fields with a son of Weidmann, whilethe second accompanied Dr. Fritz. Frau Weidmann could not forbearletting Eric know why her husband was so taciturn; that he devotedhimself too much to other people, and then he came home all fagged out.Who knows whether he would not have taken his violin and played for thepeople, if Eric had not come?
Weidmann declared that he had done this, and was not at all ashamed ofit.
Eric replied that it was exceedingly painful to see how often it wasthat one was almost ashamed of manifesting any good feeling in theworld, because so many merely pretended to possess it, and only used itas a means of acquiring popularity.
Weidmann made mention of Eric's office in the House of Correction,adding that the man who played the key-bugle had been a convictformerly, and had conducted himself well for years.
Frau Weidmann, who was of the opinion that talking was too much of anexertion for her husband at present, now resumed the thread ofconversation, and asked Eric whether it was a settled matter thatPranken was to marry the rich Sonnenkamp's daughter.
Eric could not keep saying yes, and Frau Weidmann was exceedinglyvexed.
"It always puts me out," she said, "when a healthy and wealthy girl ofthe middle class marries a nobleman; our good, solid, industrialacquisitions are alienated. I do not wish to say that the noble is notour friend; but he does not belong to us, he considers himselfsomething different from us, and the fruit of our toil goes to him. Agirl of the middle class, who buys a title by marriage, betrays herancestors, and betrays us in her posterity."
Frau Weidmann spoke so excitedly and angrily, that her husband tried invain to pacify her; he took, however, the wrong means, informing herthat Herr Sonnenkamp himself wanted to receive a title.
Eric was startled to hear this matter, which had been regarded as agreat secret, here spoken of so openly.
Frau Weidmann had a special dislike towards Pran
"Suppose Manna had come here?" thought Eric to himself.
Weidmann turned to Eric with the explanation that his wife was prettysevere against Pranken, as two years ago, about the time that Eric hadtaken the position at Sonnenkamp's, Pranken had spent a few days atMattenheim, and in that short time had introduced a disorderly state ofthings at the farm, which was not without its effects even at thepresent time.